Chapter 18: Mass and Social Media

A form of media that allows people to mass communicate  

 

Media and Reality  

  • Much of most people's reality is media generated 

  • In 1964, Marshall McLuhan, Canadian media guru, said the media are extensions of the human body and mind 

    • The media is the message 

    • The global village  

  • Today, it is perhaps equally valid to claim that the human body and mind are extensions of the mass media 

 

 

Media Influence 

  • People are not always passive consumers of the mass media  

  • We filter, interpret, and resist what we see and hear if it contradicts our experiences and beliefs 

  • But, in the interaction between audiences and media sources, the media sources usually dominate 

 

 

Conflict Theory 

  • Social inequality can be fostered by the mass media 

  • Some people benefit from the mass media more than others do  

  • Mass media favor interests of dominant classes and political groups  

 

 

Theories of Media Effects 

Conflict Theory 

Disproportionate benefits: 

  1. Mass media broadcast beliefs, values, and ideas that create widespread acceptance of the basic structure 

  2. Ownership of mass media is highly concentrated in the hands of a small number of people and is highly profitable for them 

 

 

The Internet and Media Convergence 

  • The Interbet increases power of media conglomerates in the realm of media convergence: Blending of World Wide Web, television, and other communications media as new, hybrid media forms.  

  • Television access and cell phone expansion are recent illustrations of media convergence 

 

 

Media Bias 

  • Conflict theorists maintain concentration of mass media in fewer and fewer hands give rise to the following: 

    • Deprives the public of independent sources of information 

    • Limits diversity of opinion 

    • Encourages the public to accept their society as it is 

 

 

Biasing Mechanisms 

  • According to Edward Herman and Noam Chomsky, subtle mechanisms help to bias the news in a way that supports powerful corporate interests and political groups: 

    • Advertising  

    • Sourcing 

      • Sourcing for news has become concentrated. And the nature of the sources have become problematic 

    • Flak 

      • Individual people within organizations, the changing of information to avoid punishment or consequence 

    • Corporate responsibility Watch video 

 

 

That Thing Called an 'Internet' 

  • Peter Mansbridge is his younger days... 

  • The Internet provides fresh opportunities for media conglomerates to restrict access to paying customers and accumulate vast wealth 

  • The Internet also gives consumers new creative capabilities, partially blurring distinction between producer and consumer 

  • The Internet has potential to make the mass media more democratic 

 

 

Access 

  • Primarily individual users must pay for the Internet's expensive infrastructure 

  • In Canada, household that are richer, better educated, urban, and younger are most likely to enjoy Internet access 

  • Internet access not evenly distributed globally as well 

  • Distinction between Internet access and use 

 

 

Content  

  • Internet content is heavily dominated by United States 

  • France and Canada are outspoken against the perceived American threat to national culture and identity 

  • Net Neutrality 

    • The internet should be a neutral entity