In this presentation careful attention and judgment after outlining, weighing and giving detailed information, for and against about the implications of new media for corporate communications management will be explained. However, theoretical framework such as systems approach, press gentry, public information model, two way asymmetric and two way symmetric will be discussed in relation to the new technological influence in the daily mundane of corporate communications. For the clarity seek key terms and new media technology such as electronic mails, (E-mails), chat rooms, cell phones, Usenet Newsgroups (Forum), website, videotext, teleconferencing, weblogs and so forth will be explored at length. Clear examples to support and evaluate new media implication will be dealt with through out in this presentation.
The term “new media” assumes that they is old media which Biagi (1999:24) perceived as mass media which among includes newspapers, books, magazines, radio and television. Old media is linear that is, it is one as to many. Here the public only consume information disseminated to them without giving feedback to the source. It views the public as passive and respond to the deciphered information positively. New media could be described as what is clear not old. This term “New Media” is used to describe all forms of emerging communication media, which combines text, graphics, sound and video, using computer technology to create a product that is similar to but clearly different from traditional media (Cutlip et al 1994). Due to technological advancement as pointed out by McLuhan in his theory of “technological advancement “, corporate organisations that operate at global level such as Debeers, Eskom, Barclays bank”, Edgars and so forth have adopted new media to communicate with their internal and external public. New media as compared to the old media is symmetrical, that is it resembles the Osgood and Schrammer model of communication which is reciprocal and tallies well with systems approach and symmetrical model of public relations recommended by Grunig. New media has numerous implications to the day to day practice of corporate communication management.
Another salient term that needs to be defined contextual are as follows; Management and communication. Management in corporate organisation focuses on the entire organisation from both a short and long term perspective. Again we have various types of management in corporate organisation such as Executive, Expert, and Decision support, operational and so forth. Furthermore, management according to Clear and Weidman (1997) is the managerial process of forming a strategic vision, setting objectives, crafting a strategy and implementing it to create the corporate image. Lubbe and Puth (1994) say that a good corporate image sells a company to potential employees, opinion leaders, workers and the community. Communication is one of the contested terrains that can be explained in a multiplicity of ways. For the clarity of this presentation Harold Lasswell 1950’s model of communication explains everything especially with regard to corporate communication. Communication here looks at who say WHAT, to WHO, HOW, WITH WHAT EFFECTS. Generally communication is the exchange of ideas, opinion by two or more individuals, companies in order to reach a mutual understanding.
Weblogs/Blogs: is one good example of new media that is used by corporate communication management to communicate with the internal and external public. A weblog/blog is a journal which consists of ‘articles’ or ‘postings’ in chronological sorted order. The posting can be easily viewed by any web browser and the content of many blogs can be read by RSS readers. Disney, Newscorp, DeBeers, South Africa 24.com, EzineCom in America are some among the corporate blogs that can be accessed and viewed on-line. Many corporate organisations such as Disney, Newscorp, DeBeers have adopted this new media technology to reach wider publics. Blogs are also used by these corporate organisations to inform the general public about the organisation structures, goods and service delivery, growth, policies as well as searching the markets. Laudon and Laudon (2005:283) asserts that corporate organisation uses blogs internal for sharing information across teams, and external for providing timely products support information or engaging in dialogue with company stakeholders. Weblogs as new media is symmetrical. Instead of giving power to media alone as a source of information, blogs allows general publics to contribute about the goods and service delivery. There is reciprocity in that all the readers can pass a comment which can be negatively or positively and such feedback can assist in the formulation of policies. Reciprocal communication fosters health communication which hints the organisation on what the community wishes to see the organisation doing to them. Again two way communication through blogs assist in the formulation of policies. For instance, organisations such as Mimosa, Zimasco, Makwiro Platinum and so forth which pollutes the environment, can get views on how the communities surrounding them are affected.
Nevertheless, internal blogs can be used to foster communication among team members or across departmental borders. The information contained in many mails an sent around to many recipient could be much better dispersed o a central platform. For instance, organisations with operational marketing, public relations, executive department can tally well with the systems approach theory which encourages an open system communication. Here departments can communicate between or amongst themselves through weblogs. Again different corporate organizational department for example, marketing department for DeBeers Company can communicate with Disney public relations department. Progress of team effort can be documented in blogs posting very easily and safely. Comments to update the current status can be made.
Furthermore, blogs due to its informal and information sharing characters, it can capture hidden knowledge which would have otherwise been not said. Linda Hewitt (2008), one of the global corporate communication strategy consultants in America notes that through weblogs research can be conducted on-line; various sources can be consulted to elicit information. Information can be presented electronically using relational database, tables, pie charts, histograms or power point. Such information can be accumulated, searched and easily retrieved. Again information can be pushed to readers and can appear instantly on their desktop.
On the other hand, such new technology like weblogs needs to be updated timely. Again installation of equipment that enables internet service is expensive. Buying a terminal, installing basic software that enables certain operations to be executed, a line, modem and installation of the application software such as power point, database, adobe Photoshop and subscribing to the website designers can be expensive and unaffordable. Despite the fact that it is a two ways process new media have its shortfalls. Sending employees to training courses for them to be competent and to install several application software is cumbersome and prolongs over a period especially where there is scarce resources. Moreso, only people with access to the internet can view blogs. Computer illiterate can hinder effective communication both internal and external. Employees still can find it difficult to partake in such activities. There are some orgnisations that are still obsolete and prefer face-eyeball conversation. Weblogs welcomes every person with the potential to contribute. Revolutionizing information crafting can be dangerous in that individuals can craft negative messages that can tarnish the image of an organisation. For instance, the scam of corruption, embezzlement of organizational funds, NGOs funds and personal foreign money by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) governor, can impact negatively to the organisation itself. Foreign investors can loss trust to have transaction processed with RBZ and even having business partnership with RBZ. Again stake holders who are the public of an organisation such as RBZ can be scared away by such un professional behavior. Media ethics are not recognized and social responsibility by the public to a certain organisation may be ignored.
However, weblogs are important to corporate communication management for communicative purposes, research, policy making and for creating and reinforcing corporate image despite its shortfall.
Internet:
Internet which networks the entire world and enables individuals and organisations to communicate global is another form of new media that is of importance to be used by corporate communication management. Internet, unlike the old media is symmetrical. All corporate organsations have adopted the internet for communication, advertisements, marketing and for the sales of their products. All corporate organisations have adopted the internet to reach and communicate with the public at local and global level. Nancy and Lary (1988;199) asserts that; “Internet as a means of communication for corporate management enables organisations and individuals of electronic society to talk openly t others” Through internet everyone is a player who can communicate at will. Internet cuts across geographical boundaries and can be used and accessed by thousand if not millions of other players. Nancy and Lary (1988) says that “internet is a digital wild west, without law and order, like wild west, anyone can come along”.
Corporate communication management such as Saatchi and Saatchi through intranet, which is a local network that links the computers within an organisation website, can enable employees to communicate at various levels among themselves. Internet offers a variety of activities such as electronic mail, Newsgroup, World Wide Web (WWW), video conferencing, voice conferencing, data conferencing, Forums, Voice mail and so forth (O’Brien 2000:36). Intranet as a new media is reciprocal and supports the system approach theory. Again it dispels the press agentry model of public relation. Agentry model is one way of communication, which acts as an agent of company to the public to be engaged in discussion through forums. Again intranet enables corporate communication management to fulfill health, and balanced communication within an organisation. Perhaps intranet can be criticized for its lack of face-to-face communication. Such communication is hailed for maintaining a strong rapport between and among individuals. Again not all employees like engaging themselves in forums. Other internal public have no time to communicate with their colleagues.
Internet is a new media for communication and offers various mediums such as, chatrooms, websites, weblogs, electronic mail, Newsnet groups and many more to be mentioned. As a new media of corporate communication management internet plays a vital role as suggested by Levy (1995:58) who described the internet as being based on ‘unlimited channels of communication, community building, electronic commerce and is a full blown version of interactivity that blurs the line between provider and consumer”. For instance, Nicoz Diamond as a corporate organisation through the internet have created a website; www.nicozdiamond.co.zw, Murray and Roberts which operates across the globe have a website and electronic mail through which the public can contact and communicate with them. For example in Zimbabwe they can b contacted at construction @ mrcz.co.zw, in Malawi promat@ecomw.net and in Gweru their e-mail is jsouter@caridorngweru.co.zw. Internet enables corporate organisation to advertised, sale their products, outline their area of specialization and to specify their social responsibility. For instance Murray and Roberts in their on-line website clearly indicated the social responsibility to the Zimbabweans. The good example can be shown by the following statement that was directly quoted from the Murray and Roberts’s website;
“Murray and Roberts appreciates its environs and believes in giving back to society. We have an on-going program on HIV/Aids awareness… amongst our employees and the societies they live in”.
Judging from the above message posted electronically to the Murray and Roberts website, it can be argued that new media have liberated and revolutionized communication. Murray and Roberts used internet website to create the organisation image. This website is friendly user and allows the general public to pass comments. Such feedback is good for the organisation to come up with policies that addresses the problems of the employees and the community where this company is work. The architecture of Murray and Roberts enables the employees to have assess to their website and the mail list for the targeted publics such as workers , banks, politicians, students from tertiary education, the community members and other construction companies like SISK and Goddard can friendly communicate back through mails. Website allows the message to be ready and comments to be forwarded back to achieve a two way process. The problem with the internet, especially in the developing states like Zimbabwe is that only few people especially those in urban areas have access to it. Again people do not have time to view the entire corporate organisation website until there is something that he wants to view. In addition, job vacancies, advertisement for the goods, physical address, phone number and the internal structure of the organisation can be displayed on the website. Images and colours sometimes communicate strong message to people more than the words. Computer Illiteracy can be another set-back when looking at the use of the internet and website. In can be argued that new media technology such as the internet caters for those who are connected. Rural population who lacks the internet service can not contribute to the website
Video tapes and closed circuit Television
The television, which has become an every day feature in many people’s lives is a new media technology for personalized messages either on prepared tapes or live. This modern medium gains the face-to-to face communication which assist to bring closer understanding between management and staff. This new media inputs a lot in corporate communication management. It can allow volumes of information to be stored on secondary storage devices such as compact disk, MP3, DVD videos, I-Pod and in the computer hard drive. For instance, Meikles Africa which spreads its tentacles across the globe have videos that indicates some of their department stores groups which among includes TM Supermarkets, Meikles, clicks, Cape Grace, Barbour, Greatmans and have some shares to Kingdom. Video that displays the products sold in these shops, the structure of each store, prices of goods, working hours and Meikles hotel building speaks volume about the image of Meikles shops.
Video tapes apart from being used as secondary storage devices can also be used to entertain the public. Images and colours while there are appealing to the public, it also communicate immensely to different organizations and individuals. Unlike the public information public relation (PR) models , people can get information and communicate back to the source. Public information theory empowers the journalist and media practitioners to give information to the public without allowing them to give feedback. The good example that supports the public information model can be witnessed, through the Fingaz magazine that gives detailed information about top companies in Zimbabwe. New media has been castigated for creating employees who are lazy to research using secondary sources such as library.
Research is an important tool in corporate communication. Again through video tape events and activities can be captured, accessed as they are required. This media is close to reality and limits distortion in various ways. Video tapes can be used in gathering, such as the Trade Faire , shows and so forth. Images are the best form of communication and allow the less educated to get the message clear about the size of an organization, its commitment to the community and its goods and service delivery.
However, this new media have been criticized for marginalizing the rural population. There are few individuals in rural area who can afford to purchase television sets. Again the lack of electricity makes it difficult for rural population to access the new media. However, video tapes in circuit television can be used both for mass communication hence they are flexible. For instance, videos for Meikles holdings can be played at Zimbabwe television (ZTV) and the general public can view it on their homes together with their families. This new media is less consuming as it can allow more work to be executed and stored safely. Messages flexibility through video tapes and TV Circuit allows information to be tailored automatically to different levels of employees (Cutlip 1994)
Teleconferencing
Teleconferencing is another form of new media technology that has the impact to corporate communications management theory and practices. Here technology advances in satellite communication have expanded the range of possibility for meetings and speech (Davis and Olson 1984). For instance, corporate mangers that are enable to take time to travel to participate in person can be beamed to the meeting via satellite teleconferencing (Cutlip 1994:273). In addition, Cutlip notes that simultaneous session in several cites can be linked electronically with speakers show on large screen television equipment. Cutlip (1994) argued that teleconferencing saves travel time and costs, meeting facilities, and boarding of participants can more that off-set the cost of using this new technology. Bawden and Blackman (1990) states that, teleconferencing in corporate communication management enables to reach people at many locations all at the same time with the same message. O’Brien (2000) claims that not all satellite teleconferencing is limited to internal communication.
