Social Problems
Social Problems and the Media
Mass Media
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Play strong role in shaping how people look
at the world
Disseminate culture: meanings, values,
beliefs
Define which issues on public agenda
How issues will be framed
Whose voices and opinion will be included or
excluded
Douglas Kellner (2003)
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Kellner says:
“The media provide access to and construct
social problems for large numbers of
audiences throughout the world and in turn
themselves have become a social problem in
view of their multiple and complex effects,
many negative.”
(http://www.gseis.ucla.edu/faculty/kellner/)
Media as a Social Problem
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Augie Fleras (2001) identifies four themes:
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1. Media “riddled with values and agendas” of
dominant groups
2. Media disseminate images and stories that
influence behaviour, attitudes, values, beliefs
3. Media in Canada are not upholding Canadian
ideal of a pluralistic and socially conscious society
4. Media entertain rather than informing the
Canadian populace of important issues and
leading the way to social change
Commercial Imperative
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Most media are owned and controlled by large
corporate conglomerates
In business to “make money” therefore, bottom
line is profit over social responsibility
Our news is constrained and filtered:
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very few independent news sources left
Even CBC (publically owned) bows to the
“commercial imperative”
The News and Elite Control
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Commercial media neglect “common good” in favour
of profit maximization
News is often reported according to elite agendas or
as sensationalism or entertainment in order to
increase “sales”
Today, news reporting lacks analysis and depth – we
are inundated with “sound-bites”
Many sources of bias in news: in ownership,
reporting, and presentation
Todd Gitlin (US sociologist) says purpose of media
programming (i.e. news) is to sell audiences to
advertisers
Propaganda Model
(Chomsky and Herman 1988)
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Thesis: The media operate to serve the interests
of the corporate and economic elite. Media
offerings are processed through a series of filters
and consequently act as propaganda which
furthers the elite agenda.
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Media Filters:
 1. Media ownership
 2. Advertising
 3. Sourcing of information
 4. Right-wing corporate "flak"
 5. Anti-communism
Media and Ideology
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Because media are owned by dominant
elites, primary task is to serve elite interests
Tend to privilege and “normalize” dominant
perspectives, values, beliefs
Hegemony (Gramsci) – media achieve
“consent and domination through consensus
and control rather than coercion”
The media “manufacture consent” (Chomsky
and Herman)
Media and Democracy
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Kellner (2003) believes the media is undermining the
democratic process. We need to address this “social
problem” immediately…
He states: “Democracy…requires informed citizens
and access to information and thus the viability of
democracy is dependent on citizens seeking out
crucial information, having the ability to access and
appraise it, and to engage in public conversations
about issues of importance. Democratic media reform
and alternative media are thus crucial to revitalizing
and even preserving the democratic project in the
face of powerful corporate and political forces.”
Media and Minorities
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Mainstream media tend “to underrepresent
minorities in areas that count, to overrepresent
minorities in areas that don’t, and to misrepresent
minorities in countless ways” (Fleras and Kunz,
2001)
Minorities in media are either:
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1. Invisible
2. Stereotyped
3. Problem people
4. Adornment
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(http://www.media-awareness.ca/english/resources/articles/diversity/media_minorities.cfm)
Media and Violence
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Much debate in this area
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Violent imagery in media “normalizes” violence.
Individuals tend to become desensitized.
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Or become irrationally fearful – “mean world
syndrome” (George Gerbner, 2000)
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Gerbner (2000) says that the media “cultivate”
certain beliefs and ideologies about the world
around us (Gerbner’s video “The Electronic
Storyteller” will be shown during the lecture on
violence)
The Advertising Industry
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We have become a “consumer culture”
Advertising promotes consumption and waste
Also promotes unhealthy lifestyles and
unrealistic images
Is partly responsible for societal problems
such as environmental degradation and
resource depletion as well as serious
physical and mental health problems such as
obesity, eating disorders, depression.