AS Media Studies, 3rd Edition

6	Media Ideology

In this chapter We:

• consider the concept of ideology
• explain the nature and function of ideology
• assess its significance in studying the media.

Belief Systems

As suggested in previous sections, as humans we experience a need to make sense of the world and the events that take place in it. One important way of doing this is through our consumption of media texts. It is often argued that all media texts are in some way ideological. On one level, ideology is the system of beliefs that organises the way in which we view the world and the events that take place in it. It follows, therefore, that in our consumption of media texts, we will be subjected to the ideological views of the producer of the text.

Ideologies come ...