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Theory of Media and Society: Part II Camile Matthews Media-Society Theory I: Theory: Interdependence of institutions that the Mass Society exercise power integrate the media into the sources of social power and authority. Mass society gives a primacy to the media as a casual factor [idea that media offer a view of the world (a pseudo-environment) which is a potent means of manipulation of people but also an aid to their psychic survival under difficult conditions]. Mass society is both atomized and centrally controlled. Media are seen as significant contributors to this control in societies characterized: 1. Largeness of scale 2. Remoteness of institutions 3. Isolation of individuals 4. Lack of strong local or group integration Widespread public indifference is often contributed to the manipulative use of mass media. Media-Society Theory I: the Mass Society Manipulation Media-Society Theory II: Marxism and Political Economy Marxist interpretations of mass media emphasizes that ultimately media are instruments of control by and for a ruling class. This theory suggests a direct link between economic ownership and the dissemination of messages that affirm the legitimacy and the value of class society. Revisionist of Marxist theory concentrate more on ideas than on material structures. 1. Ideological effects of media in the interests of the ruling class, 2. In reproducing the essentially exploitative relationships, and 3. In legitimizing the dominance of capitalism and the subordination of the working class. “From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs!” –Karl Marx Media-Society Theory II: Marxism and Political Economy Question: How might the power of the media be countered or resisted? Marxist critics of mass media rely on the exposure of propaganda and manipulation as a counter to the media power of the capitalist class. The main contemporary heir to Marxist theory is found in political economy theory. Political economic theory – Socially critical approach the focuses on relation between economic structure and dynamics of media industries and ideological content of media; the media has to be considered as part of the economic system with close links to political system. Consequences: 1. Reduction of independent media sources 2. Concentration on the large markets 3. Avoidance of risks 4. Reduced investment in less profitable media tasks (i.e documentaries, etc.) 5. Neglect of smaller and poorer sectors of the potential audience and often a politically unbalanced range of news media. Media-Society Theory II: Marxism and Political Economy Political economy approach is also applied to the Internet suggesting that the key to the Internet economy lies in the commodification (the transformation of goods, services, ideas and people into commodities, or objects of trade) of the users of free access platforms which deliver targets for advertisers. Trends in media business and technology as relevance to political economic theory: 1. Growth in media concentration worldwide, with more power of ownership being concentrated in fewer hands. 2. Growth in global information economy with increasing convergence between telecommunication and broadcasting. 3. Decline in mass media public sector and in direct public control of telecommunication under the banner of deregulation, privatization or liberation. 4. Growing problem of information inequality. Digital divide refers to inequality in access to and use of advanced communication facilities. Media-Society Theory III: Functionalism Functionalist theory explains social practices and institutions in terms of the ‘needs’ of society and of individuals. Depicts media as essentially self-directing and self-correlating. Media are more likely to be seen as a means of maintaining society as it is rather than as a vehicle for major change. 5 basic ideas about media functions in society: 1. Information: Provides information about events and conditions in society and the world 2. Correlation: Explains, interprets, and comments on the meaning of events and information. Provides support for established authority and norms. 3. Continuity: Expresses the dominant culture and recognizes subcultures and new cultural developments; maintain commonality of values. 4. Entertainment: Provides amusement, diversion and acts as a means of relaxation; reduces social tension(?) 5. Mobilization: Campaigns for societal objectives in the sphere of politics, war, economic development, work and sometimes religion. Set of ideas needs to be reformulated to include the perspectives of the media themselves or of the individual user as in ‘uses and gratifications’ theory and research. Media-Society Theory III: Studies of media content have found that mainstream Functionalism media tend to be conformist and supportive rather than critical of dominant values. This support takes several forms: 1. Avoidance of fundamental criticism of key institutions (business, justice system, democratic politics, etc.) 2. Giving differential access to the ‘social top’ 3. Symbolically rewarding those who succeed according to the approved paths of virtue and hard works, while symbolically punishing those who fail or deviate. Media events (an event or activity that exists for the sole purpose of media publicity. It may also include any event that is covered in the mass media or was hosted largely with the media in mind) – used to confer status on leading figures and issues in society. The media, lacking clear purpose and direction in society, are more prone to dysfunctions than other institutions and are less easy to correct. Media-Society Theory IV: Social Constructionism Social constructionism – theory of knowledge in sociology and communication theory that examines the development of jointly constructed understandings of the world that form the basis for shared assumptions about reality. Social reality has been made and given meaning by human actors. General ideas: 1. Mass media influences what people believe to be reality based of theories of propaganda and ideology. CNN's Fake Newscast From The First Gulf War Social construction refers to the processes by which events, persons, values and ideas are first defined in a certain way and given value, largely by mass media, leading to the construction of larger pictures of reality. (framing and schemata play their part) 2. The promotion by media nationalism, patriotism, social conformity and belief systems could all be interpreted as examples of social construction. 3. Media is a very effective reproducer of a selective and biased view of reality. Media-Society Theory V: Communication Technology Determinism Any history of communication technologies testifies to the accelerating pace of invention and of material (and of other) consequences, and some theorists are inclined to identify distinct phases. History shows a shift over time in the direction of more speed, greater dispersion, wider reach and greater flexibility. They underline the capacity for communication more readily to cross barriers of time and space. H.M. Innis founded the “Toronto School” thinking of the media in the period after WWII. 2 Organizing Principles: 1. In the economic sphere, communication leads over time to monopolization by a group or class of the means of production and distribution of knowledge. Start at 2:45 end at 9:00 2. The most important dimensions of empire are space and time, and some means of communication are more suitable for one than for the other (main bias of communication) Media-Society Theory VI: the Information Society Information society - society where the creation, distribution, use, integration and manipulation of information is a significant economic, political, and cultural activity. Its main drivers are digital information and communication technologies, which have resulted in an information explosion and are profoundly changing all aspects of social organization. Melody (1990) describes information societies as those that have become ‘dependent upon complex electronic information networks and which allocate a major portion of their resources to information and communication activities.’ Cuilenberg (1987) put the chief characteristic as the exponential increase in production and flow of information of all kinds, largely as a consequence of reduced costs following miniaturization and computerization. Reductions in costs of transmission have continued to fuel the process of exponential growth. There is continually decreasing sensitivity to distance as well as continually increasing speed, volume and interactivity of possibilities for communication. An intangible concept is the fact that it has come to form part of contemporary self-consciousness, and in some versions it is almost a new world view. Media-Society Theory VI: the Information Society The ‘cultural dimension’ of the information society concept has been relatively neglected, aside from recognition of the volume of information and symbolic production. The rise of an ‘information culture’ that extends into all aspects of everyday life may be easier to demonstrate than the reality of an information society. ‘Information economy’ is much larger than the mass media on their own, and the primary information technologies involved are not those of mass production and distribution of print material for the general public or mass dissemination by broadcasting or electronic recordings. The birth of the ‘information age’ marks a new and separate historical path. The general significance of changes occurring in communication technology is not accompanied by unanimity about social consequences. The idea of information society is essentially ideological and supportive of the neo-liberal economic project that benefits most from global interconnectivity.