Talking Communication Studies: Negotiating Power and Promise

Abstract

Consensus regarding what becomes mainstream, popular, and commonplace within academia is subtly managed in accord with conformity of thought, contemporary popular ideas, and major assumptions/paradigms predominating fields, which in turn are comprised of hegemonic, ideological ideas, frameworks and arguments that are informed and bound by power. Power, professionalisation, and dominant ideological currents inform and legitimise paradigmatic ideas, which in turn influence perceptions and reception. This paper explores how Communication Studies have been impacted by dominant configurations of power and encourages debate on the extent to which ideological bias and ideological marginalisation are normative dimensions of Communication Studies.

KEYWORDS:

• power
• communication studies
• ideological bias
• marginalisation
• political economy of communication
• propaganda model

DISCLOSURE STATEMENT

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Jeffery Klaehn

Jeffery Klaehn (corresponding author) is a writer in Ontario, Canada. He holds a PhD in Communication from the University of Amsterdam and a PhD in Sociology from the University of Strathclyde. His research interests include social theory, media, power, public communication, comics, art, culture, the creative industries, writing, storytelling, and digital games. Email: [email protected].

Florian Zollmann

Florian Zollmann is a Senior Lecturer in Journalism at Newcastle University, UK. Zollmann researches the political economy of power and the intersections of society, media and propaganda.

Marcus Kahn

Marcus Kahn, BA, is an educator and writer in Oakland, California. His work examines the ways in which power is communicated and reinforced at all levels of society, and has been published in the proletarian think tank the Hampton Institute.