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SOCI 201

SOCIAL PROBLEMS in the 21st Century

Professor Kurt Reymers, Ph.D.

SPRING 2013

B. Media and Society

1. Mass Media and Society a. Features of the Traditional

Mass Media

• Media: Message is encoded and delivered

through technology (a specific medium)

• Mass: One sender (mass) audience

• Unidirectional: Messages flow one-way

• Standardized: Same messages for all members

of the audience

• Spatial-Temporal Disassociation: No

“co-presence” at all.

B. Media and Society

b. Types of Mass Media: S y n c h r o n i c i t y

max ………….……………min

Broadcast (TV, Newspaper, Netflix)

vs.

Point-to-Point (Telephone, IM chat, Email)

c. History of the Mass Media:

i. First Amendment to the Bill of Rights – “The Establishment Clause” (James Madison)

http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/conlaw/firstaminto.htm

A lots

u d i e n c e 0

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ii. History: Rapid Rise of Mass Media: Adoption of Media Technology by US Households

Media Technology Year medium

reached 1% of

US Households

Number of years to

reach 75% of US

Households

• Newspaper 1833 ?

• Radio 1923 14 yrs (1937)

• Television 1948 7 yrs (1955)

–VCR

–Cable/satellite TV

1980

1970s

12 yrs (1992)

≈30 yrs (2000)

• Internet 1992 12 yrs (2004)

Source: Dr Christopher Kollmeyer, http://www.abdn.ac.uk/sociology/notes07/Level1/SO1506/Mass%20Media%20(1).ppt

iii. History: Rise of the Corporate Media

Source: The Free Press, http://www.freepress.net/ownership/chart/main?gclid=CKaZ7O2lnKUCFQIGbAodTyoBJQ

Corporate Ownership 2011: The Big Six

The U.S. media landscape is dominated by massive corporations that, through a history of mergers and acquisitions, have concentrated their control over what we see, hear and read. In many cases, these giant companies are vertically integrated, controlling everything from initial production to final distribution. Here is more information about the largest U.S. media firms. Example: The latest merger: NBC / Comcast (Jan 2011)

2. Sociological Models of Media:

a. Social Structure vs. Audience Agency

Media Message

Collective Response

S

E

L

F

“Hypodermic Needle” Model

Over-emphasizes structural control of thought

“Active-Audience” Model

Over-emphasizes independence of thought; interepretation is not

“bullet-proof”

S

O

C

I

E

T

Y

Source: Dr Christopher Kollmeyer, http://www.abdn.ac.uk/sociology/notes07/Level1/SO1506/Mass%20Media%20(1).ppt

B. Media and Society

Interpretation

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2. Social Models of Media

B. Media and Society

b. Two-Flow and Encoding/Decoding

i. The Two-Flow model (Lazarsfeld and Katz)

- Not the media, but “opinion leaders” primarily influence consumer and political choice; thus, media are not directly related

to social problems; the media is not a dominant institution from this perspective.

ii. Encoding/Decoding (Stuart Hall)

- There is a level of interpretation used by the

media consumer; media are not neutral, but the meaning of different media is different for each consumer.

2. Social Models of Media

B. Media and Society

c. Is the media inherently political? “Propaganda Theory” Chomsky and Herman's propaganda model is the thesis that corporate media, as profit-driven institutions, tend to serve and further the agendas of the interests of dominant, elite groups in the society. (Wiki)

Is the Media Too Liberal?

How are media institutions “socially constructed”?

B. Media and Society

3. Marshall McLuhan – The Medium is the Message

a. Media is culture, or rather, a

representation of ideas, values, beliefs, attitudes, opinions, norms, and other ways

of life. “The content of any medium is always another

medium.”

b. New media accelerates culture, bringing a whole new form of culture (new types of cities, new social relationships, etc.)

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B. Media and Society

3. Marshall McLuhan – The Medium is the Message

c. New media impact our perception of

time and space. “Detribalization” – “Electric speed mingles the cultures

of prehistory with the dregs of industrial marketeers.”

d. New media impacts human

association and attention.

“The content of a medium is like the juicy piece of meat

carried by the burglar to distract the watchdog of the mind.”

B. Media and Society 4. Is The Media Too Violent?

a.“Problem of perspective” exists: What one person sees as violent may not be seen the same way by others; • UK - 2,078 programs analyzed, 4 week sample, under

30.1% contained some violence, frequency of violence 1.7 acts per hour (Cumberbatch: 1987)

• NZ - 846 episodes of violence on one week, 9.5 acts per hour

• Sweden, Switzerland - low rates of violence, 2 acts per hour (NZ Foundation for Peace Studies: 1986);

• Average Australian child - see 15,000 murders on TV during school year;

97% of crime shows, 74% adventure, 86% cartoons contain violence (Chain Reaction: 1992)

b. ‘Television Violence Causes Aggression’ Reports support findings: 1972 Surgeon General’s Report, 1982 National Institute of Mental Health, Royal Commission on Violence in Communications Industry, American Pediatrics Association (2001), etc.

