A full summary of Media Society; Industries, Images and Audiences by David Croteau & William Hoynes. 5th edition.
Volledige samenvatting van Media Society; Industries, Images and Audiences by David Croteau & William Hoynes. Engels geschreven. 5e editie.
Chapter 1
Fundamental questions to ask whilst studying mass media:
1. Who owns the media – and why does this matter?
2. How are media products created?
3. What should be government’s relation to regulating the media?
4. Why are some images and ideas so prevalent in the mass media, while others are
marginalised?
5. How has growth in mass media influenced the political process?
6. What impact are mass media having on our society and on our world?
7. How do people use and interpret the mass media?
8. How do new media technologies develop, and hat is the effect or technological
change?
9. What is the significance of the increasing globalisation of mass media
Multi-tasking: using more than one form of media at a time
Reader: another term for receiver or audience that implies that people actively interpret
the media messages they receive – implies that people interpret messages in their own
way, and therefore everyone acknowledges a message differently.
“Social construction of reality”: the process of actively creating meaning of
observations
Different forms of mass media:
1. Print medium: books, newspapers and pamphlets – aims to reach a large audience
from a distance – limitation: needs physical distribution
2. Sound recording: phonograph LP cassette CD MP3
3. Film medium:
“moving pictures” cinema “talking pictures” VCR home videos DVD
4. Broadcast medium: radio – no physical distribution needed, television –
development of broadcasting fundamentally changed patterns of media
consumption: made it more privatised and individualised media experience
5. “New” Media: technological innovation: cable TV, satellites, Internet – caused
‘narrowcasting’: a move away from the mass broadcast audience toward smaller,
more specialised niche populations (demassification)
Media & Society:
Sociology: suggests we need to look at the relationships between media and the
social world (both micro and macro) in order to understand the media and its
impact on our society – seeing the connections between private troubles and
public issues
2
, Summary MEDIA SOCIETY
Mass Media in socialisation: the process whereby we learn and internalise the
values, beliefs and norms of our culture and, in doing so, develop a sense of self.
It also teaches us to perform our social roles (e.g. as friend, student, citizen, etc.)
The process of socialisation continues throughout life, but it is especially
influential for children and adolescents
We become aware of our learned nature of our beliefs, when someone (or other
cultural group) contradicts them, calls them into question, or when we travel
abroad and experience a different culture (= culture shock)
Social institutions (family, peers, school) have the responsibility to promote
socialisation
In contemporary society, the mass media serve as a powerful socialising agent
(e.g. news broadcasting, media reports)
Mass Media in social relations: media does not only play an important role in
almost all aspects of our daily lives, but it also affects how we learn about our
world and interact with others – our views on life and our knowledge are
influenced/based by what we have been told by the media, not by experience
Not only are we dependent on the media for what we know, but the media also
influences how we relate to what we know
Media are often also part of our most routine relationships (e.g. with family,
friends
Media most often act as the bridge between people’s private lives and their
relation to the public world
The importance of social relations
Our sense of identity and individuality emerges from our social interaction with
others/society (e.g. education, norms, values, ‘looking-glass self’, etc.)
Sociology teaches us, that if you want to understand people’s actions, you must
consider the larger social context in which they occur
All social relations are characterised by a tension between structure and agency
Three types of social relations:
1. Relationships between institutions: the interactions between the media
industry and the government, for example
2. Relationships without an institution: involves the interaction of
individuals occupying their institutional roles and positions – e.g. the
relationship between a screenwriter and the manager
3. Relationships between institutions and individuals: who are always part
of larger social groups – e.g. the use of media products by
audiences/readers
Structural Constraint & Human Agency
Structure suggests constraint on human action – agency indicates independent
action
3
, Summary MEDIA SOCIETY
Structure:
- Any recurring pattern of social behaviour (not physical)
- Often limits the options of many people (e.g. traditional family
structure included women working at home – made it difficult for them
to pursue a career)
Agency: Intentional and undetermined human action
While structure constrains agency, it is human agency than maintain and alters
social structures (e.g. women began to demand the right for equality)
Structure and agency in the media:
1. Relationships between institutions: how does the media industry
influence non-medial social structures? How do non-medial social
structures (e.g. government, economy), affect the media industry?
2. Relationships without an institution: How does the structure of the
media industry affect media personnel (and indirectly media
products)? How much do media personnel influence the media
products (and indirectly the media industry)?
3. Relationships between institutions and individuals: How do the mass
media influence the readers (audience) of media messages? How do
readers interpret and use media messages?
Relationships between the media and other social institutions:
- includes the social, economic and political contexts in which media
exists
- Institutions outside the control of media personnel set certain legal
and economic limits within which the media must operate
- In turn, media have agency in the sense of acting on their own and
influencing other social institutions – mixture of structural constraint
and independent agency
- Includes questions such as: How have media affected the organisation of
political campaigns? or Does it matter who owns major publishing
houses or newspapers?
Relationships within the media industry:
- Includes the context in which media personnel labour – this means we
must be familiar with the internal workings of mass media
organisations and the processes of professional socialisation
- Sociological emphasis is on social positions, roles and practices )not on
individuals)
4
, Summary MEDIA SOCIETY
- Issues of concern include the structures of media institutions, who
wields power within them, what professional norms and expectations
and associated with different positions
- The tension between structure and agency is related to how much
autonomy/independence media personnel have in doing their work
- Includes questions such as: To what extent do standard journalistic
practices shape the process of news reporting or the content of the news?
or How “free” are musicians to create their own music
Relationships between the media and the public:
- Occurs when the media deliver messages to readers
- Interest is in how readers interact with media products and technology
- Holds the idea that readers are not passive audiences that soak up the
many messages they come across in the media (one-way relationship),
but they actively interpret media messages
- Audiences must rely on other resources to make sense of media
messages
- Relevant resources include knowledge and information gained from
personal experience, other people, formal education, or other media
products.
- People constantly draw on collective resources and experiences that
are shaped by social factors in constructing their own individual
interpretations of media messages.
- Includes questions as: How powerful are media images in shaping how
we think and feel? or Do the media affect how people are likely to
behave?
Model of Media and Social World
Media Industry:
- the entire organisational structure that makes up the media
- affected by changes in technology but also instrumental for influencing
the direction/application of technology
- the producer of the media message/product
Readers/Audiences:
- May be influenced by the media messages they see
- Must actively interpret and construct meaning from
messages/products
Technology:
- Its direction and development is affected by how the readers/audience
choose to use it, or not to use it.
- Has a potential impact on the public – a lot of/little attention required
Medial message/product:
5
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