THE REVOLUTION AND DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPANT MEDIA THEORIES

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LEVEL 100 MASS COMMUNICATION CLASS                 GROUP SIX

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OSEI WIREKOAA IRENE……………BACJ2014062

MUSTAPHA SAFIA…………..BACP2014027

MPARE RITA OHENEWA ……..BACJ2014053

LANSAH SULLEY………………..BACP2014022

This presentation will take a look at the revolutionary media theory as well as the democratic participant theory, bringing out their nature and strengths.

 Revolutionary concept is a normative theory describing a system in which media are used in the service of a revolution. A revolution is described as a popular uprising against an existing system. There have been revolutions all over the world and the type of media that served under such revolutions give credence to the revolutionary media theory. We will like establish the context that every media theory has a bearing of the political system under which it thrives therefore we proceed to give examples of revolutionary media theories and how they pan out with emphasis on the soviet communist theory.

The soviet –communist theory is an example of  a revolutionary theory. To understand the nature of this media theory, one needs to understand soviet communism as a political system because of  it’s influences on the media .

The Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary defined Communism as   a theory advocating elimination of private property. It goes on further to explain a system in which goods are owned in common and are available to all as needed
 a doctrine based on revolutionary Marxian socialism and Marxism-Leninism that was the official ideology of the USSR. it is also important to  explain Maxism.

Marxism was defined by the same source as the political, economic and social principles and policies advocated by Marx, especially a theory and practice of socialism including the labor theory of value, dialectical materialism, the class struggle and dictatorship of the proletariat until the establishment of a classless society. Marxism-Leninism was defined as a theory and practice of Communism developed by Lenin from the doctrines of Marx. 

With this system, the state is the authority that redistributes all resources equally for the citizens to benefits. Resources such as healthcare, education and information are all the preserve of the government.

 In the former Soviet Union, a single political party controlled the government, which in turn controlled the goods and means of production, and thus distributed them to the proletariat, or community.

  The person who used Marxs ideas to establish a state based on Communism was Vladimir Lenin.  Lenin felt the working class could not bring about a revolution and thus needed a professional group of revolutionaries to guide it. Lenin and the Bolsheviks (Majorityists) came to power in 1917 and changed their name to the Communist Party. A dictatorship was established to convert the Soviet Union from Capitalism to Socialism (Britannica Online). 

 Lenin’s successor, Joseph Stalin, forcibly accomplished the transition from Capitalism to Socialism through the nationalization of industry and the collectivization of agriculture. Stalin pushed rapid industrialization although it caused great material hardship. He also used police terror to suppress opposition (Britannica Online). 
 Communism spread after World War II, when the victorious Soviet Red Army liberated and sponsored the formation of Communist governments in Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary, Poland, Romania and North Korea. Other independent communist regimes were created in Yugoslavia and Albania. Stalinism, Stalin’s form of Communist rule, became the model for these newly formed Communist governments (Britannica Online). 

This is the system under which the soviet communist media theory thrived. This theory is derived from the ideologies of Marx and Engel that "the ideas of the ruling classes are the ruling ideas". It was thought that the entire mass media was saturated with bourgeois ideology. Lenin thought of private ownership as being incompatible with freedom of press and that modern technological means of information must be controlled for enjoying effective freedom of press.

The theory advocated that the sole purpose of mass media was to educate the great masses of workers and not to give out information. The public was encouraged to give feedback as it was the only way the media would be able to cater to its interests.

