Ideology and Hegemony

Last semester, while taking a journalism class, I was introduced to the notion of media being owned and operated by corporations, and what that meant for programming and cross-promotion across television, print media, movies and websites.I was aware, of course, that these were all owned by someone, but it really hit home just how much all the various media scripted our lives, and how this is all based on money. So disillusioning.
This whole idea of hegemony really bothers me, and it becomes clearer to me just what was behind the Hippies 'dropping out'. What thinking person wants to feel that she is at the mercy of what conglomerates are telling her what to think? I want to believe that my favourite radio station, CBC, which I will not be mentioning again, is actually presenting a reflection of current Canadian thought, but, as evidenced by the recent federal election, that clearly isn't the case. Maybe it's a promising example of media that is not telling us what to think as a country, perhaps it's just telling the socialists among us what to think.
So, given all of the interesting facts I've read about this past week, it behooves me to come up with ways to avoid living my life in such a way that someone else is reaping the benefits of my labour, and on top of that, convincing me that I like this situation. This seems to be the best time of my life for avoiding hegemony-I am attending school courtesy of the government (until I'm done), I have employment that is based on the barter system, and I make up my own mind about what to think about, for the most part. I do have a weakness for American films, unfortunately, and I'll be off to watch Pirates of the Caribbean this weekend with no qualms whatsoever, although I'm aware that this is just another example of top-down popular culture. Through my culturally enlightened children, I will be exposed to more Indie bands this weekend, and until they're co-opted by the mainstream media, I enjoy hearing bands that start in grassroots culture. I'm guessing that I am engaging in a cafeteria-style of dropping out; rebelling against those things that I find most distasteful, while still engaging in those things that bring me pleasure.