THEORIES OF MASS
COMMUNICATION
COM 205
INTRODUCTION
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There is no common understanding on what media studies deal with. Let’s start with
some ‘given’ tems that we do not question like mass media and mass
communication. Mass media are technologies make mass communication possible.
There are levels of communication form individuals and to groups, organisation and
society. Mass communication is a process reaching ‘a large and heterogenous’ mass
audiences through mass media.
Which way to go through? Ways to media theories taken by media scholars
-production
-text
-content
-technology
-reception
-effects.
-representation
-audiences
These various ways define what to study and how to study as well..
This fact also indicates the inter and multi disciplinary characteristics and eclectic
natures of the field of media studies.
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WHO says?
WHAT through?
WHICH CHANNEL?
To WHOM?
To WHAT EFFECT? (by Lasswell 1948)
‘Media help us to learn about the values, beliefs and norms of our
societies as well as assist us to develop our own sense of identity. It
is not only a matter of what we learn but also how we learn’’
(Williams 2003, p.6).
We can identify three main groups in media theories:
theories of media and society (subset of social theory).
theories of relating to the process of mass communication inculing
various components of mass communication.
The narrower theories or one medium of mass communication.
ISSUES AND DEBATES IN MEDIA
STUDIES
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The effects of mass communication and the media on audiences’ opinion
and behaviours, knowledge and understandings.
• Complian of bias in the media: This issue concentrate on the news media.
The media are defined biased in terms of source, langauge and discourse,
presentation or organisational (Gunter 1997).
• Media content: This is studied in mostly non-news media forms. The media
can be categorised into different genre (borrowed from film theories) such
as western, thrillers or soap operas.
Understanding of ideology: For some scholar ideologies are constructed and
promoted by the media. (Remember that ideology is a partial, misguided
system of belief and conceal social relations.) The media play an important
role in reproducing legitimation, false conscious, ruling ideas...
• The production of media organisations: Media’s personnel policies and
organisations are studied by political economy. Who owns, who controls
who distributes?
Debate in media theories
Lack of original theory in the media studies that’s why
theoretical vacuuming from other theories.
Neglect the theory
• Normative theories of the media ‘ are concerned with
examining and prescribing how the media ought to work
if a certain set of values are to be observed or
attained’(MxQuail 1994).
• Empirical theories are concerned facts and observable
data to make causal links between the things being
studied.
• ‘Social scientific theory seeks to describe and explain
events objectively and to use empirical research
methods to evaluate the usefulness and validity of
theory’’ (Baran & Davis 2003)