Media - Paper 2 Flashcards
Paper 2
What are some examples of traditional media?
- Terrestrial
- Newspapers
- Books
- Radio (if accessed through is internet is new media)
- CD
- DVD
- MP3
What are some examples of new media?
- Cable and satellite TV
- The internet
- Smartphones
- Computer games
- Online magazines
- Advertising
Why do sociologists study the media?
The media plays a huge role in our lives because we live in a ‘media saturated society’ (postmodernists). The media is an important source of information and influences our identity and what we buy
How does the media impact our behaviour?
- Influences our views on social groups e.g., hate groups
- Norms and values
- Likes and dislikes
- Stereotypes
- Can impact mental health - self esteem, body image
- Work ethic
- Voting behaviour - politicians use media for campaigns
- Deviant behaviour - normalising violence
- Trends - buying behaviour
- Pester power
What does Marcuse say about the media?
Transmits mass culture which is injected into the hearts of the population through ruling class propaganda. Eat out to help out exploited us because the economy was suffering. Put people at risk - fake caring face of capitalism, benefits ruling class
What does Norris say about the media and voting behaviour?
Media can influence voting behaviour/ During Brexit, the media was used highly to campaign for leave or remain. Politicians can use strategies that they know will have a big influence on people’s views. Alan Sugar said Brexit would be a disaster for the UK
What is the hypodermic syringe model?
Suggests the media acts like a hypodermic syringe, injecting media tests into the veins of audiences. They are passive and unthinking receivers of media texts who are unable to resist messages. Media can fill audiences with dominant ideology, audience then immediately acts on these messages
Who says the hypodermic syringe model does exist?
Marxists and Feminists
How would Postmodernists criticise the hypodermic syringe model?
Outdated because the media is so large that they can form their own views. We have an active audience in society so people have free will.
People on benefits = scroungers –> Benefit Britain and other programmes –> Stereotypical views and prejudice, cultural devision and marginalisation
What do feminists say about the hypodermic syringe model?
There is a casual link between porn and sexual violence. Morgan and Dworkin
What does Morgan say? (HSM)
Porn is theory and rape is practice
What does Dworkin say? (HSM)
Porn trivialises rape and encourages men to abuse and inflict pain on women - can affect marriage as men and women are less supportive of marriage
What does Malmuth say? (HSM)
Porn only worsens the behaviour of those who are already aggressive and for the majority has no negative effects
What are the criticisms of the hypodermic syringe model?
- Model assumes that entire audiences are passive and will react in the same way. A person’s own experience may play a part e.g., some people may laugh at violent scenes as they feel uncomfortable. People of different ages and social class will have different reactions to the media
- It assumes audiences are passive, gullible and easily manipulated. People do not believe everything seen on the media. People are more aware of things being false on the media and were often critical of what we see. Active audience - opinions - postmodernists
- It assumes the media have enormous power and influence over-riding all other socialisation. Social classes can have a large impact on attitudes and behaviour. We are all brought up in different ways. Home life - family set up, peers in education
- Little evidence that media content has the immediate effects on the audience. It is hard to study the effects and impact of media because different age and social groups consume different media so it is impossible to measure effects. Postmodernists - free will. Just because you consume it it doesn’t mean that you will copy the behaviour
What does Buckingham say?
Children are much more media literate as they have grown up with many forms of media so know the difference between what is real and fiction
What are some examples of copycat crime?
Violent media causes copycat crime - HSM
James Bulger and Columbine
How does Bandura support the idea of media causing violence
- Showed 3 groups a film containing a Bobo doll. In some, the adult was being aggressive towards the doll and some were friendly.
- He found that those who watched the aggressive role models in the film also showed the same behaviour
- He concluded that media content leads to copycat behaviour
What do McCabe and Martin say about media violence?
The Disinhibition Effect - they argue that the media has this effect - it convinces children that in some situations the normal rules of society can be abandoned and instead we can resolve conflict in violence
What does Newson say about media violence?
Desensitisation
Noted that children and teenagers are subjected to thousands of killings and acts of violence as they grow up through watching television and films. She suggested that such prolonged exposure to media violence may have a ‘drip-drip’ effect on young people over the course of their childhood and result in their becoming desensitised to violence. They become socialised into accepting violent behaviour as normal
How have people tried to tackle the issue of media violence?
