Transformation of Media in Neoliberal Era and Rethinking Gerbner

The transformations of the media in the neoliberal era are closely related to the transformations democracies. Practices of capital accumulation in the neoliberal era which David Harvey identifies as "accumulation by dispossession" necessitate to reevaluate the political-economy of media industries and media theories within the frame of neoliberal transformation. The notion of accumulation by dispossession clarifies that violence has become a structural element of capital accumulation and profit maximization processes in the neoliberal era. George Gerbner's "cultivation theory" is one of the prominent theories on the relation between the media and violence. Gerbner, with his cultivation theory, discusses the effects of television as a storyteller on the relationship between individuals and the world. Cultivation theory, which is a theory about conventional media and its concepts such as happy violence, mean world syndrome and second order effects will be discussed within the context of political economy. This economic-political context Will he discussed by juxtaposing the theories of Harvey, Foucault, Dardot and Laval - who consider neoliberalizm not only as an economic theory but also as a political one with Gerbner's theory and concepts. It will be reconsidered how to discuss these concepts in the era of contemporary global, 'financial and digital media. A reflection on Gerbner's concepts in a economic-political context offers a crucial insight to understand the transformation in the mainstream media that needs to be addressed with the change in democracy today.