Chapter 16 - Mass media

Question 1

What is mass media?

Answer 1

print, radio, television, and other communication technologies (sometimes now referred to as legacy media).

Question 2

What is social media?

Answer 2

the apps and websites that allow people to interact, create, and share content via cell phone networks and the internet.

Question 3

What is an example of mass media?

Answer 3

The Washington Post:
An example of Mass Media the Post’s
team of fact-checkers reported that
Donald Trump made 16 241 false or
misleading claims in his first 3 years in
office.

Question 4

What news channel assisted Donald Trump in perpetuating these lies on a regular basis?

Answer 4

Fox news

Question 5

What percentage is americans trust at with media

Answer 5

41%

Question 6

How is this perpetuation of lies even possible?

Answer 6

the capacity of the mass media and social media to divide audiences into segments, each surrounded by their own “bubble of apparent truth.”

Question 7

When did print media become a mass phenomenon?

Answer 7

In the 1800s

Question 8

When was the first telegraph signal sent out?

Answer 8

1844

Question 9

How long did newspapers remain the mass medium?

Answer 9

up until the 1950’s

Question 10

When was the first commercial television broadcast?

Answer 10

in the 1920s

Question 11

When did the U.S. government establish ARPANET?

Answer 11

1969

Question 12

What are the 3 main causes of mass media growth?

Answer 12

Religion, politics and economics

Question 13

When was the first-ever presidential debate broadcasted?

Answer 13

1960

Question 14

Who was the presidential debate between?

Answer 14

John. F. Kennedy and Robert Nixon

Question 15

How does Functionalism view mass media?

Answer 15

As societies evolved from simple to complex and populated, so too did institutions…

Because of the scale of society in more modern times, face-to-face interaction became less viable as a means of communication.

Therefore, the need increased for new ways to coordinate the operation of various parts of society, and the media plays an important role in this endeavour.

Question 16

What is functionalisms 4 main functions of mass media?

Answer 16

An agent of coordination, socialization, social control and entertainment

Question 17

How do conflict theorists view mass media?

Answer 17

Conflict theorists criticize Functionalist approaches to the media for paying insufficient attention to the way the media fosters social inequality.

Some people benefit more than others – namely, the dominant class and political groups.
These groups benefit in 2 ways:
1) Media broadcasts beliefs, values, and ideas that create acceptance of the basic structure of society, which includes injustices and inequalities.

2) Ownership of the media is highly concentrated and extremely profitable to the few who own it, making media a source of economic inequality.

Question 18

What are the media bias mechanisms?

Answer 18

Advertising, sourcing and Flak

Question 19

How do interactive sociologists view mass media?

Answer 19

say that people are not empty vessels into which the media feeds all of our beliefs, values and ideas.

They say people take a more active role in consuming the products of mass media.

People filter and interpret mass media messages in the context of their interests, experiences, and values.

Question 20

How does feminist theory view mass media?

Answer 20

In the 1970s Feminist theorists who studied the media focused on the representation of (or misrepresentation of) women in the media (tv/film).
What these researchers in the 70s showcased was that women tended to be cast as homemakers, secretaries, objects of sexual attention, and other subordinate roles. Closer to the modern era, these ideals are still being challenged, now including racially inequality as well