Monday 6 February 2012
Effects of mass media on society
Effects of Mass Media can be defined
as any change induced directly or indirectly through newspapers, films, radio
and television. In the 19th century, the communication experts were of the view
that access by the mass of population to the printed word might turn docility
into uprising. The new man medium of cinema was similarly accused of wide range
of effects while T.V. in the eyes of some is responsible for many of the ills
of our time as though such media could be somehow divorced from social,
political and cultural environments which produce them.
The timing of communication process,
writes C.Seymour-Ure in the Political Impact of Mass Media (UK contable, 1974),
is probably one of the most important determinants of mass media effects. If
the timing is right, the media can often be the arbiter of crisis, by being in
the most prominent position to define it. Because, of the agenda setting
technique, the media may influence public opinion by determining the priority
and importance and less importance of an issue by its own criteria.
According to James Watson and Anne
Hill hypotheses about effects : "A few generalized hypothesis about
affects can be tentatively posited : the media are probably more likely to
modify and reinforce attitudes than change them; Media impact will be greater
among the uncommitted than the committed; impact will be greater if all the
media are saying more or less the same thing at the same time (Consistency) ;
equally if the media are concentrating on a small rather than diverse number of
stories (Intensity) and if they are repeating messages, images, viewpoints over
and over again (Frequency)."
Monday 6 February 2012 5
Media hegemony
The assumption of media hegemony is that the ideas of the ruling class become ruling ideas in society. According to this approach, the mass media are controlled by the dominant class in society which uses it as a vehicle for exerting control over the rest of society. Media hegemony is rooted in the Marxist economies. They argue that media contents in USA are shaped to suit the interests of the capitalists. While commenting on media hegemony, Altheide says that it seems to involve at least three assumptions that could be treated with evidence:
Finally, if the mass media are in general giving support,to the status quo and corporate values, someone should inform Senator Jesse Helms, and his Fairness in Media group, of this fact. Senator Helms has been involved in efforts to buy the CBS television network because he thinks CBS News is too liberal.
The assumption of media hegemony is that the ideas of the ruling class become ruling ideas in society. According to this approach, the mass media are controlled by the dominant class in society which uses it as a vehicle for exerting control over the rest of society. Media hegemony is rooted in the Marxist economies. They argue that media contents in USA are shaped to suit the interests of the capitalists. While commenting on media hegemony, Altheide says that it seems to involve at least three assumptions that could be treated with evidence:
1.
The
socialization of journalists involves guidelines, work routines and
orientations replete with the dominant ideology.
2.
Journalists
tend to cover topic and present news reports that are conservative and
supportive of the status quo.
3.
Journalists
tend to present pro-American and negative coverage of foreign countries, especially
Third World nations.
According to
Werner J. Severin and James W. Tankard Jr., Altheide argues that evidence can
be found to cast doubt on each of these propositions. In . connection with proposition
1, Altheide cites studies showing that foreign affairs reporters take very
different approaches while covering detente, depending on their individual
backgrounds. In addition, other studies of journalists, backgrounds and
attitudes show considerable diversity rather than homogeneity
As regards proposition 2, Altheide
cites numerous examples, including but not limited to Watergate, in which the
reporting done by journalists did not support the status quo. A study of press
coverage of the 1971 Indian-Pakistan War (Becker, 1977) provides another
example when the U.S. government shifted its policy to support for West
Pakistan, the news coverage by the New-York Times actually shifted the other
way.
So far as proposition 3 is
concerned , surveys of journalists indicate that they tend to agree with the
Third World position on many issues. Furthermore, research on television
coverage of Nicarague during the Sandinista revolt showed that television
presented the rebel case repeatedly and in some detail not exactly the kind of
content that supports the status quo.
Two researchers who attempted to find studies testing the media
hegemony idea found only three )Shoemaker and Myfield, 1984). Two supported the
media hegemony idea while one did not.Finally, if the mass media are in general giving support,to the status quo and corporate values, someone should inform Senator Jesse Helms, and his Fairness in Media group, of this fact. Senator Helms has been involved in efforts to buy the CBS television network because he thinks CBS News is too liberal.
The existence of fairness in media may be one of the best
arguments that the mass media are ideologically neutral, since they are
criticized by the left for presenting a conservative point of view and by the
right for presenting a liberal point of view.
