The Marxist Approach

The marxist approach is based on theories from Karl Marx. He argued that media and the messages brought up from the media should be used in the right ways however he argues the messages can have a bad influence on masses in society and this is called the 'Dominant Ideology'.


The dominant ideology is the ideological forces that determine how society works. It simply means the principle ideas,values, and morals in a given society. For example, Marxists would believe that this ideology is to serve the interests of the dominant class in that society- If the dominant ideology conflicted with the legitimacy of the dominant class's rule then society would have to be in a state of war with itself. They believe that powerful institutions control how the masses influence our lives in society. 


There are many dominant institutions such as; The press, media, television, internet, music industries, tabloid and social groups.


Marxists believe that the media has a huge impact in society when controlling the masses and some would say as an institution it is a greater influence on society than religion, politics and the families (nature over nurture). The supposed subtle dominance with which the media control the masses is known as hegemonic control. 


Hegemony is an ideological concept which was introduced by Italian Marxist Antonio Gramsci. His idea was that the media message could perform a subtle indoctrination, influencing the manner in which society viewed the world until the message becomes 'common sense' unchallenged by the masses. Hegemonic control is an acceptance of the 'status quo' . Some examples may be how media represents football as a worldwide popular sport.