Age restrictions but people still find access e.g., no verification
Who criticises media violence?
Buckingham, Fesbach and Sanger, Jock Young, Gauntlett
How does Buckingham criticise media violence?
children are more media literate and know the difference between real and fictional violence
How do Fesbach and Sanger criticise media violence? (Catharsis)
They found that screen violence is a safe outlet for people with aggressive tendencies - Catharsis. They looked at violent TV and the impact on teens and found that those that saw aggressive behaviour on TV were less aggressive
Someone with aggressive tendencies will be able to use video games with a violent aspect e.g., shooting or fighting, to take out the anger. Instead of doing it in real life, they’re doing it fictionally
How does Jock Young criticise media violence?
Sensitisation seeing the effects of violence - pain and suffering makes us more aware of the consequences for committing offence so puts people off violence
How does Gauntlett criticise media violence?
Most studies are conducted in artificial context so lack validity. Not clear on the definition of violence - do different types of violence have different effects. Fails to put violence into context
What is the cultural effects model?
Suggests that the media do have an effect on the audience. It does not regard the audience as simply passive consumers of media texts, with the media having a direct effect, instead they believe that it has more of a ‘drip-drip’ effect, gradually influencing the audience. It recognises that the media are owned and heavily influenced by the dominant and most powerful groups in society, and their interests strongly influence the content of the media keeping with the dominant ideology
Why would media owners spread the dominant ideology?
The most powerful groups are heavily influencing the media. Media owners will spread the dominant ideology. Dominant ideology involves these groups spreading their norms and values/ It is dominant groups norms and values. They would do this to persuade opinions to maintain their power. Divide and rule - for the media to make profit a by-product of the way journalists have been socialised and brought up
What does the cultural effects model argue about media coverage of certain issues?
Most people coming to believe that media perspectives on particular issues are correct and these reflect a consensus that generally fails to challenge ruling class ideology. Example: Benefit scroungers
The media conveys the image of benefit scroungers and leads people to having prejudice views. This could lead to conflicts because of divide and rule. Because of the hierarchy, there would be an opportunity for revolution out this doesn’t happen because of the control from the bourgeoisie
Cultural effects theory argues TV is dumbed down
What does Curran say - cultural effects model?
Tabloid newspapers are guilt of ideological practices. By focusing on individual issues our attention is diverted from collective societal issues. The popular press support a ‘common-sense’ view of the world that helps to maintain and justify existing inequalities
What do Philo and the GMG argue?
Media has a great deal of power informing the way audiences view the world, suggesting that most people accept the dominant media account presented. But, he does acknowledge that audiences are active and in some cases can be critical if they have access to alternative forms of information
In his 1984/5 miners’ strike study he found that audiences from different class and political backgrounds saw these images and interpreted them in the same way
What did GUMG research find?
- The sample saw the ideological message that the miners were to blame
- Sympathy for miners was weakened by what people read and heard
- Those who had not witnessed the strikes saw it as violent and legitimate
- Very few rejected the message that the miners were to blame
What does Philo say about direct experiences?
If the audience have no direct experience or knowledge of an issue when the ideological power of the media message will be strong and likely to shape an individual’s view of the social world. He argues that the cultural effects model needs to be ‘dynamic’ and account for the fact that people may internalise or reject media messages based on their personal experiences
Who came up with the two step flow model?
Katz and Lazarsfeld
What do Katz and Lazarsfeld say about the two step flow model?
Suggest that personal relationships and conversations with significant others, such as family members, friends, teachers and work colleagues, result in people modifying or rejecting media messages. They argue that social networks are usually dominated by an opinion leader i.e., people of influence whom others in the network look up to and listen to.
What is the two step flow model?
Suggests that media messages have to go through two steps or stages. Consequently, media audiences are not directly influenced by the media. Rather, they choose to adopt a particular opinion, attitude and way of behaving after negotiation and discussion with an opinion leader.
Media sends out message –> opinon leader shares media message to individuals –> Individuals decide if they agree or not
What are the strengths of the two-step flow model?
