Mass media

mass media

communication technologies that allow for the distribution of info to a mass audience

medium

mode of communication

global village

a global community interconnected by mass media

newspapers

• early ones were government controlled

• today most canadian newpapers are free presses

• print advertising has decreased

radio and tv

• radio was the first electronic mass media

• followed by the TV

internet

• access was mostly at hhomes

• handheld devices used these

• used in unis in the 70s

social media

• enables global connection

• young canadians are the largest users

• impacts micro, macro and global levels

functions of mass media

• surveillance

• correlation

• transmission of social heritage

• entertainment

• mobilization

surveillance

• gathers and spreads info

• info overload can cause fear, anxiety

• research findings can be mixed

• brings deviant behaviour to public attention

correlation

• media selects and organizes info for audience

• provides context and evaluation

• may discourage critical thinking

transmission of social heritage

• media teaches cultural values, norms, expected behaviours

• heavy government control over media can be used for manipulation or social control

mobilization

• helps organize people around social issues

• used for campaigns, activism and collective action

propaganda

biased, false or misleading info used strategically by an insitution or person to promote a particular pov

hegemony

the ideological, non violent control exerted by a dominant group over a subordinae group that perpeptuates their power through reinforcement of the values of the dominant group

flak

negative response to a broadcast of info via mass media

conflict theory pov on mass media

• Focuses on power, dominant groups, and inequality.

• Mass media does not serve everyone equally; it serves the interests of the dominant class

power of media owners

• What stories get covered.

• How stories are framed.

• Whether content harmful to corporate interests is suppressed.

media ownership consequences

• Closure of local newspapers.

• More uniform content due to syndication.

• Fewer diverse viewpoints

functionalist pov on mass media

• mass media serves a function to the society

• surveillance, correlation, transmission, entertainment, mobilization

symbolic interactionist pov on mass media

• focus on audience reception

• how mass media consumers receive the media content 

• when, where the content is accepted, critiqued or rejectred

early feminist pov on mass media

• rep of women in mass media

• how they were repped

• stereotypes

• emphasizes media bodies

contemporary feminist theory

focuses on resisting, critiquing and reinterpreting media imagery rather than internalizing it

postmodernism pov on mass media

• creates a hyperreality

• simulacra becomes new reality 

• fuels consumption behaviours

visibility and stereotyping

lack of rep and stereotypical depictions reinforces social inequalities

gender rep in magazines

reinforce gender stereotypes

gender rep in film and TV

• women are underrepped

• female chars are younger

racial stereotyping

media portrays racialized groups stereotypically