Teleconferencing has been criticized for grooming employees and management who are too lazy and rely much on technology in addressing the problems at hand. While efficiency and effectiveness can be recommended, incompetent can act as a drawback among the employees who can be grappling in catching up with new technology. However such technology can improve production, but hinders professionalism especially if taken and used to the extremes. New technology can impress the potential employees, investors and opinion leaders to do business with well established companies that are in the lead in acquiring and using new technology. Issues that affect the globe can be quickly outline and policies that addresses such problems can be initiated. Teleconferencing is a two way process and allows new ideas from the internal and external public to be voiced. Again communication in revolutionized and a market place of ideas can be generated.
Seital (1995:472) says that “the capture, manipulation, transmission, and use of information has become a critical function of public relation/corporate communications. In corporate communication new media technology helps the organizations to gain efficiency, improve quality and lead the field (Sietal 1995). New media technology which have changed the landscape of corporate communication involves a computer technology which integrate a microchip processing power, denser storage, and faster retrieved illuminate the hardware scene, the software and turning the computer into a television, a telephone a moving map and an illustrators convas, replaying video images and music, organizing databases and cording activities across time and space in real time. These new firms of media technology such as computers, cellular phones, facsimile machines, e-mail, video news releases, audio text leads to the adoption of one, and then the another.
These new media are ritual and allow mult-tasking within the communication field. Communicators can disseminate and at the same time store large information. The importance of storage reduces the keeping of paper work and larger storage reduces the keeping of paperwork and larger fields. Here corporate organization needs large storage devices for the information they disseminate and receive from elsewhere. New Media technology enables them to keep such information. The challenges that new media storage devices faces like the computer hardware, Mainframe, Minicomputer and so forth is that it can be infected by the computer virus off by computer virus such as the green caterpillar. If computer machines are affected by the virus the whole organization server may be affected also.
The advantage of computers is that information can be served in the file cabinet in the server. Information from the server cab be retrieved even though terminal are affected. Again another challenge especially the on-line computers is that at times the network can be down. For instance the Standard Charted bank and Barclays bank may be affected by the off-line network. It can be argued that despite all these challenges new media is viable and flexible to be used for communication by corporate organization. It is flexible, durable and improves the quality and quantity of the delivery of information. For instance, internet broad band allows individual surfing the net to get to the website by just a click. Again subscribing and getting a broad band is expensive and not easy. The International and telecommunication Union (ITU) politicize the space allocation
Sietal (1995) cellular phones are one modern technology that have improved the communication services of corporate organization. A mobile phone enables corporate employees to link with others organizations across the globe. Managers can be contacted and talked with anytime even when they are not at work or within the country. This enable workers to continue with their duties under the instruction of their bosses without having them physical present. A mobile phone enables managers and public relation practitioners to communicate through with other workers from other organizations through the word of mouth or messages. A cellular is mobile (can be easily carried around) New media technology like mobile phones can entertain and be used as a tool for communication and storage.
Sietal (1995) noted that wireless communication from geostationary like satellite permit direct mobile phones to satellite communication satellite. Here public relation professionals have a freedom to communicate with anyone, anytime and anywhere. A mobile phone is flexible and affordable, therefore many organization buy the mobile phones for their workers including the public relations managers for easy communication. Mobile phones at times can be connected to the internet for chatting. The challenges faced by the employees and the external public is that at times they always behind in catching up with modern technology.
It can be argued that despite all those short comings, mobile phones are affordable. A mobile phone is the best modern technology for communication which apart from being mobile is also flexible, reliable and cuts across the geographical boundaries For instance, Delta Beverage in Zimbabwe can communicate with Delta Beverage in Zambia, Canada, South Africa , Ghana and all over the world using a mobile phone. Mobile phone allows messages to be forwarded or can enable people to communicate interchangeable..
It can be concluded that they are many various forms on new media technology that can be used for communication by corporate management to meet the needs of both the internal and external public. Some of the new media technology that were not mentioned in this presentation because of lack of space and time includes the use of satellite dish, tele-fax, smart phones and so forth. However, it can be observed that new media technology have lead to the revolution of the free dissemination of information which lead to the “Super highway” flow of information talked about at Algiers by Japan. All new forms of technology are symmetrical as opposed to the old media which is linear. Clear examples which supports the assessment and evaluation of new media for corporate communications management theory and practices were explored. Management deals with planning, initiating policies, controlling and managing the entire system of the organization and as such they need the best technology that can disseminate information accurately, reliable, effective and efficiently. Therefore the use of internet, weblogs, websites, mobile phones, satellite television and teleconferencing is important in sending information to both the internal and external public. The corporate communication theory which among include the agentry press model, public information model, two-way asymmetrical, two way symmetrical and systems approach theory were explored in this presentation. One salient issue is that in management “expert information system” an important type of information for professionals and expert in certain field like computer engineering, marketing, economics and politics can be designed and stored in new media technology. Again images can be captured through digital cameras, down loaded and forwarded via the internet. All the functions offered by new technology new media assist in the storage facility, processing, production and dissemination of information around the world and corporate organization is important especially to issues that has to do with planning, initiating of policies, communication , storage and revolutionizing the communication process. The public sphere of information which offers free market flow of ideas can be achieved and both the internal and external public can learn much faster about issues that can improve their professions and life style. Key terms were also defined in passing for clarity seek. It can be concluded therefore that they are other new technology that are not mentioned here because they are beyond the knowledge of the presenter.
Referencing
Biagi . S (1999) Media Impact: An introduction to Mass Media. Fourth Edition. USA. Wadsworth.
Bawden D and Blackman K (1990) Information technology strategies for information management. London. Butter Worth’s.
Clear and Weidenman (1997) Dynamics of Public Relation and Journalism. Capetown. Juta.
Cutlip SM et al (1994) Effective Public Relation, New Jersey. Prentice Hall.
Davis, M. GM and Olson, N.H (1984) Management Information system. New Jersey: McGraw-Hall.
Laudon KC and Laudon JP (2005) Management Information system. Eighth Edition. India. Prentice hall.
Lubbe BA and Puth C (1994) public Relations in South Africa: A management Reader. South Africa. Heinemann.
Nancy Long and Lary long (1985) Introduction to Computers and Information System. Fifth Edition. USA. Prentice Hall.
O’Brien (2000) Introduction to Information System: essentials for the internet worked Enterprise. Ninth Edition. Irwin McGraw Hill
http://www.indianchild.com/management/what-is-management.htm
http://ihg-talking point.com: Linda Hewitt Corporate Communication Strategy. September 29, 2008
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Friday, April 24, 2009
Presentation made at Midlands state University on the Theoretical History of Frankfurt School
Theoretical History of Frankfurt School
The Frankfurt school is the second generation of Marxist critics emerged in the early 30’s in the work of thinkers associated with the institute for Social Research at the university of Frankfurt. The Frankfurt school encompasses the group of scholars, who elaborated a critical theory of society and most of whom, as Jewish scholars, fled from Germany after 1933. One of the founding members, Max Horkheimer, helped to ground the institute in non-dogmatic Marxian thought, which criticized existence and society while remaining grounded in historically conditioned meaning, Other important members include Theodor Adorno, Herbert Marcuse and Walter Benjamin, who was linked peripherally rather than centrally involved. In addition, Martin Jay, the historian of the Frankfurt school, write that the work of Horkheimer, Marcuse, and Adorno among others, formed the core of the institutes achievement, rooted as it was in the central traditional of European philosophy open to contemporary empirical techniques and addressed to cure social questions. It is important however, to remember that the thinkers of the Frankfurt school lacked experience in Marxist “praxis”, that is they lacked practical experience in politics.
The Frankfurt school institute began in 1923, but with the rise of Nazi German, the Jewish scholars associated with it realised the necessity of leaving Germany. By 1936, the institute was housed at Columbia University in New York. In the 40.s Horkheimer and Adorno moved to Los Angeles, utilizing their proximity to Hollywood to study mass culture at close range and continuing the work of the institute there by 1980, Horkheimer and Adorno were able to return to Frankfurt where the institute remains, currently including the work of scholars like Jurgan Habermas. The operant tern for their dialectical social criticism of the Frankfurt school is “critical theory”. Critical theory in conceived of as a sustained reflection on the dialectical relationship between reason and freedom.
Furthermore, critical theorist wish to preserve the notion that reason serves the aim of human emancipation while rejecting claim of harmony between reason and liberation. Several motifs are considered central in critical theory:
i) A reinterpretation of Marxism in the light of growing discrepancies between dialectical materialism as a theory and as a practice, that is Marxism as a focus on the material forces and contradiction of those forces was turned away from emphasis on a simplistic concept of economic base reflected by a cultural superstructure.
ii) A critique of a positivist and pragmatist sociology which could claim to be value free, resulting in a refusal of scientific neutrality coupled with an insistence upon critically engaged social research.
iii) An attempt to address the social and psychological grounds of authoritarianism in modern times, for a re-evaluation of enlightenment rationality through its power to demystify and subjugate by its imperative to dominate nature, including human nature at all cost. This is similar to findings available from Foucault’s work on power, madhouses and prisons. To the Frankfurt school thinkers like Adorno and Benjamin, “aesthetic” is central to their projects (Hopkins 282)
Adorno and Horkheimer: The Cultural Industry
Theodor Adorno and max Horkheimer (1979) argued that in advanced capitalism societies, the culture industry produce material that deadens masses, while the potential of art to provoke critical thoughts is drowned by the peddling of endlessly bland and repetitive cultural commodities. Dant (2003:110) states that just as manufacturing industry generates things as products, so the cultural industries generate and circulate ideas as products. Religion on the other hand can be viewed as part of capitalism that as noted by Harlbon and Haralambos (1995) assist to cushion the wounds created by the capitalist. Apostolic faith Mission in Zimbabwe (AFM) reinforces culture industry through its biblical teachings that devoted Christians should receive blessings from God, which can enable them to live comfortable in this universe. This makes Christians to work themselves hard so that they can perpetually purchase the cultural industrial commodities that set them distinct from the so called non-Christians. As with commodity production in general, the social form fetishisms cultural products, create specific culture and economic value in intangible commodities such as the entertainment value to the artistic value (Adorno 1991:33-35)
Moreover, cultural commodities are directed not to the material needs of human beings, such as food and clothing, but to people’s minds; their conscious and subconscious selves. Therefore, capitalism has an interest in the state on those minds; it needs workers who are happy enough to accept uncritically their position within the system. Just like the church which preaches to its followers that they should respect their government and accept those in power as installed by God. This is a belief which becomes the cultural of all Christians who read and believe Romans (13 verses 1-6) AFM as a church moulds its followers to be happy enough to accept uncritically their position within the system and perceived it as God’s will. Horkheimer described the aims of the Frankfurt Institute as being to explore the interconnection between the economic life of society, the psychic development of individual and transformation in the realms of culture (Held 1980:33) This philosophy can be strongly supported by Fanon (1961:190) in his book entitled ;“The Wretched of the earth”.
Fanon says; every effort is made to bring the colonized person to admit the inferiority of his culture which has been transformed into instinctive patterns of behavior to recognize the unreality of his nation, and in the last extreme the confused and imperfect character of his own biological structure”.
