Sociology unit 8 (The Media)

Social institutions

Shape norms, values, and rules of conduct that structure human interactions.

Social arrangements for how things are done.

Play a role in smooth functioning of society

Symbolic Interactionism

Media as interaction where meaning is constructed

Structural functionalism

Role of media institutions in the functioning of society

Conflict theory

Roles of power and inequality in the media

Feminist theory

Focuses on difference, voices, and representation

Language, Sapir-Whorf hypothesis

Language as an articulation of thought, language influences thought, as differences in language shows differences in cultures as a whole

Language in the media

War framing- enhanced interrogation vs civilian deaths

Workplace euphemisms- Operational restructuring vs people were fired to boost executive margins

Homelessness- Cleanup and remediation vs removing the homeless

Media

Technological processes that facilitate communication between a senser and a receiver

Mass media

Sending a message from ONE source to multiple people

The medium is the message (Marshall McLuhan)

Content of the medium is not as influential as the physical/ physiological effects of the medium.

The form alters our experience of the world, how we interact and how we process and communicate information

Societalization (Alexander)

Institutions interact with the media to preform public moral socialization, media as a core communicative institution of society

5 stages of socialization

1. Steady state

2. Code switch

3. Regulatory interventions

4. Backlash

5. Return to steady state

New media and social media

New media: accessible on demand, digital, interactive

Social media: online sharing in communities/ networks

They both shape expectations and norms about love, friendship, and identity

Media Literacy

Individuals regaining control of media consumption, educational tool to help evaluate messages received from the media in schools, communities, and online

Discourses of homelessness

Sin talk- moral culpability, punishment

Sick talk- pathological incapacity, treatment

System talk- structural inequality, collective mobilization

Alternative media

Increases diversity of perspectives available to consumers

-Message is not corporately controlled

• content is anti establishment

• Distributed in a creative way

Conclusion

The media is an active institution that shapes language, norms, and power structures of our daily lives

We must examine how these mediums structure our social reality