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Theories
of Communication MCM 511
VU
LESSON
45
REVISION
Challenge to
limited effects paradigm came
from ideas other than social
cognitive learning and
systems
theories.
Instead of focusing on specific effects
on individuals we can focus instead on
changes in
culture,
on how shared understandings and social
norms change.
Instead
of trying to locate hundreds of small effects and add
them all up. We can ask
whether the
development
of mass media has profound
implications for the way we
create, share, learn and
apply
culture.
Now
we will trace the emergence of theories
that directly address questions
about the way media
might
produce
profound changes in social
life .These new perspectives
argued that media might have the
power
to intrude into and alter
how we make sense of ourselves and our
social world.
These
theories are quite diverse and
offer very different answers
to questions about the role of media
in
social
life. But in all these
theories, the concept of culture is
central.
Cultural
theories offer a broad range on
interesting ideas about how
media can affect culture and
also
provide
many different views
concerning the long-term consequences of
the cultural changes
affected
by
media.
Two
Ways Used By Cultural
Theorists
Now
we will discuss the two
widely used ways used by
cultural theorists to differentiate the
various
theories
of media.
Microscopic
Theories
There
are microscopic,
interpretive theories that
focus on how individuals and
social groups use
media
to
create and foster forms of
culture that structure
everyday life.
Macroscopic,
Structural Theories
And
there are macroscopic, structural
theories that focus on how social elites
use their economic
power
to
gain control over and
exploit to propagate hegemonic culture as a
means of maintaining
their
dominant
position in social order;
they are called political
economy theories because they place
priority
on
understanding how economic power
provides a basis for
ideological and political
power.
Differences
between Microscopic and Macroscopic
Theories
Microscopic
cultural studies researchers
prefer to understand what is going on in
the world immediately
around
them.
They
are intrigued by the mundane, the
seemingly trivial, and the
routine.
Macroscopic
Researcher
Whereas
macroscopic researcher are
troubled by the narrow focus of microscopic
theory. These
researchers
demand answers to larger
questions.
How
do media affect the way politics is
conducted, the way that a national
economy operates or the
delivery
of vital social services?
Critical
Theories
Some
cultural theories and political economy theories
are also referred to as
critical theories because
they
openly espouse certain values and
use these values to evaluate and
criticize the status
quo.
However
political economy theories are inherently
critical but some cultural
studies theories are
not.
Those
who develop critical theories
seek to initiate social
change that will implement
their values. A
critical
theory raises questions and
provides alternate ways of interpreting the social
role mass media.
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of Communication MCM 511
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E.g.,
some critical theorists argue that media
in general sustain the status quo.
Then some critical
theorists
identify constraints on media practitioners
that limit their ability to
challenge established
authority.
Mass
media are criticized for
aggravating or preventing problems from
being identified or
addressed
and
solved.
A
common theme in critical of media is that
content production is so constrained that it
inevitably
reinforces
the status quo and undermines useful
efforts for constructive social
change
Mediation
of Social Relations
Before
we proceed we needed to discuss the
role mass communication in a
society -the mediation
of
social
relations.
Mediation
involves several different processes. It
refers to the Relying
of second hand or
third party
version
of events and conditions which we cannot
directly observe for
ourselves.
The
media have been variously perceived
as:
1.
A window on events and experience, which
extends our vision, enabling
us to see for ourselves
what
is going on, without
interference from others.
2.
A mirror of events in society
and the world, implying a
faithful reflection, although the
angle
and
direction of the mirror are decided by
others, and we are less free to
see what we want.
3.
A filter or gatekeeper, acting to select
parts of experience for special attention
and closing off
other
views voices, whether deliberately or
not.
4.
A signpost, guide or interpreter,
pointing the way and making
sense of what is
otherwise
puzzling
or fragmentary.
5.
A forum or platform for the presentation
of information and ideas to an audience,
often with
possibilities
for response and feedback.
6.
