Media in the Social World

1. Media in the Social World Audiences/Readers Media messages and products Social World Technology Media Industries Campbell Chapter 1

2. Structure and Agency • Social Relationships • Between institutions • Within institutions • Between institutions and individuals Structure: recurring patterns of social relationships Agency: intentional and undetermined human action Campbell Chapter 1

3. Structure and Agency in Media • Social Relationships • Between institutions: non-media and media • Within institutions: how is media content produced • Between institutions and individuals: media influence v. interpretation and use Campbell Chapter 1

4. Definitions Communication (linear v. cultural)Creating symbols systems Culture Common symbols Mass Communication Communication to large audiences Mass Media Culture industries based on technology Campbell Chapter 1

5. Development of Media Print (Books, Newspapers, Magazines) Electronic by wire (telegraph, telephone) Physical/Chemical ( phonograph, film) Electronic by electromagnetism (radio, television, satellite) Convergence: Cable Television Analog to Digital Specific Industries to Conglomeration Campbell Chapter 1

6. Digital and Converged • Digital converts information (letters, images, sounds) into binary code…0’s and 1’s…the language of computers. • Once digital, information can be shared among different media much more easily. • Convergence refers, in part, to the digital marriage of different media via computers. • Convergence also refers to newspaper, broadcast, and internet outlets under one corporate roof. Campbell Chapter 1

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8. Cultural Contexts • Cultural institutions/cultural industries: • Media (news/entertainment) • Schools • Art • Law • Politics? • News-delivery technologies • the new overlaps the old • the old struggles to retain vitality Campbell Chapter 1

9. Shifting values • Among the four values of the modern period: • Individuality • Confidence in reason and science • Working efficiently • Rejecting tradition • Postmodern culture (present) changes modern values Campbell Chapter 1

10. Postmodern values • Four features of the Postmodern: • Opposing hierarchy • Diversifying and recycling culture • Doubts about scientific reasoning • Embracing paradox • …but loves technology Campbell Chapter 1

11. Culture as Skyscraper--Jackson Lears p. 12 “Culture..was becoming increasingly organized during the twentieth century. And the model for that organization was the hierarchical, bureaucratic corporation. Campbell Chapter 1

12. Opera vs. Folk Music • Some who like Tosca also like “Oh Brother Where Art Thou”. • Does Sir Elton John rip off Aida? • Do popular media steal the classics? • Virginia Woolf said yes. • Vachel Lindsey said no. • Oprah and her “reading list” • Do the media show us who we are? Campbell Chapter 1

13. Media Ethics • Herbert Gans: • High culture • Low culture • Different media for each • But many people consume both • Is Jerry Springer “ethical”? • Is the New York Times ethical? • Corporate truth: ethics and law differ Campbell Chapter 1

14. The Media Storytellers • Events must be transformed into stories. • Stories play by rules: • beginning • conflict • ending • In crisis lies chaos, and facts are hard to get. • But reporters must tell a story… • Now! Campbell Chapter 1

15. Media Literacy • Critical approach, not cynical pose • Pay close attention • Analysis of facts, not mere counting of facts • Interpretation and meaning • Ethical/moral evaluation of meaning Campbell Chapter 1