6.1 Theorists

Question 1

Dutton et al.

Answer 1

Suggested that the (old) media have a number of characteristics that set it apart from other types of communication, such as interpersonal communication that occurs on a one-to-one basis. In the media, communication is:
* Impersonal: the sender of the message does not know the receivers.
* Lacking in immediacy: the audience has no involvement with the production of a media message.
* One-way: from the producer/creator to the consumer/audience.
* Physically and technologically distant: everyone receives the same intended message.
* Organised: it requires a vehicle, such as a television receiver, printed page or internet connection, which
allows messages to be sent and received.
* Large-scale and simultaneous: the global audience for something like the football World Cup numbers hundreds of millions, watching at the same time.
* Commodified: it comes at a price. You can watch the latest films if you can afford a television and a subscription to a satellite or cable company. The audience may also be the commodity that is bought and sold. For example, ‘free-to-air’ television programmes deliver a mass audience to advertisers.

Question 2

McChesney

Answer 2

argues that there is an appearance of choice but, for example, although satellite and cable television offers hundreds of different channels, the content is largely the same (homogeneous), cheaply made and repetitive

Question 3

Galbraith

Answer 3

Pluralist approaches argue that control of the media is increasingly in the hands of what Galbraith (1967) called a ‘technocratic managerial elite’, who, however well paid, remain employees rather than employers.

Question 4

Davis and McAdam

digital optimism

Answer 4

Globalisation has encouraged diversity and competition through what Davis and McAdam (2000) call a ‘new economic shift’.

Media corporations have become networks operating across national boundaries, with flexible organisational structures that allow them to respond to new technological developments.

Question 5

Weinberger

Answer 5

Not only can people ‘search the globe’ for information but, as Weinberger (2012) argues, ‘For every fact on the internet, there is an equal and opposite fact’. These ideas question the effectiveness of the media’s ideological role.