It can be strongly argued that the “cultural industry” as perceived by Adorno and Horkheimer just like the church such as AFM instills certain culture to the individuals that can make them throw themselves In frenzied fashion into the frantic acquisition of the culture of the occupying power and takes every opportunity of unfavorably criticizing his own national culture, or takes refuge in setting out and substantiate the claims of that culture in a way that is passionate but rapidly becomes unproductive (Frantz Fanon 1961). In cultural industry, the mass-produced new media of movies, music and radio delivered a product, once consumed leaves nothing but memories. The entertainment produced by the culture industry gives the illusion of happiness through laughter dulling the sensibilities of the masses and preparing them for work in the rational organization (Adorno and Horkheimer 1979:147)
Dant (2003) notes that Frankfurt scholars as critical theorists analyzed all mass mediated cultural artifacts with the context of industrial production, in which the commodities of the cultural industries exhibited the same features as other products of mass production such as Commodification, standardization and massification. In addition, the cultural industries had the specific function, however of providing ideological legitimating of the existing capitalist societies and of integrating individuals into its way of life. For instance, AFM as a church fosters ideology of capitalism by teaching its followers that they should work hard and be loyal to their employers. Pastors on several occasions have quoted verses such as from Proverbs 19 verses 22, which say that;
“Loyalty makes a person attractive and it is better to be poor than dishonest”
Judging from the above verse the church reinforces the ideology of capitalism and encourages its followers to be loyal and to prefer to remain poor rather than being dishonest. Such teachings make Christians who are simultaneously workers to accept the cultural industry and God determined. In addition, Althusser’s assertion that the church is an ideological state apparatus is true since the church uses hegemony to make Christians accept their status as normal and acceptable.
It can be argued that the Frankfurt school theorist were among the first neo-Marxian group to examine the effects of mass culture and the rise of the consumer society on the working class which were to be the instrument of revolution in classical Marxian scenario. Again Frankfurt school focused intently on technology and culture, indicating how technology was becoming both a major force of production and formative mode of social organization and control. Again the church assist in hamming and convincing Christians to acknowledge capitalist innovation by admitting that technology comes from God and people at work, schools and church should use this God given gift for the betterment of their lives. For example, the satellite televisions have resulted too many religious channels for Christianity and Islamic religion. The instrument used to produce gospel music is so appealing such that the audience instead of castigating capitalism modes, they intend to admire and wish if possible for them to use the new technology for preaching and songs. The Christianity satellite channels on television uses English language as an “interpellation”, that is the use of language to influence people to like and support capitalism mentality and its structure. Marcuse (1941:414) say that; “In the realm of culture, technology produces mass culture that habituate individuals to conform to the dominant patterns of thought and behavior, and thus providing powerful instruments of social control and domination.
Moreover, victims of European fascism, the Frankfurt school experienced first hand the ways that the Nazi used as the instrument of mass culture to produce submission to fascist culture and society. While in US the Frankfurt school came to believe that American “popular culture” was also highly ideological and worked to promote the interest of American capitalism (Wiggershaus 1994). The cultural industries were organize according to the structures of mass production, churning out mass produced products that generate a highly commercial system of culture which in turn sold the values, life-styles and institutions of the American way of living. This however make it apt when scholars like Turnstal assert that “media are American” Even the contemporary society like in Zimbabwe they is the commodification, standardization and massification of American products. For instance, the use of satellite television enable most households to develop an insatiable appetite for the Western values such as music, food, fashion, Hollywood films and western worshiping style.
In addition, Fanon (1961:199) says that “imperialism which today is fighting against a true liberation of mankind leaves in its wake here and there tinctures of decay which we must search out and mercilessly expel from our land and our spirit”. Again AFM in Zimbabwe as a church uses the bible as the literature that manipulates the so called “devoted” Christians to relinquish to the demands of capitalism. Fanon (1961:193) notes that, “the bible is a literature of combat, because it moulds the nation consciousness, giving it form and contours and fling open before its new and boundless horizons”.
The work of the Frankfurt school provided what Lazarsfeld (1942) one of the originators of modern communication studies termed “critically approach”, which he distinguishes from the “administrative research”. In the work of arts in the age of mechanical reproduction, Benjamin (1969) noted how new mass media supplanted older forms of culture, whereby the mass reproduction of photography, films recordings and publications replaced the emphasis on the originality of “aura” of the work of art in earlier era. Max Korkheimer one of the Frankfurt key scholars in 1964 wrote a book entitled “eclipse of Reason”. Here Horkheimer was influenced by Nazi power in Germany. He outlines how the Nazi were able to make their agenda appear “reasonable”. Horkheimer’s book “Eclipse of Reason” deals with the concept of “reason” with the reason as “rationality”. He details the different between ‘objective’ and ‘subjective’ reason and state that the state (German) has moved from objective to subjective reasoning. However, objective reasoning deals with universal truth that dictates that an action is either right or wrong. Subjective reasoning takes into account the situation ad social norm. Actions that produce the best situation from the individual are ‘reasonable’ according to subjective reasoning.
The movement from one type of reasoning to the other occurred when thoughts could no longer accommodate these objectives truth or when it judged them to be delusion. In addition, Horkheimer suggest that under subjective reasoning, concept lose their meaning. All concepts must be strictly functional to be reasonable, because subjective reasons rules the ideals of a society, such as democratic ideals, became dependent on the “interest” of the people instead of being dependent on objective truth.
Another Frankfurt school Walter Benjamin was at the “outer circle” of the institute in the 1930. Benjamin made correction to Marxist theory and his perspective added to what Marx called “unscientific methods”. In his collection of his work Benjamin demonstrated complete adherence to the notion of history moving through the necessary epoch set forth by Marx to human material desire being the prime mover of mankind; to the notion of alienation and to the proletariat being the class with the ability to move mankind (through revolution) from the current epoch of capitalism, to the next epoch, communism. Benjamin challenged the orthodox Marxism with the notion that the individual participant in the bourgeoisie can come to a full awareness of his part in the current disintegration of man by the structure of his method and by questioning the deterministic element of Marxism. Benjamin method is a combination of an artful use of literary tools, empirical observation, and “transcendent” experience.
As on of the Frankfurt scholar Benjamin illustrates historical materialism through the imagery and ancient man demonstrating his regard for nature by pouring out libation, with modern man’s use of technology to strip[e nature of her products prematurely. Benjamin’s essay on the cities, particularly Moscow (98), and his essay “One way” (75) present in-depth illustrations of alienation. In addition, Benjamin used cities to depict the bourgeois mind, and its perpetuation of its own illusion. Benjamin presented the transcendent element in surrealism as “profane illumination”. This illumination is either the bourgeoisies’ apprehension of its participation in capitalism. Benjamin sites the ecstasy of drugs and religion as possible vehicle of imitation into illumination. However, Benjamin’s entire collection represents an “I think” conscious efforts to demonstrate that Marxism can be the object of criticism, as well as the move of history. Scholars like Dant (2000) say are that Benjamin’s solution is unclear. He seems to purport, as Marx does that this current epoch will be at the hands of a proletariat in revolt, or at the hands of a self destructing bourgeoisie.
Frankfurt schools analysis of culture in the 1930’s and 1940’s presents a radical penetrating critique of the role of mass communication advanced industrial western societies (Beverly 1987) The school above all is concerned with radical social change in the direction of human emancipation. Frankfurt school refers to a group of German intellectuals who comprised the inner circle of the institute of social sciences. Marx Horkheimer, a philosopher and Kantian scholar, directed the institute from 1931, served as the group’s nucleus. Adorno formulated the school’s major theoretical position, which came to be known as the critical theory of society. A number of other individuals have been closely associated with the Frankfurt school, such as Pollock an economist who analyzed the soviet Unions planned economy, Leo Lowenthal, a sociologist of literature, who made contributions primarily in the area of popular culture, Herbert Marcuse, a student of Husserl and Heidegger the principle architects of critical theory Benjamin probably was the most peculiar Marxist ever produced by Frankfurt scholar (Arendt 1968:11)
In addition, traditional and critical theory Horkheimer make it clear when he states that man’s emancipation from slavery is the major goal of critical theory. Horkheimer and Adorno broached the problem on a grand scale in “Dialect of Enlightenment” was sought to discover “why mankind, instead of entering into a truly human condition, is sinking into a new kind of barbarism (Horkheimer and Adorno, 1972:6). Horkheimer and Adorno wrote; “man imagines himself free from fear where there is no longer any thing unknown” (Horkheimer and Adorno 1972:6). This denial of man’s dialectical relationship with nature is traced back to the dawn of civilization. Horkheimer writes:” one might say that the collective madness that ranges today, from the concentration camps to the seemingly most harmless mass-culture reactions, was already present in germ in primitive objectification in the first man’s calculating contemplation of the world as a prey (Horkheimer 1947:176). Horkheimer and Adorno states that for enlightenment mankind: ideation is only an instrument. In thought, men distance themselves from nature in order thus imaginatively to present it to themselves but only in order to determine how it is to be dominated. Like the things the material tool, which is held on to in different situation as the same thing, and hence divides the worlds as the chaotic, many sided, and disparate form the known one and identical, the concept is the ideal tool, fir to do service for everything, whenever it can be applauded (Horkheimer and Adorno 1972:39)
However, Horkheimer and Adorno (1972:54) suggests that mankind’s alienation from nature distorts not only the telos of control of nature, but the telos of man’s own life; “As soon as man discard his wariness that he himself is nature, all the aims for which he keeps himself alive… social progress, the intensification of all his material and spiritual power, even consciousness itself… are nullified”.
Irrational
The rationality of enlightenment society is irrational; the more man struggle to establish his sovereignty from nature, the more he becomes dominated by social forces which lord over him as relentlessly and blindly as nature ever did. The theme of the irrationality was taken up by Marcuse, most notably in his 1964 analysis of advanced industrial society “one dimensional man”. He too, saw “civilization rationality” as tainted throughout its history by man’s denial of his dialectical relationship with nature; “ In the social reality, despite all changes, the domination of man by man is still the historical continuum that links pre-technological an technological reason. However, the society which projects and undertakes the technological transformation of nature alters the base of domination by gradually replacing personal dependence… With dependence on the objective order of things” (Marcuse, 1964:144)
Furthermore, it can be noted that the Frankfurt school contested Marx’s belief that the proletariat could be expected to provide the material force for radical social change. One good reason for this is lack of revolutionary consciousness on the part of working class. In addition, the school denied Marx’s assertion that the proletariat represented a universal interest, and believed that it would be wrong for critical theory to consist of formulations expressing the idea and feeling of any one particular class. (Horkheimer, 1972:214)
The later work of Frankfurt school presents a shift away from these early expectations for critical theory. Two major theoretical changes resulted in;
i) The Frankfurt school conceptualization of the relationship between theory and praxis. Over time, the school became more and more convinced that it is incorrect to assume that praxis arises spontaneously from theory. They asserted that’ “the call for unity of theory and practice has irresistibly degraded theory to a servant’s role “Adorno explains, the position eventually reached by the Frankfurt school vis-Ã -vis the theory/ praxis nexus. The liquidation of theory by dogmatization and thought taboos contributed to the bad practice; the recovery of theory’s independence lies in the interest of practice itself. The Interrelation of both moment is not settled once for all but fluctuates historically. Today with theory paralyzed and disparaged by the all-governing bustle, its mere existence, however important, bears witness against the bustle (Adorno 1973:143)
ii) A second change was a shift in emphasis from the ultimate good of human emancipation to the more immediate goal of negating existing social conditions. It was believed that any premature reconciliation of the contradiction that characterized contemporary society would obliterate the chance for radical reformation. Adorno (1976b) say that instead of attempting to smooth away tension and present a harmonious view of society, social research must develop and make fruitful the tensions and contradictions.
A final point to be made about the Frankfurt school’s social research is that the objective of study shifted with changing historical conditions. Returning to his 1937 essay on critical theory, we find Marcuse reaffirming the materialist basis for critical theory, arguing that critical theory is an economic rather than a philosophical system. His claim is narrowly defined economic concepts might not be adequate for the analysis of social system, the critique of political economy criticized social existence in its entirety.
The Critique of culture
The Frankfurt school met face to face with a thoroughly commercialized culture which had virtually obliterated individual consciousness. From the perspective of critical theory, the individual in mass society is dominated in more subtle yet irresistible ways than before, the very core of his being is tightly bound to a repressive social structure whose most powerful weapon is the cultural industry. Frankfurt took note of the flourishing business in radio, jazz, movies and magazines in the liberal industrial notions, and tied the industry’s progress to the general laws of capital (Horkheimer 1941:37)
Similarly, in a 1944 essay by Horkheimer and Adorno, the cultural industry: Enlightenment as Mass Deception, also speak of the cultural industry as an integral part of the economic web of monopoly capitalism. The commercialization of culture has advanced the state where it no longer even pretends to be art, the write. “The truth that they are just business is made into ideology in order to justify the rubbish they deliberate produced (Horkheimer and Adorno 1972:121)
Amusement and all the elements of the culture industry exist along before the latter came into existence. The cultural industry can pride itself on having energetically executed the previously clumsy transposition of art into the sphere of consumption. The eccentricity of the circus, peepshow, and a brothel is an embarrassing to it as that of Schonberg and Kraus. For instance, jazz musician Benny Goodman appears with the Budapest string quarter, more pedantic rhythmically than any philharmonic clarinetist, while the style of the Budapest players is as uniform and sugary as that of Guy Lombardo. But what is significant is not vulgarity, stupidity, and lack of polish. All this is meant to reflect mass deception caused by culture industry.
