Mass Media Communication

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Mass Media Communication

• Media in Society and
• Society in the Media

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• Mass media is where we get most of our
  information, including what we know about
• Crime, Sex, Body Image, Gender Scripts,
  Diversity, Role Models
• What we know is heavily influenced by the content
  and structure of mass media communication.

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Media Shapes Society

• The media are influential in framing what we see,
  think, and experience.
• Media coverage frames some aspects of reality as
  normal and necessary and others as inferior or
  irrelevant.
• The media select which voices will prevail in
  discussions of social issues.

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Society Shapes the Media

• The mass media exert a powerful influence on the
  construction of society, but this is a two-way
  process.
• Changes in society may trigger changes in the
  media.
• Marginalized groups may enlist the media in
  challenging the prevailing power distribution.

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Defining Mass Media Communication

• There are three ways to define mass media
  communication
• 1. What it looks like
• 2. What it is supposed to do
• 3. What it really does

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Mass Media/Mass Communication

• Mass media
• Structures and institutions
• Distinct products distributed in a distinct way
• Example books, magazines, newspapers, radio,
  music, film, video, television

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• Mass communication
• Processes by which messages are encoded,
  transmitted, and decoded as well as transformed.
• Mediating technologies assist in the production
  and distribution of centrally produced messages.

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Three Media Models

• Commercial (private)
• Concerned primarily with profit and audience
  satisfaction
• Offer safe and formulaic content
• Generally reject social responsibility for their
  actions

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• Public
• Provide a product that audiences are perceived to
  need
• High-brow, elitist, designed to maximize public
  good or national interests

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• Community
• Provide service for minority audiences ignored by
  the mainstream
• Locally owned and reflect local interests
• Aim to empower those who have been marginalized

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Patterns of Persuasion

• Media are used largely by governments and private
  interests to convey notions of right and wrong.
• They are loaded with values, priorities, and
  hidden agendas, and are not agents of social
  change.

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• Advertising is central to commercial media.
• The main function of mass media is profit through
  advertising
• Television viewers are audiences for sale
• Advertising agencies monitor the viewing habits
  of television audiences

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From Mass to Interactive

• In the past, mass media travelled from one
  central source to many consumers.
• Now, our networked society allows many-to-many or
  many-to-one communication, undermining central
  control of messages.
• In response, advertising has become more
  intrusive.
• Example Product placement in movies

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Demassification

• Computer technology has influenced the creation,
  distribution, and consumption of media messages.
• More personal methods of message delivery are now
  possible
• Media communication has become dialogical, rather
  than monological
• An interactive consumer is now the centre of
  attention

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New Patterns of Media Communication

• Audiences are no longer seen as mindless
  receptacles, but rational beings able to
  negotiate the meanings of the messages they
  receive.
• New technology allows the mass media to customize
  messages for niche audiences.
• Mass media are becoming more concentrated through
  mergers and convergence.

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Canada-Building and the Media

• The Railroad of the Mind
• Social Engineering Challenges to the
  construction and maintenance of a cohesive
  Canadian society have been overcome through the
  use of mass media
• Airwaves defined as spaces for public debate
• Broadcasting Acts ensure Canadian content

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Media Impacts

• Do the mass media contribute to stability in
  society?
• OR
• Are they more likely to generate competition and
  divisiveness?

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Structural Functionalism

• Every society is built around the dynamics of
  constancy, community and consensus.
• Mass media contribute to attaining this moral
  consensus by
• Creating an informed population
• Reinforcing core values and beliefs
• Generating a sense of connectedness
• Encouraging a cosmopolitan outlook

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Conflict Theory

• Mass media create and maintain power inequalities
  through selective coverage.
• Mass media promote the agendas of the rich and
  powerful through message content.
• Marxism the media are owned by large
  corporations and media content promotes corporate
  interests at the expense of others.
• Feminism media content is sexist and
  patriarchal, denying women full and equal
  participation in society.

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Symbolic Interactionism

• The social world is negotiated by social actors
  who construct reality through their
  interpretations and actions

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• Media is both constructed
• created by individuals with their own agendas and
  biases
• and constructing
• people incorporate the media to help them define
  their own social reality

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Media Effects

• Media impacts society by articulating public
  discourses about what is normal and necessary.
• High-profile tragedies often blame the media
• Example Columbine, Red River teenage shootings
• Can trivialize reality or be cognitively
  empowering

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• Amplifies social pressures on the family and
  other institutions
• Media effects must be seen within the broader
  context of other influences

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Media and Violent Behaviour

• Paradox of causality
• Is the relationship between violence and media
  causal or correlational?
• What exactly constitutes violence?
• War? Sports? Martial art? Aggression?
  Psychological abuse? Accidental injury?
• Television transforms violence
• Violence becomes exciting, empowering, cool

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Society in Media

• Pressure on the media to present a reality that
  is respectful of diversity and gender.
• Problems remain
• Tokenism
• Gendered nature of mass media communication
• Corporate ownership of media institutions

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The Media and Minorities

• Canada and its mass media are committed, at an
  official level, to the principles of
  multiculturalism.
• Media misrepresentation frames minorities as
  invisible, problem people.
• Advertising has embraced inclusiveness in order
  to reach a larger group of consumers.

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The Media and Gender

• Historically, media conveyed messages about women
  as inferior or irrelevant.
• Todays media texts are still encoded in a
  sexualized way, reinforcing female sexuality as
  the key to social power.
• Superficial changes have not resulted in
  transformation.
• The media still reinforce male experiences and
  agendas as normal and necessary.

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The Media and Class

• Mass media are situated within a capitalistic
  framework.
• Bottom-line mentality prevails
• Media ownership is becoming increasingly
  concentrated.
• About 10 corporations dominate the global media
  market (Kendal et al., 2004)

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• Ben Bagdikian (1997)
• the fewer the number of owners, the narrower the
  range of media outputs

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• Media concentration presents dangers to
  democratic ideals by
• Blending editorial and commercial content
• Advancing only the interests of those who own the
  media
• Focusing solely on generating revenue
• Restricting the range of content

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Media-Proofing

• Technological changes have sharpened the need for
  improved media literacy skills.
• Mass media need to be exposed as powerful
  socially constructed vehicles of persuasion.
• Misinformation persists, even among the
  technologically inclined.
• As consumers become more informed, the media
  search out new weaknesses.

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• Media create and legitimize the images around
  which reality is constructed.
• Messages are becoming increasingly simple and
  safe.
• Media-proofing requires a reading between the
  lines.
• Many are oblivious to media messages.
• Media narratives shape our attitudes, identities
  and behaviour.

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• A critically informed perspective is necessary.