Institutional Ideologies

Institutional Ideologies: Channel 4

In order for our group to understand certain ideologies and how they are used within the industry, I analysed Channel 4’s institutional ideologies as they provide programs and shows of a similar genre to our opening sequence.

Channel 4’s institutional Ideologies:

The main ideology presented by this business is that they wish to ‘demonstrate innovation, experimentation and creativity’. This can be achieved through showing a varied and unique shows that are only available to watch on this channel. They also want to ‘appeal to tastes and interests of a culturally diverse society’. The company could attain this by providing their shows in multiple languages or be based on different cultures. Channel 4 also want to include an ‘educational value’ to the shows they provide, this is achieved by providing various interesting documentaries that inform the audience about various themes. They also wish to ‘exhibit a distinctive character’. Providing unique shows that can only be watched on this channel fulfils this. Channel 4 is known for being an original and different channel by providing these different documentaries and shows.

Responsibility as a Broadcaster:

Channel 4 reflects their ideologies as a broadcaster by ensuring people are well informed and motivated to participate in society. They also provide a broad range of relevant media content to appeal to tastes and interests of a culturally diverse society. Their shows also appeal to tastes and interests of older children and young adults. They also provide alternative views and a new perspective to various shows and content provided on their channel and website.

Ideologies as a Broadcaster:

Ideology	Media Texts	How They Fit This Ideology
Include an educational value	Blog: ‘Unreported World: Afghanistan’s Hunted Women’ – also a television show.	The audience are given information on different parts of the world and educated on various issues that arise.
Appeals to tastes and interests of a culturally diverse society	TV Show: ‘Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’ Shown as an advertisement on website and also a television show.	Marvel is a large brand adored by millions around the world, especially after the success of ‘The Avengers’ film. This links to the superhero theme and appeals to many different people around the world.
Demonstrate innovation, experimentation and creativity	Advert for ‘Made In Chelsea’ game on the website.	This shows creativity by coming up with an innovative game. Also experimentation as they have not previously made games available like this.
Exhibit a distinctive character	Adverts on website for unusual shows such as ‘My Tattoo Addiction’ and ‘Big Fat Gypsy Weddings’.	These shows are not available on any other channels, showing the programmes are unique to channel 4 and give them a distinctive character. Makes them stand out from ITV as they provide more of a variety of shows.

Representation: ‘Fabulous Fashionistas’

Representation	Conforms to Ideology	Challenges Ideology
Unique dress sense	Exhibits a distinctive character and demonstrates creativity.	Appeals to tastes of a culturally diverse society.
Not about young people	Demonstrates innovation as the shows on this channel tend to be based on the younger audience.	May not appeal to young people/adults, as they are not represented with the show. However, as it is different, they may want to watch it to find out what the show is about.
Not caring about other people’s thoughts	Interests of a culturally diverse society because everyone had this problem regardless of other factors.	Not really educational, more of a gathering of thoughts and attitudes. However, this could conform to channel 4’s responsibility as a broadcaster as they are providing multiple views.
Fashion related topics and themes	Exhibits a distinctive character. Demonstrates innovation, creativity and experimentation.	They may not appeal to both genders, as females are stereotypically more involved with the concerns of fashion. The show also only shows older women, so men may not be interested in the topics being explored.