- Not all audience is passive
- Sees the impact of messages on some of the audience
- Looks at audience relationships
- Considers background of audience
What are the limitations of the two-step flow model?
- Too deterministic with just two steps
- Excludes the socially isolated
- Argues most of the audience are passive
- Suggests there are two types of audience member
Who came up with encoding and decoding?
Hall - a part of the reception analysis model
What is encoding?
Media texts are encoded with a particular meaning, which they expect media audiences to believe. Media is encoded by those who produce the media, such as owners, journalists, editors and TV produces. This encoding is what Hall calls the dominant hegemonic viewpoint, which takes the dominant ideology for granted and accepts it as the normal, natural and only sensible way of viewing social events
What is decoding?
Most audiences will interpret or decode media texts exactly as they were intended because the views of the dominant class appear normal, natural or reasonable
What is the reception analysis model?
Applied Hall’s approach of encoding and decoding on the 1970s news programme Nationwide. Morely found audiences were far from passive and were much more active. Instead, audiences made up their own minds and there was significant opposition to views in the programme. When people do accept the ideological position it was because they had personal knowledge and experience of the issue
What were the 3 ways people decoded media said by Morley?
Preferred, negotiated and opositional
What is preferred reading?
Audiences interpret or decode media texts in the same way they were encoded in the first place and in the way media producers would prefer.
For example, a preferred reading could be that most welfare benefit claimants are workshy ‘scroungers’.
What is negotiated reading?
The media audience generally accept the preferred reading, but may amend it to some extent, to fit their own beliefs and experiences.
For example, they might accept that most benefit claimants are probably ‘scroungers’, but not all as they know of some really deserving cases.
What is oppositional reading?
A minority may reject the preferred reading altogether.
For example, rejecting the view of ‘scroungers’ and seeing claimants as really deserving as they face unemployment and inequality.
How does personal background influence type of reading?
Younger people may be more likely to be preferred reader and older people because of their perception of younger people
What are some evaluation points of the Reception Analysis Model?
Preferred reading supported by HSM
Negotiated reading supported by cultural effects
Oppositional reading supported by 2 step flow
What does Morley argue about subculture?
The average person belongs to several subcultural groups and this may complicate a person’s reading of media content. For example, a young British College student may respond to Brexit in a number of ways:
1) As an Educated Student, who was not permitted to vote. They may feel Brexit is unfair as it will be their futures most at risk
2) As a British person, they may feel a sense of sympathy for those who voted to leave Europe, out of sheer frustration with the system
3) As a Young person, they may feel that Current affairs is fairly boring and consequently not show much interest.
What is a moral panic?
A moral panic is a wave of public concern about some exaggerated or imaginary threat to society, stiffed up by exaggerated and sensationalised reporting in the media.
What is the uses and gratifications model?
Believes that the audience are the most ACTIVE and that the media has little effect on the audience. Rather than seeing the media as manipulating and influencing the audience, they believe that the audience use the media in various ways for their own various pleasures, needs and interests (gratifications).
Who identified the uses and gratifications of media?
Blumler and McQuail
What are the uses and gratifications of media?
Diversion, Personal relationships, Personal identity, surveillance and background wallpaper
What is the use and grat: diversion?
Leisure, entertainment and relaxation purposes in order to escape from daily routine and to get out from under problems and to ease worries and tensions
Example: Watching TV, listening to a podcast
Who? People who work full time
What is the use and grat: Personal relationships?
To keep up with family, friends or companionship through identification with media communities like coronation street. It can be used as a conversation starter, to establish new relationships with people you’ve never met e,g., FaceBook
Example: social media, TV
Who? Anyone
What is the use and grat: Personal identity?
To explore and confirm people’s own identities or to seek out a new source of identity e.g., trends
Example: social media and tends, reality TV - Drag race
Who? More likely to be younger people
What is the use and grat: Surveillance?
To access information about current affairs, to find out about the world, to make your mind up about issues that might affect you
Example: Watching the news, social media, newspapers
Who? Mainly older people - don’t tend to change opinions, voters
What is the use and grat: Background wallpaper?
