Croteau "Media and Ideology"- reflections post

 Throughout his piece, "Media and Ideology" Croteau discusses how ideology is infused into the media and the extent to which those ideologies affect our society. Specifically, he discusses how much of modern studies of ideology are based on hegemony, but that in the U.S. and other liberal democratic societies, social order is held not through force but through consent of social arrangements. This stuck out to me because it is something which I had not really found myself thinking about before, and had skipped passed my radar, something falling into the area of common sense. Which Croteau explains is exactly how the system of hegemony is working, he states, "One of the most effective ways of ruling is through the shaping of common sense assumptions...when people adopt commonsense assumptions...they are also accepting a certain set of beliefs, or ideology, about social relations" (166, 167). While I feel as though I am aware of the media and the layers to it, it still was something I found myself really thinking about as I read on. Because as much as I would like to say that I try to stay aware, things are always going to slip past into the area of common sense, and it had me really thinking about how many different things I have come across in the media, and not given a second thought. And of these, how many hidden ideologies and messages have I missed. 

Also, I think that having it written out as a form of control is another part which really made it stand out to me. Because I feel like seeing different people's ideologies in the media it is easy to label it as either their beliefs or something I also believe. In our society, the ideologies expressed are portrayed as freedom of speech or beliefs, but oftentimes, there is still that overlaying layer of dominant ideology which is disguised, but being used as a form of control.