A screen or barrier, indicating the
possibility that media might cut us
off from reality by
providing
a false view of the world,
thorough either escapist
fantasy or propaganda.
These
propositions give rise to following
sub-questions:
1.
Who controls the media and in whose
interest?
2.
Whose version of the world
(social reality) is
presented?
3.
How effective are the media in
achieving chosen
ends?
4.
Do mass media promote more or less
equality in society?
In
discussions of media power, two models
are usually opposed to each
other-
Dominant
media
Pluralist
media
Model
of Dominant Media
This
model see media subservient to other
institutions, which are
themselves interrelated.
Media
organizations, in view are
likely to be owned or controlled by a
small of powerful interests
and to
be
similar in type and purpose. The
disseminate a limited and
undifferentiated view of the world
shaped
by
the perspectives of ruling
interests.
Audiences
are constrained or conditioned to accept
the view of the world offered,
with little critical
response.
Pluralist
Model
The
pluralist model is, in nearly
every respect, the opposite. It
holds that there is no dominant
elite, and
change
and democratic control are
both possible.
Differentiated
audiences are seen to
initiate demand and are able
to resist persuasion and
react to what
media
offer.
The
pluralist view is an idealized
version of what liberalism and the
free market will lead
to.
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Centrifugal
tendencies
It
includes the notions of change,
freedom, diversity and
fragmentation.
Centripetal
tendencies
It
includes the notion of order,
control, unity and
cohesion.
Four
different theoretical positions relating to
social integration
Centripetal
Effect
The
positive version of the centripetal
effect stresses the media as integrative
and unifying
(essentially
the
functionalist view).
The
negative version represents
this effect as one of homogenization and
manipulative control
(critical
theory)
Centrifugal
Effect
The
positive version of centrifugalism
stresses modernization, freedom and
mobility as the effects to be
expected
from media (individualism)
While
the negative version centrifugalism
points to isolation, Alienation
loss of values and vulnerability
(dysfunctional
view of change as social
disorder).
Marxism
Karl
Marx developed his theory in
the latter part of the 19th century. For Marx social
change was
explained
by the struggle between competing and
antagonistic forces in society
that he called-following
the
work of another German philosopher,
George Hegel, on the historical
development of ideas-
the
dialectic
process.
This
struggle was between the `haves' and
`have nots' who Marx
differentiated in terms of
their
possession
of economic power.
He
argued that the hierarchal class
system was at the root of
all social problems. The power of
the
bourgeoisie
is exercised according to the material
exploitation of the working classes
through extracting
their
surplus value and making excess
profit. He blamed ruthless, robber
baron capitalists for
exacerbating
social problems because they maximized
personal profits by exploiting workers.
The
workers
would rise against capitalists and demand
an end to exploitation.
Important
principles used in Marxism
Materialism
So
For Marxists, materialism refers to a
conception of history and the
way society organizes
itself. He
suggests
that beneath the superficial
randomness of things there is a kind of
inner logic at work.
Everything
is shaped, ultimately, by the economic
system of a society, which in subtle ways
affects the
ideas
that individuals have, ideas
that are instrumental
in
determining the kinds of arrangements
people
will
make with one another, the
institutions they well establish and so
on.
Economic
Determination
Everything
in life is determined by capital.
The flow of money affects
our relations with other
persons,
with
nature and with the world.
Our
thoughts and goals are the products of
property structures. Every
cultural activity (culture in
its
widest
sense) is reduced to a direct or
indirect expression of some preceding and
controlling economic
content
Men
find themselves born in a
process independent of their
will, they cannot control
it, they can
seek
only
to understand it and guide their actions
accordingly.
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The
base and the
superstructure
Marx's
deterministic economic conception divides
the society in two layers or levels:
base and
superstructure.
Base
The
first, upon which everything
grows, is composed by the material
production, money, objects, the
relations
of production and the stage of
development of productive forces.
Superstructure
The
overt and tangible world,
plus the economic relations that
capital generates.
