scholarly journals Critical Media and Communication Studies Today. A Conversation

1970 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 247-271 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christian Fuchs ◽  
Dwayne Winseck
Keyword(s):  
Political Economy ◽  
Karl Marx ◽  
The Political ◽  
Communication Studies ◽  
Critical Media ◽  
The Status ◽  
Political Economies ◽  
The Media ◽  
Media And Communication

This article documents a conversation between us that was first published in parallel on our two blogs http://dwmw.wordpress.com and http://fuchs.uti.at/blog. The conversation deals with our assessments of the status of Critical Media and Communication Studies today. We discuss the work of Dallas Smythe, how to study and assess Google, research dimensions of Critical Political Economy of the Media, how important each of these dimensions should be, the role of ideology critique for Critical Political Economy of the Media, the commonalities and differences between Political Economies of the Media and Critical Political Economy of the Media/Critique of the Political Economy of the Media, the role of Karl Marx for Political Economies of the Media, Nicholas Garnham's recent comments on the field of Critical Political Economy of the Media, neoliberalism and capitalist crisis as contexts for Political Economies of the Media. Comments are very welcome on our blogs, URLs to the specific blog postings can be found in the article sections.

scholarly journals Dallas Smythe Today - The Audience Commodity, the Digital Labour Debate, Marxist Political Economy and Critical Theory.

2012 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 692-740 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christian Fuchs
Keyword(s):  
Political Economy ◽  
Critical Theory ◽  
Communication Studies ◽  
Internet Services ◽  
Critical Media ◽  
The Media ◽  
Media And Communication

Due to the global capitalist crisis, neoliberalism and the logic of commodification of everything have suffered cracks, fissures and holes. There is a return of the interest in Marx, which requires us to think about the role of Marxism in Media and Communication Studies. This paper contributes to this task by discussing some foundations of contemporary Marxist media and communication studies, including a focus on the renewed interest in Dallas Smythe’s audience commodity category as part of the digital labour debate. Dallas Smythe reminds us of the importance of engagement with Marx’s works for studying the media in capitalism critically. Both Critical Theory and Critical Political Economy of the Media and Communication have been criticized for being one-sided. Such interpretations are mainly based on selective readings. They ignore that in both approaches there has been with different weightings a focus on aspects of media commodification, audiences, ideology and alternatives. Critical Theory and Critical Political Economy are complementary and should be combined in Critical Media and Communication Studies today. Dallas Smythe’s notion of the audience commodity has gained new relevance in the debate about corporate Internet services’ exploitation of digital labour. The exploitation of digital labour involves processes of coercion, alienation and appropriation.

scholarly journals Capitalisation of the Media Industry From a Political Economy Perspective

2021 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 325-342
Author(s):  
Manfred Knoche
Keyword(s):  
Political Economy ◽  
The Political ◽  
Communication Studies ◽  
Media Industry ◽  
Historical Materialist ◽  
Development Processes ◽  
The Media ◽  
Media And Communication ◽  
Further Development ◽  
Mode Of Production

Approaches to the critique of the political economy of communication in society belong to the “forgotten theories” in media and communication studies. But in view of the unmistakable structural change of a media industry “unleashed” by deregulation, privatisation, digitalisation, concentration, globalisation, etc., it seems from an academic perspective necessary to analyse the development of the media industry in close connection with the equally unmistakable general development of an “unleashed” capitalism. This article therefore shows that the analysis of the development processes of capitalism as the undoubtedly globally dominant economic and social system from a political economy perspective makes it possible to analyse, explain, and partly forecast the economisation or commercialisation process in the media industry in an academically appropriate way with regard to its causes, forms, consequences, and further development. Theoretical explanations are offered by the further developments of the analysis and critique of contemporary capitalism based on Marx’s critique of the political economy as a historical-materialist analysis of society. In doing so, the permanent fundamental characteristics, modes of functioning and “regularities” of the capitalist mode of production and the capitalist formation of society are analysed in connection with the particularities of the current capitalisation process in the media industry.

scholarly journals Professor Janet Wasko: An Interview with the President of the IAMCR and one of the Key Representatives of the Political Economy of Communication Approach

2014 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 14-27
Author(s):  
Jernej Amon Prodnik ◽  
Janet Wasko
Keyword(s):  
Political Economy ◽  
Film Industry ◽  
International Association ◽  
The Political ◽  
Communication Studies ◽  
Communication Research ◽  
Communication Approach ◽  
The University ◽  
Media And Communication ◽  
Political Economy Approach

