Explain what is meant by the term ‘ideology’ and its significance for media and communication studies.
Topics:
Develop an essay that addresses one of the following topics. Make sure that you use all of the sources in a substantive way. Each source should play a different role in your paper; for example, one may be used to explain a theory or concept that you are using, while another will be source that you analyze using the concept. For every essay, you must include a paragraph after the bibliography in which you explain why you found each of the outside sources (one academic, one non-academic) useful for your topic, and, in the case of the non-academic source, why it is credible and/or representative.
Topic options:
1. Explain what is meant by the term ‘ideology’ and its significance for media and communication studies. Develop a specific case study showing an ideology at work in the media. What is the ideological perspective evident in your case study, whose interests does it reflect, and how is that perspective ‘naturalized’? In selecting a case study, keep in mind the various ideologies we have looked at, in particular (but not only) deeply rooted ideologies of gender, race, class, nation/nationalism, capitalism, or religion. The essay should use the idea of ‘framing’ in developing the analysis.