MEDIA/SOCIETY



MEDIA/SOCIETY

Study Guide

Chapter One: Media and the Social World

Purpose and Goals

This chapter introduces the theoretical approach which underlies Media/Society. It examines the social implications of mass media and explores how a sociology of media approach is distinctive. It also provides students with some basic information on the history of media development and the pervasiveness of media in contemporary society. This chapter sets the stage for the rest of the book. It provides some basic media background for students and gets students thinking about the media as a social system.

Chapter Outline

The Importance of Media

The Rise of Media

The Print Medium

Sound Recording and the Film Medium

Broadcast Media

“New” Media

Media and Society

Mass Media in Socialization

Mass Media in Social Relations

A Sociology of Media

The Importance of Social Relations

Structural Constraint and Human Agency

Structure

Agency

Structure and Agency in the Media

Relationships Between the Media and Other Social Institutions

Relationships Within the Media Industry

Relationships Between the Media and the Public

A Model of Media and the Social World

Applying the Model: The Civil Rights Movement

Conclusion

Key Themes

• Mass media are pervasive in contemporary society

• A brief overview of the history of mass media development shows it to be a relatively recent phenomenon

• Media are a central socializing influence in contemporary society

• The sociology of media involves seeing media as a social process

• One key sociological concern is the tension between structural constraint and human agency

• Three types of social relations are key to understanding the media: the relationship between the media and other social institutions, the relationships within the media industry, and relationships between the media and the public

• The “media and the social world” model highlights both the media as a process and also the relationships between various elements of this process

Key Concepts and Terms

• Agency: independent, intelligent, creative human action

• Agents of socialization: individuals, groups or organizations that provide structured situations in which socialization can occur

• Broadcasting: the dissemination of electronic media (radio, TV) from a sender to a large audience

• Compact disk (CD): technology used for digital sound recordings

• Culture: the sum total way of life of a group of people

• Culture shock: the disorientation that outsiders feel when entering a foreign culture; useful for developing a sociological perspective, making the familiar strange

• Digital video disk (DVD): technology used for digital image recordings

• Digitization: converting media products (print, image, sound) into digital format for use on computers and the through the internet

• Home videos: the ability for individuals to tape their own videos using consumer equipment

• Information superhighway: the World Wide Web, internet

• Internet: computer network linking computers worldwide

• Leisure: time free from the demands of work or duty where people can enjoy recreation, entertainment and rest

• Long-playing record (LP): vinyl record, also called an “album”

• Macro level: analysis of large scale social patterns (social structure, social institutions, inequalities)

• Magnetic tape: technology used for audio and video taping

• Media: plural form of medium (meaning “middle”)

• Micro level: analysis of small scale social patterns (the self, identity, interaction, groups)

• Multi-tasking: using more than one form of media at a time

• Narrowcasting: new media aimed at niche audiences

• New media: digital media and the internet

• Norms: the rules, guidelines and expectations for behavior (based on values)

• Old media: print, sound and broadcast media

• Phonograph: also called record player

• Radio: early broadcast medium featuring sound and using airwaves

• Reader: term used instead of “receiver” or “audience”, implies active interpretation of media

• Social institutions: relatively stable social structures that provide for the needs of society (for example, the family, economy, politics, or media)

• Socialization: the process whereby people learn and internalize the values and norms of their culture

• Sociological perspective: how sociologists look at the social world, seeking the link between the macro and micro levels of analysis

• Structure: implies constraint to human agency

• Talking pictures: movies

• Technology: the application of science to create material products, especially toward commercial or industrial purposes

• Telegraph: device for transmitting messages across wire; first technology that freed communication from physical transportation (horse, train, boat)

• Television: early broadcast medium featuring sound and image; uses electromagnetic spectrum or airwaves for dissemination

• Texts: media messages or products

• The media industry: complex of corporations in the business of media production and distribution

• The social construction of reality: people must negotiate the definition of reality by assigning meaning to it

• The sociological imagination: C. Wright Mills’ concept of seeing the connection between the individual and the social (related to the sociological perspective)

• Values: ideas and beliefs about what is valuable in society, good and bad, right and wrong, normal and abnormal

• Videocassette recorder (VCR): a magnetic tape recorder for recording (and playing back) television programs

Essay or Discussion Questions

• How does the presence of media affect your life? How would it be different without the mass media?

• What are the key defining characteristics of “mass media”?

• What do sociologists mean by the terms structure and agency? Show how the two are related to each other by providing a concrete example related to the media process.

• Explain how the influence of mass media extend beyond what we know to include how we relate to the social world.

• Explain how the elements of the “media and the social world” model relate to each other.

• Overall, do you think the growing presence of mass media in our lives is a positive or negative development? Why?

• How is watching a politician make a speech on television different than watching them make a speech in person? What does this suggest about the capabilities and limitations of mass media?

• How do you think the presence of television has changed family life? Do you think the spread of the internet will have similar effects? Why or why not?

• What do you think is the most significant media development in your lifetime? Why?

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