Gate Keeping
Core
Assumptions and Statements
The term gatekeeping was
originally used by Kwrt Lewin in his Human Relations (1947) to refer to (1) the
process by which a message passes through various gates as well as (2) the
people or groups who allow the message to pass (gatekeepers), may be individuals
or a group of persons through whom a message passes from sender to receivers. A
camera-person is a vivid example of a gatekeeper, who selects certain area for
photographing which are then shown to the viewers. Editors of newspapers,
magazines and publishing houses are also gatekeepers as. they allow certain information to get through and filter other
information.
The selection and rejection of
material is made according to a set of criteria determined by a number of
factors such as the gatekeepers, back-ground, education, up-bringing and
attitudes to the world plus the values, norms and traditional Wisdom of the
organisation for which the gatekeeper works.
History
and Orientation
Kurt Lewin was apparently the first one to use the term
"gatekeeping," which he used to describe a wife or mother as the
person who decides which foods end up on the family's dinner table. (Lewin,
1947). The gatekeeper is the person who decides what shall pass through each
gate section, of which, in any process, there are several. Although he applied
it originally to the food chain, he then added that the gating process can
include a news item winding through communication channels in a group. This is
the point from which most gatekeeper studies in communication are launched.
White (1961) was the person who seized upon Lewin's comments and turned it
solidly toward journalism in 1950. In the 1970s McCombs and Shaw took a
different direction when they looked at the effects of gatekeepers' decisions.
They found the audience learns how much importance to attach to a news item
from the emphasis the media place on it. McCombs and Shaw pointed out that the
gatekeeping concept is related to the newer concept, agenda-setting. (McCombs
et al, 1976). The gatekeeper concept is now 50 years old and has slipped into
the language of many disciplines, including gatekeeping in organizations.
The gatekeeper decides which information will go forward, and
which will not. In other words a gatekeeper in a social system decides which of
a certain commodity – materials, goods, and information – may enter the system.
Important to realize is that gatekeepers are able to control the public’s
knowledge of the actual events by letting some stories pass through the system
but keeping others out. Gatekeepers can also be seen as institutions or
organizations. In a political system there are gatekeepers, individuals or
institutions which control access to positions of power and regulate the flow
of information and political influence. Gatekeepers exist in many jobs, and
their choices hold the potential to color mental pictures that are subsequently
created in people understands of what is happening in the world around them.
Media gatekeeping showed that decision making is based on principles of news
values, organizational routines, input structure and common sense. Gatekeeping
is vital in communication planning and almost all communication planning roles
include some aspect of gatekeeping.
The gatekeeper’s choices are a complex web of influences,
preferences, motives and common values. Gatekeeping is inevitable and in some
circumstances it can be useful. Gatekeeping can also be dangerous, since it can
lead to an abuse of power by deciding what information to discard and what to
let pass. Nevertheless, gatekeeping is often a routine, guided by some set of
standard questions.
Conceptual Model
Source: White (1964)
Related to gatekeeping in media. For gatekeeping in
organizations this model is not recommended.
Favorite Methods
Interviews, surveys, networkanalysis.
Scope and Application
This theory is related to the mass media and organizations. In
the mass media the focus is on the organizational structure of newsrooms and
events. Gatekeeping is also an important in organizations, since employees and
management are using ways of influence.
Example
A wire service editor decides alone what news audiences will
receive from another continent. The idea is that if the gatekeeper’s selections
are biased, the readers’ understanding will therefore be a little biased.
Thursday 2 February 2012
Explain
normative theories of mass communication.
·
Professionalism, a crusade to
clean up the media and make it respectable and credible, followed the era of
yellow journalism; its objective was to eliminate shoddy and irresponsible
content.
·
Media professionals and social
elites used normative theory to answer questions regarding media reform. Social responsibility is the normative theory
used in the United States.
·
Social responsibility theory
The Origins of Normative
Theories of Media
Ø Two
opposing viewpoints
o
Radical libertarians (First
Amendment absolutists) & Technocratic Control
§
First Amendment absolutists
take the idea of “free press” as literal and oppose government regulation.
§
Technocrats do not trust the
media and believes in the use of regulators to act in the public
interest.
o
Propaganda and mass society
theories are used to justify media regulation.
