1. Ch. 6: The Mass Media

2. Sociological Perspectives on the Media
Mass media: mediums that embrace print and electronic means of communication that carry messages to widespread audiences
New forms of mass media changed people’s viewing and listening habits
Cultural convergence: the flow of content across multiple media, and the accompanying migration of media audiences 2

3. Functionalist Perspective
The media:
Entertains us
Socializes us
Enforces social norms
Confers status
Promotes consumption
May also act as a desensitizing narcotic 3

4. Agent of Socialization
The media increases social cohesion by presenting a common view of culture
Plays a significant role in providing a collective experience for members of a society
Some worry about using television as a babysitter and the impact of violent programming on viewer behavior 4

5. Enforcer of Social Norms
Media often reaffirms proper behavior
Can also glorify disapproved behavior
Media plays a critical role in human sexuality
Conferral of Status
Singles out one from thousands of other people or similarly placed issues, making them significant
Publishing information about frequency of Internet searches 5

6. Promotion of Consumption
Media advertising
Supports the economy
Provides information
Also contributes to consumer culture that creates “needs” and raises unrealistic expectations
Dysfunction: The Narcotizing Effect
Narcotizing dysfunction: phenomenon in which the media provides such massive amounts of information that the audience becomes numb and fails to act on the information 6

7. Conflict Perspective
Conflict theorists emphasize how media reflects and exacerbates divisions of society and the world
Gatekeeping
How material must travel through a series of checkpoints before reaching the public
Gatekeeping is less dominant on the Internet
Internet has some restrictions 7

8. Dominant Ideology: Constructing Reality
Dominant ideology: a set of cultural beliefs and practices that helps maintain powerful social, economic, and political interests
Media tends to ignore the lives and ambitions of subordinate groups
Stereotypes: unreliable generalizations about members of a group that do not recognize individual differences within the group
Television distorts the political process 8

9. Dominant Ideology: Whose Culture?
US media is still the most powerful worldwide, though this position is evolving
Television is moving away from US domination
Nations that feel a loss of identity may try to defend against cultural invasion
Developing nations argue for improved two-way flow of news and information between industrial nations and developing nations
New trend: hyper-local media 9

10. The Digital Divide
Low-income groups, racial and ethnic minorities, rural residents, and citizens of developing countries have less access to the latest technology
The Internet and new media are becoming essential to economic progress 10

11. Feminist Perspective
Feminists share conflict theorists’ view that mass media stereotypes and misrepresents social reality
Women are underrepresented
Perpetuates stereotypical views of gender
Emphasizes traditional sex roles
Normalizes violence against women
We should be cautiously optimistic about new media 11

12. Interactionist Perspective
View mass media in the context of social capital - the collective benefit of social networks
Internet and social media provide constant connectivity with others
Online social networks
New way of promoting consumption
New forms of communication and social interaction 12

13. The Internet has also presented negatives
New means for terrorists or extremists to organize and spread message
Pornography and abuse of minors
Egocasting: personal management of media exposure to avoid messages one does not like
May lead to a less tolerant society 13

14. Table 6-2: Sociological Perspectives on the Mass Media14 14

15. Who Is in the Audience?
Mass media is distinguished from other social institutions by the necessary presence of an audience
This can be an identifiable, finite group or a much larger, undefined group
Can be viewed through microsociology or macrosociology
Increasingly, the media markets itself to a particular audience 15

16. Audience Behavior
Opinion leader: someone who, through day-to-day personal contacts and communication, influences opinions and decisions of others
Members of an audience do not all interpret media in the same way
Hunt (1997): race has caused more different reactions to media than gender and class 16

17. The Media’s Global Reach
McLuhan predicted a global village
Gitlin considers it a global torrent
The Internet has facilitated all forms of communication
In Nigeria and Bangladesh, more than 70% of households go without television
Advances are likely to change this pattern: battery power; digital signal transmission 17

18. Figure 6-4: Media Penetration in Selected Countries18
Source: Pew Research Center Global Attitudes Project 2012:1, 5. 18

19. Social Policy and the Mass Media: The Right to Privacy
Looking at the Issue
Recent advances made it easier for business firms, government agencies, and criminals to retrieve and store information about private individuals
This threatens privacy, freedom from crime, and censorship
Commercial websites use “cookies” and tracking technology to monitor visitors’ web-surfing
Some see online tracking as a form of fingerprinting 19

20. Applying Sociology
Culture lag: material culture (technology) is changing faster than nonmaterial culture (norms for controlling the use of technology)
Functionalists generally have a positive view of the Internet – they point to the manifest function of facilitating communication
Conflict theorists stress the danger that most powerful groups in a society will use technology to violate the privacy of the less powerful 20

21. Initiating Policy
Electronic Communications Privacy Act, 1986: outlawed surveillance of telephone calls except with the permission of the US attorney general and a federal judge
Patriot Act, 2001: relaxed existing legal checks on surveillance by law enforcement officers
Most online monitoring is yet to be tested in court
People are less vigilant about maintaining privacy 21