MASS MEDIA AND MINORITIES
“WHAT IS MASS MEDIATED CULTURE”
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MASS MEDIA IS
COMPOSED OF LARGESCALE ORGANIZATIONS
THAT USE PRINT OR
ELECTRONIC MEANS
(SUCH AS RADIO,
TELEVISION, OR FILM)
TO COMMUNICATION
WITH LARGE NUMBERS
OF PEOPLE.
HOW IS CULTURE MEDIATED BY MEDIA?
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MEDIA PRESENTS US WITH INFORMATION
AND IMAGES ON: 1) HOW THE WORLD IS
ORGANIZED, 2) THE SOCIAL RELATIONS THAT
PREVAIL, AND 3) ASSUMPTIONS (ABOUT
SUCH THINGS AS – MEN & WOMEN,
MALENESS AND FEMALENESS, PEOPLENESS
AND PEOPLE OF COLOURNESS) THAT WE USE
WHEN WE CONSTRUCT OUR EVERYDAY
LIVES
MEDIA AS SOCIALIZING AGENTS
THEY FUNCTION TO:
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INFORM US ABOUT EVENTS;
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INTRODUCE US TO A WIDE
VARIETY OF PEOPLE;
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PROVIDE AN ARRAY OF
VIEWPOINTS ON CURRENT
ISSUES;
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THEY MAKE US AWARE OF
PRODUCTS AND SERVICES
(THAT IF WE PURCHASE THEM,
SUPPOSEDLY WILL HELP US TO
ACCEPT OTHERS), AND;
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ENTERTAIN US BY PROVIDING
THE OPPORTUNITY TO LIVE
VICARIOUSLY (THROUGH
OTHER PEOPLE’S
EXPERIENCES).
MEDIA IMPACT ON CHILDREN
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RECENT ESTIMATES
INDICATE THAT CLOSE TO
100 PERCENT OF CANADIAN
HOUSEHOLDS HAVE AT
LEAST ONE TELEVISION.
CANADIAN VIEWERS WATCH
AN AVERAGE OF 3.3 HOURS
OF TELEVISION PER DAY
(ADAMS, 1998). THIS MEANS
THAT THE AVERAGE
SIXTEEN-YEAR-OLD WILL
HAVE SPENT MORE TIME
WATCHING TELEVISION
THAN ATTENDING SCHOOL
Deconstructing The Media
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The media constitute a socially constructed system of technologically
driven communications that are anything but neutral or passive in delivery.
Media are actively involved in shaping messages and circulating meanings.
[Therefore] media is configured by “hidden agendas” and “dominant
ideologies” in advancing vested rather than common interests.
[Therefore] media are not only constructed through human agency, they
also construct realities by “naturalizing” our perception of the world as
necessary and normal rather than conventional and constructed.
Cultural frames of reference are imposed that define some aspects of reality
as acceptable and others as unacceptable.
There is a double-edged nature of media relations to society and societybuilding – it informs and it is complicit in the information [it is complicit
in generating information (a view of the world); It has an “assumptive
reality”
What Are Some Of The Major Assumptions
(Those Things That Go Without Saying)
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)
One is that it is not complicit in social life; That it is merely a mirror on
the world; That it is (or can be) neutral.
[Yet sociologists agree] the commitment to “inform” and “entertain” is
riddled with hidden agendas that benefit some, handicap others.
The media establish standards of performance, then fail to live up to these
expectations, (in effect creating a disjuncture between expectations and
reality, both at institutional and public levels.
They generate social problems by virtue of their existence as a big
business, their status as discourses in defense of profit, and their role as
an instrument of “thought control” in a democratic society.
By examining newscasting, tv programming, advertising, and
“internetting,” the media can be shown to exert a negative impact by
eliciting mixed messages at odds with the ideals of a progressive society.
This is tied to the phenomenon of "thought control" – in my usage this
refers to the ability to inculcate incoherent and at times contradictory
assumptions and beliefs by the mass of the population.
THE PHENOMENON OF
“THOUGHT CONTROL”
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IN MY USAGE THIS
REFERS TO THE
ABILITY TO EXERT
UNDUE INFLUENCE
ONE EXAMPLE REFERS
TO THE INCULCATION
OF INCOHERENT AND
AT TIMES
CONTRADICTORY
ASSUMPTIONS AND
BELIEFS BY THE MASS
OF THE POPULATION.
MEDIA AND CRIME:
“THE PROCESS OF THOUGHT CONTROL”
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MOST CANADIANS LEARN
ABOUT CRIME THROUGH
THE MEDIA RATHER THAN
FIRST HAND EXPERIENCE.