In addition, enlightenment as mass deception through Frankfurt scholars can be witnessed through Schonberg and Picasso, the greatest artist who have retained a mistrust of style, and at crucial point have subordinated it to the logic of the matter. What Dadaists and expressionists called the untruth of style as such triumphs today in the sung jargon of a crooner, in the carefully contrived elegance of a film star, and even in the admirable expertise of photography of a peasant’s squalid hut. It unconditionally posits the real forms of life as it is by suggesting that fulfillment lies in their aesthetic derivatives (Blunden 1998) To this extent the claim of art is always ideology too.
Another Frankfurt scholar Jurgan Habermas wrote extensively on the concept of the public sphere, using accounts of dialogue that took places in coffee house in eighteenth in England. It was this public sphere of rationale debate on matter of political importance, made possible by the development of the bourgeois culture centered on coffee houses, intellectuals and literary salons, and the print media that help to make parliament ideals of equity, human rights and justice. Here Habermas as Frankfurt scholar suggests that public sphere was guided by a norm of rational argumentation and critical discussion in which the strength of one’s argument was more important than one’s identity.
According to Habermas, a variety of factors resulted in the eventually decay of the bourgeois public sphere of the enlightenment. Most importantly, structural forces, particularly the growth of a commercial mass media, resulted in a situation in which media become more of a commodity something to be consumed rather than a tool for public discourse.
In addition, Habermas sees media such as internet, radio, print media and so forth as a tool to create a forum for public sphere. Furthermore, in an era of globalization and technology and automation in the economy puts in question both Karl Marx’s labor theory of value, upon which the early work of the Frankfurt school was based, as well as Habermas’ distinction between production and interaction as the fundamental distinction to make sense of, interpretive, and criticize contemporary societies.
It can be noted that Frankfurt school attempt to develop a theory for the Marxist revolutionary project the radical reconstruction of society in the interest of human emancipation based on a philosophy which denies Marx’s theories of man and history. It can be observed that the Frankfurt failed in this effort to do that. Its early effort and ambition’s of merging critical theory with political praxis were gradually abandoned and in later years the school retreated into a pessimistic denial of the desirability of revolution praxis. Furthermore, Frankfurt school hands are tied by the lack of a philosophical anthropology and theory of history: not only do they reject Marx’s contributions, but they suggest that mankind is capable of reason and of praxis, including the shaping of history, under optimal condition. But their vague abstractions fail to provide any concrete starting points any criteria for knowledge, wisdom, action or vision for the future.
Conclusively, it can be argued that Frankfurt school was concern to distance itself from the construction of utopias, and refused to discuss specifies of a future socialist society. Again interpretation of a dialectical approach to the study of society places heavy emphasis on discrepancy between a social institution “real” conditions principles and ideology under which it function , that is between what a thing is and what it says is. Frankfurt analysis of commercialization of culture in contemporary society are biting and to the point. Perhaps its major theoretical contribution is the insistence that cultural domination permeates all social strata in industrial society today. But its final analysis is pessimistic that critical mass communication inquiry must confine itself to negation is itself an invitation to resignation.
References
Adorno, Theodor (1941) On Popular Music. Studies in Philosophy and social science, 9:17-48
Adorno, Theodor (1973b) Negative Dialectics. New York. Seabury.
Theodor Adorno and Max Horkheimer (1944) The Cultural Industry: Enlightenment as Mass Deception.
Arendt, Hannah (1968) Walter Benjamin: (1892-1940). Introduction to: Illuminations by Walter
Benjamin. New York: Harcourt, Bruce and World.
Beverly J (1987) The Frankfurt School: Critical theory as the negation of culture. Ecquid Novi.
Dant, T (2003) Critical Social Theory London. Sage Publication.
Fanon F (1961) The wretched of the Earth. France. Penguin.
Hanno Hardt (1992) Critical Communication Studies . London Routledge
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, Copyright (1996) Wheaton Illions, Tyndale House Publishers
Horkheimer, Max (1947) Eclipse of Reason. New York: Oxford
Horkheimer, Max (1972) Critical Theory. New York: Continuum.
Horkheimer and Adorno (1972) Dialectic of Enlightenment. New York; Seabury.
Marcuse, H (1964) One Dimensional Man. Boston. Beacon
Storey (1999) Cultural Consumption of Everyday Life. London. Arnold.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jurgen Habermas
Http://filer.case.edui/ngb2/Author/Marcuse.html
http://filer.case.edu/ngb2/Author/Benjamin.html
The Frankfurt school is the second generation of Marxist critics emerged in the early 30’s in the work of thinkers associated with the institute for Social Research at the university of Frankfurt. The Frankfurt school encompasses the group of scholars, who elaborated a critical theory of society and most of whom, as Jewish scholars, fled from Germany after 1933. One of the founding members, Max Horkheimer, helped to ground the institute in non-dogmatic Marxian thought, which criticized existence and society while remaining grounded in historically conditioned meaning, Other important members include Theodor Adorno, Herbert Marcuse and Walter Benjamin, who was linked peripherally rather than centrally involved. In addition, Martin Jay, the historian of the Frankfurt school, write that the work of Horkheimer, Marcuse, and Adorno among others, formed the core of the institutes achievement, rooted as it was in the central traditional of European philosophy open to contemporary empirical techniques and addressed to cure social questions. It is important however, to remember that the thinkers of the Frankfurt school lacked experience in Marxist “praxis”, that is they lacked practical experience in politics.
The Frankfurt school institute began in 1923, but with the rise of Nazi German, the Jewish scholars associated with it realised the necessity of leaving Germany. By 1936, the institute was housed at Columbia University in New York. In the 40.s Horkheimer and Adorno moved to Los Angeles, utilizing their proximity to Hollywood to study mass culture at close range and continuing the work of the institute there by 1980, Horkheimer and Adorno were able to return to Frankfurt where the institute remains, currently including the work of scholars like Jurgan Habermas. The operant tern for their dialectical social criticism of the Frankfurt school is “critical theory”. Critical theory in conceived of as a sustained reflection on the dialectical relationship between reason and freedom.
Furthermore, critical theorist wish to preserve the notion that reason serves the aim of human emancipation while rejecting claim of harmony between reason and liberation. Several motifs are considered central in critical theory:
i) A reinterpretation of Marxism in the light of growing discrepancies between dialectical materialism as a theory and as a practice, that is Marxism as a focus on the material forces and contradiction of those forces was turned away from emphasis on a simplistic concept of economic base reflected by a cultural superstructure.
ii) A critique of a positivist and pragmatist sociology which could claim to be value free, resulting in a refusal of scientific neutrality coupled with an insistence upon critically engaged social research.
iii) An attempt to address the social and psychological grounds of authoritarianism in modern times, for a re-evaluation of enlightenment rationality through its power to demystify and subjugate by its imperative to dominate nature, including human nature at all cost. This is similar to findings available from Foucault’s work on power, madhouses and prisons. To the Frankfurt school thinkers like Adorno and Benjamin, “aesthetic” is central to their projects (Hopkins 282)
Adorno and Horkheimer: The Cultural Industry
Theodor Adorno and max Horkheimer (1979) argued that in advanced capitalism societies, the culture industry produce material that deadens masses, while the potential of art to provoke critical thoughts is drowned by the peddling of endlessly bland and repetitive cultural commodities. Dant (2003:110) states that just as manufacturing industry generates things as products, so the cultural industries generate and circulate ideas as products. Religion on the other hand can be viewed as part of capitalism that as noted by Harlbon and Haralambos (1995) assist to cushion the wounds created by the capitalist. Apostolic faith Mission in Zimbabwe (AFM) reinforces culture industry through its biblical teachings that devoted Christians should receive blessings from God, which can enable them to live comfortable in this universe. This makes Christians to work themselves hard so that they can perpetually purchase the cultural industrial commodities that set them distinct from the so called non-Christians. As with commodity production in general, the social form fetishisms cultural products, create specific culture and economic value in intangible commodities such as the entertainment value to the artistic value (Adorno 1991:33-35)
Moreover, cultural commodities are directed not to the material needs of human beings, such as food and clothing, but to people’s minds; their conscious and subconscious selves. Therefore, capitalism has an interest in the state on those minds; it needs workers who are happy enough to accept uncritically their position within the system. Just like the church which preaches to its followers that they should respect their government and accept those in power as installed by God. This is a belief which becomes the cultural of all Christians who read and believe Romans (13 verses 1-6) AFM as a church moulds its followers to be happy enough to accept uncritically their position within the system and perceived it as God’s will. Horkheimer described the aims of the Frankfurt Institute as being to explore the interconnection between the economic life of society, the psychic development of individual and transformation in the realms of culture (Held 1980:33) This philosophy can be strongly supported by Fanon (1961:190) in his book entitled ;“The Wretched of the earth”.
Fanon says; every effort is made to bring the colonized person to admit the inferiority of his culture which has been transformed into instinctive patterns of behavior to recognize the unreality of his nation, and in the last extreme the confused and imperfect character of his own biological structure”.
It can be strongly argued that the “cultural industry” as perceived by Adorno and Horkheimer just like the church such as AFM instills certain culture to the individuals that can make them throw themselves In frenzied fashion into the frantic acquisition of the culture of the occupying power and takes every opportunity of unfavorably criticizing his own national culture, or takes refuge in setting out and substantiate the claims of that culture in a way that is passionate but rapidly becomes unproductive (Frantz Fanon 1961). In cultural industry, the mass-produced new media of movies, music and radio delivered a product, once consumed leaves nothing but memories. The entertainment produced by the culture industry gives the illusion of happiness through laughter dulling the sensibilities of the masses and preparing them for work in the rational organization (Adorno and Horkheimer 1979:147)
Dant (2003) notes that Frankfurt scholars as critical theorists analyzed all mass mediated cultural artifacts with the context of industrial production, in which the commodities of the cultural industries exhibited the same features as other products of mass production such as Commodification, standardization and massification. In addition, the cultural industries had the specific function, however of providing ideological legitimating of the existing capitalist societies and of integrating individuals into its way of life. For instance, AFM as a church fosters ideology of capitalism by teaching its followers that they should work hard and be loyal to their employers. Pastors on several occasions have quoted verses such as from Proverbs 19 verses 22, which say that;
“Loyalty makes a person attractive and it is better to be poor than dishonest”
Judging from the above verse the church reinforces the ideology of capitalism and encourages its followers to be loyal and to prefer to remain poor rather than being dishonest. Such teachings make Christians who are simultaneously workers to accept the cultural industry and God determined. In addition, Althusser’s assertion that the church is an ideological state apparatus is true since the church uses hegemony to make Christians accept their status as normal and acceptable.
It can be argued that the Frankfurt school theorist were among the first neo-Marxian group to examine the effects of mass culture and the rise of the consumer society on the working class which were to be the instrument of revolution in classical Marxian scenario. Again Frankfurt school focused intently on technology and culture, indicating how technology was becoming both a major force of production and formative mode of social organization and control. Again the church assist in hamming and convincing Christians to acknowledge capitalist innovation by admitting that technology comes from God and people at work, schools and church should use this God given gift for the betterment of their lives. For example, the satellite televisions have resulted too many religious channels for Christianity and Islamic religion. The instrument used to produce gospel music is so appealing such that the audience instead of castigating capitalism modes, they intend to admire and wish if possible for them to use the new technology for preaching and songs. The Christianity satellite channels on television uses English language as an “interpellation”, that is the use of language to influence people to like and support capitalism mentality and its structure. Marcuse (1941:414) say that; “In the realm of culture, technology produces mass culture that habituate individuals to conform to the dominant patterns of thought and behavior, and thus providing powerful instruments of social control and domination.
