Trapnest, Bourdieu

Bourdieu in “On Television” makes a strong point to create a theme of the power that television has over its viewers/consumers. One of his first points is that television has a strong influence over its audience’s minds and moral outlooks on life. This is the first key to power, as Althusser would likely argue if television holds the capacity to set the dominant ideology for a large audience then it possesses a great amount of power in society. Bourdieu explains that television puts forth characters like news anchors or talk show hosts who have become preachers of dominant ideology in our society, permeating our communal “public space” in a way that they control all the forms and outlets for media.

Bourdieu’s second theme of the power television has over its audiences is with regards to its effect on what classifies as “news.” This argument is presented by discussing the power television has over the field of journalism specifically. Journalists have become in a state where they “struggle over television” and what will make the news. And, what often makes the news is as a result of those seeking “after anything sensational, spectacular, or extraordinary, a certain vision of the news comes to take over the whole of the journalistic field.” (332). Newspapers, by Bourdieu’s argument, alter themselves to look like news, resulting in the journalist’s dependence upon television and it’s power within society.

The third, key argument with Borudieu presents is market and audience pressure. The audience is conditioned into seeking the same thing that the television wants for its audience to be seeking. As a result they seek to other mediums which resemble television, putting aforementioned stress on other industries. Because the television is the dominant ideology, again as Althusser would say, those under its pressure don’t realize such and find it difficult to present counter arguments.