Lecture 1

The “Media World”


“The world we live and the ways we live are now so heavily influenced and dominated by the media”


Media

For indirect communication.
“Media” is the plural of “medium”.
“Media” refers to television, cinema, radio, video, photography, advertising, newspapers and magazines, music, computer games and the internet


Media texts: programmes, films, images, websites, etc., that are carried by these different forms of communication.


wMedia have a wide-ranging influence over our experience and over public opinion.
wIt doesn’t just affect our attitudes but are a means of access to the knowledge on which many social activities depend.



The media is a huge source of pleasure – studying the media will allow us to understand and appreciate the media through understanding how they work

Media has a positive social power – are capable of sharing ideas across physical distances. In this capacity it is a truly democratic medium


How do the media work?

A) They make sense of the world for us

Representation: The media have become the place through which we receive most of our information about the world


Interpretation:
Media gives us information and then explanations, ways of understanding the world we live in

Evaluation:
Some issues and identities are devalued while others are praised. That gives a framework to judge the information that we receive



B) Media products construct and re-present reality

Media products are not the real world itself, they are re-presentations or constructions of the world


C) The media is just one of the ways by which we society makes sense of the world

The media combine with other forces of socialisation
Family, religious and education systems teach children how to understand and act in the world
The media generally act to reinforce values that are part of the whole society


D) The media are owned, controlled and created by certain groups who make sense of society on behalf of others



What “media” do to us?


Social Role
C – class
R – race
A – age
S – sex and sexual orientation
H – handicap


•MEDIA ARE TECHNOLOGICALLY DEVELOPED AND ECONOMICALLY PROFITABLE FORMS OF HUMAN COMMUNICATION, HELD EITHER IN PUBLIC OR PRIVATE OWNERSHIP, WHICH CAN TRANSMIT INFORMATION AND ENTERTAINMENT ACROSS TIME AND SPACE TO LARGE GROUPS. (O’Shaugnessy & Stadler, 2002)


•CULTURE GERERALLY REFERS TO PATTERNS OF HUMAN ACTIVITY AND THE SYMBOLIC STRUCTURES THAT GIVE SUCH ACTIVITIES SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPORTANCE. (Wikipedia, 2008)


•“THE WAY OF LIFE FOR AN ENTIRE SOCIETY“ (Raymond Williams)


•IT IS THE STRUCTURES AND PRACTICES, THROUGH WHICH A CULTURE PRODUCES AND REPRODUCES A PARTICULAR SOCIAL ORDER BY LEGITIMIZING CERTAIN VALUES, EXPECTATIONS, MEANINGS, AND PATTERNS OF BEHAVIOR. - J. WOOD


•SOCIETY IS A GROUPING OF INDIVIDUALS CHARACTERIZED BY PATTERNS OF RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN THESE INDIVIDUALS THAT MAY HAVE DISTINCTIVE CULTURE AND INSTITUTIONS, OR, MORE BROADLY, AN ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL INFRASTRUCTURE IN WHICH A VARIED MULTITUDE OF PEOPLE OR PEOPLES ARE A PART. (WIKIPEDIA)


•SOCIETY IS THE ACTUAL ARRANGEMENT OF SOCIAL RELATIONS WHILE CULTURE IS MADE OF BELIEFS AND SYMBOLIC FORMS. (Clifford Geertz)


Important existential Issues ON sOCIETY (Richard Jenkins)
•How humans think and exchange information
•Many phenomena cannot be reduced to individual behavior


•Collectives often endure beyond the lifespan of individual members.
•The human condition has always meant going beyond the evidence of our senses; every aspect of our lives is tied to the collective.



FEARS (O’Shaughnessy and Stadler)
•POLITICAL USE OF THE MEDIA
•MEDIA’S INFLUENCE ON MORALS
•MEDIA’S INFLUENCE ON CULTURE