1. Mass Media

2. Questions
How does the mass media affect our social institutions and how do they influence social behavior?
Why are the media so influential?
Who benefits from media influence and why?
How do we maintain cultural and ethical standards in the face of negative media images?

3. What is Mass Media?
Means of communication that carry messages to large audiences with no personal contact between the individuals sending the info and those receiving it

4. Examples of Mass Media Books Films Magazines Newspapers Internet TV
Which of these is the most influential on young people today? Which do you think is the most influential for your parents’ generation? What about for people over the age of 65?

5. History of Mass Media

6. Early Forms of Communication
Early Nomadic Tribes
Small groups
Constantly in move for food
Relied on spoken word
*What are some of the difficulties of the spoken word as the only method of communication?

7. Developing Writing
Development of Agriculture allowed people to settle down
Early settlements and job specialization encouraged trade
Trade made it necessary to record business transactions

8. Developing Writing 5,000 years ago: Sumerians developed cuneiform
Symbols representing objects
Ex. To the right: head
1,800 B.C.E: development of the alphabet
Symbols representing sounds

9. Types of Paper 3,100 – 2,500 B.C.E: Egyptians start writing on papyrus
200’s B.C.E: Greeks develop parchment (skin of animals)
used until 1400s in Europe
100 C.E.: Chinese developed papermaking techniques

10. The Printing Press 1450s: Johannes Gutenberg Movable metal type
Mechanical press punched paper back and created readable text
Production of books became inexpensive
Widespread distribution of info (Ex. Bible – 25 million copies a year)
Audience still remained the rich and powerful

11. Industrial Age Importance of Factories
Higher education was needed to get better jobs
More people learned how to read and write
Higher wages=more income
More money=People could spend it on buying more products
Businesses started to advertise in order to attract customers
1st True Mass Medium: Newspapers
Why would Marx criticize this system? What was his view regarding this emerging capitalist society?

12. The First Printed Newspaper
“Relation”
1605
1st newspaper
Germany

13. Photographs World’s First Picture 1826-1827
“View from a Window at La Gras”

14. Electronic Media Electronic signals to transmit info
Telegraph, Telephone: Communicate over long distances
Movies: Mass Entertainment
Radio, TV: Entertainment brought into people’s homes

15. Film 1898 Lumiere Brothers presented the first publicly shown film
“Arrival Of A Train A La Ciotat”
Some people were frightened
Let’s Watch It!
Can you think of any examples of moments that have changed the way we look at a film? What about any films that have changed the way we look at movies?

16. Mass Media in the 1900s Radio TV Propaganda Advertisement
Video: Mass Media
1900s to 1950s
What are some of the different forms of mass media depicted in the video? What important historic events are shown in the video?

17. Information Society
United States: community in which the exchange of information is the main social and economic activity
1980s: Digital Computer starts to become available
1990s: Internet
Computers have changed the way in which we storage and access information
Do you agree with the idea that the exchange of information is the main social activity in our society? Can you cite examples to support your ideas?

18. 2000’s Media becomes more participatory
Why is it said that media has made you more of a participant today? Compare it to the earliest forms of mass media. How has it changed?

19. 2006 User generated content
“Time” Magazine names “You” as person of the year.
Why do you think that Time chose that cover?
What does Time magazine mean by saying that you control the Information Age?

20. Print Media Newspapers, Magazines, Books 1,400 daily newspapers
53 million copies a day
48% of American adults read 1 newspaper a day
85% of Americans over the age of 18 read magazines
150,000 books are published every year
$36 billion annually on book sales
25% of Americans read more than 10 books a year
Audience is large but declining
16% of Americans do not read books

21. Audio Media Sound recordings and radio $10 billion industry
13,280 radio stations in the U.S.
99 percent of homes in the U.S. have a radio
Americans over the age of 12 listen to about 18 hours a week of radio on average
Satellite radio gaining popularity
Around 20 million in 2010

22. Visual Media Movies, Television, Videocassettes, and DVDs
500 to 600 movies a year
+ 1.5 billion people in more than 40,000 movie screens
More than 6,000 theaters
Box Office: $10 billion

