Hegemony of the media is vital in controlling and influencing people's thoughts in the society .In less developed countries it has been used as a tool of propaganda and also a tool for creating bias, misconceptions in society especially by dominant groups. Thus Gramscis theory reflects on hegemony in relation to how media plays a role in society. . Thus the essay will explain the theory of Hegemony by Gramsci with greater connotations to media.
The term hegemony was first used by the Greek to describe the military domination of one city state by another .However Gramsci understanding of the term was new , Gramsci, poses that hegemony was not just military, but cultural, a conquering of a people's hearts and minds through the use of media. Hegemony can contain a variety of ideologies, some created by scholars, academics, philosophers. A theory can be defined as a set of assumptions or prepositions or accepted facts that attempt to provide a plausible explanation of a cause (Waltz 2010).
English: Commemorative plaque of Antonio Gramsci i...
Antonio Gramsci grave, Protestant/A-Catholic cemet...
English: Portrait of Antonio Gramsci around 30 in ...Media are generally defined as the means by which information is conveyed from one place to another (Clarke 2001).However it should be noted that the term Hegemony lacks a proper and clear definition as Gramsci did not define it but for the purpose of this essay , hegemony entails the dominance of a leader, social group or nation over others (Clark 2001).
Stratti (1999) poses that using the term hegemony ,Gramsci was referring to the process whereby the dominant groups in society maintain their dominance by securing the spontaneous consent of subordinate groups including the working class through the negotiated construction of a political, social, ecnomic and ideology. Thus the ruling class persuades the other class to accept its own moral, political, cultural values. This can be noted in Zimbabwe were ZANU-PF through...