Comprehensive Media Studies: Types, Ownership, Representations & Effects

Media

A means of gaining information.

Mass media

A mode of information that reaches a large audience, e.g: national television.

New media

Digital technologies being used for mass communication.

Old media

Analogue media that exists before the internet, e.g: books, tv, radio.

Print

Means of mass communication in the form of printed publications, e.g: newspapers and magazines.

Broadcast

Airing of audio and video to the public via technology, e.g: tvs and radios.

Digital

Media that is encoded into machine readable formats, e.g: the internet and mobile devices.

Technological convergence

One device being able to access various forms of media, e.g: phones can access radio, tv, internet, podcasts, etc.

Interactivity

Audience being able to actively engage with the media in real time, e.g: tweeting, hashtags, red button, voting.

Demand-led

Audience is able to choose when and where they want to consume certain media by using on demand services like Netflix, iPlayer, etc.

Agenda or agenda-setting

The ability to influence views on topics.

ISP

Internet service providers.

Neophiliacs

Those who are positive about the new media and see its benefits.

Cultural pessimists

Those who are negative about the new media.

Digitality

Accessing info on non-analogue format, allows convergence, rapid communication, and data can be stored in smaller/efficient places.

Interactive

Consumers of media can contribute to collective intelligence and participatory culture.

Hypertextual

Links between different media texts that make a web of connections, giving us more freedom of choice.

Diverse

There are more media outlets than ever before to choose from, which also makes media more democratic.

Converged

Media is accessible on one device, like you can send emails, watch TV and listen to the radio all on your phone.

Virtuality

People can immerse themselves in wholly unreal interactive experiences and exist in a virtual world.

Vertical integration

One company owns all stages of media product production.

Horizontal integration

Cross-media ownership; one company owns a newspaper and TV companies.

Conglomeration & diversification

Media branches out into non-media.

Global conglomeration

A company buys up other companies in different countries.

Synergy

A media company produces and promotes the same product in different forms.

Pluralists

They argue that the audience is active rather than easily manipulated.

Criticisms of pluralism

Owners with the power to fire and hire journalists can influence the media agenda.

Pluralist view on journalism

Argues that journalists are not controlled by media owners, as owners are preoccupied with many products and global developments.

Media & ideological functions

Supports the ruling class through favorable reporting of the wealthy instead of being critical.

Meritocracy myth

Reproduced through media like The Apprentice.

Marxist perspective on media

Believes the role of the media is to keep audiences passive and unable to challenge capitalist society.

Miliband (1979)

Argues media owners share cultural capital and have social networks supporting their interests.

Rupert Murdoch

Media mogul who influenced his media to support conservatives, such as during the Iraq war in 2003.

Criticism of Marxist approach

The media has often highlighted inequality, such as the 2020 FSM scandal.

Neo-Marxism & journalism

Journalists report as they please, influenced by their interests and industry news values.

Glasgow Media Group (GMC)

Found most journalists are white, male, and middle-class, sharing the dominant ideology.

Gramsci's hegemonic view

Argues that ruling class views are dominant and more widely accepted.

Agenda-setting

Spreading ideology by portraying media in a certain way, such as inviting specific people to discuss topics.

Gatekeeping

The process where some topics are covered in the media and others are not.

Mass culture

Developed in many Western societies, reflecting patterns of cultural practices in the media.

Macdonald (1957) criticism of mass culture

Argues it lacks meaning and appeals to the lowest common denominator in society.

Totalitarianism in mass culture

Leads to the media supporting and controlling views without being questioned.

High culture

Also known as middle-class culture, focuses on abstract thinking and prior knowledge.

Lechner & Boli (2012) views on globalisation

Globalisation connects people over distance and time and allows capitalism to thrive.

Cultural imperialism

Globalisation spreads ruling class ideology around the world, making western culture seem superior.

Ritzer (2004) on globalisation

Argues it allows the imposition of cultural practices on other parts of the world.

Pluralist view on globalised mass culture

Sees it as good because it gives people the opportunity to access media and choose cultures.

Global culture characteristics

Includes highly commercialised media, easy entertainment, and fast turnover of mass-produced products.

Criticism of neo-Marxism

Traditional Marxists argue it underplays the influence of economic factors.

New media impact

Makes it harder to spread just one dominant ideology.

Active audience perspective

Pluralists argue that audiences are active and critical when consuming media.

