THEORY OF MEDIA
AND SOCIETY
VARYING PERSPECTIVES OF
MEDIA THEORY
• Progressive versus conservative
• Progressive or leftist
• Criticize power of media
• Conservative or Right
• Criticize damage to traditional values
• Critical versus Applied
• Critical
• Expose underlying problems
• Applied
• Provide understanding of communication processes
DIMENSIONS AND TYPES OF
MEDIA THEORY
Media-Centric
Media-Culturalist
Media-Materialist
Culturalist
Materialist
Social-Culturalist
Social-Materialist
Society-Centric
MEDIA-SOCIETY THEORY I
• The Mass Society
• Concept began in 1800s with industrialization, urbanization
and modernization
• Theory emphasizes interdependence and media as a
causal factor
• Media content
• Works in favor of those who hold social power
• Provides content that maintains status quo with dependent
society
• Modern day implications
• Nostalgia for more communitarian perspective
• Political indifference
MASS SOCIETY THEORY II
• Political Economy Theory
• Revision of Marxist Theory
• 20th Century
• Focuses on:
• Media activity as economic process that leads to commodity
• Other view: Media delivers audience attention to advertisers
• Mass Media part of economic system
• Main Strength
• Empirical testing
• Centers on media activity as economic process
MASS SOCIETY THEORY II
• Political Economy theory and the Internet
• Key = commodification of users
• Relevance of political economy theory enhanced by trends
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Increased media concentration worldwide
Growing global information economy
Decline in direct public control
Growing digital divide
MEDIA SOCIETY THEORY III
• Functionalist theory
• Primary tenets:
• Explains social practices
• Describes society
• Media benefits
• Depicts media as:
• Self-directing and self-correcting
• Apolitical
• Conservative bias
• Earlier versions discarded but survives with new forms
MEDIA SOCIETY THEORY III
• Functionalist Theory
• Primary social functions of media:
• Information
• Provides information
• Indicates power relations
• Facilitates innovation
• Correlation
• Explains and interprets meaning
• Supports norms
• Social and consensus
PRIMARY SOCIAL FUNCTIONS
CONT.
• Continuity
• Expresses dominant culture
• Entertainment
• Amusement
• Mobilization
• Used to campaign for societal objectives
MEDIA-SOCIETY THEORY IV
• Social constructionism
• Society is constructed and open to change
• Emphasizes action and choice
• And the media:
• News reality
• Impact of mass media
• Media is subjective view of social reality
MASS SOCIETY THEORY V
• Communication and Technology Determinism
• Toronto School
• Theorist H.M. Innis
• After WW II
• Attributed characteristics of society to prevailing
communication
• Organizing principle:
• Communication = monopolization
MASS SOCIETY THEORY V CONT.
• Primary Tenets of Media Technology Determinism
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Communication technology is fundamental
Technology bias
Impact of communication inventions
Communication revolutions and social impact
• Modern implications of Media Technology
Determinism
• No single factor explanation
• Development shaped by social and cultural context
MEDIA SOCIETY THEORY VI
• The Information Society Theory
• More ideology than theory
• Beginning
• Post-industrial society
• Decreased cost of technology
• Impact
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No major transformations noted
Increased interconnectedness and globalization
Increased dependency
Increased awareness of risks
• Concept as theory
• Not universally accepted
MEDIA-CULTURAL
THEORY
THEMES OF MEDIA-CULTURAL THEORY
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Quality of mass culture
Nature of popular culture
Impact of technology
Political economy and culture
Globalization
Identity
Gender
Ideology
FRANKFURT SCHOOL AND
CRITICAL CULTURAL THEORY
• Frankfurt School
• Mid-19th century
• Concerns regarding Marxist theory
• Critical Cultural theory
• Studies ideology in media culture
• Concerned with significance of media culture for specific
groups
• Evaluates media interpretation