Feshback & Singer study (1973) found boys viewing aggressive TV showed increase in aggressive behavior;

Belson study (1978) interviewed 1565 teenage boys in England between 1959 and 1971 - boys gave info on own level of violence,

frequency. Belson found that viewers who watched high amounts of violence reported greater violence; (Williams: 1986);

“Bidirectional model” - television violence influences

aggression, aggression influences preference for television violence (Huston & Friedrich-Cofer:1986)

B. Media and Society

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B. Media and Society

c. ‘Television Violence Does NOT Cause Aggression’

Research on violence is inconsistent and flawed; findings generalized to real world;

Effect is too small to make much difference;

There is no clear definition of violence;

Violence on TV is just reflecting real life (Josephson, 1995)

False correlations in research: e.g., study of

adolescent boys watching nonviolent programs, more aggressive. Errors - required to watch disliked programs, not in the home, boys not representative of population, disruption of social setting; (Freedman, 1984)

(Source: Huston & Friedrich-Cofer - Television Violence and Aggression)

B. Media and Society

d. Game Violence Debate Digital games were linked to two highly

public acts of violence: the Columbine High School shootings in 1999 and Erfurt, Germany school shootings in 2002.

Violent games (as well as cinema, comics or rock music) have been blamed for violence, but it has been hard to demonstrate a clear, cause-and-effect relationship between media violence and real violence.

Debate around violent games continues and many countries have introduced games-related legislation.

Source: © Frans Mäyrä & SAGE Publications,

Introduction to Game Studies: Games in Culture

Towards Three-Dimensional Technology

Most contemporary digital games require real-time three-dimensional image synthesis.

The increase of available memory and computing power is reflected in how 8-bit gaming technology was replaced first by 16-bit and then by 32, 64 and 128-bit systems.

Home computing devices capable of real-time three-dimensional graphics became widely available in the 1990s.

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8-Bit Era

Atari 2600 (1977)

Magnavox Odyssey2 (1978)

NES/ Famicom

(1983)

Nintendo Game Boy (1989)

Commodore 64 (1982)

Image credits: Wikipedia, www.wikipedia.org.

16-Bit Era

PC Engine/ TurboGrafx-16 (1987)

Sega Mega Drive (1988)

Neo Geo (1990)

SNES (1990)

Image credits: Wikipedia, www.wikipedia.org.

32-Bit / 64-Bit Era

3DO Interactive Multiplayer (1993)

Amiga CD-32 (1993)

Atari Jaguar (1993)

Sega Saturn (1994)

Sony PlayStation (1994) Nintendo 64 (1996)

Image credits: Wikipedia, www.wikipedia.org.

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128-Bit Era

Sega Dreamcast (1998)

Sony PlayStation 2 (2000)

Nintendo GameCube (2001) Microsoft Xbox (2001)

Image credits: Wikipedia, www.wikipedia.org.

Current Era

Nintendo DS (2004)

Sony PlayStation Portable (2004)

Microsoft Xbox 360 (2005)

Sony PlayStation 3 (2006)

Nintendo Wii (2006)

Image credits: Wikipedia, www.wikipedia.org.

Start of Three-Dimensional Action:

“DOOM”

Doom (id Software, 1993) combined free movement in a three-dimensional environment and fast, shooter style action successfully.

With its multiple followers (‘Doom clones’), it started the First Person Shooter (FPS) genre.

An important factor in the game’s success was its atmosphere, derived from horror and science fiction film conventions.

Also, the shareware distribution model contributed to Doom spreading quickly among the computer gamer communities.

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DOOM Game Art

Download and play a Windows version of the free Doom shareware episode: http://www.download.com/Doom-95-demo/3000-7453_4-855497.html

Image credits: id Software.

Gameplay Immersion: Point of View

The first person view does not focus our attention as much on the game character as the view used in ‘third person shooters’ (see Tomb Raider style of games) .

Doom has very transparent interface: the player focus is strongly on the task and a feeling of immersion in virtual space is created. Image credits: Core Design, Crystal Dynamics; sources: www.tombraiderchronicles.com,

www.wikipedia.org.

Gameplay Experience Model

Game – player interaction and the three components of immersion in play (the SCI model, Ermi & Mäyrä, 2005).

Image credits: Laura Ermi & Frans Mäyrä.

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Controversy Continues

FPS action has become part of ‘family games’ too, like those in the Harry Potter franchise.

The Grand Theft Auto series has created controversy with its violent and sexual content.

The violent, adult-oriented themes of

FPS style games continue to evoke debate.