 Mickiewicz (1988) found that the media in the Soviet Union had distinctive and officially prescribed functions.  The primary mission of the media, according to Mickiewicz, was the socialization of the person receiving the message. So, the media were educators, just as schools, the courts of law, the family and other institutions of education. In the Soviet Union, Mickiewicz found that education was the primary mission for all of these aforementioned institutions because they have a delegated authority from the state to socialize and educate according to the established criterion (p. 27). The source of this authority dates back to Lenin and his premature revolution according to orthodox Marxist theory. Marx believed the revolution would occur when the proletariat was in a state of commonality, when common social bonds united them, eliminating deviance, dissatisfaction, selfishness and acquisitiveness. Since Lenin’s revolution occurred before this state of commonality of the proletariat, Lenin believed the changes in the popular mentality had to be changed from a higher authority, and thus the imposition of a delegated authority to socialize and educate (Mickiewicz, p. 27). 
 The media had several functions in the USSR One function was to integrate the expansive, multi-lingual country that was to be the first socialist state. Overall, the medias task had two principal dimensions, according to Mickiewicz. First, the media had to change the ethical and moral outlook of the population. She said of this dimension: The psychological orientation underlying the society of the future, when full communism has been achieved, requires cooperation and collectivism and eschews selfishness, careerism, greed, and, in general, the development of an individual that might supersede the societal collective (p. 28). The second dimension of the medias task was to rouse the population to contribute to the economic goals of the state. Thus, mobilizing the population to meet production goals became a critical role of Soviet media (Mickiewicz, p. 28). The media were used to mobilize the public to achieve the goals of the state: Communism would only be met when the population’s internal value system had changed within a context of enhanced economic production. 
 In Soviet terms, newsworthiness was something very different from the Western concept of what is newsworthy. Many Western stories were considered inappropriate covering domestic natural disasters, accidents, crime or other sensational events were considered dwelling on negative events. Thus, portraying the underside of life would encourage or suggest the wrong behavior, undermining the positive role models the newspaper or television station must portray in terms of their role as educators of the population (Mickiewicz, p. 29). 
 Advertising is scarce in the Soviet media system, used only to supplement policy messages or to encourage buying patterns to compensate for holes in the economy (Mickiewicz, p. 29). Fast-breaking news also had another meaning. The importance or newsworthiness of fast-breaking news was evaluated in terms of its place in history, in Marxist-Leninist history. Therefore, since history was seen according to this doctrine, coverage of a numerically insignificant group of demonstrators opposing a bourgeois government may have been considered newsworthy because it was important in terms of Marxist-Leninist history theory (Mickiewicz, p. 30). In essence the soviet communist system has some semblance of the authoritarian press system but the unique thing is that there is no element of profit in its operation.                   

Any real revolution involves masses of people breaking with the general ideas they have been brought up with and adopting a new way of seeing both the world and their own role within it. Revolutionaries always begin as minorities attempting to propagate the new world view. And that involves, for long periods of time, not only hostility from the old ruling class, but also indifference from many of the members of the oppressed class. There is no way to avoid this period of unpopularity, since in any society the ruling class does dominate ideologically. Its ideas are indeed the ruling ideas.

Revolutionaries cannot begin to win this battle for ideas unless they find some way of connecting with the experiences of the mass of ‘ordinary’ ‘non-political’ people. They have to be able to show that the revolutionary view of the world better fits with at least some of these experiences in a better way than does the dominant ideology.

But revolutionaries are not interested simply in winning people to new ideas. They also have to be concerned with getting people to act on the basis of these, to say not merely what is wrong, but also, above all, what is to be done. That is where the media comes in

Talk of the media under the Jerry Rawlings regime, the Quadaffi regime, the Hugo Chavez regime, the French revolution and the like. They all have the same concepts. As such their advantages are binding.

ADVANTAGES OF THE REVOLUTIONARY MEDIA THEORY

·         THE MEDIA IS A STRONG RALLYING POINT TO EDUCATE THE MASSES

·         THE GOVERNMENT EXERCISES CONTROL TO GET ITS MESSAGE TO THE MASSES THE WAY IT WANTS IT

·         THE GOVERNMENT IS ABLE TO INSTILL CHANGE IN THE PEOPLE THROUGH THE MEDIA

·         VALUES SUCH AS PATRIOTISM CAN EASILY BE INSTILLED IN THE MASSES FOR NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT.

·         THE GOVERNMENT FINDS A WAY OF CURBING INTRUDING PROPAGANDA BECAUSE IT CONTROLS THE MEDIA CONTENT.