STORIES ON TELEVISION
AND RADIO, AND IN
NEWSPAPERS, MAGAZINES,
AND BOOKS SHAPE OUR
VIEWS ABOUT CRIME AND
CRIMINALS. HOWEVER
MEDIA DO NOT SIMPLY
“REPORT” THE NEWS.
EDITORS AND REPORTERS
SELECT THE CRIME NEWS
WE HEAR ABOUT AND
CONSTRUCT THE WAY IN
WHICH IT IS PRESENTED.
Fear of crime and the media:
“Does the Matrix have you?”
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UNFORTUNATELY THE PICTURE OF CRIME WE
RECEIVE FROM MASS MEDIA IS VERY
INACCURATE.
EX: WHILE MOST CRIME IS PROPERTY CRIME,
MOST STORIES IN THE MEDIA DEAL WITH
VIOLENT CRIME.
GABOR (1994) REVIEWED ALL THE CRIMERELATED STORIES REPORTED OVER TWO
MONTHS IN AN OTTAWA PAPER:
SEVEN PERCENT WERE VIOLENT CRIMES (THE
CITY AVERAGED JUST SIX MURDERS PER YEAR).
WHILE VIOLENT CRIMES WERE OVER REPORTED
– WHITE-COLLAR AND POLITICAL CRIMES WERE
ALMOST NEVER REPORTED.
BETWEEN 1990 AND 1996 THE HOMICIDE RATE IN
CANADA DECLINED BY ALMOST 20 PERCENT
WHILE MURDER COVERAGE ON CBC AND CTV
NATIONAL NEWS PROGRAMS INCREASED BY 300
PERCENT.
CALGARY HAD 12 MURDERS IN 1996, A YEAR THE
CALGARY HERALD PUBLISHED 1667 MURDERRELATED STORIES (NATIONAL MEDIA ARCHIVE,
1997).
Why does media misrepresent crime?
“If it bleeds it leads”
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STORIES THAT ATTRACT VIEWERS
OR READERS WILL BOOST RATINGS
AND CIRCULATION EVEN IF THESE
STORIES DO NOT REPRESENT THE
REALITY OF CRIME.
THE INFORMAL RULE IS: “IF IT
BLEEDS IT LEADS” (REFLECTING
THE FACT THAT THE PUBLIC ARE
FASCINATED BY
SENSATIONALIZED, BLOODY
STORIES SUCH AS THOSE OF MASS
MURDERS OR ATTACKS AGAINST
HELPLESS SENIOR CITIZENS.)
THE PRIMARY GOAL OF THE MEDIA
IS TO MAKE PROFITS BY SELLING
ADVERTISING.
WHAT ARE THE CONSEQUENCES OF THE MEDIA
MISREPRESENTATION OF CRIME?
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CANADIANS GREATLY OVERESTIMATE THE
AMOUNT OF VIOLENT CRIME THAT IS
COMMITTED AND HAVE A FEAR OF CRIME THT
IS MORE INTENSE THAN THE RISK OF
VICTIMIZATION JUSTIFIES.
.EX: ONE SURVEY FOUND THAT THE VAST
MAJORITY OF CANADIANS – 75 PERCENT – FELT
THAT MOST CRIMES ARE ACCOMPANIED BY
VIOLENCE, THROUGH THE TRUE FIGURE IS
LESS THAN 10 PERCENT (DOOB AND ROBERTS,
1983).
DESPITE A SIGNIFICANT DROP IN CRIME
THROUGHOUT THE 1990S AND INTO THE NEW
MILLENNIUM A SURVEY FOUND THAT
CANADIANS ARE MORE FEARFUL OF CRIME
THAN THEY WERE IN 1991 (STATS CAN, 1998).
OUR FEARS ARE REINFORCED BY THE GLOBAL
COVERAGE OF VIOLENCE. TELEVISION CAN
INSTANTLY BRING US EVENTS FROM
ANYWHERE AND VIOLENT CRIMES SUCH AS
MASS MURDERS IN AUSTRALIA AND IN
SCOTLAND ARE REPORTED AS IMMEDIATELY
AND AS INTENSELY AS IF THEY HAD HAPPENED
IN OUR OWN COMMUNITIES.
CONSEQUENCES OF THE MEDIA
MISREPRESENTATION OF CRIME (CON’T)
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THE MEDIA ALSO PROVIDE US WITH A DISTORTED
STEREOTYPE OF OFFENDERS. VIOLENT CRIMES ARE
MOST OFTEN COMMITTED BY RELATIVES, FRIENDS,
AND ACQUAINTANCES, NOT BY ANONYMOUS
STRANGERS.