Moreover, victims of European fascism, the Frankfurt school experienced first hand the ways that the Nazi used as the instrument of mass culture to produce submission to fascist culture and society. While in US the Frankfurt school came to believe that American “popular culture” was also highly ideological and worked to promote the interest of American capitalism (Wiggershaus 1994). The cultural industries were organize according to the structures of mass production, churning out mass produced products that generate a highly commercial system of culture which in turn sold the values, life-styles and institutions of the American way of living. This however make it apt when scholars like Turnstal assert that “media are American” Even the contemporary society like in Zimbabwe they is the commodification, standardization and massification of American products. For instance, the use of satellite television enable most households to develop an insatiable appetite for the Western values such as music, food, fashion, Hollywood films and western worshiping style.
In addition, Fanon (1961:199) says that “imperialism which today is fighting against a true liberation of mankind leaves in its wake here and there tinctures of decay which we must search out and mercilessly expel from our land and our spirit”. Again AFM in Zimbabwe as a church uses the bible as the literature that manipulates the so called “devoted” Christians to relinquish to the demands of capitalism. Fanon (1961:193) notes that, “the bible is a literature of combat, because it moulds the nation consciousness, giving it form and contours and fling open before its new and boundless horizons”.
The work of the Frankfurt school provided what Lazarsfeld (1942) one of the originators of modern communication studies termed “critically approach”, which he distinguishes from the “administrative research”. In the work of arts in the age of mechanical reproduction, Benjamin (1969) noted how new mass media supplanted older forms of culture, whereby the mass reproduction of photography, films recordings and publications replaced the emphasis on the originality of “aura” of the work of art in earlier era. Max Korkheimer one of the Frankfurt key scholars in 1964 wrote a book entitled “eclipse of Reason”. Here Horkheimer was influenced by Nazi power in Germany. He outlines how the Nazi were able to make their agenda appear “reasonable”. Horkheimer’s book “Eclipse of Reason” deals with the concept of “reason” with the reason as “rationality”. He details the different between ‘objective’ and ‘subjective’ reason and state that the state (German) has moved from objective to subjective reasoning. However, objective reasoning deals with universal truth that dictates that an action is either right or wrong. Subjective reasoning takes into account the situation ad social norm. Actions that produce the best situation from the individual are ‘reasonable’ according to subjective reasoning.
The movement from one type of reasoning to the other occurred when thoughts could no longer accommodate these objectives truth or when it judged them to be delusion. In addition, Horkheimer suggest that under subjective reasoning, concept lose their meaning. All concepts must be strictly functional to be reasonable, because subjective reasons rules the ideals of a society, such as democratic ideals, became dependent on the “interest” of the people instead of being dependent on objective truth.
Another Frankfurt school Walter Benjamin was at the “outer circle” of the institute in the 1930. Benjamin made correction to Marxist theory and his perspective added to what Marx called “unscientific methods”. In his collection of his work Benjamin demonstrated complete adherence to the notion of history moving through the necessary epoch set forth by Marx to human material desire being the prime mover of mankind; to the notion of alienation and to the proletariat being the class with the ability to move mankind (through revolution) from the current epoch of capitalism, to the next epoch, communism. Benjamin challenged the orthodox Marxism with the notion that the individual participant in the bourgeoisie can come to a full awareness of his part in the current disintegration of man by the structure of his method and by questioning the deterministic element of Marxism. Benjamin method is a combination of an artful use of literary tools, empirical observation, and “transcendent” experience.
As on of the Frankfurt scholar Benjamin illustrates historical materialism through the imagery and ancient man demonstrating his regard for nature by pouring out libation, with modern man’s use of technology to strip[e nature of her products prematurely. Benjamin’s essay on the cities, particularly Moscow (98), and his essay “One way” (75) present in-depth illustrations of alienation. In addition, Benjamin used cities to depict the bourgeois mind, and its perpetuation of its own illusion. Benjamin presented the transcendent element in surrealism as “profane illumination”. This illumination is either the bourgeoisies’ apprehension of its participation in capitalism. Benjamin sites the ecstasy of drugs and religion as possible vehicle of imitation into illumination. However, Benjamin’s entire collection represents an “I think” conscious efforts to demonstrate that Marxism can be the object of criticism, as well as the move of history. Scholars like Dant (2000) say are that Benjamin’s solution is unclear. He seems to purport, as Marx does that this current epoch will be at the hands of a proletariat in revolt, or at the hands of a self destructing bourgeoisie.
Frankfurt schools analysis of culture in the 1930’s and 1940’s presents a radical penetrating critique of the role of mass communication advanced industrial western societies (Beverly 1987) The school above all is concerned with radical social change in the direction of human emancipation. Frankfurt school refers to a group of German intellectuals who comprised the inner circle of the institute of social sciences. Marx Horkheimer, a philosopher and Kantian scholar, directed the institute from 1931, served as the group’s nucleus. Adorno formulated the school’s major theoretical position, which came to be known as the critical theory of society. A number of other individuals have been closely associated with the Frankfurt school, such as Pollock an economist who analyzed the soviet Unions planned economy, Leo Lowenthal, a sociologist of literature, who made contributions primarily in the area of popular culture, Herbert Marcuse, a student of Husserl and Heidegger the principle architects of critical theory Benjamin probably was the most peculiar Marxist ever produced by Frankfurt scholar (Arendt 1968:11)
In addition, traditional and critical theory Horkheimer make it clear when he states that man’s emancipation from slavery is the major goal of critical theory. Horkheimer and Adorno broached the problem on a grand scale in “Dialect of Enlightenment” was sought to discover “why mankind, instead of entering into a truly human condition, is sinking into a new kind of barbarism (Horkheimer and Adorno, 1972:6). Horkheimer and Adorno wrote; “man imagines himself free from fear where there is no longer any thing unknown” (Horkheimer and Adorno 1972:6). This denial of man’s dialectical relationship with nature is traced back to the dawn of civilization. Horkheimer writes:” one might say that the collective madness that ranges today, from the concentration camps to the seemingly most harmless mass-culture reactions, was already present in germ in primitive objectification in the first man’s calculating contemplation of the world as a prey (Horkheimer 1947:176). Horkheimer and Adorno states that for enlightenment mankind: ideation is only an instrument. In thought, men distance themselves from nature in order thus imaginatively to present it to themselves but only in order to determine how it is to be dominated. Like the things the material tool, which is held on to in different situation as the same thing, and hence divides the worlds as the chaotic, many sided, and disparate form the known one and identical, the concept is the ideal tool, fir to do service for everything, whenever it can be applauded (Horkheimer and Adorno 1972:39)
However, Horkheimer and Adorno (1972:54) suggests that mankind’s alienation from nature distorts not only the telos of control of nature, but the telos of man’s own life; “As soon as man discard his wariness that he himself is nature, all the aims for which he keeps himself alive… social progress, the intensification of all his material and spiritual power, even consciousness itself… are nullified”.
Irrational
The rationality of enlightenment society is irrational; the more man struggle to establish his sovereignty from nature, the more he becomes dominated by social forces which lord over him as relentlessly and blindly as nature ever did. The theme of the irrationality was taken up by Marcuse, most notably in his 1964 analysis of advanced industrial society “one dimensional man”. He too, saw “civilization rationality” as tainted throughout its history by man’s denial of his dialectical relationship with nature; “ In the social reality, despite all changes, the domination of man by man is still the historical continuum that links pre-technological an technological reason. However, the society which projects and undertakes the technological transformation of nature alters the base of domination by gradually replacing personal dependence… With dependence on the objective order of things” (Marcuse, 1964:144)
Furthermore, it can be noted that the Frankfurt school contested Marx’s belief that the proletariat could be expected to provide the material force for radical social change. One good reason for this is lack of revolutionary consciousness on the part of working class. In addition, the school denied Marx’s assertion that the proletariat represented a universal interest, and believed that it would be wrong for critical theory to consist of formulations expressing the idea and feeling of any one particular class. (Horkheimer, 1972:214)
The later work of Frankfurt school presents a shift away from these early expectations for critical theory. Two major theoretical changes resulted in;
i) The Frankfurt school conceptualization of the relationship between theory and praxis. Over time, the school became more and more convinced that it is incorrect to assume that praxis arises spontaneously from theory. They asserted that’ “the call for unity of theory and practice has irresistibly degraded theory to a servant’s role “Adorno explains, the position eventually reached by the Frankfurt school vis-Ã -vis the theory/ praxis nexus. The liquidation of theory by dogmatization and thought taboos contributed to the bad practice; the recovery of theory’s independence lies in the interest of practice itself. The Interrelation of both moment is not settled once for all but fluctuates historically. Today with theory paralyzed and disparaged by the all-governing bustle, its mere existence, however important, bears witness against the bustle (Adorno 1973:143)
ii) A second change was a shift in emphasis from the ultimate good of human emancipation to the more immediate goal of negating existing social conditions. It was believed that any premature reconciliation of the contradiction that characterized contemporary society would obliterate the chance for radical reformation. Adorno (1976b) say that instead of attempting to smooth away tension and present a harmonious view of society, social research must develop and make fruitful the tensions and contradictions.
A final point to be made about the Frankfurt school’s social research is that the objective of study shifted with changing historical conditions. Returning to his 1937 essay on critical theory, we find Marcuse reaffirming the materialist basis for critical theory, arguing that critical theory is an economic rather than a philosophical system. His claim is narrowly defined economic concepts might not be adequate for the analysis of social system, the critique of political economy criticized social existence in its entirety.
The Critique of culture
The Frankfurt school met face to face with a thoroughly commercialized culture which had virtually obliterated individual consciousness. From the perspective of critical theory, the individual in mass society is dominated in more subtle yet irresistible ways than before, the very core of his being is tightly bound to a repressive social structure whose most powerful weapon is the cultural industry. Frankfurt took note of the flourishing business in radio, jazz, movies and magazines in the liberal industrial notions, and tied the industry’s progress to the general laws of capital (Horkheimer 1941:37)
Similarly, in a 1944 essay by Horkheimer and Adorno, the cultural industry: Enlightenment as Mass Deception, also speak of the cultural industry as an integral part of the economic web of monopoly capitalism. The commercialization of culture has advanced the state where it no longer even pretends to be art, the write. “The truth that they are just business is made into ideology in order to justify the rubbish they deliberate produced (Horkheimer and Adorno 1972:121)
Amusement and all the elements of the culture industry exist along before the latter came into existence. The cultural industry can pride itself on having energetically executed the previously clumsy transposition of art into the sphere of consumption. The eccentricity of the circus, peepshow, and a brothel is an embarrassing to it as that of Schonberg and Kraus. For instance, jazz musician Benny Goodman appears with the Budapest string quarter, more pedantic rhythmically than any philharmonic clarinetist, while the style of the Budapest players is as uniform and sugary as that of Guy Lombardo. But what is significant is not vulgarity, stupidity, and lack of polish. All this is meant to reflect mass deception caused by culture industry.
In addition, enlightenment as mass deception through Frankfurt scholars can be witnessed through Schonberg and Picasso, the greatest artist who have retained a mistrust of style, and at crucial point have subordinated it to the logic of the matter. What Dadaists and expressionists called the untruth of style as such triumphs today in the sung jargon of a crooner, in the carefully contrived elegance of a film star, and even in the admirable expertise of photography of a peasant’s squalid hut. It unconditionally posits the real forms of life as it is by suggesting that fulfillment lies in their aesthetic derivatives (Blunden 1998) To this extent the claim of art is always ideology too.
Another Frankfurt scholar Jurgan Habermas wrote extensively on the concept of the public sphere, using accounts of dialogue that took places in coffee house in eighteenth in England. It was this public sphere of rationale debate on matter of political importance, made possible by the development of the bourgeois culture centered on coffee houses, intellectuals and literary salons, and the print media that help to make parliament ideals of equity, human rights and justice. Here Habermas as Frankfurt scholar suggests that public sphere was guided by a norm of rational argumentation and critical discussion in which the strength of one’s argument was more important than one’s identity.
According to Habermas, a variety of factors resulted in the eventually decay of the bourgeois public sphere of the enlightenment. Most importantly, structural forces, particularly the growth of a commercial mass media, resulted in a situation in which media become more of a commodity something to be consumed rather than a tool for public discourse.
In addition, Habermas sees media such as internet, radio, print media and so forth as a tool to create a forum for public sphere. Furthermore, in an era of globalization and technology and automation in the economy puts in question both Karl Marx’s labor theory of value, upon which the early work of the Frankfurt school was based, as well as Habermas’ distinction between production and interaction as the fundamental distinction to make sense of, interpretive, and criticize contemporary societies.
