Role of the Media Flashcards
Media
Any form of communication that targets a mass audience in print or electronic format
Traditional Forms of Media
Print, Radio, Cinema, Television, Recordings
New/Emerging Forms of Media
Use of computer technology
Digital Divide
Those who have access to computers and the Internet and those who do not; shift in power and access
Impact of Media
1: One of the core pedagogical forces in contemporary society
2: Not a neutral provider of information
3: Defines social problems, shapes public debates, and defines boundaries between groups;
teaches us how to be consumers, how to vote, maintains stereotypes of certain groups
4: Media serve as gatekeepers
Two Types of Approaches Towards Media
Objective - Administrative Approaches - Positivist Theories
Subjective - Critical Approaches - Critical and Interpretive Theories
Administrative Approaches - Media Violence
1: Correlational studies; small, statistically significant relationship, cannot prove causation
2: Experimental Studies; Short-term effects of media violence, in some people more than in others, try to determine causation; long-term effects?
Critical Approaches
1: Structures of power and processes of social control
2: How the media constructs events, issues, and identities
3: Similar to more subjectivist deviance scholars
4: Use of interpretive and critical theories
Framing
How the media select some aspects of a perceived reality and make them more salient to promote a particular definition, interpretation or moral evaluation
Critical Approaches - Media Framing
1: Frames in the news media - Conflict, Human interest, Economic consequences
2: Framing of “fact”, gender, race, ethnicity, culture, etc
Types of Framing Femininity
1: Feminine touch
2: Ritualization of subordination
3: Licensed withdrawal
4: Infantilization
Power of Music and Portrayals in Music
1: Music lyrics are a force with the ability to persuade and socialize
2: Youth use music to manage their moods, and achieve group identity
3: Music can affect perceptions and behaviors
4: Critically studying music can teach us about cultures, groups and society
Examples of Portrayals of Women in Country Music
1: Objectifying lyrics
2: Female gender roles
3: A woman’s appearance
4: Family role
5: Distrustful/Cheater
6: Traditional role
7: Dependent on men
Portrayals of Women in Country Music
1: Less likely to portray women in traditional roles, family roles, less likely to portray women as empowered
2: More likely to refer to a woman’s appearance, in tight or revealing clothing, women as objects, and to women via slang
3: Changes in the portrayal of women
Framing Masculinity
More than 80% of frames of masculinity are negative;
villain, aggressor, pervert, and philanderer
Media Frames of Ethnic Minorities
1: As invisible
2: As stereotypes
3: As social problems
4: As adornments
5: As white-washed
Implications of Framing of Ethnic Minority
1: Erased from public consciousness
2: Voices remain unheard in public discussions of important issues
3: Representations may be integrated into children’s identities - internalization
4: Impact on social policy
Media Portrayals of Asian Persons
1: Model Minority?
2: Asian Women - Exotic, fetishization, subservient, high-maintenance, money-hungry
3: Portrayals of Asian Men?
4: Portrayals of South Asians?
Fake News
News articles that are intentionally and verifiably false, and could mislead readers
Cousins of Fake News
1: Unintentional reporting mistakes
2: Rumors that do not originate from a particular news articles
3: Conspiracy theories
4: Satire that is likely to be misconstrued as factual
5: False statements by politicians
6: Reports that are biased or misleading but not outright false
Growing Importance of Fake News
1: Barriers to entry in the media industry have dropped precipitously
2: Social media are well-suited for fake news dissemination, and social media use has risen SHARPLY
3: A continuing decline of “trust and confidence” in the mass media “when it comes to reporting the news fully, accurately. and fairly
4: Increasingly negative feelings each side of the political spectrum holds towards the other
Who Produces Fake News and Why
1: Established entirely to print fabricated articles
2: Satirical sites that might be interpreted as factual
3: Mix of factual (though perhaps, biased) and fake news
4: Main motivations - Financial and Ideological
Broader Society as Passive Recipients
1: People are not just passive recipients of media messages
2: Evaluate information we receive from the media
3: “Two-step flow of communication” - A movement of information and ideas from the media to “opinion leaders” and from them, to other people in their social networks
4: Media messages are not our only influence
5: Yet, individuals still tend to accept media definition of reality
Any form of communication that targets a mass audience in print or electronic format
Media
