APPROACHES TO THE

RELATIONSHIP Lesson 4
BETWEEN MEDIA AND
SOCIETY
1. How media play in society?
2. How media and society
interact?
MEDIA AND SOCIAL CONTROL
MASS SOCIETY APPROACH
– Sees society as an integrated whole, with structures and
institutions holding power and authority and exerting control over
society. The concept of mass arose during the 19 th century.
- The term mass suggests more than the common sense notion of
large groups of people; instead, it implied that the creation of
media was now directed toward an undifferentiated audience.
MEDIA AND SOCIAL CONTROL
MASS SOCIETY APPROACH
– Media is seen as a powerful agent in establishing social
control in societies characterized by the dominance of
industries, growing urban centers, and alienation of
citizens from their social institutions.
- The public is a passive recipient and consumer of media
content.
MEDIA AND SOCIAL CONTROL
BASE SUPERSTRUCTURE MODEL
– Media institutions are part of the
superstructure, along with other social and
cultural institutions.
MEDIA AND SOCIAL CONTROL
BASE SUPERSTRUCTURE MODEL
– The base, on the other hand, is made up of
economic institutions and economic relationships
which determine the nature and behavior of the
superstructure.
- In a capitalist society, the economic ownership of
media institutions dictates whose interests media
will serve.
MEDIA AND SOCIAL CONTROL

BASE SUPERSTRUCTURE MODEL

– Media generate ideas that serve the interests
of the economic and political elite, thereby
reinforcing and reproducing the relationships
that prove the dominance of capitalism and the
exploitation of the masses.
MEDIA AND SOCIAL
INTEGRATION
1. Media provides social integration and
cohesion
2. Media can negotiate, contest, and resist
the power exerted by social institution.
MEDIA AND SOCIAL
INTEGRATION
FUNCTIONALISM
-Functionalist approach sees society like an organism, has
its parts and discharging a function but linked to an
integrated whole.
-Media as an institution is one of society’s many parts
discrete in its function but linked to other institution so it
can provide society the integration, cohesion, and stability
it needs to survive and thrive.
MEDIA AND SOCIAL
INTEGRATION
FUNCTIONALISM
-Has been significantly dismissed in favor of more
critical theories.
-However, some studies refer back to functionalism
when it tackles media institutions role in promoting
positive changes in the behavior of a sectors in
society.
MEDIA AND SOCIAL
INTEGRATION
SOCIAL CONSTRUCTIONISM
-McQuail, SC refers to the processes by which
events, persons, values, and ideas are first
defined or interpreted and given value and
priority largely by mass media leading to the
construction of larger pictures of reality.
MEDIA AND THE RISE OF AN
INFORMATION SOCIETY
COMMUNICATION REVOLUTION
-Considers the rise of an information
society
-Characterized the advent and influx
of new communication technologies.
MEDIA AND THE RISE OF AN
INFORMATION SOCIETY
INFORMATION SOCIETY
-Characterized by the emergence of a thinking class, and mostly
arising from the developments in computer technology.
-Also characterized by increasing global connectivity facilitated by
the internet.
-Anyone can access data and information
-Anyone can create websites and upload media in various forms
and formats.
-These technological breakthroughs inform the idea that we are
living in an information society where the creation, production,
dissemination, and even manipulation of information is a
ADIOS!