It can be noted that Frankfurt school attempt to develop a theory for the Marxist revolutionary project the radical reconstruction of society in the interest of human emancipation based on a philosophy which denies Marx’s theories of man and history. It can be observed that the Frankfurt failed in this effort to do that. Its early effort and ambition’s of merging critical theory with political praxis were gradually abandoned and in later years the school retreated into a pessimistic denial of the desirability of revolution praxis. Furthermore, Frankfurt school hands are tied by the lack of a philosophical anthropology and theory of history: not only do they reject Marx’s contributions, but they suggest that mankind is capable of reason and of praxis, including the shaping of history, under optimal condition. But their vague abstractions fail to provide any concrete starting points any criteria for knowledge, wisdom, action or vision for the future.
Conclusively, it can be argued that Frankfurt school was concern to distance itself from the construction of utopias, and refused to discuss specifies of a future socialist society. Again interpretation of a dialectical approach to the study of society places heavy emphasis on discrepancy between a social institution “real” conditions principles and ideology under which it function , that is between what a thing is and what it says is. Frankfurt analysis of commercialization of culture in contemporary society are biting and to the point. Perhaps its major theoretical contribution is the insistence that cultural domination permeates all social strata in industrial society today. But its final analysis is pessimistic that critical mass communication inquiry must confine itself to negation is itself an invitation to resignation.
References
Adorno, Theodor (1941) On Popular Music. Studies in Philosophy and social science, 9:17-48
Adorno, Theodor (1973b) Negative Dialectics. New York. Seabury.
Theodor Adorno and Max Horkheimer (1944) The Cultural Industry: Enlightenment as Mass Deception.
Arendt, Hannah (1968) Walter Benjamin: (1892-1940). Introduction to: Illuminations by Walter
Benjamin. New York: Harcourt, Bruce and World.
Beverly J (1987) The Frankfurt School: Critical theory as the negation of culture. Ecquid Novi.
Dant, T (2003) Critical Social Theory London. Sage Publication.
Fanon F (1961) The wretched of the Earth. France. Penguin.
Hanno Hardt (1992) Critical Communication Studies . London Routledge
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, Copyright (1996) Wheaton Illions, Tyndale House Publishers
Horkheimer, Max (1947) Eclipse of Reason. New York: Oxford
Horkheimer, Max (1972) Critical Theory. New York: Continuum.
Horkheimer and Adorno (1972) Dialectic of Enlightenment. New York; Seabury.
Marcuse, H (1964) One Dimensional Man. Boston. Beacon
Storey (1999) Cultural Consumption of Everyday Life. London. Arnold.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jurgen Habermas
Http://filer.case.edui/ngb2/Author/Marcuse.html
http://filer.case.edu/ngb2/Author/Benjamin.html
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Presentation on Normative media regulatory system
a) Authoritarian
b) Libertarian
c) Soviet and communist
d) Social responsibility
e) Development theory
f) Democratic Participant theory
In this presentation six press model which among includes authoritarian theory, libertarian, soviet and communist, social responsibility, development and democratic participant theory will be discussed. Clear example that supports the theory will be given. However, various scholars like Siebert and Schramm (1956) argues that the first two theories were initiated for the press and the other two are general. Again development and democratic and participant theory were crafted to cater for the third developing world. Roelfse (1996) and McQuail (1987) asserts that the fifth and sixth theories gives a full description of a new kind of the press-government-public relationship which has in recent years developed in reaction to deficiencies, such as corruption and abuse of power in traditional democratic, free market societies. Key terms like normative authoritarian, libertarian, soviet, development and democracy will be defined within the context of the presentation.
The term normative can be defined as what the media should be like. Oosthuizen (2001) says that societal expectations about media conduct are articulated by the public philosophies of communication. These philosophers were initially dubbed social theories of the press and later became known as “normative media theories”. The theories were the result of, and culminated in the making of policy for the media in different societies, in that they led to a greater or less degree on implicit and explicit control. Oosthuizen (1989:12) on the basis of the particular social structure, and more specifically the political structure, every normative theory maps out a particular role or pattern of control for the media.
Fourie (2001) notes that by normative theory it basically means ideal views from different perspectives and within different conditions about the role of the press in society. In short it means “the press should or could do this or that” Roelofse (1996:48-60) argues that normative theories are thus mainly concerned with the freedom of, or restrictions on the newspaper industry in various situations and how this impacts on the function of the press (media) society
Authoritarian Theory
Authoritarian theory is the oldest of the media theories and originated in the authoritarian climate of the late renaissance, and with the development of the printing press. The good example is the media operation in Yugoslavia during the time of Milosevic. Part of the popular uprising against his rule in October 2000, was to attack media institutions which had no other function but to publicise Milosevic and his government’s propaganda. In an authoritarian society the press was seen as a very powerful tool, and these in power the clergy and politicians used it to convey the information they wanted the public to have. The potentates also controlled the press and reserved the right to license publication and censor content. (Siebert et al 1963) Judging from this observation the emphasis was therefore on the control of the press to ensure the promotion of the interest of those in power. For example Fourie (2001) notes that “ The fascism that is the philosophy and practice of the absolute power of the state and the subservience of the individual found in Hitler’s Germany, Mussolini’s Italy , Franco’s Spain, South Africa’s apartheid regime and in many African such as Zimbabwe is and was rooted in authoritarianism and totalitarianism. This gave much freedom to the rulers, little or no freedom to the ruled, and which defined press freedom as a right vested in the state (Fourie 2001).
Oosthuizen (2002) says that according to authoritarian theory, the media are expected:
a) Not to undermine the vested power and interests of the public
b) To be subordinate to vested power and authority
c) Not to contravene the prevailing moral and political values.
Deviation from the above stated points can lead to censorship, criminal charges being brought against media practitioners or institutes that for example, criticize the authorities’ deviation from policy or violate moral codes. In addition, licensing of the media with specific conditions that must be adhered to. In Zimbabwe from year 2000 to 2008 many journalist who reported negatively about the government’s corruption, ruthless, violation of human right and injustice by top officials were arrested, tortured and incarcerated. Hence although it is a contested terrain to claim that Zimbabwean media used authoritarian theory, the above facts justifies the claim.
Libertarian Theory
This theory is closely linked to the rise of democracy and the political, economic and religious freedom associated with this form of a government that emerged in the late seventieth century (Roelofse 1996:56) People are regarded as rational beings that could make their own decisions, by using information supplied to them by the press. Fourie (2001) suggest that libertarian theory enables those masses to distinguish between the truth and falsehood, and between good and evil. The search for truth is regarded as an inalienable natural right. The United States of America (USA) and Britain have had this fourth estate along with the legislative, executive and judicial authorities in the governing process (Siebert et al 1963:3-4)
Oosthuzein (2002) argues that freedom of the press was seen as essential to inform the free market place of ideas. Diverse press content was essential for the proper functioning of society, where different views had to compete for supremacy among the populace who could make up their own minds about what they wanted to support. In terms of this media theory: The media should be free of external censorship for example the government’s interference in content. Every individual or group should be free to publish and distribute information for instance if one wants to start a newspaper, they should be able to do so. Editorial attacks on government or political parties are acceptable, since the new media is expected to be the public’s watch dog as far as government conduct is concerned. For instance, what daily news was doing was health for the well being of the society especially with regard to free dissemination of information. There should be no coercion to publish anything including government initiatives. False reporting is viewed in the same light as published the truth. No restriction should be placed on the acquisition of information through legal channels. Again they should be no restriction on the export and import of messages across national boarders, thereby promoting the free flow of information (McQuail 1989: 89)
It can be argued that the emerging of global conglomerate such as Disney, News Corporation, Cable News network, Bertelsmann, Viacom and many others is a good example that supports the libertarian press theory. On the other hand it can be argued that in Zimbabwe libertarian theory exist, since we have independent media such as The Financial gazette, The Standard, The Independent and many more. However, it can be argued that the claim that Zimbabwe have and believe that libertarian theory should be incorporated to the media run; electronic media has failed to honor that. In Zimbabwe electronic media has the monopoly and is dominated by the state. Zimbabwean government uses all media especially the state controlled one as a mouth piece to further their interest at the expense of the masses. Unlike in Europe were the government since the time of Reagan administration in the United State of America has detached itself from having influence and control of media. Hence media controls itself and fulfils the oligopoly firm theory against monopoly that has no respect for the masses interest.
The Social Responsibility Theory
Exponent of this theory attempt to reconcile the ideas of freedom and independence with responsibility towards society (Roelofse 1996:53-54). The social responsibility theory in based on the following premises (McQuail 1987:116-118)
The media have an important function to fulfill in society, especially with regard to supporting democratic- political principles. The Media are under an obligation to fulfill their societal functions, especially with regard to the transmission of information and the creation of a forum for different viewpoints. The independence of the media should be emphasized in relation to their responsibility towards society. Fourie (2001:9) say that this theory offers two types of solutions to the problem of reconciling freedom with social responsibility and these are; the development of public institutions, independent of government, for the control of the broadcasting industry. For instance, institutions such as the Independent Communication Authority of South Africa (ICASA) and the independent Broadcasting Complaints Commission (IBCC) and all these are from South Africa. In Zimbabwe social responsibility is fostered by the Voluntary Media Council of Zimbabwe, Zimbabwe Union of Journalist, MISA and MMPZ.
Secondly and lastly the continuing development of professionalism, which should advance and nurture balanced and impartial news presentation ( compare for instance the plight and recommendation of the South Africa Human Rights Commission for the development of professionalism and training in South Africa Journalism. All the above mentioned facts are there to reinforce social responsibility.
In addition, McQuail (ibid) identifies the following basic principles of the social responsibility theory about the media as follows; the media should accept certain responsibility towards society. For instance media should not defame, lie and invade in someone spheres of private. Furthermore, the media should fulfill their responsibilities mainly by setting professional standards with regard to the supply of information and the truth, accuracy, objectivity and balance of their reporting. For instance what was done by “The Daily News” about the Magunje woman as well as what the state run newspaper “The Herald “ did in 2008 to publish pictures of Pius Ncube naked was immoral and breach of ethics. Such stories shows lack of social responsibility and should be condoned for good media coverage that do not offend the public who are the consumers of the content. Again media should avoid publishing information that can lead to crime, violence or social disruption, as well as information that can offend ethnic or religious minorities (Fourie 2001) In fact the media should collectively represent all social groups and reflect the diversity of society by giving people access to a variety of viewpoints and the right to react to these views points. In other word as much as media is suppose to set the agenda, they should also function as a free market of ideas, thereby creating public spheres to the community they are serving( Mundt 1993:13)
Soviet Communist Theory
The fourth theory that is the Soviet Communist theory as initiated by Siebert and Schramm (1963) is a theory that was founded after the Russian Revolution of 1917. It exhibits authoritarian characteristics. Under this dispensation, the media are owned and controlled by the state, which represents the working class (proletariat). The working class owns the natural resources of production including the media, as directed through their membership of the communist party. In line with the views of Karl Marx (1818-1883) and Fredrick Engels (1820-1895), the communist press was to have no profit motive. The absence of advertisements was supposed to rid the media system of any capitalistic economic influence, enabling the media to publish the truth in support of working –class interest. The media were strictly regulated to promote these interests at all times
The soviet communist media theory postulates that the media should act in the interest of and be controlled by the working class. This probably answers the question that is being asked by the Marxist cultural studies scholars like Adorno and Horkheimer (1944), why the working class have failed to over throw the capitalist system. Media apart from being a tool of disseminating information its major aim is economical programmed to generate profit and to continue disseminating the dominant ideology. Again the soviet theory suggest that media should not be privately controlled and that media should perform positive functions for society, including socialization, education, information, motivation and mobilization of the masses. Censorship or other legal measures are justified to prevent or punish transgressions of societal norms. Oosthuizen (1989:12) states that through soviet theory, “the media must reflect a complete and objective view of the world in terms of Marxist-Leninist principles. Hence Roelofse (1996:56) and McQuail (1989:93), agree that media should support progressive (communist) movement in other parts of the world. In terms of control, the media are free under such a dispensation, but only in so far as it promotes the aim of the communist. Censorship and legislation are used to eliminate anti-proletariat media content, for instance about the benefits of capitalism. It can be observed that theoretically the people own the press, but actual control takes place through the Communist party and the government apparatus (Mundt 1993:13)
Moreover, in line with the function of mobilization, the media act as political agitators and propagandist (Oosthuizen 1989). Some of the principles of Soviet Communist theory are still applied in countries such as Soviet Bloc, China, Cuba and many Asiatic states hence such state are still battling to obtain media freedom. In Cuba, the application of this theory has not been restricted to the older or traditional media. British Broadcasting Corporation world reported in 2001 that people in Cuba were still not allowed to register an e-mail address in the name of a private person.
