Learning Unit 1 Flashcards
1
Q
Critically discuss the statement: “the power of the radio can be compared to the power of the atomic bomb.”
A
- people are concerned about how h e mass media are everywhere and they realize mass media is powerful
FAR REACH (able to reach many people) MASS DEVASTATION (they believed radio will have) USED FOR GOOD/BAD REQUIRE CONTROL (or it will be bad)
2
Q
List Lazarsfeld and Merton’s social functions of mass media.
A
The status confederal function
The enforcement of social norms
The narcotising dysfunction
3
Q
Explain the ‘status conferral function’ as a social function of mass media.
A
- mass media gives status to issues, people, orgs and social movements
- raised social standing if you get favourable attention from mass media
- mass media gives prestige to groups or individuals by legitamising their status
- recognition by mass media testifies that you’re NB enough to be singled out from large anonymous masses
- e.g. Justin Bieber tissue
4
Q
Explain the ‘the enforcement of social norms’ as a social function of mass media.
A
- “the power of the press”
- mass media can initiate organised social action by exposing
- public exposure operates as follows:
social norms are inconvenient = go against instant gratification = lenient when applying norms to self and others = deviant behaviour - private toleration as long as don’t have to take public stand
- publicity requires public stand to be taken
- publicity closes gap between “private attitudes” and “public morality”
- e.g. Tiger Woods - loses Nike sponsorship
5
Q
Explain the ‘the narcotising dysfunction’ as a social function of mass media.
A
- this consequence goes largely unnoticed
- “dysfunctional” it is not in the interest of modern society to have a politically apathetic population
- more time spent on mass media products
- mass media allows us to stay in touch with the world
- superficial concern with societal problems
- spend more time reading/listening rather than organized action
- intellectual conversations and informed people may congratulate themselves for being informed
- e.g. Increased petrol prices
6
Q
Explain what is meant by social conformism
A
- mass media influence comes form what they say and what they don’t say
- mass media affirm the status quo and this affirmation encourages acceptance
- mass media don’t raise essential Qs about structure of society = social conformism = approval of present structure of society
- media restrain the potential for a critical outlook
- media is commercially sponsored
- supported by business concerns therefore contribute toward the maintenance of social and economic systems.
7
Q
Critically discuss how mass media has impacted upon popular taste.
A
- must look at pop taste in historical and sociological terms to understand impact
- what is the historical status of low level of pop taste?
- seeming decline of pop taste with the rise of pop education
- large no of people have acquired “formal literacy”
- – can read but superficial meaning
- – gap between literacy and comprehension
- – read more but understand less
- there are some people with good/high aesthetic standards but more who don’t have a good in depth understanding of the arts
- proves decrease in standards and tastes of audiences
- some sectors of pop’s tastes have been raised
- total no of people exposed to comm contents = increased
- stereotypical formulae used by media to create “interesting content”
8
Q
List the three building blocks of media literacy.
A
- personal locus
- knowledge structures
- skills
9
Q
List the skills most relevant to media literacy.
A
- analysis
- evaluation
- grouping
- induction
- deduction
- synthesis
- abstracting
10
Q
Explain “personal locus” as a building block of media literacy.
A
- personal locus is goals and drives that shape the info processing tasks by determining what gets in and what gets out
- the more personal locus one has, the easier it is to direct process of info seeking and the more effort you’ll expend to attain your goals
- low personal locus = default to media control (allow media to control your exposure to info)
- the more you know about this locus and consciously shape it the locus and increased engagement of locus = increased media literacy)
11
Q
Explain “knowledge structures” as a building block of media literacy.
A
- sets of organised info in a person’s memory
- made up by carefully crafting info into an overall design
- skills are the tools we use to search for relevant info and shape this info into a proper structure
- info is essential in creating knowledge structures but not all info is equally useful
- if all someone has is superficial info , they’re operating at a low level of media literacy because they can only answer “what”
- ## more useful info answers “how” and “why” but person first needs to know “what”
12
Q
Explain “skills” as a building block of media literacy.
A
- tools developed by people through practice
- use these skills in all sorts of ways in our everyday lives
- we all have these skills to some extent, challenge is to get batted at using each of these skills as we encounter media messages
13
Q
Explain “analysis” as a relevant skill of media literacy.
A
- breaking down message into meaningful elements
- dig deeper, break down into components and examine composition of elements
- e.g. Breaking down a news story into: who what when where why and how to determine if the story is complete
14
Q
Explain “evaluation” as a relevant skill of media literacy.
A
- making a judgement about the value of an element
- process involves comparing a message element to a standard
- is take info elements and compare them to our standards - if they meet or exceed our standards, message = good
- if they fall short, message is unacceptable
15
Q
Explain “grouping” as a relevant skill of media literacy.
A
- determining how elements are alike and how groups of elements is different from other groups of elements
- first need to determine a classification rule
- media has classification rules - we’ll end up in groups they want to use
- if we make up our own classification rules, we’ll end up with groups that have more meaning and value for us