23. Visual Media 98% of American homes have TV sets
Average 2.6 sets per household
Average 32 hours a week watching TV
DVD sales over $16 billion
87% of houses have DVD players

24. Online Media
Internet
Services such as , online chat, social-networking sites
65% of Americans have Internet access at home
43% log on for more than an hour a day
Shopping, entertainment, news

25. Media Consumption
Each American spends nearly 3,600 hours a year using media
TV consumption = All other media combined
People younger than 30 account for 50% of movie admissions
Newspaper and book readership increases with education and income

26. Functionalism on Mass Media
Media’s Purpose:
Socializes us
Enforces Social Norms
Promotes Consumption
Entertains us
Informs us

27. Functionalism - Media Socializes Us
Media presents a common view of culture
Provides a collective experience for members of society
Passes on basic values and beliefs
“Media is the new babysitter”
Do you agree or disagree with this quote? Why?

28. Conflict Perspective on Media
Purpose of media is to maintain the present social order (status quo)
Persuade people to accept existing power structure
Media decides what information is provided and how it is presented
Represents elite’s point of view
Encourages culture of consumerism
Misrepresentation and non-representation of minorities reinforce social inequality

29. How much power does Media have?
How to think about an issue
What to think about
Spiral of Silence
Media covers the same stories, bombarding people with info and influencing public opinion about an issue
As people accept these opinions, people who disagree are less likely to voice their opinions.
Agenda Setting
Sets the boundaries of public debate by deciding what issues will be covered
Gatekeepers
Media executives, editors, reporters, who choose to cover a story or not
Opinion Leaders
Respected individuals in the community review and evaluate issues

30. Conflict Perspective Knowledge-gap Hypothesis Digital Divide
As new info enters society, wealthy and better educated members acquire it faster. A gap develops between these classes.
Digital Divide
Gap between those with access to technology and those without (ex. Computers, online media)
“Information Rich” : those with better information skills and more resources

31. Interactionist Perspective on Mass Media
Interested in how Media shapes everyday social interaction
Planning of Social events around media
Families gathering for Super Bowl Party
Is watching TV a group activity or does it encourage social isolation?
Is the Internet providing a new, creative form of social interaction, or is it creating a virtual world that is making us more isolated?
Is the Internet broadening our horizons or does it allow for us to avoid others with a different point of view?

32. Sports and Mass Media Coverage

33. Functions of the Sports Media
Information
scores, statistics, highlights, general information
Interviews, live coverage
Interpretation
Subjective
Opinions and analysis by “experts”
Possible biases

34. Functions of the Sports Media
Entertainment and Excitement
ESPN: Entertainment/Sports/Programming/Network
Why does Entertainment come before sports?
Escape and Diversion
Temporarily escape from frustrations
Can sport create more frustrations instead of escape?

35. Functions of the Sports Media
Economics
Job Creation
ESPN pays NFL more than $1 billion a year for rights to Monday Night Football
Fundraising, Sponsorship
Integration
Bonding among fans
National Identity
Source of pride and identity

36. Activity #1
Cite one example for each of the functions of sports media.
Information
Interpretation
Entertainment
Escape/Diversion
Economics
Integration
National Identity

37. Steve Bartman and The Chicago Cubs
Case Study

38. Steve Bartman as a Scapegoat
Scapegoating
Redirecting conflict by holding one person responsible for whatever goes wrong
Why could Steve Bartman be considered a scapegoat?
How were people redirecting conflict in this case?