This paper presents an interview with Janet Wasko. She is a Professor and Knight Chair in Communication Research at the University of Oregon’s School of Journalism and Communication and widely considered as one of the key authors working in the tradition of the political economy of communication. Currently she is serving as the President of the International Association for Media and Communication Research (IAMCR), one of the key international associations in the field of media and communication studies. She previously held several other positions in the IAMCR and served as the head of the Political Economy-section, which she also helped to establish. Professor Wasko published several influential books on the film industry, especially on Hollywood and the Disney Corporation. We talked especially about the influences on her approach, about her position in the IAMCR, her understanding of how the cultural and media industries work, the political economy approach in media and communication studies, and issues related to the film industry, which she mostly tackles in her own research.

Silencing the voice of Bahrain? Regime-critical media and Bahrain’s London diaspora

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 51-66 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Fibiger
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Activities ◽  
Digital Surveillance ◽  
The Social ◽  
Critical Media ◽  
The Media ◽  
Political Turmoil ◽  
The Voice

This article discusses the role of a politically mobilized diaspora in the media and politics of Bahrain. The political turmoil of several decades has resulted in the exile of a sizeable community of Bahrainis, and many key activists have settled in London. From here they continue to work with a variety of political activities and a variety of media to put pressure on both Gulf and European regimes. The article traces the development of media forms, from a print newspaper formed out of the diasporic experience, via a particular community-driven homepage opened in Bahrain in 1998, whose creator fled to London after the 2011 ‘Arab Spring’ uprising, to the diversity of the social media that now dominates. In this regard, the role of digital surveillance, and subsequent demobilization and increasing silence, are key to the discussion.

scholarly journals Strong and Weak Forms of Mediatization Theory

2020 ◽  
Vol 35 (s1) ◽  
pp. 111-124 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marko Ampuja ◽  
Juha Koivisto ◽  
Esa Väliverronen
Keyword(s):  
Social Institutions ◽  
Weak Form ◽  
Communication Studies ◽  
Strong Impact ◽  
The Media ◽  
Media Logic ◽  
Media Research ◽  
To Come ◽  
Media And Communication

AbstractDuring recent years, the concept of mediatization has made a strong impact on media and communication studies, and its advocates have attempted to turn it into a refined and central theoretical framework for media research. The present article distinguishes two forms of mediatization theory: a strong form based on the assumption that a ‘media logic’ increasingly determines the actions of different social institutions and groups, and a weak form that questions such a logic, though the latter form emphasizes the key role of the media in social change and singles out mediatization as a central ‘meta-process’ today. Exponents of the weak form have convincingly criticized the notion of media logic. However, the weaker version of mediatization is itself problematic, as its advocates have failed to produce a clear explanatory framework around the concept. We argue that, although the analytical status of mediatization is unclear, fascination with the concept will, in all probability, continue in the years to come, due to the promises of heightened disciplinary coherence and status that this notion has conveyed for media and communication studies.

scholarly journals Towards Marxian Internet Studies

2012 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 392-412 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christian Fuchs
Keyword(s):  
Political Economy ◽  
Critical Theory ◽  
Class Struggle ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Communication Studies ◽  
Internet Studies ◽  
Surplus Value ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Media And Communication

This article gives an overview of example approaches of Critical Internet Studies and points out key concepts of this field. Critical Cyberculture Studies and Critical Political Economy/Critical Theory of the Internet are identified as two approaches in Critical Internet Studies. The paper also discusses the role of 11 Marxian concepts for Critical Internet Studies. Marxian concepts that have been reflected in Critical Internet Studies include: dialectics, capitalism, commodification, surplus value/exploitation/alienation/class, globalization, ideology, class struggle, commons, public sphere, communism, and aesthetics. The paper points out the importance of explicitly acknowledging the importance of Karl Marx’s thinking in Critical Internet Studies. Marx’s concepts are today frequently used implicitly, without acknowledging and engaging with their roots. A critique of the approach of “Critical” Cyberculture Studies is advanced. This approach is compared to the approaches of Critical Theory and Critical Political Economy of the Internet. The difference between these two approaches reflects the debate about class exploitation and non-class domination between Cultural Studies and Critical Political Economy in Media and Communication Studies.

