iieiiei1eWrkers - Leicester Research Archive - University of Leicester

CHAPTER 11
CONCLUSION
The aim of this study of the Thai radio system has been twofold. Firstly, it
is an attempt to understand the 'ideological role' of the mass media in
maintaining the structure of social relations in a transitional society and thereby
to contribute to a central debate in both social theory and the sociology of
mass communications. Starting with an outline of the structure of ownership
and economic control in the radio system I moved on to investigate the kinds
of cultural products made by the state and the media industries, how they are
produced and some of their consequences. Secondly, the study has employed a
critical and holistic perspective in an effort to break with conventional
approaches to media studies. As can be seen from the foregoing analyses. this
approach is useful in providing fresh insights as well as in pointing towards
new lines of investigation. But due to the inaccessibility of research materials
and the conditions of field work, some of which have been noted in earlier
chapters, there are inevitably shortcomings and limitations. The following
therefore suinniarises the main results of the study and offers some suggestions
for future research based on the findings.
11.1 The Political Economy of Mass Communications: The Dialectic and
Complexities of Cultural Production
From the outset, my argument about the role of the media in the maintenance
of economic and social inequalities has been based on the notion that control
over material resources and mental production involves dialectical and complex
relations. In contradiction to a crude deterministic position, I have tried to
take into account the dynamics of the economy in setting the parameters of
cultural production whilst recognising how active agents struggle within these
relations. By situating my study in a concrete and comprehensive analysis of
the political economy of radio and its contribution to cultural reproduction I
have attempted to come to grips with the fine detail of how the state and the
media industries control this arena.
Historical evidence showed that the notion of 'public broadcasting' within the
Thai system was rapidly eroded by an alliance of foreign and local capital in
the late 1950s. This resulted in the present duopoly whereby legal ownership
is vested in the state and the Armed Forces. This in turn, provided for