1. Mass Media and Society Lecture by Dr Christopher Kollmeyer

2. Lecture Outline Sociological Perspective on the Mass Media Examples discussed: –Medias Influence on Personal Behavior –Medias Influence on National Identity and Social Cohesion Political Economy Perspective on the Mass Media Examples discussed: –News Coverage of the Economy –News Coverage of the War in Iraq

3. Before Mass Media: Before Mass Media: Co-presence between Sender and Receivers of Messages Prevailed Face-to-Face Conversation Live Performances

4. Mass Mediated Communication Media: Message delivered through technology (medium) Mass: One sender (mass) audience Unidirectional: Messages flow one- way Standardized: Same messages for all members of the audience Spatial-Temporal Disassociation: No co-presence at all.

5. Rapid Rise of Mass Media: Adoption of Media Technology by US Households Media TechnologyYear owned by 1% of US Households Number of years to reach 75% of US Households Newspaper (Penny Press) 1833? Radio192314 yrs (1937) Television19487 yrs (1955) –VCR198012 yrs (1992) Internet1992?

6. Television Crowds Out Other Activities: Use of Leisure Time in Great Britain, 1995 Activity Hours Spent per Week Percent of Total Hours Watching TV1946% Visiting Friends820% Reading37% Eating Out37% Doing Hobbies and Playing Sports 37% Attending Church12% Other Activities410% Total41100%

7. Sociological Model: Media Structure vs. Audience Agency Media Message Collective Response AgencyAgency

8. Merchants of Cool (2001) Documentary about the medias influence on youth culture in America. Produced by US public television (PBS). Illustrates the dynamic social relationship between the media and teenagers, what they call the giant feedback loop. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/cool/

9. Imagined Communities by Benedict Anderson (Verso Press, 1983) The Rise of Nationalism Linked to French and American Revolutions (<250 years ago), although maybe earlier in England, Scotland. An ideology in which groups of people believe that they share a common identity. Nations operate as imagined communities, which are built from regional social structure. –Famous quote : After Italian Unification in 1861, Governor of Piedmont says, Weve made Italy, now we have to make Italians. –Print-vernaculars national identity

10. Mass Media and National Identity Printing Press (1447) Television (1930s) Internet Internet (1990s) Radio (1920s) Level of National Identity and Social Cohesion Global Media Global Media (1990s)