Chapter 11

The Media
 Media
• Technological processes facilitating
communication. The have exploded in
number and variety in the last 20 years. How
has this changed social life?
• The media is often blamed for altering (in a
negative way) the way we see events.
 Functionalist Approach to the Media

• Examines the relationship between the media

and other social institutions
• Research has found links between viewing
violent media images and the development of
aggression, particularly among young children
 Conflict and Feminist Theory
• Only by understanding who controls media
can we understand that media serves the
function of fusing state and corporate
interests in favor of the ruling elite—therefore
we end up with very limited messages.
• Feminist Theory explores the concept that
most media is used to exclude or disparage
women in minorities (is this true?)
 Interactionist Perspective
• The symbols and messages of the media come
to define our “reality.”
• The media determine what is newsworthy.
--Proximity—nearness of events
--deviation---something different from what we are
accustomed to viewing
People are largely convinced of what constitutes a
SOCIAL PROBLEM by the media that informs them
of it
 Digital Divide
• This term describes the gap between those have access to
and understanding of new forms of technology and those
who do not.
• This divide is a symptom of a larger problem—social
inequality
• --a lack of locally relevant information
• --a lack of information at a basic literacy level
• --English-only content
• These are all barriers to creating a more egalitarian media
environment (anyone been to an Apple Store recently)
Who’s Watching What We Watch?
• Media outlets are owned by private
corporations
• They are however monitored for content by the
FCC (the Federal Communications Commission)
enforcing rules against indeceny
• Other Media Watch groups monitor media
accuracy and content, placing pressure on
media outlets----for example, the Project for
Excellence in Journalistm
 Cyber-Social Problems
• Internet addiction—becomes a problem when
it begins to interfere with one’s job or social
life.
• Employers have identified internet abuse as a
serious work problem.
– Work productivity said to drop by 20% in office
environments during march madness
– Others??
 Is our Technology Changing us?
• Since the advent of 400+ channels, the
internet, video games, etc……..
• Have we gotten
– More obese?
– More aggressive?
– More social?
– More isolated?
– More intelligent? More Informed? Or More
Confused?
 The goal is Media Literacy
• Shifts the viewer from the role of passive
receiver to active critical receiver of information.
• BASIC PRINCIPLES OF MEDIA LITERACY
EDUCATION
• 1. Medium—the form of communicaiton that
transmits the message and constructs “reality”
• 2. Media literacy---programs that attempt to
transfer power to the media user by teaching
them how to access, analyze and evaluate media
 Principles of media literacy cont.
• 3. Construction of Reality—educate viewers that there
is a decision being made in what to show you and
what NOT to show you
• 4. Production techniques---are camera angles, editing,
colors, sounds, and symbols being used to present an
unrealistic view
• 5. Value message---what kind of values does the
media promote
• 6. Commercial Motives—Almost always someone is
trying to sell you something…who? What? And Why?
 Principles Cont.
• 7. Individual Meanings—not only how you define what you
witness in the media, but how would others
• 8. emotional transfer—commercials often operate at an
emotional level—what emotions are advertisers attempting to
make you feel and why?
• 9. Pacing—TV (30 frames/sec) Movies (24 frames/sec). Our
conscious mind can process 8 frames a second, therefore there is
often very little reflection occurring on the viewer’s part
• 10. Symbolic techniques. Ask yourself what techniques (symbols,
fear, repetition, humor, sexual images, etc.) is the media using to
get their point across and why are they DOING IT?