Mass Media and Society

Chapter 1 Discussion

Role of Media?

Some of the Basics

Mass Media: “…media that reach a relatively large audience of usually anonymous readers” (p. 8)

Medium Media (plural)

Evolution of the year

E.g. digitization, growth of Internet

Audience as reader and user

Media as party of socialization process

Audiences actively creating meaning

Social construction of reality (Berger and Luckmann)

Socialization

“…learn and internalize the values, beliefs, and norms of our culture…” (p. 16)

‘develop sense of self’ (p. 16)

Learn social roles

Socializing agents

Family, education, friends, media

Role of social relations

Impacted by media (media influence goes beyond media content)

Structure and Agency

Active AudiencesWhat impacts interpretations?

Types of Mass Media

Print

Film

Radio

Television

Sound Recordings

Internet

Social Media? (debatable)

Looking Ahead

What to expect in this course

Focus on mass media (some discussion of social media; again, depending on the use and reach)

Discussion of textbook chapters

Discussion of journal articles

Discussion of real world events May tie in current topic or combination of topics

we’ve discussed

Real-World Scenario

Read the brief story

Read the comments from viewers

What does this article say about the potential of mass media?

What does the article say about the need for structure? Agency?

What potential impact does this story have on society?

Assignment for Thursday

Record your use of media

Include social media (reflect on if it was “mass media” in each instance)

Make a list

When you used it, why, length of time

Start at the end of our class period Tuesday and record through Wednesday (at least 24 hours; the longer the better. Build in time for reflection paragraph)

Reflect on your chart. What did you learn about your media use? Were you surprised? Is this an average day for you? Is your use of media problematic/acceptable? What does your media use mean considering the role of media (based on what you’ve read in chapter 1, our discussion, and your opinion)?

1 Paragraph

Type list and paragraph

Example

TUESDAY

5:00 p.m.: Listened to radio on the way home from school. About 45 min commute. Talked on phone with mom so didn’t pay full attention the entire time.

8:00 p.m.: Television show. Watched for pleasure. Love Scandal! Watched for a little over an hour

10:00 p.m.: Logged into Twitter. Checked my own personal page and sent tweet. Also checked in on friends and favorite celebrity