1. Mass Media and Society
Chapter 1 Discussion

2. Role of Media?

3. Some of the Basics
Mass Media: “…media that reach a relatively large audience of usually anonymous readers” (p. 8)
Medium  Media (plural)
Evolution of the year
E.g. digitization, growth of Internet
Audience as reader and user
Media as party of socialization process
Audiences actively creating meaning
Social construction of reality (Berger and Luckmann)

4. Socialization
“…learn and internalize the values, beliefs, and norms of our culture…” (p. 16)
‘develop sense of self’ (p. 16)
Learn social roles
Socializing agents
Family, education, friends, media
Role of social relations
Impacted by media (media influence goes beyond media content)

5. Structure and Agency

6. What impacts interpretations?
Active Audiences
What impacts interpretations?

7. Types of Mass Media Print Film Radio Television Sound Recordings
Internet
Social Media? (debatable)

8. Looking Ahead What to expect in this course
Focus on mass media (some discussion of social media; again, depending on the use and reach)
Discussion of textbook chapters
Discussion of journal articles
Discussion of real world events
May tie in current topic or combination of topics we’ve discussed

9. Real-World Scenario Read the brief story
Read the comments from viewers
What does this article say about the potential of mass media?
What does the article say about the need for structure? Agency?
What potential impact does this story have on society?

10. Assignment for Thursday
Record your use of media
Include social media (reflect on if it was “mass media” in each instance)
Make a list
When you used it, why, length of time
Start at the end of our class period Tuesday and record through Wednesday (at least 24 hours; the longer the better. Build in time for reflection paragraph)
Reflect on your chart. What did you learn about your media use? Were you surprised? Is this an average day for you? Is your use of media problematic/acceptable? What does your media use mean considering the role of media (based on what you’ve read in chapter 1, our discussion, and your opinion)?
1 Paragraph
Type list and paragraph

11. Example
TUESDAY
5:00 p.m.: Listened to radio on the way home from school. About 45 min commute. Talked on phone with mom so didn’t pay full attention the entire time.
8:00 p.m.: Television show. Watched for pleasure. Love Scandal! Watched for a little over an hour
10:00 p.m.: Logged into Twitter. Checked my own personal page and sent tweet. Also checked in on friends and favorite celebrity