Hegemonic Ideologies in Google

Prompt: Todd Gitlin uses the concept of “hegemony” in his discussion of media coverage of protest and social movements. Explain what he means by this concept. Then apply it to Vaidhyanathan’s discussion of
Google. How does Google rule the Internet? What are the “hegemonic ideologies” that legitimize Google’s rule?
The two SOURCES that you need to use:
1. Todd Gitlin, The Whole World is Watching: Mass Media in the Making and Unmaking of the New Left, selections
2. Siva Vaidhyanathan, The Googlization of Everything, Introduction, Chs. 1-4.
Some class NOTES regarding on this topic:
-Frames in Media Coverage of Protest, according to Gitlin:
>trivialization
>polarization
>emphasis of internal dissension
>marginalization
>emphasis on disruption of social order
>disparaging effectiveness
-Hegemony, according to Gitlin:
>power based primarily on content rather than coercion
>media and other cultural institutions play a central role
>not based primarily on deliberate manipulation
>not purely top-down
>loose and pluralistic; negotiated rather than imposed