Development Theory
Development theory grew out of the unique circumstances of the Third World Countries, which included the absence of communication infrastructure and professional skills, poverty and illiteracy. The development theory has it that African state should report on development issues in their community such as the building of dams, construction of hospitals, clinics, schools and roads. The initiation of community newspapers such as ZIANA as well as the privately owned newspapers such as “The Sun”, “The Gweru Times”, “Chaminuka” and so forth are there to curtail the developmental theory. Apart from reporting about development such papers were suppose to be close to the community that they exist and promote the local languages such as isiNdebele, Shona and so forth. For instance the existence of new papers that uses local language such as “Umthunywa” from Bulawayo and “Kwayedza” from Harare are a result of development theory. The problem with these papers is that they do not serve the community that they are supposing to. For instance, Gweru Time, have been hijacked by the politicians to further their interest at the expense of the community. The reason is that it is funded by the state (ZANU PF). On the other hand the privately owned community papers such as “The Sun”, instead of serving the Gweru community, it serves the Gweru city Council’s interest dominated by the Movement for Democratic Party (MDC). Further more, Umthunywa as a Bulawayo paper serves the large community of Bulawayo whose dominant language is isiNdebele and Kwayedza serves the people of Harare whose dominant language is Shona.
The developing states are still largely dependent on their previous colonial rulers for their economic survival and media regulation and control. Hence in Zimbabwe our media systems are affected by the Rhodesian administration and media control pattern, this is because we inherited everything from our colonizers. This claim support the dependency theory which has been castigated by Emmanuel Wallenstein, who said that if developing countries are to develop like their colonizers they have to cut the umbilical code that keeps them attached. Although developing states have achieved their political independence like Zimbabwe in 1980, economically the struggle is still on. Hence development theory tries to address the Third World’s continues cultural dependence on the West mass media content. This is supported by the Africa tendency of borrowing news stories western media like BBC, CNN and Disney. (Roelofse 1996)
Oosthuizen (2002:44) asserts that the Third World proponent of this theory want the media to make a definite contribution towards improving the position of developing countries. At the same time, they want to ward off what they see as the potential negative effects of Western-dominated media and new agency reporting on these countries. This theory suggests that the media is expected to make a positive contribution to the national development process; The state should be able to restrict the media if economic interests and the development needs of society are stake. Therefore the good example is the Zimbabwean media law such as OSA, POSA, AIPPA and so forth. Such media laws questions the ownership, fund and the eliciting of private information illegal. Many journalists around Zimbabwe have fallen victim of the above media laws. Again the local media laws support the second aspect pointed by Oosthuizen (2002), when he says that preferential media coverage should be given to information about national, cultural and language issue. Hence the law about 75% local content and media ownership which gives first preference to the Zimbabwean are some amongst the laws that supports this claim.
Again the development theory encourages developing countries to report about their neighbors’ problems and progress. For instance this is way all our national both daily and weekly papers report on the developments that takes place in our neighboring countries such as Botswana, Namibia, South Africa and Mozambique. In addition, thie development theory claims that the state has the right to intervene to protect development objectives by restricting and censoring the media. State control and direct control over the media are justified. For instance, the Zimbabwean government have to justify themselves that the initiated the AIPPA, POSA, OSA and so forth for the good of the nation. The problem is that these media laws have invested much power to the minister of information and at time he abuses those powers for his own party benefit. For example, restricting media house and journalist registration is more negative to the independent papers like The Standard and Independent since they act as the watch dog against the abuse of human treatment and corruption by government top officials.
Most of the principles of this theory were clearly articulated by the International Commission for the study of communication also known as the MacBride commission or Nwico Debate. The name of this commission comes after the name its chairperson. The commissions recommendation included; the using the media and communication for national development, allotting more space and time in the media of the industrialized world for events in and background material about the developing world, the right of reply by a country in the case of inaccurate or malicious reporting of international news; training foreign journalist in the language, history, culture of the country they report from to avoid bias and the provision of more news in the media of developing countries about neighboring countries or such countries in other regions (UNESCO 1980;253-272)
Democratic-Participant Theory
Fourie (2001) states that this theory is primarily a reaction to the trends towards commercialization and monopoly-formation in privately controlled mass media, and towards centralization and bureaucratization in the public broadcasting. Proponent of development theory takes issues with the way in which libertarian media report about developing countries. They believe that the media in the developed world exhibit certain inherent flaws when it comes to dealing with the Third World countries. The democratic participant theory is also based on flaws in the current media system, but is viewed from the perspective of the First World. Supporters of this theory argued that democracy, as a system of government, has failed to deliver real representation for citizens at grass root level (Oosthuizen 2002:46)
The focus had to move from representative government to participatory government, in which civil society had to play a more prominent role. The good example is the MISA, MMPZ and others like Kubatana. They have pressure the government in removing the draconian laws that makes it difficult for the journalist to practice their professionalism. MISA have played an important role in assisting both the journalist and certain media house not to get their licenses to operate withdrawn. The democratic –participatory media theory reassesses the role of the media within this framework. The emphasis is primarily on securing access to the media for the citizenry.
The development of this theory was informed by the following factors; a growing concern about the commercialisation of monopoly formation within privately controlled media. The good examples are the online publication in Zimbabwe like The Zimbabwean situation, New Zimbabwe and so forth. This raised questions about whether media users were getting more of the same content of inferior quality, and whether the media were serving the needs of users. In addition, the move towards the centralization of public broadcasting gave rise to concerns about whether public broadcasting was fulfilling its promise to contribute towards the strengthening of democratic process. Development in the media where the emphasis was shifting from mass media catering for everyone to specialist media. Again sociological shift in society resulting from people moving away from city centers into the suburbs where they became part of new communities in which they established parameters for meaningful existence. As a result, local media dealing with issues that directly affect people’s daily lives became more important. The development of new media for instance interactive television, e-mail and the internet, which shifted control of the media away from institutions to the uses.
It can be noted that democratic-participant theory was formulated to account for political, economical and social developments in democratic societies. The basic principles of the theory are that; individual and minorities must be able to claim right of access to the media and have their needs served by the media. Again media content and organizations should be free from political and bureaucratic control. The media must serve the needs and interest of recipients; their existence should not be exclusively linked to the needs of media organizations, professional workers and advertisement. Final the democratic –participant theory assumes that communication is too important to be left to professionals (McQuail 1989, Roelofse 1996:56-60)
References
Biagi (1990) Media Impact: An introduction to Mass media. Sacramento. Wadsworth
Baldwin, R and Cave, M (1999) Understanding regulations. Oxford University Press.
Commission of Freedom of the Press. A free and responsible Press. Chicago: university of Chicago press, 1947
Fourie PJ (2001) The role and function of the Media: South Africa. Lansdowne, Juta
Griffin, EM (1991) A First Look at communication Theory. New York: McGraw-Hall
McQuail D (1987) mass Communication Theory: an introduction. London. Sage
Oosthuizen, LM (2002) Media Ethics: In the South African Context. South Africa. Lansdowne. Juta.
Siebert, FS et al (1963) Four Theories of the Press. Urbana: university of iIlions Press
http//fcim.vdu.it/e-media/md/civil-html
b) Libertarian
c) Soviet and communist
d) Social responsibility
e) Development theory
f) Democratic Participant theory
In this presentation six press model which among includes authoritarian theory, libertarian, soviet and communist, social responsibility, development and democratic participant theory will be discussed. Clear example that supports the theory will be given. However, various scholars like Siebert and Schramm (1956) argues that the first two theories were initiated for the press and the other two are general. Again development and democratic and participant theory were crafted to cater for the third developing world. Roelfse (1996) and McQuail (1987) asserts that the fifth and sixth theories gives a full description of a new kind of the press-government-public relationship which has in recent years developed in reaction to deficiencies, such as corruption and abuse of power in traditional democratic, free market societies. Key terms like normative authoritarian, libertarian, soviet, development and democracy will be defined within the context of the presentation.
The term normative can be defined as what the media should be like. Oosthuizen (2001) says that societal expectations about media conduct are articulated by the public philosophies of communication. These philosophers were initially dubbed social theories of the press and later became known as “normative media theories”. The theories were the result of, and culminated in the making of policy for the media in different societies, in that they led to a greater or less degree on implicit and explicit control. Oosthuizen (1989:12) on the basis of the particular social structure, and more specifically the political structure, every normative theory maps out a particular role or pattern of control for the media.
Fourie (2001) notes that by normative theory it basically means ideal views from different perspectives and within different conditions about the role of the press in society. In short it means “the press should or could do this or that” Roelofse (1996:48-60) argues that normative theories are thus mainly concerned with the freedom of, or restrictions on the newspaper industry in various situations and how this impacts on the function of the press (media) society
Authoritarian Theory
Authoritarian theory is the oldest of the media theories and originated in the authoritarian climate of the late renaissance, and with the development of the printing press. The good example is the media operation in Yugoslavia during the time of Milosevic. Part of the popular uprising against his rule in October 2000, was to attack media institutions which had no other function but to publicise Milosevic and his government’s propaganda. In an authoritarian society the press was seen as a very powerful tool, and these in power the clergy and politicians used it to convey the information they wanted the public to have. The potentates also controlled the press and reserved the right to license publication and censor content. (Siebert et al 1963) Judging from this observation the emphasis was therefore on the control of the press to ensure the promotion of the interest of those in power. For example Fourie (2001) notes that “ The fascism that is the philosophy and practice of the absolute power of the state and the subservience of the individual found in Hitler’s Germany, Mussolini’s Italy , Franco’s Spain, South Africa’s apartheid regime and in many African such as Zimbabwe is and was rooted in authoritarianism and totalitarianism. This gave much freedom to the rulers, little or no freedom to the ruled, and which defined press freedom as a right vested in the state (Fourie 2001).
Oosthuizen (2002) says that according to authoritarian theory, the media are expected:
a) Not to undermine the vested power and interests of the public
b) To be subordinate to vested power and authority
c) Not to contravene the prevailing moral and political values.
Deviation from the above stated points can lead to censorship, criminal charges being brought against media practitioners or institutes that for example, criticize the authorities’ deviation from policy or violate moral codes. In addition, licensing of the media with specific conditions that must be adhered to. In Zimbabwe from year 2000 to 2008 many journalist who reported negatively about the government’s corruption, ruthless, violation of human right and injustice by top officials were arrested, tortured and incarcerated. Hence although it is a contested terrain to claim that Zimbabwean media used authoritarian theory, the above facts justifies the claim.
Libertarian Theory
This theory is closely linked to the rise of democracy and the political, economic and religious freedom associated with this form of a government that emerged in the late seventieth century (Roelofse 1996:56) People are regarded as rational beings that could make their own decisions, by using information supplied to them by the press. Fourie (2001) suggest that libertarian theory enables those masses to distinguish between the truth and falsehood, and between good and evil. The search for truth is regarded as an inalienable natural right. The United States of America (USA) and Britain have had this fourth estate along with the legislative, executive and judicial authorities in the governing process (Siebert et al 1963:3-4)
Oosthuzein (2002) argues that freedom of the press was seen as essential to inform the free market place of ideas. Diverse press content was essential for the proper functioning of society, where different views had to compete for supremacy among the populace who could make up their own minds about what they wanted to support. In terms of this media theory: The media should be free of external censorship for example the government’s interference in content. Every individual or group should be free to publish and distribute information for instance if one wants to start a newspaper, they should be able to do so. Editorial attacks on government or political parties are acceptable, since the new media is expected to be the public’s watch dog as far as government conduct is concerned. For instance, what daily news was doing was health for the well being of the society especially with regard to free dissemination of information. There should be no coercion to publish anything including government initiatives. False reporting is viewed in the same light as published the truth. No restriction should be placed on the acquisition of information through legal channels. Again they should be no restriction on the export and import of messages across national boarders, thereby promoting the free flow of information (McQuail 1989: 89)
It can be argued that the emerging of global conglomerate such as Disney, News Corporation, Cable News network, Bertelsmann, Viacom and many others is a good example that supports the libertarian press theory. On the other hand it can be argued that in Zimbabwe libertarian theory exist, since we have independent media such as The Financial gazette, The Standard, The Independent and many more. However, it can be argued that the claim that Zimbabwe have and believe that libertarian theory should be incorporated to the media run; electronic media has failed to honor that. In Zimbabwe electronic media has the monopoly and is dominated by the state. Zimbabwean government uses all media especially the state controlled one as a mouth piece to further their interest at the expense of the masses. Unlike in Europe were the government since the time of Reagan administration in the United State of America has detached itself from having influence and control of media. Hence media controls itself and fulfils the oligopoly firm theory against monopoly that has no respect for the masses interest.
