Title: The Media are defined as large scale organisations which use one or more communication technologies
1Introduction
- The Media are defined as large scale
organisations which use one or more
communication technologies to communicate with
large numbers of people. - Sociologists are interested in the media for a
whole host of reasons. - Marxists and feminists focus on the power of the
media in influencing behaviour. The media are
ideological tools used to maintain the status
quo. - Pluaralists argue that this is far from the case
and as their title suggests they point out that
there is such a variety to choose from no one
group can dominate.
2Introduction
- C Wright Mills 1956
- Gave 2 important sociological characteristics of
the media - Very few people can communicate to a great number
- The audience has no effective way of talking back
3Explaining The Media Early Approaches
- Hypodermic Syringe Model
- Media exerts powerful influence on a passive
audience - Communication is seen as a one way process
- Media is a powerful drug
- Now seen as too simple in academic circles but
has a lot of popular support - particularly with
regard to the effects on the young. - Glasgow Media Group argue that this power of
the media is evident in advertising
4Explaining The Media Early Approaches
- 2 Step Flow Model Katz Lazersfieldl
- More complex picture
- Intermediaries exist between the medium and the
recipient - These opinion formers/leaders act as go betweens
- egs - politicians, doctors, pub know all
- Again implies a passive, non questioning audience
at the end - Advertisers use this approach in getting famous
people to endorse products
5Explaining The Media Early Approaches
- Uses and Gratifications Approach
- Katz 1959
- Focus shifts from what the media don to people to
what people do with the media. - The same programme can have different effects
depending on what the viewer is looking for. - This more complex picture than the above models
has close links to interpretive approaches
6Explaining The Media Early Approaches
- Uses and Gratifications Approach
- McQuail 1972
- identifies a number of uses and gratifications
- Diversion - for escape
- Personal relationships - where we become involved
in a community e.g. soaps - Personal Identity - lifestyle progs
- Surveillance - Keeping us informed, News etc.
7Explaining The Media Early Approaches
- Uses and Gratifications Approach
- Lull 1990
- Media can act as..
- Background noise
- A focal point for domestic interaction
- Companionship
- Entertainment
8Explaining The Media Early Approaches
- The above approaches focus on the micro (small
scale) level, looking at how the individual is
affected by the media. - The following approaches shift the focus to the
macro level looking at such things as who owns
the media, - what effect does it have on groups of people,
- does the organisation of society affect the role
of the media
9Explaining The Media Early Approaches
- Marxist Influenced Approaches
- See the British national press as Conservative
- Only The Mirror openly supports Labour - though
The Sun backed Tony Blair in1997 - However Marxists see all the main media in
Britain as pro-capitalist
10Explaining The Media Early Approaches
- Ownership and control of the media
- The Capitalists own the means of production and
consequently the means of mental production - Their ruling ideas filter down to the masses via
the media - Neo Marxists such as Hall(1978) argue that the
ruling class set the agenda - They aim to preserve the status quo
- Halls article on mugging showed how the media
presented a biased view - Owners Of the media -Murdoch, Branson etc have
become household names
11Explaining The Media Early Approaches
- The Manipulative Model
- Traditional marxist view - the media are used to
protect the position of the ruling class - Control is exercised through ownership
- Editors etc can be influenced by owners
- Football clubs and merchandise are seen as an
extension of this process
12Explaining The Media Early Approaches
- The Hegemonic Model
- Associated with the work of Gramsci (1971)
- Hegemony refers to control via a dominant set of
ideas and beliefs rather than direct means - Media people are white, male, middle class etc
and their view of the world dominates - Janet Street Porter called them M people - middle
aged, middle class, male and mediocre - They are gate keepers - deciding what we should
and shouldnt see - Gus in Drop the Dead Donkey - Helps keep the illusion of a happy society
13Explaining The Media Early Approaches
- The Glasgow Media Group
- Not directly Marxist -but a critical view
- Researchers at Glasgow University in the 1980s
examined bias in TV reports - Used content analysis on miners strike, The
Falklands War and N Ireland - Strike breaking miners were heroes
- Blatant censorship of Falklands events
- Pro republican songs banned on TV
14Explaining The Media Early Approaches
- The Glasgow Media Group
- Evaluation
- TV news was more factual than the Press
- Used semiotics - the study of visual images - and
how editing is used to put forward a certain view
point - eg managers were interviewed in calm settings
- strikers were interviewed with the mob
- Critics claim a left wing bias in the GMG
- The public are anti-strike therefore such
reporting is justified
15Explaining The Media Early Approaches
- The Pluralist Model
- Links with Functionalism and The New Right
- There are many views put forward in the media and
people their money and make their choice - This reflects libertarian views - people are free
to watch, read whatever they like (within reason) - Some areas are taboo - child pornography etc.