B. Media and Society

5. Memetics and the Media

a. Language (code) allows for cultural evolution

Some scientists believe that culture and language evolve using the same patterns and principles as genetic evolution.

Principles of Natural Selection apply

Variation

Inheritance

Selection (survival of the fittest)

B. Media and Society

5. Memetics and the Media

DNA and memes succeed when they are present in the following ways:

i. ↑Amount of transmitted material - Fecundity

ii. ↑Accuracy of transmission - Fidelity

iii. ↑Age of replicator - Longevity

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B. Media and Society

5. Memetics and the Media

b. Whereas the “gene” is the unit of

transmission (replicator) in biological evolution,

the “meme” is the unit of transmission (replicator) in cultural evolution.

“Meme” is a shortened version of the Greek word “mimeme”, which means “imitation” or “mimicry”.

Gene : DNA

Meme : Media

B. Media and Society

5. Memetics and the Media

c. What is a Meme?

“ a replicator that conveys the idea of a unit of cultural transmission, or a unit of imitation”

--Richard Dawkins

- or -

“an information pattern, held in an individual's memory, which is capable of being copied to another individual's memory.” -- F. Heylighen

B. Media and Society

5. Memetics and the Media

c. A meme unit is the smallest idea (or set of ideas) that get copied completely.

Examples of memes or meme units:

(Beethoven’s 5th)

• Advertising slogans and jingles

• Viral Internet jokes

• Religious beliefs

• Scientific Knowledge

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B. Media and Society

e. Meme “vehicles” or “machines” are ways in which idea sets get copied from one brain to another.

Meme machines always rely on human transportation and communication technologies.

Examples of meme machines are:

• Human signals

• Human speech

• Traditional Media: printing press, newspaper, radio

• New media: TV, the Internet, email, etc.

B. Media and Society

Gene in parent

Gene in progeny

Gene Transmission

Meme Transmission

Offspring brain

Unrelated next

generation brains

Peer brains

Related or unrelated previous generation

B. Media and Society f. Meme machines are getting more

complex and accurate over time (Blackmore 1999)

The new media are particularly engaging the transition to digital media as a more effective means of replication of ideas.

i. ANALOG DIGITAL transition

ii. Computers copy instructions -software) (vs copying the product -hardware)

iii. Ease of use of computer software has fostered replication.

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B. Media and Society The burgeoning literature ...

A New Theory of How We Think &

Communicate

Journal of Memetics online … And finally … a great web site …

Frontline: Digital Nation 7’00” Sherry Turkle:

“Technology challenges us to assert our human values, which means that first of all we have to figure out what they are – and that’s not so easy”…

“Technology isn’t good or bad – it’s powerful… and it’s complicated!”

B. Media and Society

6. Gender and Media a. Video: "Killing Us Softly" III,

Jean Kilbourne, PhD.

Premise: Advertising comprises a major source of the reproduction of values, beliefs and attitudes in contemporary culture.

View “Killing Us Softly III”

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B. Media and Society

6. Gender and Media b. Ads not only sell products, but they sell

Normalcy (or social norms, a consensus for

thought and behavior).

Kilbourne asks the question,

How is gender “done” in advertisements?

In other words, what social norms regarding the performance of gender roles are being replicated in ads? Do people appropriate these ideas in real life?

B. Media and Society

6. Gender and Media c. Why do advertisers continue to

portray women in submissive, powerless roles in their ads?

Because SEX SELLS. Advertising budgets have gone from $20

billion in 1979 to $180 billion in 1999, and we view/hear on the average 3000 ads per day!

It is estimated that 3 years of our lives are spent watching ads.

There is an intimate relationship between

capitalism, markets and the particular portrayal of femininity in ads which reproduces the problems of female powerlessness that plague our society.

B. Media and Society

6. Gender and Media d. Examples of advertising

representations of powerlessness: Objectification: turning women into everyday

objects

Body Cropping: eliminating the “unimportant” parts of women (typically the head) from the ad

Animalism: turning women into animals

Powerless Poses: keeping women down

Infantalism: Creating childlike images

Pornographication: selling sex outright

Violence and Degradation: some advertisers seem to pride themselves on portraying dead/beat-up women

For more info see: www.about-face.org

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Objectification

Objectification

Objectification

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Body Cropping

Body Cropping - Objectification

Body Cropping/Thinness Ideal

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Animalism

Powerless Pose

Powerless Pose - Pornographication

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Powerless Pose - Battering

Pornographication

Violence/Degradation

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Violence/Degradation

Pornografication –

Violence/Degradation

B. Media and Society

6. Gender and Media Discussion Question:

How much does the media have an

affect on our culture and how we perceive ourselves? If so, how does this perception shape our behavior and affect the way we act?

Those who tell stories hold the power in society. Today

television tells most of the stories to most of the people, most

of the time. --George Gerbner (Do you agree with Gerbner?)