The Social Responsibility Theory
Exponent of this theory attempt to reconcile the ideas of freedom and independence with responsibility towards society (Roelofse 1996:53-54). The social responsibility theory in based on the following premises (McQuail 1987:116-118)
The media have an important function to fulfill in society, especially with regard to supporting democratic- political principles. The Media are under an obligation to fulfill their societal functions, especially with regard to the transmission of information and the creation of a forum for different viewpoints. The independence of the media should be emphasized in relation to their responsibility towards society. Fourie (2001:9) say that this theory offers two types of solutions to the problem of reconciling freedom with social responsibility and these are; the development of public institutions, independent of government, for the control of the broadcasting industry. For instance, institutions such as the Independent Communication Authority of South Africa (ICASA) and the independent Broadcasting Complaints Commission (IBCC) and all these are from South Africa. In Zimbabwe social responsibility is fostered by the Voluntary Media Council of Zimbabwe, Zimbabwe Union of Journalist, MISA and MMPZ.
Secondly and lastly the continuing development of professionalism, which should advance and nurture balanced and impartial news presentation ( compare for instance the plight and recommendation of the South Africa Human Rights Commission for the development of professionalism and training in South Africa Journalism. All the above mentioned facts are there to reinforce social responsibility.
In addition, McQuail (ibid) identifies the following basic principles of the social responsibility theory about the media as follows; the media should accept certain responsibility towards society. For instance media should not defame, lie and invade in someone spheres of private. Furthermore, the media should fulfill their responsibilities mainly by setting professional standards with regard to the supply of information and the truth, accuracy, objectivity and balance of their reporting. For instance what was done by “The Daily News” about the Magunje woman as well as what the state run newspaper “The Herald “ did in 2008 to publish pictures of Pius Ncube naked was immoral and breach of ethics. Such stories shows lack of social responsibility and should be condoned for good media coverage that do not offend the public who are the consumers of the content. Again media should avoid publishing information that can lead to crime, violence or social disruption, as well as information that can offend ethnic or religious minorities (Fourie 2001) In fact the media should collectively represent all social groups and reflect the diversity of society by giving people access to a variety of viewpoints and the right to react to these views points. In other word as much as media is suppose to set the agenda, they should also function as a free market of ideas, thereby creating public spheres to the community they are serving( Mundt 1993:13)
Soviet Communist Theory
The fourth theory that is the Soviet Communist theory as initiated by Siebert and Schramm (1963) is a theory that was founded after the Russian Revolution of 1917. It exhibits authoritarian characteristics. Under this dispensation, the media are owned and controlled by the state, which represents the working class (proletariat). The working class owns the natural resources of production including the media, as directed through their membership of the communist party. In line with the views of Karl Marx (1818-1883) and Fredrick Engels (1820-1895), the communist press was to have no profit motive. The absence of advertisements was supposed to rid the media system of any capitalistic economic influence, enabling the media to publish the truth in support of working –class interest. The media were strictly regulated to promote these interests at all times
The soviet communist media theory postulates that the media should act in the interest of and be controlled by the working class. This probably answers the question that is being asked by the Marxist cultural studies scholars like Adorno and Horkheimer (1944), why the working class have failed to over throw the capitalist system. Media apart from being a tool of disseminating information its major aim is economical programmed to generate profit and to continue disseminating the dominant ideology. Again the soviet theory suggest that media should not be privately controlled and that media should perform positive functions for society, including socialization, education, information, motivation and mobilization of the masses. Censorship or other legal measures are justified to prevent or punish transgressions of societal norms. Oosthuizen (1989:12) states that through soviet theory, “the media must reflect a complete and objective view of the world in terms of Marxist-Leninist principles. Hence Roelofse (1996:56) and McQuail (1989:93), agree that media should support progressive (communist) movement in other parts of the world. In terms of control, the media are free under such a dispensation, but only in so far as it promotes the aim of the communist. Censorship and legislation are used to eliminate anti-proletariat media content, for instance about the benefits of capitalism. It can be observed that theoretically the people own the press, but actual control takes place through the Communist party and the government apparatus (Mundt 1993:13)
Moreover, in line with the function of mobilization, the media act as political agitators and propagandist (Oosthuizen 1989). Some of the principles of Soviet Communist theory are still applied in countries such as Soviet Bloc, China, Cuba and many Asiatic states hence such state are still battling to obtain media freedom. In Cuba, the application of this theory has not been restricted to the older or traditional media. British Broadcasting Corporation world reported in 2001 that people in Cuba were still not allowed to register an e-mail address in the name of a private person.
Development Theory
Development theory grew out of the unique circumstances of the Third World Countries, which included the absence of communication infrastructure and professional skills, poverty and illiteracy. The development theory has it that African state should report on development issues in their community such as the building of dams, construction of hospitals, clinics, schools and roads. The initiation of community newspapers such as ZIANA as well as the privately owned newspapers such as “The Sun”, “The Gweru Times”, “Chaminuka” and so forth are there to curtail the developmental theory. Apart from reporting about development such papers were suppose to be close to the community that they exist and promote the local languages such as isiNdebele, Shona and so forth. For instance the existence of new papers that uses local language such as “Umthunywa” from Bulawayo and “Kwayedza” from Harare are a result of development theory. The problem with these papers is that they do not serve the community that they are supposing to. For instance, Gweru Time, have been hijacked by the politicians to further their interest at the expense of the community. The reason is that it is funded by the state (ZANU PF). On the other hand the privately owned community papers such as “The Sun”, instead of serving the Gweru community, it serves the Gweru city Council’s interest dominated by the Movement for Democratic Party (MDC). Further more, Umthunywa as a Bulawayo paper serves the large community of Bulawayo whose dominant language is isiNdebele and Kwayedza serves the people of Harare whose dominant language is Shona.
The developing states are still largely dependent on their previous colonial rulers for their economic survival and media regulation and control. Hence in Zimbabwe our media systems are affected by the Rhodesian administration and media control pattern, this is because we inherited everything from our colonizers. This claim support the dependency theory which has been castigated by Emmanuel Wallenstein, who said that if developing countries are to develop like their colonizers they have to cut the umbilical code that keeps them attached. Although developing states have achieved their political independence like Zimbabwe in 1980, economically the struggle is still on. Hence development theory tries to address the Third World’s continues cultural dependence on the West mass media content. This is supported by the Africa tendency of borrowing news stories western media like BBC, CNN and Disney. (Roelofse 1996)
Oosthuizen (2002:44) asserts that the Third World proponent of this theory want the media to make a definite contribution towards improving the position of developing countries. At the same time, they want to ward off what they see as the potential negative effects of Western-dominated media and new agency reporting on these countries. This theory suggests that the media is expected to make a positive contribution to the national development process; The state should be able to restrict the media if economic interests and the development needs of society are stake. Therefore the good example is the Zimbabwean media law such as OSA, POSA, AIPPA and so forth. Such media laws questions the ownership, fund and the eliciting of private information illegal. Many journalists around Zimbabwe have fallen victim of the above media laws. Again the local media laws support the second aspect pointed by Oosthuizen (2002), when he says that preferential media coverage should be given to information about national, cultural and language issue. Hence the law about 75% local content and media ownership which gives first preference to the Zimbabwean are some amongst the laws that supports this claim.
Again the development theory encourages developing countries to report about their neighbors’ problems and progress. For instance this is way all our national both daily and weekly papers report on the developments that takes place in our neighboring countries such as Botswana, Namibia, South Africa and Mozambique. In addition, thie development theory claims that the state has the right to intervene to protect development objectives by restricting and censoring the media. State control and direct control over the media are justified. For instance, the Zimbabwean government have to justify themselves that the initiated the AIPPA, POSA, OSA and so forth for the good of the nation. The problem is that these media laws have invested much power to the minister of information and at time he abuses those powers for his own party benefit. For example, restricting media house and journalist registration is more negative to the independent papers like The Standard and Independent since they act as the watch dog against the abuse of human treatment and corruption by government top officials.
Most of the principles of this theory were clearly articulated by the International Commission for the study of communication also known as the MacBride commission or Nwico Debate. The name of this commission comes after the name its chairperson. The commissions recommendation included; the using the media and communication for national development, allotting more space and time in the media of the industrialized world for events in and background material about the developing world, the right of reply by a country in the case of inaccurate or malicious reporting of international news; training foreign journalist in the language, history, culture of the country they report from to avoid bias and the provision of more news in the media of developing countries about neighboring countries or such countries in other regions (UNESCO 1980;253-272)
Democratic-Participant Theory
Fourie (2001) states that this theory is primarily a reaction to the trends towards commercialization and monopoly-formation in privately controlled mass media, and towards centralization and bureaucratization in the public broadcasting. Proponent of development theory takes issues with the way in which libertarian media report about developing countries. They believe that the media in the developed world exhibit certain inherent flaws when it comes to dealing with the Third World countries. The democratic participant theory is also based on flaws in the current media system, but is viewed from the perspective of the First World. Supporters of this theory argued that democracy, as a system of government, has failed to deliver real representation for citizens at grass root level (Oosthuizen 2002:46)
The focus had to move from representative government to participatory government, in which civil society had to play a more prominent role. The good example is the MISA, MMPZ and others like Kubatana. They have pressure the government in removing the draconian laws that makes it difficult for the journalist to practice their professionalism. MISA have played an important role in assisting both the journalist and certain media house not to get their licenses to operate withdrawn. The democratic –participatory media theory reassesses the role of the media within this framework. The emphasis is primarily on securing access to the media for the citizenry.
The development of this theory was informed by the following factors; a growing concern about the commercialisation of monopoly formation within privately controlled media. The good examples are the online publication in Zimbabwe like The Zimbabwean situation, New Zimbabwe and so forth. This raised questions about whether media users were getting more of the same content of inferior quality, and whether the media were serving the needs of users. In addition, the move towards the centralization of public broadcasting gave rise to concerns about whether public broadcasting was fulfilling its promise to contribute towards the strengthening of democratic process. Development in the media where the emphasis was shifting from mass media catering for everyone to specialist media. Again sociological shift in society resulting from people moving away from city centers into the suburbs where they became part of new communities in which they established parameters for meaningful existence. As a result, local media dealing with issues that directly affect people’s daily lives became more important. The development of new media for instance interactive television, e-mail and the internet, which shifted control of the media away from institutions to the uses.
It can be noted that democratic-participant theory was formulated to account for political, economical and social developments in democratic societies. The basic principles of the theory are that; individual and minorities must be able to claim right of access to the media and have their needs served by the media. Again media content and organizations should be free from political and bureaucratic control. The media must serve the needs and interest of recipients; their existence should not be exclusively linked to the needs of media organizations, professional workers and advertisement. Final the democratic –participant theory assumes that communication is too important to be left to professionals (McQuail 1989, Roelofse 1996:56-60)
References
Biagi (1990) Media Impact: An introduction to Mass media. Sacramento. Wadsworth
Baldwin, R and Cave, M (1999) Understanding regulations. Oxford University Press.
Commission of Freedom of the Press. A free and responsible Press. Chicago: university of Chicago press, 1947
Fourie PJ (2001) The role and function of the Media: South Africa. Lansdowne, Juta
Griffin, EM (1991) A First Look at communication Theory. New York: McGraw-Hall
McQuail D (1987) mass Communication Theory: an introduction. London. Sage
Oosthuizen, LM (2002) Media Ethics: In the South African Context. South Africa. Lansdowne. Juta.
Siebert, FS et al (1963) Four Theories of the Press. Urbana: university of iIlions Press
http//fcim.vdu.it/e-media/md/civil-html
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