39. Crowds and Masses Crowd Mass
large number of people who are in one another’s immediate vicinity
Mass
People who share an interest in a specific idea or issue but who are not in one another’s immediate vicinity
Ex. Bloggers

40. Types of Crowds Casual crowds Conventional crowds
people who happen to be in the same place at the same time
may share momentary interest
few emergent norms
Conventional crowds
people who come together for a scheduled event
share a common focus
generally act in line with institutionalized norms

41. Activity #2
Cite an example of how crowd behavior can influence your behavior. You can identify examples from your own life in which you have behaved differently because you were part of a crowd

42. Crowd Behavior Contagion Theory
People feel anonymous and invulnerable in crowds
Individuals turn into a collective mind
People do things they would never do as individuals
Irrational Behavior takes over

43. Crowd Behavior Convergence Theory
Individuals in the crowd have common characteristics
Crowds express collective emotion
Individuals share a common belief or emotion before they gather in a crowd
Rational Behavior

44. Crowd Behavior Emergent-Norm Theory
certain people start behaving in a particular way
becomes a trend and then becomes normative
accepted as “normal” within that group
Sociologists call these leaders/trend setters.

45. Collective Action
When people in groups behave in similar ways together to try and achieve a certain goal.

46. Questions to Think About
What is the personal connection that the filmmaker has with the documentary? Is there some type of bias he may have towards the material?
Why had Buckner’s play become a symbol for Red Sox failure? What other symbols can you find depicted in the film?
What are some of the events that led to the crowd’s reaction at the Cubs’ stadium?
Would you consider the crowd’s reaction unfair towards Bartman? Can their reactions be rationalized?
Do media have the right to expose Bartman’s identity to the public if he did not choose to become public figure?

47. Questions to Think About
What is the role of media in the creation of sports’ fanaticism?
Can you think of examples of other famous people (athletes or not) who are recognized now for a particular failure in their profession?
How is the documentary’s coverage of the Bartman incident different from the TV coverage at the time of the incident? What advantages does the documentary have as a form of mass media?
Identify examples of different ways in which fans from both the Boston Red Sox and Chicago Cubs use non-scientific ways to explain events in their clubs’ history.

48. Mass Media and Sports Coverage
Contemporary Issues
Bullying and Hazing

49. Richie Incognito – Is there bullying in professional sports?

50. What is bullying?
Purposeful attempts to control another person through:
Verbal abuse
Exclusion
Physical means
Violence 

51. Why does bullying occur?
Cultural Causes: culture fascinated with winning, power and violence
Institutional Causes: Institutions do not have high standards for treatment of people
Social Issues: more social recognition for negative behaviors than for positive ones

52. Why does bullying occur?
Family Issues: Families that are not warm and loving and in which feelings are not shared are more likely to have children who bully
Bully’s Personal History: Children who experience social rejection themselves are more likely to "pass it on" to others

53. Bullying Statistics
Nearly 30 percent of students are either bullies or victims of bullying
160,000 kids stay home from school every day because of fear of bullying 
60 percent of boys who bullied during middle school are convicted of a crime by the time they reach the age of 24.

54. Do sport teams encourage bullying?
Is bullying and hazing part of professional sports?

55. Listen and Comment What is the tone of the radio host?
What is his position on the topic?
Do you agree with his position? Why or why not?

56. NFL Reactions Against Martin
"I think Jonathan Martin is a weak person," said one personnel man, speaking on the condition of anonymity. "If Incognito did offend him racially, that's something you have to handle as a man! Mike Pouncey was a rookie at one point while Incognito was there and you never heard any complaints from him. There's no other way to put it, other than him being sofTTT!“ (Source: Sports Illustrated)
Said another: "Guys are going to be guys, if you know what I mean. I'm sure there are some instances of 'taking things too far,' but that happens everywhere. You handle it in house -- fight, handle it on the field, joke about it, etc -- and keep it moving.“ (Source: Sports Illustrated)

57. More NFL Reactions
"Locker room culture will never be understood unless you've lived or have been around it," said a personnel man. "This is another ploy in the league's 'player safety' book. Incognito knew who to try. You never heard anything like this come from John Jerry or Mike Pouncey. Instead of being a man and confronting him, he acted like a coward and told like a kid.“ (Source: Sports Illustrated)

58. Hazing
Humiliating or dangerous activity expected of a student in order to join a group.
Activities usually involve an unreasonable risk of physical harm.

59. Hazing http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZ_59eAY0kY
Florida A&M Case Study