To have on whilst doing other things
Example: TV, Radio, Music
Who? Anyone
What did Park et al do using the uses and grats model?
He did a web survey of those who were members of Facebook groups finding they used it for diversion, personal relationships, personal identity and surveillance
How would Marxists critique the uses and grats model?
‘Needs’ referred to be the model, may be manufactured by the media. They argue that in a capitalist society, the mass media promote the ideology that consumption and materialism are positive goals to pursue. The bourgeoisie control the media so will gain and maintain power and profit from unecessary consumption marketed as needs - seen in trends
What are some examples of manufactured needs?
- Designer clothing
- Holiday goods
- Black Friday/Boxing day sale
- Busy social life
- Sports cars
What are the strengths of the uses and grats model?
This model recognises the role of the audience – suggests they are active.
The model suggests that audiences hold the power and dictate the content.
It recognises that people use the media in different ways.
What are the limitations of the uses and grats model?
The model underestimates the power of the owners.
This model ignores how groups and interactions impact on how we use the media.
The model ignores structural factors that mean similar people respond in the same way to the media.
What does Bagdikian look at and say?
Concentration of Ownership. In 1983 50 corporations controlled all the media in USA and in 1992 just 22 companies owned and controlled all 90% of mass media in USA. He argues that if each area of the media in USA was owned by individuals there would be 25000 owners. By 2011 media ownership in the USA was totally dominated by only 5 corporations: Time Warner, Disney, News Corp, Viacom, and CBS.
What are the problems with concentration of ownership?
If companies all have the same viewpoint they will transmit one dominant ideology and won’t focus on a range of problems. Hegemonic curtain
What is cyber media?
Cyber media is dominated by Apple, Samsung, Microsoft and Google. There is also concentration of ownership here, as traditional companies compete with cyber media organisations to control social networking sites for advertisement revenues:
What is globalisation in concentration and ownership?
Traditionally most countries developed their own media but due to increased globalisation media is now shared worldwide. There has been consumer resistance to globalisation of the media – Marxists predicted that this would happen – that media companies would join forces and take over. Globalisation has meant people can access media from anywhere
How does McPhail explain Electronic Colonialism?
Used to describe the way countries are culturally penetrated by American values through films etc. through “Hollywoodisation” and even more so through social networking sites
What does Curran say about British Print Media?
Concentration of ownership of British newspapers is not a new phenomenon. In 1937, four men, known as the ‘press barons’- owned nearly one in every two daily newspapers sold in the UK. Today seven companies dominate newspaper ownership some of which are controlled by specific individuals: The Sun, Daily Mail, Guardian, Times etc.
Who is Rupert Murdoch?
In the 1950s and 1960s, Murdoch acquired a number of newspapers in Australia and New Zealand before expanding into the United Kingdom in 1969, taking over the News of the World, followed closely by The Sun. In 1981, Murdoch bought The Times, his first British broadsheet.
In 1986, keen to adopt newer electronic publishing technologies, Murdoch consolidated his UK printing operations HarperCollins and The Wall Street Journal .
Murdoch formed the British broadcaster BSkyB in 1990 and, during the 1990s, expanded into Asian networks and South American television. By 2000, Murdoch’s News Corporation owned over 800 companies in more than 50 countries, with a net worth of over $5 billion.
What has happened to newspaper circulation since 2015?
Has decreased because different forms of media are more popular. Can access news from social media anywhere and is free
How would Marxists view concentration of ownership in print media?
Another way for the bourgeoisie to control the proletariat views and opinions. The leftist view is catered to the proletariat so without it being shared there will be no revolution
What are the trends developed from British Print Media?
Horizontal and vertical integration, diversification, synergy, technological convergence and global conglomeration
What is horizontal integration?
Cross media ownership – where big media companies own a wide range of media.
TV, radio, cinema etc.
Example: BBC, ITV, Disney, Sky
What is vertical integration?
Some media companies are trying to control all aspects of the media to ensure maximum profits.
Example: Murdoch, Amazon Prime, Now TV
What is diversification?
When companies branch out into a new area of media to spread the risk of loss. This may be unrelated to the media but it means if they lose money in one area they have a safety net.
Example: Amazon, Apple, Meta
What is synergy?