·         THE MEDIA IS A MASSIVE TOOL FOR CAPACITY BUILDING AND DISSEMINATION OF GOVERNMENT POLICY AND IMPLEMENTATION ESPECIALLY UNDER THE SOVIET COMMUNIST THEORY.

DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPANT MEDIA THEORY

Democratic-participant theory was proposed in recognition of new media developments and of increasing criticism of the dominance of the main mass media by private or public monopolies. From the 1960’s onwards call could be heard for alternative, grass-roots media, expressing the needs of citizens. The theory supports the right to relevant local information, the right to answer back and the right to use the new means of communication for interaction and social action in small-scale settings of community, interest groups or subculture. This theory challenged the necessity for and desirability of uniform, centralized, high-cost, commercialized, professionalized or state-controlled media. In their place should be encouraged multiple, small-scale, local, non-institutional, committed media which link senders to receivers and also favor horizontal patterns of interaction.

Practical expressions of the theory

The practical expressions of the theory are many and varied, including the underground or alternative press, community cable television, micro-media in rural settings, wall posters Media for women and ethnic minorities. The theory reflects the market as a suitable institutional form, as well as all top-down professional provision and control. Participation and interaction are key concepts.

Democratic-participant theory advocates media support for cultural pluralism at a grass-root level. Media are to be used to stimulate and empower pluralistic groups. Unlike social responsibility theory, which assumes that mass media can perform this function, democratic-participant theory call for development of innovative, ‘small’ media that can be directly controlled by group members. If they cannot afford such media, then government subsidies should be provided to them existing small media should by identified and funded. Training programs should be established to teach group members how to operate small media.

The democratic participant media is the type of media practiced in Ghana today with the freedom to the press. It is also very common for media outlets to make provision for their audience to have a say in their content through emailing phone-ins or articles. Media houses like TV3,Metro TV, The Graphic among others all operate in this way. The chief proponents of this theory however is the  United states of America and The United Kingdom, the home of CNN and BBC

STRENGTHS OF DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPANT THEORY

·         THE TARGET AUDIENCE HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY TO MAKE THEIR VIEWS HEARD

·         THE TARGET AUDIENCE HAVE THE RIGHT TO ALTERNATIVE NEWS SOURCES

·         IT ADDRESSES THE INADEQUACIES OF THE AUTHORITARIAN AND LIBERTARIAN THEORIES

·         IT HELPS ELIMINATE MARGINALIZATION AS ALL PERSONS ARE GIVEN EQUAL ACCESS TO THE MEDIA.

·         MEDIA IS THE INSTRUMENT TO CHAMPION DEMOCRACY

·         IT PROMOTES SMALL GROUP MEDIA

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Communism. Britannica Online [On-line], Available: http://www.eb.com:180/cgi-bin/g?DocF=micro/138/32.html

 Communism Online [On-line], Available: http://wgel.com/CommunismOnline/MajorPlayers.htm. 

Marxism. Britannica Online [On-line], Available: http://www.eb.com:180/cgi-bin/g?DocF=micro/379/14.html.

Mickeiwicz, E. (1988). Split Signals: Television and Politics in the Soviet Union. New York: Oxford University Press.

 http://www.slideshare.net/ArielForeman/normative-theory-2225358

SIMA'S ASSETS TO BE CONFISCATED

The Narcotic Control Board (NACOB) says it is in the process of confiscating the property of convicted fashion Icon, Ibrahim Sima.

The Board said the former boss of EXOPA Modeling Agency’s belongings, when confiscated will not be given to the state instead be sold to the public.

The acting Executive Director of NACOB, Yaw Akrasi Sarpong who confirmed this to Citi News in an interview said, this move will help prevent some individuals linked to Mr Sima from sponsoring him while in prison.

He disclosed that there is a trend emerging where drug barons do not care going to prison because they have undisclosed wealth with which they get catered for while in incarceration.

“Everyday you have about hundred people who have worked with couriers, they are not bothered because when they go to prison the barons look after them and in the case of Ghana in particular where the legal space is common law jurisdiction, there is a lot of avenues of people to be defended.

