Week 5 Flashcards
1
Q
Media
A
- Media = any form of communication that targets a mass audience
- Traditional forms (print, radio, TV, movies)
- New/emerging forms (computer technology)
2
Q
Patterns of media use
A
- Simulmedia, using more than one form of media simultaneously
- Patterns of media use may vary across age groups
- Our media use is extensive
3
Q
Impact of media
A
- Power is the ability to define and teach in contemporary society
- Defines boundaries between groups + communities within them, affecting our understanding of us vs. them
- Defines social problems and shapes public debates
- Within the media we see morality and ethics in action ( can b positive or negative)
4
Q
Studying the media
A
- Administrative research
- Analyzes individuals who constitute the audience and the effects of media messages
- Objective + positivist theory foundation - Critical research
- Analyzes processes of social control, structures of power and the relationship between media and other aspects of society
- Subjective + interpretive/critical theories
5
Q
Administrative research
A
- Controls the mind
- Media can affect individuals thoughts and feelings + behaviours
6
Q
Advertising
A
- Permeates all forms of media
- Has an impact, it persuades people
- Virtual product placement
- Correlation studies and experiments
7
Q
Violence in the media
A
- Small but statistically significant relationship between media violence and different types of aggression
- Correlational research… on average ppl who consume more media violence tend to be more aggressive
- Experimental research… causation, in the short term, exposure to media violence has several effects including lower levels of empathy, greater acceptance of aggression as a legitimate means of resolving problems and higher levels of aggressive behaviour
- May effect certain ppl more than others
- We may be desensitized to it
8
Q
Critical research
A
- Controls the culture
- Studies medias relationship to the broader society
- Media has symbolic power + intertwined with all 5 levels of social constructionism (individual, interpersonal, institutional, sociocultural and global)
9
Q
Media frames society
A
- Framing refers to the overall way that an issue is depicted in the media and therefore what we notice abt reality
- Media frame individuals, social issues, health conditions and social groups
10
Q
Framing social groups
A
- Social typing process
- Racism in TV (cartoons)
- Micro level, media portrayals can affect peoples identities
- Macro level, media representations impact discussion of social issues and the social policies that emerge from those discussions (reproduces social inequality)
- Linked to hegemony
- Implications are important to the social construction of deviance and normality
11
Q
Media ownership
A
- Media content is intertwined with the structure of media ownership
- Convergence… media companies owning multiple forms of media
- Conglomeration… trend toward media companies merging or buying other companies to form large conglomerates
= Concentration… small number of corporations control most media products - ‘Corporate empires control every means by which they population learns of its society’
12
Q
Media-deviance nexus
A
- Multifaced
- 5 different relationships exist:
1. The media as a cause of deviance
2. The media as socially constructing deviance and normality
3. The media as a tool used to commit acts of deviance
4. The media as a site where the deviance dance is played out (a side of debate, struggle and resistance)
5. The media as deviantized itself and subjected to measures of social control
13
Q
The media as a cause of deviance
A
- Administrative approach
- Specific media messages may propel certain individuals into various forms of deviant behaviour
14
Q
The media as constructs deviance and normality
A
- Critical approach
- The media socially construct deviance and normality, shaping the dominant moral codes that govern what is perceived as acceptable and unacceptable behaviour, characteristics and people
15
Q
Using media for deviance
A
- Cyberdeviance
- Cybercrime: phishing (for bank passwords, SIN #’s, etc.), hacking (cyberterrorism, cyberwarfare), hacking activism (hacktivism)
- Digital piracy: low-consensus form of deviance (ppl don’t rly consider it in need of social control), microdeviations, social learning theory + self-control theory to explain digital piracy
16
Q
the media and the deviance dance
A
- Media serves as a social typer of deviance… the way it frames things shows us who should be considered deviant, something deviant in mainstream will still have differing points of view and resistance
- The multi-faced nature of the media means that the deviance dance is inherent to it… clearest way we can see is that the media can be used as a tool to exert social control on deviant acts
- Debates online (politics), resistance for oppression (hashtag activism)
- Social media thought of as a democratic form of media, cuz anyone who has computer access can establish a presence (good for marginalized ppl to have their voices heard)
17
Q
Deviantizing the media
A
- Media products themselves can be socially typed as deviant and are subject to social control (e.g. censorship, regulation thru policy)
- Informal social controls as well (e.g. parents controlling kids)
- Youth media deviantized cuz of presumed effects on youth, or cuz of the association w a group of youth who are considered troublesome
- Not rly about the youth themselves, more about the fear of technological change in parts of the adult world
18
Q
Censorship
A
- Not printing certain stories, denying full story, denying freedom of speech
- We struggle to see it in our own experiences (but see it in Nazi Germany e.g.)
- Canadians ban books, White House influences media, Canadian bill c-10 (broadcasting laws for the liberals to regulate social media
- Why? Ppl don’t need to hear everything, it upsets normal people, who tf gets to decide
19
Q
Noam Chomsky
A
- Necessary illusions… believes there is too little inquiry, citizens should protect themselves from manipulation and control
- Manufacturing consent… corporate-owned mass communication media are businesses and they cannot afford to upset the government or ppl in power cuz they’d lose business, so print what they’re told
20
Q
Echo-chambers & Algorithms
A
- Social media platforms are under scrutiny for their role in spreading divisive messages and potentially fueling offline violence.
- Debate is whether these platforms are the primary cause or simply reflect real-world tensions
- Algorithmic amplification (certain online content becomes popular at expense of others) is an issue cuz they think it pushes users toward extreme content
- Recommendation algorithms create filter bubbles and echo chambers by reinforcing existing beliefs, limiting exposure to certain views and pushing extreme content
- Longer someone interacts w a filter bubble, it aligns user behaviour with algorithms, creating homogenous online communities
- Researchers are exploring ways to introduce diversity, serendipity, and novelty into recommendations, called exploration, to provide users with a broader range of choices and break the feedback loop in recommendation algorithms.
21
Q
Moral entrepreneurs
A
- Powerful ppl + institutions
- Government; scientists, religious, media, commercial
- Manufacture public morality
22
Q
Social power
A
- Influence and press the adoption of social norms (formal and informal)
- Take lead in labelling behaviour/actors as deviant or not
- Altruistic or selfish reasons (might have specific goals)
- Becker… New norms automatically create an ‘outsider’ group and empower a moral entrepreneur to step in to socially control
23
Q
Key points
A
- It is important to study media because of the time spent using it, and its impacts
- Administrative research highlights the effects of media messages on individuals
- Critical research studies the social construction of events, issues and identities within the media
- The media-deviance nexus is characterized by 5 types of relationships