CORPORATE AND WHITE-COLLAR CRIMINALS ARE
RESPONSIBLE FOR A GREAT DEAL OF SOCIAL HARM,
BUT THEIR ACTIVITIES ARE RARELY RECEIVE
MUCH ATTENTION IN MEDIA.
THE FEAR OF CRIME AND OUR IMAGE OF THE
CRIMINAL HAVE AN IMPACT ON GOVERNMENT
POLICY TOWARD CRIME. ACTUAL CRIME TRENDS
ARE IRRELEVANT – IF THE PUBLIC FEELS CRIM IS
OUT OF CONTROL, IT DEMANDS THAT
GOVERNMENT DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT.
WHILE CRIME RATES ARE DECLINING, A
COMBINATION OF INCREASING MEDIA COVERAGE
OF CRIME AND PRESSURE FROM A VARIETY OF
INTEREST GROUPS HAS LED THE FEDERAL
GOVERNMENT TO TIGHTEN SEVERAL LAWS
INCLUDING THOSE CONCERNING IMMIGRATION,
YOUNG OFFENDERS, AND FIREARMS.
Marginalized Communities
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Research challenges the perception that
we are all equally likely to be crime
victims by revealing that the most
"marginalized groups" in society have the
greatest chance to be victimized by
crime.
At the same time, marginalized
communities have pointed to the
inadequate response by the state to
their victimization == people who fit the
typical offender profile {stereotype} are
"over-policed", while those who
commit serious harms but do not hold
these characteristics are typically
"under-policed"
What Are There (Hidden Or Disguise)
Manifestations Of Racism In The Mass Media
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A)
INVISIBILITY OF PEOPLE OF COLOUR – NUMEROUS STUDIES
CONFIRM THAT CANADA’S MULTICULTURAL DIVERSITY IS POORLY
REFLECTED IN THE ADVERTISING, PROGRAMMING, AND NEWS-CASTING
SECTORS OF POPULAR MEDIA; DO NOT PARTICIPATE IN DECISION-MAKING.
IN MANY CASES, PEOPLE OF COLOUR IN MEDIA ARE “SEGREGATED” ON
SEPARATE SHOWS OR FORUMS – IN OTHERS THEY ARE INTEGRATED INTO
“MAINSTREAM” AS TOKENS WHO MUST ADOPT A MAINSTREAM-LIKE PERSONA.
(BOTH ARE FORMS OF NON-ACCEPTANCE).
B)
STEREOTYPICAL PORTRAYALS – EVERYWHERE IMAGES OF RACIAL
MINORITIES ARE STEEPED IN UNFOUNDED GENERALIZATIONS THAT
EMPHASIZE THE COMICAL OR GROTESQUE.
EX: -- AUNT JEMIMA HAS APPEARED ON BOXES OF PANCAKE MIX FOR OVER
100 YEARS. (THE SMILING BLACK WOMAN, WHOSE HEAD USED TO BE
WRAPPED IN A KERCHIEF REMINISCENT OF A MAMMY/SERVANT IMAGE.)
RASTUS IS STILL THE CREAM OF WHEAT CHEF, AND UNCLE BEN IS THE
SMILING GRANDFATHERLY BLACK MAN ON THE BOXES OF RICE FOR MORE
THAN HALF A CENTURY. THESE IMAGES, CREATED DECADES AGO, ARE WOVEN
INTO POPULAR CULTURE (AND PROMOTE WHAT SOME PEOPLE CALL “SIMPLEMINDED SERVANT” STEREOTYPES).
C)
STEREOTYPES ARE A KIND OF “CONVENIENT SHORTHAND” –
SIMPLIFY MEDIA PROCESS. MEDIA MOVERS JUST TAP INTO A POOL OF
STEREOTYPES TO CREATE A READILY IDENTIFIABLE FRAMES (TROPES) THAT
IMPOSE A THEMATIC COHERENCE THAT AUDIENCES CAN RELATE TO
BECAUSE OF SHARED CULTURAL CODES.
MEDIA AND CULTURAL HEGEMONY
“HIDDEN AGENDAS AND DOMINANT IDEOLOGIES”
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REFERS TO THE SUPREMACY OF A GROUP WHICH
MANIFESTS ITSELF IN TWO WAYS: AS DOMINATION
AND INTELLECTUAL AND MORAL LEADERSHIP
(GRAMSCI, 1971; GIROUX, 1981).
