Pluralism

pluralists view society as a system of competing groups and interests, none of them perdominanat.

Pluralists take a more open view that arguing for a classless society and media organisations which are responsive to an audience and economically determined.

Audiences are percieved as capable of manipulating the media and having access to what Halloron calls "the plural values of society", enabling them to conform, accomodate or reject.

Pluralism:

• The pluralist tradition starts from the opposite of Marxists and rejects the concept of a mass culture.
• As we become more media literate we become more demanding consumers that are able to choose from a variety of cultural options.
• Class distinctions are less important in influencing the choices made by individuals.
• The individual has the freedom to make choices about what texts to consume based on their personal preference.
• The media are seen as acting in the public interest of the fourth estate.
• The audience are seen as active selecting texts from a vast range consuming them and not recieving them passivly.

The Fourth estate:

The role of the media is seen as being that of the fourth estate whose role is to keep the public informed about what is happening in each of the other three- the government, legal system and the church.

The media fufil this role by reporting political events in newspapers or broadcast television by providing documenatry programmes to report on key events.

Why i am a pluralist?

I am a pluralist becasue i agree with the fact that the audience are active and can make their own choices about different texts. I also agree with the fact that the meida is the fourth estate keeping the public informed about what is happening in the world and how the church, government and the legal system have power in the sociey we live in.