What is an institution?
Institutions are the regulatory and organising structures of any society,
which constrain and control individuals and individuality. The term more
precisely refers to the underlying principles and values according to which
many social and cultural practices are organised and co-ordinated.
For instance, we think of journalists, regardless of politics
and rightly or wrongly, as sharing the same set of values as their newspapers. We see 'Newspapers' as
something bigger than, and probably more authoritative/powerful than us as
individuals.
However, as global
patterns of ownership change, so does the concept of Institution. Media
ownership is now concentrated in the hands of a few companies worldwide, and
these companies own examples of many different media. So, it is true to say
that the 'Institutional Values' of, say, Disney, are reflected in a number of
different media companies that they own (e.g. Marvel Studios, the Discovery
Channel), which can therefore be grouped together and considered as part of the
same institution (the Disney Corporation).
Basically,
understanding institution is about understanding
- who produces media texts
- what their set of codes and values is
- and their relationship to us as individuals
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