Medialisierung und Mediatisierung

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Birkner
Keyword(s):  
Quantitative Methods ◽  
Modern Society ◽  
Communication Studies ◽  
Societal Change ◽  
Research Focus ◽  
Daily Lives ◽  
Media Change ◽  
The Media ◽  
Media And Communication

Mediatization is of the most successful yet most often discussed approaches used in media and communication studies. The issues of media change and societal change are central in this respect, with two traditions having developed, which examine the role of the media in our modern society in different ways (qualitative v quantitative methods). The research focus could be divided between a) changes to communication in humans’ daily lives, for example through smartphones, and b) influences of the mass media in different areas of society such as politics, the economy and sport. The second edition of this book, which has been revised and updated, explains the origins of these approaches, presents key studies and findings on them and discusses their similarities and differences.

scholarly journals Critical animal and media studies: Expanding the understanding of oppression in communication research

2018 ◽  
Vol 33 (4) ◽  
pp. 367-380 ◽  
Author(s):  
Núria Almiron ◽  
Matthew Cole ◽  
Carrie P Freeman
Keyword(s):  
Media Studies ◽  
Animal Studies ◽  
Communication Studies ◽  
Critical Animal Studies ◽  
The Social ◽  
Critical Media ◽  
The Media ◽  
Ethical Thinking ◽  
Media And Communication ◽  
Moral Stance

Critical and communication studies have traditionally neglected the oppression conducted by humans towards other animals. However, our (mis)treatment of other animals is the result of public consent supported by a morally speciesist-anthropocentric system of values. Speciesism or anthroparchy, as much as any other mainstream ideologies, feeds the media and at the same time is perpetuated by them. The goal of this article is to remedy this neglect by introducing the subdiscipline of Critical Animal and Media Studies. Critical Animal and Media Studies takes inspiration both from critical animal studies – which is so far the most consolidated critical field of research in the social sciences addressing our exploitation of other animals – and from the normative-moral stance rooted in the cornerstones of traditional critical media studies. The authors argue that the Critical Animal and Media Studies approach is an unavoidable step forward for critical media and communication studies to engage with the expanded circle of concerns of contemporary ethical thinking.

scholarly journals Professor Janet Wasko: An Interview with the President of the IAMCR and one of the Key Representatives of the Political Economy of Communication Approach

2014 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 14-27
Author(s):  
Jernej Amon Prodnik ◽  
Janet Wasko
Keyword(s):  
Political Economy ◽  
Film Industry ◽  
International Association ◽  
The Political ◽  
Communication Studies ◽  
Communication Research ◽  
Communication Approach ◽  
The University ◽  
Media And Communication ◽  
Political Economy Approach

This paper presents an interview with Janet Wasko. She is a Professor and Knight Chair in Communication Research at the University of Oregon’s School of Journalism and Communication and widely considered as one of the key authors working in the tradition of the political economy of communication. Currently she is serving as the President of the International Association for Media and Communication Research (IAMCR), one of the key international associations in the field of media and communication studies. She previously held several other positions in the IAMCR and served as the head of the Political Economy-section, which she also helped to establish. Professor Wasko published several influential books on the film industry, especially on Hollywood and the Disney Corporation. We talked especially about the influences on her approach, about her position in the IAMCR, her understanding of how the cultural and media industries work, the political economy approach in media and communication studies, and issues related to the film industry, which she mostly tackles in her own research.

scholarly journals Media Concentration: A Critical Political Economy Perspective

2021 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 371-391
Author(s):  
Manfred Knoche
Keyword(s):  
Political Economy ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
The Political ◽  
Theoretical Approaches ◽  
Country Comparison ◽  
Different Types ◽  
The Media ◽  
High Level ◽  
Media Concentration ◽  
Media And Communication

This article presents foundations of the analysis of media concentration from the perspective of the approach the critique of the political economy of the media and communication. It outlines the dangers and problems of media concentration, discusses the question of how to measure media concentration, identifies different types of media concentration, and gives a systematic overview of empirical studies of media concentration. As a result of the country comparison on a theoretical (macro) level with an analytically required high level of abstraction, first and foremost identities, commonalities and similarities with regard to the development of media concentration including its causes and consequences can be recognised. The author argues that media concentration also needs to be theorised. It distinguishes and discusses two such theoretical approaches: apologetic-normative competition theories of media concentration and critical-empirical theories of media concentration. Critical-empirical theories of media concentration situate media concentration in the context of the development of capitalism, which requires to use the critique of the political economy as theoretical foundation.

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