“Starting from the Ibrahim Sima case, recently we published a list of all his assets that we know, if nobody claims ownership to those assets we will start a process of confiscating them and when we confiscate them we will not give them to the state we will sell them out”.

Ibrahim Sima was jailed for 15 years for a narcotic offence in March 2011. He is currently undergoing psycho-counselling at the prison's diagnostic centre to help him settle in his new environment.

Secret Tape says ¢9million for Mills, not ¢90m

Secret Tape says ¢9million for Mills, not ¢90m

 

Herbert Mensah

The controversial security tapes supposedly recorded by security personnel attached to the Osu Castle, which have generated hullabaloo in the media and political landscape in the past days, have revealed that ¢90 billion (GH¢9million) will be used as campaign money for President Mills’ re-election bid and not GH¢90 million as was put out in the media domain.

DAILY GUIDE on Sunday May 15, listened to nine minutes of a recorded conversation, believed to be two hours long, during which the voice of a man who claims to have connections with the Castle said that 90 billion old cedis had been allocated by President Atta Mills’ team for the campaign to get the president re-elected as National Democratic Congress (NDC) flag-bearer.

Herbert Mensah, businessman and an aide to former President Jerry John Rawlings, had told Peace Fm that the ¢90 billion was mentioned on the tape to have been allocated for each of the ten regions in the country for the Mills campaign, which amounts to a colossal GH¢90 million.

President Mills has denied ever sanctioning GH¢90m, equivalent to $60 million, for his campaign and even asked the security agencies to investigate the matter for Ghanaians to know the truth.

The President said, “Where I have reached in my career, it is not the time for me to disgrace myself. I have therefore ordered our security agencies to conduct investigations into the allegation so that Ghanaians would know the truth.”

The identity of the voice on the tape was not clear, but he mentioned that he is a researcher who is usually engaged by top politicians to embark on research for them during electioneering periods.

He noted on the tape that the President Mills campaign team planned to allocate ¢30billion out of the ¢90billion to campaign in the Ashanti region alone, in anticipation of winning more votes from the region.

The voice also named four close aides and deputy ministers in the Mills administration, Baba Jamal, Koku Anyidoho, Alex Segbefia and Nii Lantey Vanderpuye, as well as three other people from the Ashanti region who have been tasked to embark on a ‘special operation’ for the Mills’ campaign.

The three people from the Ashanti region who were named on the tape include KMA Boss Samuel Sarpong, NDC Ashanti Regional chairman, Yaw Obimpeh and one Mr. Owusu who is said to be a staunch member of the party.

The ‘special job’ that the seven-member campaign team has been tasked to perform for the president’s re-election campaign bid was not explained on the controversial tape.

Herbert Mensah, a close associate of the Rawlingses who made the claim of the existence of the ‘security tape’ in a radio interview last week, has so far not released the tape to any media house but DAILY GUIDE learnt that some radio stations might play it this morning.

DAILY GUIDE approached him over the weekend for a copy of the tape which is now the major topic in town but he declined to make copies of it available. However, a reporter was allowed to listen to nine minutes of what they said were excerpts of the over two-hour recorded tape.

The person whose voice is on the tape said he is a researcher and that a security person at the Castle, the seat of government, who was present at those meetings informed him about the president’s campaign funding.

DAILY GUIDE has since then spoken to some delegates of the NDC in the Ashanti region who have confirmed that President Mills’ team wants to use money to induce delegates for votes.

A leading member of the party who demanded anonymity hinted that NDC National Women’s Organizer, Anita De-Sousou, recently promised that government would in June make available ¢200million loans available to all the 39 constituency women’s organizers in the Ashanti region.

Madam De Sousou was also reported to have promised an additional ¢100 million loan package for the deputy women’s organizers in the region.

Anita has denied making any such promise to the women organizers when contacted by DAILY GUIDE, saying, “I am sorry I don’t know anything about that story; I am sorry I don’t have an idea about that money.”

