Neo Marxist Theory

The most important shift was from the classical model of Marx, linking ideology and culture to the economic basis of society, to neo-Marxist or structuralist approaches stressing the autonomy of ideological practices. This re-formulation is important for the way in which we understand the media – rather than conceptualise the media as acting as tools of the class that owns and controls them, and serving the interests of this class by concealing and misrepresenting the true nature of society, the media are seen as sites of struggle between the competing ideas and interests albeit that some ideas and interests are more powerful than others.

Kevin Williams, Understanding Media Theory (Schools of Thought: Developing Approaches to Media Theory) p. 52