Problems in the Media
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Chapter outline
Media
Industries
Media
Effects
Sociological
Perspectives
• Media concentration
• Convergence
• Global Issues
• Violence
• Racial and Ethnic Stereotyping
• Gender Stereotyping
• Symbolic Interactionist
• Functionalist
• Conflict
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Media Industries
Media industries are media businesses that influence
people and cultures worldwide
Media industries own interests in a variety of areas
 Radio and television production and broadcasting
 Motion pictures, movie theaters, and music companies
 Newspaper, periodical, and book publishing
 Internet services and content providers
Average person in U.S. spends more than ½ of their waking hours
in a media-related activity.
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2010
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2010
Technology and the media
 Media became more influential as technology
changed.
 Newspapers were traditional form of media but gave
way to:
 Radio as the media phenomenon of the 1920s
 Television as the phenomenon of the 1950s
 Computers, fiber optic cable, and broadcast satellites
continue to change media today
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Media Ownership and Control
 Since the 1960s media ownership has become more
concentrated.
 Today a few mega corporations own most media
businesses.
 Some companies own more than one form of media.
 Media concentration: tendency of media industries to
cluster together in groups with the goal of enhancing
profitability.
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Media Concentration
 Profit is the driving force in media concentration and
has lead to the following changes:
 Concentration of ownership within one industry.
 One company owns multiple newspapers
 Cross-media ownership
 Companies own more than one kind of media
 Conglomerate ownership:
 Corporation owns companies that operate in different
business sector.
 Vertical Integration:
 Company making the media also distributes it
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2010
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2010
Problems with Convergence
Supporters say:
 Convergence is profitable for investors and media
executives
Critics believe:
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Limits news and entertainment by reducing message pluralism
Decline of journalism as a public service profession
Constant pressure for journalistic endeavors to be profitable
Decrease in quantity and quality of international news available in
the U.S.
 Quashing of public debate about power of media industries
 Increase of D.C. lobbyists representing interests of media giants
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Global Media Concentration
 A few media giants control most of the world’s
information.
 Time Warner, Sony, Viacom, Disney, NBC Universal, and
News Corporation
 People in other nations criticize how media
conglomerates depict nations around the globe.
 Such images (often negative) influence the politics
and cultures of other nations.
 Fear of replacing others values with U.S. beliefs
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Violence in the Media
 Most scholars do not believe media causes aggressive behavior
 A number of scholars assert that gratuitous violence is used to sell
media-related commodities
 Violent television shows make up 60% of all television
programming
 Some studies show a relationship between short-term aggressive
behavior and media depictions of violence
 Other studies suggest media may prevent violence by providing
people with an emotional outlet (cathartic effect hypothesis)
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Violence Against Women
 Advertising often uses semi-pornographic images to
sell products
 Bondage, sadomasochism, and the sexual exploitation of
children (Kilbourne 1999)
 Contributes to the view of women as sex objects
 Leads to gender inequality
 Sex is used to sell products
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Racial and Ethnic Stereotyping
Stereotype: Over-generalization about the characteristics of
a group
Media perpetuates racial stereotypes by:
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Casting some groups as having superior traits
Exaggerating people’s physical appearance
Suggesting all people in a category look alike
Creating racial or ethnic characters who have undesirable
attributes
 Linking subordinate racial or ethnic groups to illegal
actions
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Racial and Ethnic Stereotyping, cont.
 Why does it persist in the media?
 Offensive material brings more media coverage and can
turn an average show into an overnight success.
 Used for comic effect
 Having characters with divergent attributes makes it
easier to create controversy.
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Gender Stereotyping in the Media
Studies have found several gender stereotypes in the media
 Introducing gender-specific age bias in casting
 Older men and younger women are often shown together
 Perpetuating traditional roles for women
 Women as thin, only beautiful, and sexually passive
 Impulsive conduct of professional women
 Shown constantly shopping, drinking/smoking, bizarre
behavior
 Women abusing power
 Women overwhelmed by their work
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Sociological Perspectives on Media
 Interactionist:
 Theory of limited effects
 Media have a minimal effect on people’s attitudes and perceptions
 Use and gratification theory
 People are active participants and decide what they will watch, listen to,
read, or surf on the Internet
 Social learning theory
 People are likely to act out behavior from media sources
 Audience relations approach
 People interpret what they see and hear through cultural filters
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Sociological Perspectives on Media, cont.
 Functionalist:
Media fulfill several important functions in society
 Providing news and information
 Facilitating public discourse on social issues and policies
 Passing on cultural traditions and historical perspective
 Entertaining people
 Confer status on individuals and organizations
 Media is dysfunctional when they contribute to
reduction in social instability or weaken institutions
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Sociological Perspectives on Media, cont.
 Conflict:
 Members of the capitalist class own and control the
media.
 They use the media to validate existing class relations
 Hegemony theory sees media as form of social control
used by ruling classes to create “false consciousness” in the
working classes
 Media tells people what to think before people have had a
chance to think about an issue themselves
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2010