Ideology in the Era of Mass Media: A Theoretical Framework for the Reconceptualisation of the Concept

Abstract

The article points to the need within the sociology of ideology to address the question first whether die classical concept of ideology is capable o f providing an adequate analysis of social phenomena considering the expansion of the means of mass communication and electronic media and secondly how is it possible to reconceptualise the concept of ideology in the light of these new developments. The dieoretical framework of reference of the article presupposes J. B. Thompson's theory of ideology which foregrounds several notions: dial both culture and consciousness are mediated by the media, that due to electronic media ideology has become a mass phenomena within contemporary society, that the individual reception o f political phenomena is beyond state control and that the personalisation of political contents through television has direct bearing on the agents of political power. In this context, die analysis of symbolical forms and messages has become a condition for understanding the effects of ideology in the era of mass communication and electronic media.