Cultural homogenisation

The process that undermines local cultures and views while making profit.

Globalisation

Enables audiences to engage with a wider range of cultural diversity.

Flew (2002)

Argues emerging forms of new media have created a global culture based in technology.

Media Homogenisation

Globalisation makes media homogenised as cultural differences/products are now shared globally.

Baudrillard (1994)

Argues we live in a media-saturated society where the line between media and reality is blurred.

Postmodernist View

Sees the audience as passive, accepting the media without questioning it.

Participatory Culture

The global media space has platforms for individuals to express their views, such as YouTube and blogs.

Spencer-Thomas (2008)

Notes that protests have been globalised and new media can bring about awareness and justice.

Thompson (1995)

States that local cultures modify global media products, resulting in cultural hybridity.

News Selection

The events covered in media do not reflect the wide range of things that happen in reality.

Social Construct of News

The news is created through people putting their values and biases on events.

Galtung & Ruge

Argue that the way media is organised depends on what journalists see as newsworthy.

News Values

Criteria that determine what is newsworthy, including frequency, familiarity, and negativity.

Frequency

Refers to events happening suddenly.

Familiarity

Events connected to where people live or work.

Negativity

Bad news is considered more interesting.

Unexpectedness

Events that are out of the ordinary.

Unambiguity

Making the story clear to readers.

Personalisation

Events that people identify with, such as medical stories.

Meaningfulness

Stories that the audience identifies with due to similar interests.

Elite Nations

Stories about powerful global groups.

Conflict

Stories about groups or nations clashing with significant consequences.

Composition

How a media outlet portrays a story to compete with others.

Bagdikian (2004)

Argues that media owners form part of powerful elites with conservative views.

Greer & Jewkes (2005)

Argue that journalists are influenced politically by their media company owners.

Infotainment

Entertainment in the news has become more important than information.

The Leveson Report

Concluded that there needs to be self-regulation in the media and independent editors.

The Leveson Inquiry

Involved the News International Phone-hacking scandal and raised issues of media ethics.

News International Phone-hacking scandal

Involved British newspapers owned by Rupert Murdoch, where employees were accused of phone hacking, police bribery, and exercising improper influences to get stories.

Advertisers' personalization

Advertisers collect consumer data across multiple platforms to personalize the adverts and news stories seen by consumers.

Influence of media owners

Owners shape the broader context of the news by setting company policies and influencing the approach to reporting/editing news.

Marxist perspective on news

Argues that news companies rely on advertisers and rarely go against inequality in the capitalist system.

Hierarchy of credibility

Journalists rank those in elite positions as more credible than those in lower social classes.

GUMG

Argues the media sides with the middle class and elite because they share the same middle-class background and worldview.

Wayne et al (2008)

Argues the media portrays teens mostly as negative by criminalizing them and rarely allowing them to express their opinion.

Children's Express stereotypes

Identified 7 media stereotypes of children: Kids as victims, Cute kids, Little devils, Kids are brilliant, Kids as accessories, Kids these days, Little angels.

Aries (1965)

Argues the media socially constructs what childhood is and what it means to be a child.

Bachelor (1999)

States that teen dramas and magazines are sensitive and helpful in addressing teen dilemmas.

Williams & Yianne (2009)

Analyzed content from 5 years of ads in 121 magazines, finding common portrayals of elderly as 'golden-agers' or wise grandparents.

Negative stereotypes of the elderly

Portrayed as dozy, incompetent, poor, or of ill health.

Newman (2006)

Argues that upper and middle-class elderly people are portrayed in TV/film as having high-status jobs.

Tuchman (1978)

Uses the term symbolic annihilation to explain how the media overlooks women's roles and achievements.

Feminist media critique

Argues that media representations are male-stream, made by, for, and about men.

Ferguson (1983)

Analyzed magazines and found they socialize girls into stereotypical values preparing them for traditional roles.

Gill (2008)

Argues that women in ads are now portrayed as active, independent, and sexually powerful agents.

Homosexuality in media

Historically represented through a heterosexual lens, often treated as deviant or perverse.

Gerbner (2002)

Argues that the LGBT community undergoes symbolic annihilation and is largely portrayed with negative stereotypes.

Media representations of gender

Focus on women's domestic, sexual, marital, and consumer activities above all else.

Radical feminist view

Claims media uses traditional hegemonic portrayals of femininity to subordinate women.