IDEOLOGY
Simply put, it is the ideas behind a media text, the secret (or sometimes not-so secret) agenda of its producers. It is important to be able to identify the different ideological discourses that may be present in even an apparently simple photograph.
In sociological terms, ideology is a body of ideas or set of beliefs that underpins a process or institution and leads to social relations. These sets of beliefs are those held by groups within society, and the prevalent ones are those held by the ruling/dominant groups.
A definiton: "the body of doctrine, myth, belief, etc., that guides anindividual, social movement, institution, class, or large group."
Above is a youtube link of the Fascist German Dictator, Fuhrer Adolf Hitler. The clip shows a soundbite of Hitler's last broadcast to his people and only lightly touches upon the evil doctrine that was part of his and his party's ideology. In the clip, Hitler is heard briefly discussing his ideal that the German nation was Europe's final protector to the Socialist East.
Hitler, with his Propaganda Josef Goebbels recognised the importance of the media in indoctrinating the Reich into their so called Volksgemeinschaft. Films, radio, the press and other forms of the arts were perverted into Nazi uses...
MEDIA FORMS
In short, Media forms may be listed as:
Books
- also Print, arguably the most important invention of modern history.
Images and sound
- cinematography, moving image
Broadcast
- TV and radio, using radio signals to broadcast to the world
Internet
- web.2, a rise in social media and a method of convergence of many media forms
A significant development has been in the gaming and gadgetry form. E.g. handheld mobile devices such as the iPad and game consoles such as the Xbox are ever more popular, threatening the existence of more aesthetic forms.
