Dictionary of Media and Communication Studies, 8th edition

Ideological presumption

A B C D E F G H I

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L M N O P R S T U V

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plight has caught one’s sympathy; and to incor-

porate characteristics of an admired person into

one’s own identity by adopting that person’s

system of values.

Identifi cation is used in a more specifi c sense

when we discuss the degree of infl uence that

persons, institutions and the media may have on

others. In ‘Processes of opinion change’, Public

Opinion Quarterly, 25 (1965), Herbert Kelman

explores three basic processes of social infl uence

with reference to opinion change and to commu-

nication. These are compliance, identification

and internalization. The first position in this

‘social infl uence theory’ refers to the acceptance

of influence in the hope of either receiving a

reward or avoiding punishment. Identifi cation

in this sense occurs ‘when an individual adopts

behaviour derived from another person or a

group because this behaviour is associated with

a satisfying self-defining relationship to this

person or group’.

As with compliance, change or infl uence is reli-

ant upon the external source and ‘dependent on

social support’. Internalization occurs when the

proposed change, the infl uence, is fully believed

in, accepted, taken fully on board, because the

infl uenced person ‘fi nds it useful for the solution

of a problem or because it is congenial to his

own orientation, or because it is demanded of

his own values’.

Linked to the analysis of the extent to which

identifi cation takes place is the interest in how

we identify along lines of age, class or gender.

Identity See self-identity.

Idents Channel identities; snapshot films,

reminding TV viewers in graphic, computer-

generated form which channel they are tuned to.

Idents are designed to establish an image of the

channel, a channel branding. Th e generic ident is

basically suitable for any programme introduc-

tion, while specifi c idents create images closely

refl ecting the nature of particular programmes

or series.

Ideological presumption Term describing the

view that journalists and the news media are

necessarily and unavoidably ideologically impli-

cated in the message systems and discourses

to which they contribute. In Th e Foucault Reader

(Random House, 1984) the French philosopher

Michel Foucault states that the social relations

of power produce and constitute knowledge,

and that socio-economic power lies at the root

of what we are, what we believe and what we are

shown – through the media. Th e position locates

journalists as cultural workers, in the service of

those with power and authority.

I

Icelandic Modern Media Initiative (IMMI)
In 2008 the Icelandic parliament passed into
law an idealistic initiative gathering together
best practices from all over the world in further-
ing and protecting freedom of information.
Comparison has been made with off -shore tax
havens; only in the Icelandic case, what is being
given haven is information – access to it and the
reporting of it.
Model practices from a number of countries
have been incorporated, based upon the
presumption of the public’s right to access
government documents and the notion that in
the context of global communication, the media
know no national boundaries. The initiative
arose following the banking collapse in Iceland
during which vital information was kept from
the people of the country. Th e situation led to
demands for transparency from banking, busi-
ness and government. See topic guide under
media: freedom, censorship.
Iconic Describes a sign which, in some way,
resembles its object; looks like it, or sounds
like it. Picture-writing is iconic, as is a map.
onomatopoeia (word sounds that resemble real
sounds) is iconic. In semiology/semiotics the
iconic is one of three categories of sign defi ned by
American philosopher C.S. Peirce (1834–1914):
where the iconic describes or resembles, the
index is connected with its object, like smoke
to fi re; while the symbol has no resemblance or
connection, and communicates meaning only
because people agree that it shall stand for what
it does. A word is a symbol. Th e categories are
not separate and distinct: one sign may be made
up of all three categories. See topic guide under
language/discourse/narrative.
Id, ego, super-ego See self-identity.
Ideational functions of language Th e use of
language to explore, interpret, construct and
express views about ourselves and the world.
Another major function of language, the inter-
personal function, is that of establishing and
maintaining relationships with others. Clearly
both functions are often present in communica-
tive encounters and the two are often related.
Identification The degree to which people
identify with and are infl uenced by characters,
fi ctional or otherwise, in books, radio, fi lms and
TV has fascinated media analysts, especially in
areas of behaviour where such identification
might lead to anti-social activity such as violence.
‘To identify with’ has two common meanings: to
participate in the situation of someone whose