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Considering the Marginalisation of Majority Groups: Injecting Subaltern Studies Insights into Normative Media Theory

ABSTRACT In 2014, the failure of South African mainstream media to anticipate the African National Congress retaining its electoral majority despite numerous scandals inspired a brief period of soul-searching. Two years later, failure by American and British mainstream media to discern the loyalties of their respective majorities prompted a similar reaction when both groups failed to track Donald Trump winning the US election and the Brexit vote. The surprise electoral gains made by the unfancied Labour Party a year later provided another major example of the gap between the media and the general populace. These events gave strong evidence of the disconnect between the media, its current normative models, and ordinary citizens. This paper furthers a radical critique of the mainstream media that argues the sector is out of touch. In order to reverse the current trajectory, the argument advanced is that a discussion of roles of the media or normative theory needs to be cognisant of the missing voice of subaltern groups. Using a combination of subaltern and postcolonial theory, the article recommends that in order to comprehend the role the media should play in the future of the country; the context lived by silent majority must be factored in.