Hegemony
In the 19th century, hegemony came to denote the "Social or cultural predominance or ascendancy; predominance by one group within a society or milieu". Later, it could be used to mean "a group or regime which exerts undue influence within a society". Also, it could be used for the geopolitical and the cultural predominance of one country over others, from which was derived "hegemonism", as in the idea that the Great Powers meant to establish European hegemony over Asia and Africa.
Media Hegemony
As for the direct and indirect results of media hegemony, there are at least three aspects in news reporting. Firstly, the socialization of reporters including guidance, work norms and orientations will be greatly influenced by the dominant ideology (Mueller, 1973). Socialization of journalists means that they are socialized into professional and organizational norms (Gieber, 1960). And some basic values, norms they share are influenced by ideology as it is hard to be independent from the culture that the dominant class shapes (Gans, 1979). Though journalists claim that they are autonomic from the state and marketing force and are always on the side of the public as social instrument, it is undeniable that the ideology and control of economic interests permeate the assumption, orientations as well as procedure of reporters who are the direct producers of news stories. It turns out that it is journalists that can unconsciously facilitate the ideological hegemony by the means of using cultural categories and symbols (Chaney, 1981). Then, reporters are inclined to choose and report those issues that are favorable to the domain ideology and the status quo. By so doing, it is harmful for social changes by diffusing those conservative news reports to the public (Golding, 1981). To a certain extent, the formation of public opinion is largely based on the information spread by status quo oriented news media. Last but not least, reporters tend to report those news that are supportive of their nation and negative to foreign nations in the communication of globalization. It is believed that prejudiced news reporting will hinder the international social change (Artz, 2012). It is news media that shapes negative stereotypes of foreign countries. And values and ideology are permeated through international social communication to exert impact on people foreign nations. In a word, media hegemony is a powerful force that can influence and shape social values and life in an intangible way to reach consensus of the public which are supportive of the dominant class.