- Censorship exists to protect the vulnerable.
16Explaining The Media Early Approaches
- The Pluralist Model
- Evaluation
- Critics say that freedom to choose is an illusion
- Censorship is used as a tool by the ruling class
- D notices used by the Gov to gag people
- Reporting of events still has a MC bias (see
hegemony above) - Wide choice means lowest common denominator
approach - a load of trivia, sensationalism etc
is produced.
17Recent Sociological Explanations Of The Media
- Most of the previous perspectives dominated in
the 1970s and 1980s. - Since then a variety approaches have been
developed particularly looking at issue of
gender and ethnicity. - Others have cross fertilised with other
disciplines and used art, literary criticism,
semiology and linguistics.
18Recent Sociological Explanations Of The Media
What do you mean - Im always on the box?
- Gender
- Saw the media as patriarchal
- Men were featured in dominant positions
- Women in sexist stereotypes
- Meehan 1983 - American dramas had a good wife
the bitch and the victim
19Recent Sociological Explanations Of The Media
- Feminism and early approaches
- Liberal Feminists
- Were optimistic - change was occuring gradually
- By the 1970s women were portrayed in strong
roles - particularly with the rise of the soaps,
more women read the news etc - New legislation helped the process along
- Benefits are for males and females
20Recent Sociological Explanations Of The Media
- Feminism and early approaches
- Radical Feminists
- Saw little progress for women
- Patriarchy was still dominant
- Advertising is prime example of this
- Domestic role or sex objects dominate
21Recent Sociological Explanations Of The Media
- Feminism and early approaches
- Socialist Feminists
- Linked to the Marxist position
- Women portrayed in subservient roles promotes and
preserves capitalism - This is their lot
- Women are the slaves of the wage slaves
- Womens bodies are abused to make profits
22Recent Sociological Explanations Of The Media
- Feminism and early approaches
- Evaluation
- The boundaries between these approaches are not
clear cut - Examples can be found to illustrate each of the
above approaches - Liberal feminists enjoy popular support - more
women work in the media now - Socialists and Radicals see this as cosmetic
23Recent Sociological Explanations Of The Media
- Morleys study of family viewing patterns
- His study in 1986 interviewed 18 families on the
issue of gender and found 8 key areas of
distinction between males and females - 1.Power and control - often rests with the man -
control of the remote! - 2. Styles of Viewing - Men like to watch more in
silence - women like to interact and discuss it - 3. Planned v spasmodic viewing - Men are more
systematic and plan ahead more than women (apart
from soaps)
24Recent Sociological Explanations Of The Media
- 4. Technology - Men play dominant role
controlling the video - 5. Watching alone - Women like a good weepie etc
- seen as a secret pleasure - 6. Fact and fiction - men prefer factual progs
- 7. News - Women prefer local to national news -
vice versa for men. - 8. Talking about TV - women talk more about what
theyve watched - men are more dismissive
25Recent Sociological Explanations Of The Media
- Evaluation Of Gender Approaches
- There is still much debate about how women are
portrayed in the media. - Males are now being used as sex objects to sell
things - who is being exploited now? - Postmodernists see this as part of the
fragmentation of society - more choice, more
emphasis on giving individuals what they want