BNI Storms Adom Fm
In a related development, the premises of Adom FM was raided by BNI operatives last Friday when the station announced that copies of the controversial tape would play on air today.

Sources said the BNI’s move was ostensibly to prevent the station from playing the tape. A courier who was allegedly on his way to Adom FM to deliver the tape disappeared upon seeing a BNI operative.

The man, who had apparently been tasked to deliver the recording to Adom FM to enable Adakabre to air the recording on Monday, on his arrival became aware of the presence of BNI officers at the station.

Following a series of highly-publicized events, the BNI stormed the offices of Adom FM on Friday morning, ostensibly to prevent tapes suggesting financial and physical intimidation on the part of persons close to or a part of the President’s re-election team from being played.

On Friday morning, after announcements referring to the tape, the BNI stormed Adom Fm’s offices. Staff were alarmed as the BNI officers entered aggressively, with panicked and stressed faces.

A staff of Adom Fm was reported to have said, “They thought we already had the tape so they wanted to come for it.”

Ronaldo Hits 50-Goal Milestone

Cristiano Ronaldo has joined an elite group of players to have scored 50 goals in a single European season when he netted twice for Real Madrid on Sunday evening in a 3-1 win over Villarreal at El Madrigal in the Primera Division.

The Portugal international attacker recorded his milestone 50th goal on 22 minutes with a trademark freekick, rifling in a dipping, curling shot from 20 yards out to give his side a 2-0 lead over the Yellow Submarine. He repeated the trick four minutes into injury time, scoring an almost identical freekick to notch up his 51st of the season in all competitions.

It ensured that he became only the second player in Spanish football history to break the 50-goal-a-season mark. His close rival, Barcelona forward Lionel Messi was the first when he reached the landmark on April 23, 2011 against Osasuna.

It was also Ronaldo’s 37th and 38th goals in La Liga this campaign, allowing him to equal the record number of goals scored in the league in one season. With just one more round left to play, CR7 can now break Telmo Zarra and Hugo Sanchez’s record of 38 league goals in a single term.

The Mexican legendary striker scored that many goals in 1989-1990 while featuring for Madrid, equalling the feat set by Zarra for Athletic Bilbao in 1950-51.

However, Zarra scored 38 goals in 30 matches at the time and although Ronaldo could well break this record with Madrid to host Almeria at the Santiago Bernabeu next week, he would fail on games to goals ratio. Nevertheless, the 26-year-old has already bettered the accomplishment of Brazilian legend Ronaldo (47), Zarra (48) and Hungary's Ferenc Puskas (49).

Spio Garbrah Hits Town…Informs JJ About Decision To Contest Tuesday

An aide to Dr. Ekwow Spio Gabrah, Alhaji Mohammed Nasiru has disclosed that Dr Spio Garbrah will be meeting former President Jerry John Rawlings on Tuesday afternoon to formerly inform him of his decision to contest for the position of flagbearer in the upcoming National delegates Congress in July to be held in Sunyani in the Brong Ahafo Region.

In an exclusive interview with the news desk of X-FM, Ahaji Nasiru further stated the meeting will also be used by Dr. Spio-Garbrah to announce his arrival into the country as well as give other details about the formal launch of his campaign and other matters arising.

Dr. Garbrah, a leading member of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) stunned party followers and political pundits when he declared his intention to contest the flagbearship slot of the NDC which hitherto was a close fight between former first lady Nana Konadu Agyemang Rawlings and incumbent President John Mills by announcing his resignation as a vice chairman of the party.

Most party followers especially from Mrs. Rawlings’ camp believe Dr. Garbrah’s participation will be a blow to the former first lady’s bid since he has been seen in political arena as an associate of the former first family.

But others also believe, it is to introduce himself and announce to potential delegates about his desire to contest for the leadership position of the party in 2016, and might probably resign at the final stages of the delegates’ congress at Sunyani.

This will be the second time the former Minister of Communications and C.E.O. of Commonwealth Telecommunications Organization (CTO) based in London will be vying for the leadership slot of the NDC after an abysmal performance against the then Candidate Mills in 2006.