Media companies are using their different interests to package products in several ways for example a film soundtrack, game, and ringtone as well as clothing and merchandise.
Example: Disney, Football, Youtubers
What is technological convergence?
Relatively new concept = several technologies in one product. For example you can use you phone, TV, computer can access the net.
Example: Apple and Whatsapp
What is global conglomeration?
Where media companies operate in the global market producing for example newspapers in several countries.
Example: Murdoch, Musk, Amazon
How do governments control the output of the media?
- Blackmail
- Leaking CCTV or briefings
- Hold press conferences
- Give bribes
- Surveillance of work email
- Censor media through surveillance
-Refuse to give broadcasting licences - Desensitisation
How is mass media in Britain censored and controlled?
Ofcom: In 2003, the Office of Communications was established as a supposedly powerful regulator of the mass media, with responsibilities across television, radio, telecommunications and wireless services:
The BBC: regulated by the BBC Trust and partly by OFCOM. The government also has the opportunity to influence the corporation over 10 years when the licence fee is determined.
Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO) established in 2014 to regulate the newspaper and magazine industry replacing the discredited Press Complaints Commission (PCC).
What is the Leveson enquiry?
- A public eqnuiry into the culture, practices and ethics of the British Press started because it was found that journalists at Rupert Murdoch’s News of the World hacked the phone of murdered Milly Dowler
- The government and Murdoch worked together to censor some media and spread others
- UK media companies now share the same news with the same ideology to not go against the government
What is pluralism?
No dominant ruling class, but many competing groups with different interests. All these different interests are represented in the media. The owners do not directly control the content of the media, but, rather, what appears in the media is driven by the wishes of consumers – audiences will simply not watch TV programmes or buy newspapers that do not reflect their views.
The mass media is also essential in a democratic society to ensure there is a platform to express the views of each political group. Most people get their knowledge of politics from the media – pluralists argue that owners are objective and impartial facilitators to this process.
What do pluralists say about the economics of media ownership? (Pluralism)
Pluralists suggest that the behaviour of media ownership is constrained by the market.
Free market means that media owners compete against each other to attract an audience.
READERS HOLD THE POWER – to buy or not to buy? If unhappy, they can change to a new paper.
What did James Whale say? (Pluralism)
Media owners have global problem of trade investment to occupy their minds so do not have time to think about the day to day running of their media business.
How can we critique James Whale? (Pluralism)
Postmodernism - individualism, depends on owners.
What are the 4 main pluralist views?
Media diversity, Public service broadcasting, state controls and media professionalism
What is media diversity? (Pluralism)
Pluralists argue the range of media products available is extremely diverse and as a result all points of view are catered for.
Therefore, it is not biased as all views are accounted for. The media mirrors what the audience see as important
Example: Left and right wing papers, TV - sexuality, ethnicity and race
What is public service broadcasting? (Pluralism)
a significant share of the media in the UK is taken by public service broadcasters and controlled by the state.
BBC (1926) is controlled by the state and this outweighs the bias of the public sector.
Are the BBC always objective and impartial? (Pluralism)
No - Jimmy Savile - Silenced anyone who spoke out and let him keep working as he brought in a lot of viewers and money
What are state controls? (Pluralism)
pluralists argue that the media is restricted by state controls. Some societies have banned certain media in order to reduce dominant viewpoints.
What is Media professionalism?
Pluralists stress professionalism of journalists and editors and they argue they would never compromise their independence and have too much integrity to be biased.
Example: Journalists in the Milly Dowler case hacked the phone’s voicemail, they did this to many other people to gain information, this was unprofessional. They also hacked high level politicians and the royals
What is investigation journalism? (Pluralism)
Pluralists also point out that the media have a strong tradition of investigative journalism which has often targeted those in power. In recent times the media highlighted the incident with Dominic Cummings travelling to see his family in the North-East during lockdown.
Pluralists suggest that an audience does not accept what is fed to them through the media. All audiences are critical and diverse - Uses and grats
What are the strengths of Pluralism?
- There is a wide range of newspapers, magazines and TV channels that reflect a huge range of interests. Including those that challenge the dominant ideology.
