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Sociology Paper 2: The Mass Media Pt 2 (Who controls the content of the…
Sociology Paper 2: The Mass Media Pt 2
The internet and power
Advantages
The internet can also safeguard democracy by spreading the power to communicate and exert influence more widely amongst different individuals and groups
People can also join pressure groups
Some sociologists argue that developments in digital technology will result in a reduction in the power and influence of the media owners. This is because digital technology allows everyone to produce media content rather than just consume it
Disadvantages
Also e-democracy requires expensive technology and not everyone can participate
Critics argue that most people use the internet for shopping or entertainment
The relationship between the media and the audience
The audience is passive
The hypodermic syringe theory is one of the earliest approaches, says the media is like a drug; people take in and copy what they see and hear
The audience is active
The uses and gratifications model focuses on how members of the audience use the media. People choose the media they want and that meets their personnel needs. People will simply switch off or stop buying media they disapprove of and this media will go out of business
The decoding approach sees television viewers as active decoders of the contents of TV programmes-audience members actively interpret and make sense of messages from TV programmes. How people interpret the contents of a particular programme depends on how it is decoded
Who controls the content of the media
According to pluralist the media content is decided by the public who act as consumers
According to Marxists, the content of the media is decided by the capitalist owners who use the media to promote their own ideas and to divert the public's attention away from the real issues towards trivia. Editors can set the agenda for what will be in the news, but this is often decided by the owner
The government can control the media through the censorship of information e.g. Obscene publications act and the official secrets act
Ethical reasons have a part to play e.g. the 9pm watershed
In areas where technology has not caught up there media coverage will be less than somewhere with advances in technology
Representation in the media
Gender
Feminists say we live in a patriarchal society and all top media jobs are controlled by men
Women are valued as sex objects as success depends on looks
The need for self improvement and perfection is given out to women
Ethnic minority groups
They are portrayed in ways that are unrepresentative and stereotypical
They are not given positions of authority and power
They are seen as a problem and turned into folk devils
Ethnic minorities are often absent from adverts and if they are represented it will be in a stereotypical way
Social class
All media is said to be biased in favour of the middle class, from news readers to adverts and to sitcoms, they speak with "BBC accents" and present an image of the cereal packet family, in professional jobs, with traditional gender roles
When the working class is shown, it is in stereotypical soaps set in grim urban areas or as a chaotic dysfunctional family
Pluralists say the media reflects what is going on in society