A Marxist Analysis of an Editorial Column As a Site of Struggle for Meaning
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UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations 1-1-2000 A Marxist analysis of an editorial column as a site of struggle for meaning Theresa Hubbard Pfeifer University of Nevada, Las Vegas Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalscholarship.unlv.edu/rtds Repository Citation Pfeifer, Theresa Hubbard, "A Marxist analysis of an editorial column as a site of struggle for meaning" (2000). UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations. 1128. http://dx.doi.org/10.25669/033q-yif0 This Thesis is protected by copyright and/or related rights. It has been brought to you by Digital Scholarship@UNLV with permission from the rights-holder(s). You are free to use this Thesis in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s) directly, unless additional rights are indicated by a Creative Commons license in the record and/ or on the work itself. 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A MARXIST ANALYSIS OF AN EDITORIAL COLUMN AS A SITE OF STRUGGLE FOR MEANING by Theresa Hubbard Pfeifer Bachelor of Arts University of Nevada, Las Vegas 1994 A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Master of Arts Degree Hank Greenspun Department of Communication Greenspan College of Urban Affairs Graduate College University of Nevada, Las Vegas May 2000 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. UMI Number 1399901 UMI* UMI Microform 1399901 Copyright 2000 by Bell & Howell Information and Learning Company. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. Belt & Howell Information and Learning Company 300 North Zeeb Road P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Mi 48106-1346 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Thesis Approval UNIV The Graduate College University of Nevada, Las Vegas April 18th ,2000 The Thesis prepared by Theresa H. Pfeifer &ititled A Marxist Analysis of an Editorial Column as a Site of Struggle for Meaning is approved in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts Examination Cammiftee Chair Dean of the Graduate College Member ExaminaHon Conm ttee Member Graduate College Faculty Etepresentatioe PR/vnrss/t-co 11 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ABSTRACT A Marxist Analysis of an Editorial Column As A Site of Struggle for Meaning by Theresa Hubbard Pfeifer Dr. Richard Jensen, Examination Committee Chair Professor of Communication Studies University of Nevada, Las Vegas This study calls into question the repressive authoritarianism of state-corporate capitalism and the “march of the megamedia” by investigating the media’s role in perpetuating and sustaining hegemony. According to Marxist critics, the collective operations of the culture industry have worked to destroy the revolutionary potential of the working class. In a resistant textual reading and content analysis utilizing Gramsci’s theory of hegemony, this study looks at how a newspaper editorial fatalizes readers into passive acquiescence of the prevailing political and socioeconomic system. To gain the willing consent of the masses, the technocratic elites of media systems create a world that appears natural and inevitable rather a social construction. By reading the editorial column through the deconstructive lens of critical Marxist thought, this study finds a text infused witli an id eo lo ^ rthat serves the interests of those who possess sociaL politicaL and economic power. ut Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT......................................................................................................................iü ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS............................................................................................... v CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION The Marketplace of Ideas....................................................................................... 2 Material Conditions of the Media...........................................................................3 Jon Ralston and the Greenspun Media Empire.......................................................9 A Structural Marxist Overview ............................................................................. 11 Gramsci’s Theory of Hegemony ........................................................................... 13 Adorno’s Theory of the Culture Industry ..............................................................16 Marcuse’s Theory of Language ............................................................................ 17 Description of Methodology................................................................................. 17 An Interview with Jon Ralston ..............................................................................21 CHAPTER 2 REVIEW OF RELATED UTERATURE..............................................22 CHAPTER 3 ELABORATION OF CONCEPTS........................................................ 28 CHAPTER 4 METHODOLOGY.................................................................................47 CHAPTER 5 CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS................................... 82 Results ..................................................................................................................82 Directions for Further Research ............................................................................85 Conclusion ............................................................................................................89 BIBLIOOIAPHY.............................................................................................................91 VTTA...............................................................................................................................101 IV Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank my chairperson. Dr. Richard Jensen, fbr always being available at short notice to meet with me and fbr returning my rough drafts so quickly. I could not have completed this thesis without his support and encouragement. As he takes a new administrative position with the university and leaves teaching behind, I wish him much luck and fulfillment in his new career. However, his students will surely miss hinu Also, I would like to thank my family, especially my mother, for having to endure endless critiques of the prevailing system, an unfortunate outpouring of my enthusiasm for Marxist theory. I would like to thank my son with helping me with computer intricacies. And most of all, I would like to thank my husband who supported me in so many ways during the semester of writing my thesis. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION All is not well in American journalism. Our system of mass media is not functioning at the levels needed to serve the needs of a democratic society. Mass media refers to “devices for moving meanings across distance or time to achieve mass communication. The major mass media in modem society are books, magazines, newspapers, motion pictures, radio, and television” (DeFleur & Dennis, 1991, p. 621). Recognizing the importance of the media in democracy, Alger (1998) points out, “A keynote of democratic theory has been that a democracy can work only if there is a genuine “marketplace of ideas” for public consideration of basic orientations and particular proposals. Those ideas must come from truly independent sources” (p. 128). Much of the