- The fight for audiences and competition with other companies means that the mass media have to cater to their audiences tastes otherwise they will go out of business.
- The diversity of the media enables investigative reporting to take place which can challenge the power and interests of the dominant class.
- Journalists are not simply pawns of their employers they have some editorial honesty and independence and often are critical of dominant ideals.
- Curran argues that there has been an increase in cheque book journalism and a serious decline in serious and political news. Therefore they are no longer writing stories that could bias opinion as people are focussed on human interest and celeb gossip articles.
What are the limitations of pluralism?
- Hegemonic theorists would argue that people have been socialised by the media themselves into the belief that they have been provided with what they want. The media has created their tastes so what the audience want is really what the owners have told them they want.
- Media owners strongly influence which is appointed at senior levels of the media and all those in power usually share similar views and an outlook on the world.
- While managers, journalists and TV producers have some independence they work within the constraints placed on them by the owners. This then gives the powerful members of society more influence.
- Not all groups in society have equal influence on editors and journalists to get their views across and only the rich have the money to launch media companies that they can use to get their views across.
- The owners have on numerous occasions sacked uncooperative editors and both governments and rich individuals have brought political and legal pressure to stop programmes that threaten their interests.
- The pressure to attract audiences does not increase media choice but limits it – the media declines in quality and news gets sensationalised as the media targets the mass market with unthreatening and unchallenging bland content.
What does Miliband argue about ownership and control?
Plays an important role in spreading the dominant ideology. The media control access to the knowledge which people have about what is happening in society, and encourage them to accept the unequal society in which they live. The media creates a climate of conformity among the mass of the population which justifies the rule of the rich and powerful and leads to a state of false class consciousness. Ideas that challenge or threaten the status quo are ignored. He sees the media as an instrument through which the RC is able to manipulate media content and media audiences in its own interests
What are the key views of Marxists on ownership and control?
- Owners of the media, like newspapers owners have direct control of the content of the media and they can and do interfere with the media content.
- The owners of the media aim to spread ideas (the dominant ideology) which justifies the power of the ruling class. - False class consciousness.
- Media managers have little choice other than to run the media within the boundaries set down by the owners.
- Journalists depend for their jobs on supporting the interests of the owners – the reports they write are biased. They censor the reports to avoid criticism of interests of the dominant class. They do not write stories that challenge the status quo.
- The audience is assumed to be passive – a mass of unthinking robots. This audience is given a limited range of opinions and is manipulated through a dumbed down mass diet of undemanding, trivial and uncritical media. – fallacy of choice
What are the strengths of Manipulative/Instrumental approach?
1) There is evidence to suggest that owners manipulate the content of their media. E.g. Murdoch supported the war in Iraq as did his papers. - Spreading dominant ideology, people will believe it, only source of info, passive - Philo and miners
2) In 2007 Murdoch admitted to the communication committee he was “hands on both economically and editorially”
He had overall control - James Whale: don’t have time to think about day-to-day running AO3
3) The Leveson enquiry also highlighted the complex relationship between governments and media owners
Hacking
What are the limitations of Manipulative/Instrumental approach?
1) The state regulates media ownership so no one person has too much influence. Ofcom
2) Audiences are active and able to understand media messages. RAM, decoding and encoding - oppositional readers
3) Neophilliacs suggest the rise of digital media and citizen journalism has led to a decline in the influence of the dominant ideology. Increase in cheque book journalism so decrease in serious and political news so dominant ideology isn’t being spread
4) Pluralists argue the wide range of media and the need to make profit gives the audience not the owners the power.
Media diversity - need to cater to the people’s needs to make profit which reduces dominant ideology. Audience mirrors what is seen as important - reader holds power, active
What is some supporting evaluation for the marxist explanation of ownership and control?
It also implies that media owners are in an ideological conspiracy to brainwash the population- they only have anecdotal evidence that the media damages democracy. The key debate here is to what extent is the audience Active or Passive
- In Italy, Berlusconi’s control of 3 TV stations that reached 40% of the viewing population led to his party winning the election in 1994 and him becoming Prime Minister.
- American law restricts cross media ownership, unlike the UK where Rupert Murdoch dominates media companies in terms of ownership
What did Curran find about British Press?
