[PEN-L:3776] Re: Bourdieu, etc.

["Charles Brown" <CharlesB@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

>>> Doug Henwood <dhenwood@xxxxxxxxx> 02/23/99 02:34PM >>>
His book On Television is actually critical of the concentration analysis;
you may remember that I quoted it against (shy, retiring) Mark Crispin
Miller right here on PEN-L. He argues instead that the sensationalized
banality of the media comes not from concentration than from the pressures
of competitive markets driven by maximization of ratings and profit. Rather
than fostering diversity, such competition fosters sameness punctuated by
superficial novelty.
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Charles: Seems to me that the reasons are obvious and direct as to why"senstionalized banality" dominates television rather than propaganda that would raise mass consciousness to overthrow the system. The bourgeois , the ruling class, tightly control the content of television , because it is such a powerful communicator. In other words, it is not the economics of television itself - whether "concentration" nor "competition"-  that limit strictly the content of shows. It is the direct and constant need for mind control of the masses of the population that dictates that television not stir up much serious thinking. It is not an objective economic dynamic ,but a conscious and subjective ruling class decision that limits the content of television. How else would the ruling ideas of this age remain the ideas of its ruling classes ?

Charles Brown