Normative theory:
The type of theory that describes an ideal way for media systems
to be structured and operated.
Normative theories:
1. Authoritarian theory
The theory that places all forms of communication under the
control of governing elites or authorities. Under this theory , the intellect
of a common is greatly undermined. Criticism on ruling elites is not tolerated.
Many steps are taken to curb the freedom of press like licensing, censorships,
approval of content prior to publication and punishments etc.
2. Libertarian theory
The Origin of Libertarian
Thought
·
Libertarian theory opposes
authoritarian theory, which requires all forms of communication to submit to
governing elites.
·
If freed from authoritarian rule
individuals would “naturally” follow their conscience, seek truth, engage in
public debate, and create better life for themselves and others.
·
John Milton asserted in fair
debate good and truthful arguments would always win out over lies and deceit,
the self-righting principle. The self-righting principle is fundamental within
social responsibility theory.
·
The founding fathers also
subscribed to liberal thought.
·
Three fundamental concepts
underpinning the founders’ belief in press freedom:
o
Theology
o
Individual rights
o
Attainment of truth
o
At the nation’s founding, the US
was one of the first nations to adopt Libertarian principles lined out in the
Declaration of Independence and Bill of Rights.
o
Restrictions on communication:
§ Libel
§ Gag
Orders
§ Regulations
prohibiting false advertising, child pornography, and offensive language.
§ Laws
have been written to restrict communication freedom so that other seemingly equally
important rights might be guaranteed.
On the other extreme, there is libertarian theory, which
considers that people are rational and have the right to all angles of an issue
to decide between truth and falsehood. The government cannot interfere in matters
of press.
3. Social responsibility theory
Press has a right to criticize the government and other
institutions but it also has a responsibility to preserve democracy by
properly informing the public. The press is not free to do as it wills, it is
obligated to respond to society’s needs. he government may involve itself in
media operations by issuing regulations (e.g. Pemra), if public interest is not
being adequately addressed.
·
The first major test of social
responsibility theory occurred during the 1950s with the rise of anti-communist
sentiments at the time of the Cold War.
·
Joseph McCarthy successfully
used propaganda techniques to draw national attention to himself and to
stimulate widespread public hatred and suspicion of people whom he linked, most
often inaccurately, to communism.
o
This illustrates how difficult
it can be for journalists to adhere to social responsibility theory in crisis
situations.
o
|
Social
Responsibility Theory
|
|
Strengths
1. Values media responsibility
2. Values audience responsibility
3. Limits government intrusion in media
operation
4. Allows reasonable government control
of media
5. Values diversity and pluralism
6. Aids the “powerless”
7. Appeals to the best instincts of media
practitioners and audiences
8. Is consistent with US legal tradition
|
|
Weaknesses
1.
Is overly optimistic about media’s willingness to
meet responsibilities
2.
Is overly optimistic about individual
responsibility
3.
Underestimates power of profit motivation and
competition
4.
Legitimizes status quo
|
4. Communist Theory
It promotes communism and strives to achieve goals set by the
communist party. Media is owned by the representatives of the communist state.
It works best in a closed society where information is tightly controlled by
the government.
5. Developmental theory
Government mobilizes media to serve national goals in economic
and social development. Information is considered a natural resource and must
be carefully manipulated to achieve national goals for literacy, economic
self-sufficiency etc.It is considered that media should support the government
until society is well developed.
Other Normative Theories
} Developmental
media theory: A normative theory calling for government and media to work in
partnership to ensure that media assist in the planned beneficial development
of the country
} Democratic-participant
theory: A normative theory advocating media support for cultural pluralism at a
grassroots level
} Western concept:
A normative theory combining aspects of Libertarianism and social
responsibility theory
} Development
concept: A normative theory describing systems in which government and media
work in concert to ensure that the media aid the planned, beneficial
development of a given nation
} Revolutionary
concept: A normative theory describing a system in which media are used in the
service of revolution
} Authoritarian
concept: A normative theory advocating the complete domination of media by a
government for the purpose of forcing those media to serve the government
} Communism
concept: A normative theory advocating the complete domination of media by a
Communist government for the purpose of forcing those media to serve the
Communist Party
} Transitional
media approach: A less category based, more flexible approach to evaluating
media systems than traditional normative theory
Thursday 2 February 2012 0
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