4 distinct periods where the integrity of the journalists have been affected by the owners.
- 1920-1950 rise of the press barons- controlled the content of the media based on own interests.
- 1951-1974 Curran argues that this was the pluralist phase and saw a rise in investigative reporting.
- 1974-1992 Owners such as Murdoch created papers for profit not ideological viewpoints. Murdoch shifted his papers to support right wing politics to capitalise on the interest and make money.
- 1997- Present day Curran argues this is based on global conservatism- in 1997 Murdoch encouraged his papers to support Blair.
What is the Dominant Ideology or Hegemonic Approach to ownership and control?
This is a more recent, NEO-MARXIST approach that argues that the mass media spreads a dominant ideology justifying or legitimizing the power of the ruling class. It differs from the manipulative approach by suggesting this is not carried out by the direct control of owners and direct manipulation of journalists, media content and the audience. It recognises the power of the owners, but suggests that they rarely interfere in media content. Rather this approach emphasizes the idea of HEGEMONY:
Hegemony was developed by Gramsci and refers to the idea that through the spread of ideology other classes are persuaded to accept their values and beliefs become part of everyday common sense. This approach suggests that the dominant ideology of the ruling class is shared by media managers and journalists so they spread the dominant ideology by choice as it seems reasonable and sensible rather than that’s what they are told to do by media owners.
- Owners of the media, like newspaper owners rarely have direct control of the content of the media. Day – to – day control and the media is left in the control of the managers and journalists.
- Media managers and journalists while inevitably influenced by the desire not to upset the owners and protect their careers also they need to attract audiences and advertisers - the dominant ideology often helps attract audiences.
- Journalists support the ideology as they tend to be white, middle class and male and are socialised into professional values. Any ideas that challenge the status quo seem unreasonable, extremist and not to be taken seriously.
- These common-sense assumptions shared by journalists mean the audience are only ever exposed to a limited range of opinion.
What do the GMG say about ownership and control?
Suggests media does not support capitalist ideas but that this is a by-product of the social back grounds of the journalists.
Top 100 journalists 54% independently educated.
GMG claims journalists believe these views as they believe that they appeal to the majority of their audiences. They believe everyone who does not believe this is an extremist.
They are motivated by profit not controversy.
What is agenda setting? (GMG)
Philo looked at the media coverage of the 2008 banking crisis. He argues that the media presented views and solutions from the establishment- the very people who had caused the crisis and wished to maintain the status quo
What is the postmodernist view of mass media?
UK society has undergone fundamental changes in recent decades, so that we are now living in what they call a ‘postmodern age’. In the postmodern age, service industries concerned with the processing and transmission of information, and knowledge and servicing consumption, e.g. the mass media, government, finance and retail, have become more important than the factory production of manufactured goods.
Postmodern life has become so chaotic that metanarratives (or blanket explanations) are no longer relevant as people make choices based on a range of individual factors - Lyotard.
What is the postmodernist argument of media saturation?
They argue that society has become media saturated. They argue that as a result popular culture now shapes our identity rather than family, community, gender or class.
Example: TV is dumbed down and not educational - reality TV
Social media increasingly popular changing opinions and views
What is the postmodernist argument of consumption?
The media shapes our consumption as we now have greater choice and global influences.
Example: Social media, Globalisation and targeted adverts
What is the postmodernist argument of identity?
They argue the media defines our identity and lifestyle and determines how we think and feel about ourselves. We can pick and mix parts of the media to shape our sense of self.
Example: influencers act as opinion leaders promoting things, we compare and change ourselves, trends allow us to pick identity
What is the postmodernist argument of brands?
The media tells us that the consumption of brands and logos should be a large part of our identity.
Example: influencers promote expensive brands
What is the postmodernist argument of media communities?
Many people feel they no longer belong to real communities so take part in media communities of social networking, blogging and fantasy gaming
Example: Love Island, not wanting to work and be an influencer, on phones constantly
What does Jean Baudrillard (Postmodernist) say about mass media?
Baudrillard argues that we are living in an age dominated by the media- media saturated society. Our knowledge of the world comes from the mass media. Our identities are formed in terms of images that come from the media.