ATTA MILLS MAGIC RING EXPOSED

ATTA MILLS MAGIC RING EXPOSED

SPURS MOVE ON

Liverpool 0-2 Tottenham: Van der Vaart & Modric silence the Dalglish revolution as Spurs leapfrog Reds into fifth

Tottenham is once again in control of a place in Europe after topping Liverpool and jumping up to fifth in table, just in front of the the Reds

By Steve Hewlett

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Tottenham has put itself into the driving seat for Europa League qualification as it defeated Liverpool at Anfield with goals from Rafael van der Vaart and a controversial penalty which was scored by Luka Modric. The result sees Harry Redknapp’s side move above Liverpool into fifth in the Premier League and means it goes into the final round of games next Sunday with the advantage in the race for European football next season.

Spurs scored in both halves in a game which frustrated the Anfield faithful and put the brakes on the Dalglish lead revival. The result is the perfect pick-me-up for Spurs after the defeat to FA Cup winners Manchester City last Tuesday killed off Tottenham’s hopes for a second campaign in the Champions League.

The mirror image can be said of Liverpool which after scoring five past Fulham in its last outing, was kept at bay by the visitors from north London.

Anfield is a bogey ground for Tottenham. The last victory was way back in 1998 when Spurs won a League cup game 3-1. The current groups of Spurs players would be unaware of this fact and these doubts were quickly expelled as the visitors found themselves in the lead in under 10 minutes. A Luka Modric corner was cleared from the danger area where Rafael van der Vaart picked up the loose ball and let rip with a powerful lob which flew beyond Pepe Reina and into the top left of the Liverpool net. An excellent start for any team away from home.

The first half produced very little for the Liverpool fans to cheer. The Reds struggled to build any tempo in their attacks and this wasn’t helped by referee Howard Webb. The World Cup final ref made a number of calls which infuriated Anfield. One of note was the decision to book Luis Suarez after the striker kicked out with petulance at Tottenham captain Michael Dawson. The Uruguayan challenged the center half and felt Dawson fell too easily and responded with a gentle kick which Webb punished with yellow.

It was hard to believe that this was the same Liverpool outfit which was scoring at will against Fulham on Monday evening and Kenny Dalglish was visibly frustrated on the bench at what was playing out on the rain sodden pitch.

Liverpool did improve as the half progressed and began to establish an impact on affairs and chances did finally materialize. Young Jay Spearing saw his shot from within the box fly wide right but the best opportunity to level the score fell to Andy Carroll. An overlapping run from the defender, Martin Skrtel was finished with a looping cross to the far post where an unmarked Carroll headed over. The £35million pound held his pony-tailed head in his hands as he failed to even hit the target from such close range.

Carroll’s slaloming run at the end of the half was halted by Sandro and the resulting free kick by Suarez, which flew narrowly wide, was the last of the half and gave the Reds confidence that parity was within touching distance as they returned to the dressing rooms.

The second half begun as the first did, with an early Tottenham goal. A jinking run from Steven Pienaar was abruptly stopped when John Flanangan shoulder charged the former Everton winger and he tumbled to the turf. On first sight it appeared to be a harsh penalty as Flanagan was side-by-side with the South African when he made the challenge. Regardless, Webb pointed to the spot and Luka Modric hammered home to double the lead. The mood in Anfield turned even more sour.

Tottenham didn’t have everything its own way as goalscorer van der Vaart was replaced with Jermain Defoe after injury. Not what Redknapp would have wanted going into next Sunday.

The game continued in much the same fashion, a great deal of huff and puff from Liverpool but no real sense that the goal would ever come. Tottenham was content to hold up the ball and play for time.

Both sides enter the final round of games next week with everything to play for. Liverpool travels to former manager Gerard Houllier's Aston Villa hoping for a favor from the old boss. Spurs host Birmingham City, which also needs the points in the battle against the drop to the Championship. An interesting week awaits.

CREDIT.......goal.com

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