MEDIA AND SOCIETY
THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN
MEDIA AND SOCIETY
Media determinism? Social determinism? Both or neither?

They influence, not determine, each other. Social shaping of media AND social impacts of media
(1) the size, concentrated ownership, owner wealth, and profit orientation of the dominant mass-media firms; (2) advertising as the primary income source of the mass media; (3) the reliance of the media on information provided by government, business, and other “experts”; (4) “flak” as a means of disciplining the media; and (5) “anticommunism” as a national religion and control mechanism.


Media bias?
Journalists claim objectivity Underlying interests of media professionals and corporations

MANUFACTURING CONSENT A PROPAGANDA MODEL

Money and power are able to filter out the news fit to print, marginalize dissent, and allow the government and dominant private interests to get their messages across to the public.

Access to media Corporate media model Corporate responsibility Cultural implications

THE GUARD DOG MODEL



The media serve not as watchdogs for the community as a whole, but as guard dogs for groups having the power. The occasional tendency to turn to one of the masters and yet protect their house is fundamental to the guard dog conception of media. When the general welfare of the system is threatened, there is little question that the individual may be sacrificed.

REINVENTION
Media technologies are flexible tools and often used in new, unanticipated ways by their adopters. People adopted computer for educational purposes, but it ended up being used by their children to play video games. Computers were originally invented for mathematics computation, but they are now used to send email and search information. The development of technology is shaped by their users.
WHERE ARE YOU ON THE CONTINUUM?
Please take an inventory of the new media devices you own – such as personal digital assistants, cell phones, MP3 players, digital video recorders, etc. Where do you see yourself on the Diffusion of Innovations continuum? Are you innovator, early adopter, part of the early majority, or laggard? Think about what made you a certain type of adopter.

SOCIAL SHAPING OF MEDIA
CRITICAL ANALYSIS

Different approaches to understanding media texts and systems
Marxist Feminist Ethnic Media criticism

POLITICAL ECONOMY



Not only the birth and development of media are shaped by the society, but their use is also controlled by all kinds of social factors. Originated from Karl Marx‟s Das Kapital, political economy suggests that media are used to serve the interests of the ruling class or dominant groups in a society, those that own the major corporations. Politics and economics must be considered together

VIDEO

Rich Media, Poor Democracy

By Robert McChesney and Mark Crispin Miller
SOCIAL SHAPING OF MEDIA



The birth, development, and use of media technology are influenced by sociopolitical, historical, and cultural factors. The prototypes of telegraph technology were emerged as early as 1809, but it did not get adopted until 1825. Why? Social necessity.

MEDIA CRITICISM

Search for symbolism in media

semiotics
Genre studies Audience expectations & media selection

SHAPING OUR NEWS

Agenda setting
Political power of the media Media shape public opinion

ETHNIC STUDIES
Uses ethnicity to view media texts Studies representation of ethnic minorities in media industries Stereotypes

Inferior social roles Underrepresented in mass media
The Minnesota Team: Phillip J. Tichenor, George Donohue, and Clarice N. Olien.
FEMINIST STUDIES
Media serve patriarchy Depictions of women in media: stereotype Presence of women in the media industries Gendered media
POቤተ መጻሕፍቲ ባይዱITICAL ECONOMY

Hegemony:
Supporting the „status quo‟ Preserving ideas of ruling class

Corporate and some non-commercial media reinforce these ideas Issues:
DIFFUSION OF INNOVATIONS

What media technology get adopted?





Relative advantage: better than previous tech? Compatibility: compatible with existing tech? Complexity: easy enough to use and understand? Trialability: easy to try out? Observability: is the result visible?