Hyperreality and Simulacra: Baudrillard also argues that society is now ‘media saturated’ Consequently the media influences the way we see the world.The media creates a view of reality that is distorted, producing images that are ‘more real than reality’, in other words ‘hyperreality’. The media presents us with ‘simulacra’, artificial copies of events which bear no relationship to the real world which are viewed around the world.
What is an example of simulacra?
Bitcoin, drama in coronation street
What does Garrod (Postmodernist) say about mass media?
Doesn’t just reflect reality, it creates it through shows such as TOWIE, Made in Chelsea, Dance Moms, I’m a Celebrity, The Real Housewives of Cheshire and through social networks such as Facebook. This leaves audiences confused between the media and real life.
What is an example of hyper reality?
Coronation Street - someone sent in £5k to get a character released from prison, wasn’t real but thought it was
What does Bauman (Postmodernist) say about mass media?
You are what you buy, modern life is like a shopping mall.
* We can pick and choose our lifestyle and our identity. Structures like class or family background no longer apply, matter or restrict individuals.
* This element of choice suggests people are active, have free will and can act without constraint
What does Strinati (Postmodernist) say about mass media?
Emphasises importance and power of media in shaping consumer choice. Popular culture such as the cult of celebrity, and media images that bombard us daily through a variety of media such as smart phones, social media, TV, radio etc. increasingly dominate how we define ourselves. The media creates our desires and pressures to consume, we use it to shape our identity; we use media imagery to shape how we see ourselves and construct how others see us. It’s not the quality of the item but the trend that matters, the brand name. In films it’s no longer the story that matters but the special effects and the soundtrack or which big named star is the lead.
What does Beck argue about mass media? (Postmodernism)
Have contributed towards a risk society. Media saturation leads to risks
What are the criticisms of postmodernism?
- Exaggeration of social change: Influence of class, gender and religion. Media not as important as these factors
- Generalisation about consumer choice: People who are oppressed will have consumer choices still affected. Ignore lack of consumer choice because of socio-economic status
- A justification for uncontrolled capitalism: Marxists - creation of fallacy of choice, false manufactured needs
How does McLuhan explain the global village?
referred to the world as a global village connected through new media. He argued media “shrinks” the world to be one village or community. People use new media to research things before buying or doing something
How has globalisation impacted media ownership?
Media owners often own worldwide companies, working with companies across the world. E.g., Murdoch branched out to other countries
Criticism: Bagdikian 22 companies owned 90% of media in USA
How has globalisation impacted TV/streaming services?
Netflix can be accessed worldwide - people can watch the same shows around the world. This means we share the same culture in regards to TV shows
How has globalisation impacted the internet?
Internet access is available worldwide. People use the same platforms so access the same media. Networks such as O2 allow people to use data across the world
How has globalisation impacted advertising and products?
Mass production of products across the world. Globalisation allows for companies to advertise globally which spreads the popular culture E.g., advertising same product in different countries
How has globalisation impacted entertainment?
- Gaming - can play with people across the world
- Music - can access a different culture e.g., KPop
- We bond over entertainment and sharing cultures
How does Flew explain global popular culture?
The evolution of new media technologies has played an important role in the development of a global popular culture. Globalisation has undermined national and local cultures, with cultural products and ways of life in different countries of the world becoming more alike e.g., food, clothing and music. It may now be more appropriate to speak of a global culture than of national or local cultures.
What is popular culture?
AKA Mass culture. It is highly commercialised, mass produced and standardised. Popular culture is sold to a global mass market to make large profits for global corporations. Popular culture is aimed at popular tastes, and is simple, undemanding entertainment.
What are some examples of popular culture?
Music, TV, films, food, Makeup stemming from dominant countries to others
What are the negative aspects and impact of a popular culture?
- People change cultural things e.g., food - manipulating, not exact representation of the culture, not as authentic
- We lose a sense of originality and what is ours in our culture
- Different countries profit off popular culture - capitalism
What is high culture?
Special, respected, and treated with reverence. It has links to cultural heritage and is often found in galleries, museums and theatres. High culture also includes serious factual TV, such as the national news and documentaries. The content is usually detailed, political and analytical.