SOCIAL SCIENTISTS BELIEVE WITH THE CHANGING
FORMS OF DOMINATION THAT HAVE DEVELOPED IN
ADVANCED INDUSTRIAL SOCIETIES, WITH THE RISE
OF MODERN SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, SOCIAL
CONTROL HAS BEEN EXERCISED LESS THROUGH
THE USE OF PHYSICAL DETERRENTS AND
INCREASINGLY THROUGH THE DISTRIBUTION OF AN
ELABORATE SYSTEM OF NORMS AND IMPERATIVES.
.THOUGHT CONTROL ON A MASS SCALE LEADS TO A
SUBTLE AND ACCOMPLISHED SOCIAL CONTROL
HERETOFORE NON-EXISTENT.
THECRIMINALBLACKMAN
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IN HER 1998 BOOK, THE COLOR OF CRIME, KATHRYN RUSSELL
SPEAKS OF THE "CRIMINALBLACKMAN."
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THE CRIMINALBLACKMAN IS A COMPOSITE OF WHITE FEARS
OF BLACK MEN’S CRIMINALITY == IT MAY BECOME SO
STRONG AND SO WIDESPREAD THAT IT ALLOWS FOR “RACIAL
HOAXES,” IN WHICH A WHITE OFFENDER BLAMES AN AFRICAN
AMERICAN, USUALLY MALE, FOR THE OFFENSE IN QUESTION
AND IS READILY BELIEVED BY CRIMINAL JUSTICE AGENTS
AND/OR THE GENERAL PUBLIC.
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{{{EX: CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF MEDIA COVERAGE—
INFLUENCES PUBLIC PERCEPTIONS OF SERIOUS CRIME AS
LARGELY A MATTER OF RACE, REAL ESTATE (INCORPORATING
CLASS AND AREA), AND FAMILY CONSTITUTION [LEADING TO
AN INDICTMENT OF FAILED “MOTHERS” {RACIALIZED AND
GENDER-IZED BY WHITE PATRIARCHY]}}}
MEDIA MITIGATES AGAINST MULTICULTURALISM
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MEDIA ACTS TO ABET DOMINATION
AND INTELLECTUAL AND MORAL
LEADERSHIP -- NORMS, VALUES, AND
ASSUMPTIONS -- OF WHITE, MALE
DOMINATED INSTITUTIONS.
{FINE, BUT WHAT IS THE PROBLEM?}
– THIS CONTINUES TO PREVENT THE
MASS MEDIA FROM FAIRLY AND
ACCURATELY REFLECTING AND
REPRESENTING THE MULTIRACIAL
REALITY OF CANADIAN SOCIETY.
WHITE ELITES CONTROL THE
STRUCTURE AND CONTENTS OF THE
MASS MEDIA, IT MAY BE EXPECTED
THAT THE WHITE PRESS SHARES IN
THE OVERALL SYSTEM THAT
“SUSTAINS WHITE GROUP
DOMINANCE”
THE EUROPEAN GAZE
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WHEN A NEWS STORY IS TOLD FROM A MALE, PARTICULARLY A
EUROPEAN-NORTH-AMERICAN MALE POINT OF VIEW, THE
STANDPOINT OF THE REPORTER OR EDITOR IS NOT NOTED. IT IS
ASSUMED TO BE A GENERAL, UNBIASED, OBJECTIVE POINT OF VIEW.
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WHEN THE STORY IS TOLD FROM THE POINT OF VIEW OF A PERSON OF
COLOUR, IT IS COMMON FOR THE POINT OF VIEW TO BE DEEMED A
"SPECIAL INTEREST" AND THE STANDPOINT TO BE SEEN AS "NOT
OBJECTIVE." THE WORDS OR VIEWS ARE MODIFIED TO PRESENT THEM
TO A EUROPEAN MALE GAZE.
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MEDIA IS COMPLICIT IN ENTRENCHING DOMINANT, OR "HEGEMONIC,"
SOCIAL PATTERNS OF WHO IS IMPORTANT, WHOSE WORDS ARE WORTH
MORE AIR TIME, WHOSE GAZE IS CONSIDERED THE GAZE, WHO HAS
POWER.
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YET -- IN A SOCIETY THAT CLAIMS ALL PEOPLE ARE INDIVIDUALS, NO
ONE GROUP HAS A MONOPOLY ON OBJECTIVITY, AND IN ORDER TO
WORK TOWARD A SOCIETY THAT IS TRULY FAIR AND JUST TO ALL, WE
ALL NEED TO UNDERSTAND HOW OTHER PEOPLE PERCEIVE THE
SOCIAL WORLD.