What
Marx has described as the `base'
represents the economic system
found in a given society.
This
economic
system, or mode of production,
influences, in profound and complicated
ways, the
superstructure,
or institutions and values, of a given
society.
It
means that how ideas
are transmitted to human beings-
through the institutions, philosophical
system,
religious
organizations and arts found in a
given society at a given
time- that is, through
the
superstructure.
So
superstructures are the institutions
like
Legal
system
Philosophy
Religion
Ideas
(educational)
Arts
(media)
Culture
False
Consciousness and Ideology
The
ruling class according to
this theory propagates an
ideology that justifies its
status and makes it
difficult
for ordinary people to recognize.
This notion that the masses
of people are being
manipulated
and
exploited by the ruling class is
one of the central arguments of modern
Marxist cultural analysis.
According
to Marxist approach the mass media and
popular culture are
centrally important in the
spread
of
false consciousness, in leading people to
believe that `whatever is, is
right'.
Alienation
The
term alienation suggests separation and
distance; it contains within it the word
alien, a stranger in a
society
who has no connections with
other, no ties, or liens of any
sort.
According
to Marx, capitalism may be
able to produce goods and materialist
abundance for large
numbers
of people but it necessarily generates
alienation, and all classes
suffer from this, whether
they
recognize
it or not
There
is a link between alienation and
consciousness. People who live in a
state of alienation
suffer
from
`false consciousness that
takes the form of the ideology
that dominates their
thinking.'
Besides
this, alienation may be said
to unconscious, in that people do
not recognize that they are
in fact
alienated.
One reason for this is
that alienation is so all
pervasive that it is invisible and
hard to take
hold
of.
Thus
people become separated or
estranged from their work,
from friends, from
themselves and from
life.
A person's work, which is central to
identity and sense of self,
becomes separated from him
or her
and
ends up actually as a destructive
force.
Role
of mass media in alienation
Mass
media plays a crucial role.
They provide momentary
gratifications for the alienated
spirit, they
distract
the alienated individual from
his or her misery and with the
institution of advertising, and
they
stimulate
desire, leading people to work harder and
harder.
Advertising
acts as the chief means of
motivation people to work
hard.
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Consumer
Society
As
we have discussed advertising is an
essential institution in advanced
capitalist societies because it
is
necessary
to motivate people to work hard so
they can accumulate money,
which they can use to
buy
things.
But
in addition people must be
driven to consume, must be
made crazy to consume, for it
is
consumption
that maintains the economic
system.
One
thing that advertising does
is divert people's attention
from social and political
concerns and steer
that
attention toward selfish and
private concerns.
The
power of the advertising industry to
use the appearance of products as a means
of stimulating desire
for
them is now a worldwide phenomenon and have
intervened in the imaginations of people
through
their
cultures.
And
so people have the illusion that
they make their own
decisions about what to purchase and
what to
do,
but according to Haug, these
decisions are made for them to a
remarkable degree.
Neo
Marxism
Contemporary
incarnation of Marxist theory
focusing attention on superstructure.
Most British cultural
studies
theories can be labeled neo Marxist.
They deviate from classic
Marxist theory in at least
one
important
respect- they focus concern on the
super-structure issues of ideology and
culture rather than
other
base.
Hegemony
So
Hegemony refers to a loosely interrelated
set of ruling ideas
permeating a society but in
such a way
as
to make the established order of power and values
appear natural, taken
for-granted and common-
sensical.
A
ruling ideology is not imposed
but appears to exist by
virtue of an unquestioned
consensus.
Hegemony
tends to define unacceptable opposition
to the status quo as dissident and
deviant.
What
exactly is the meaning of
"hegemony"?
"...Dominant
groups in society, including
fundamentally but not exclusively the
ruling class,
maintain
their
dominance by securing the 'spontaneous consent' of
subordinate groups, including the
working
class,
through the negotiated construction of a
political and ideological
consensus which
incorporates
both
dominant and dominated
groups." (Strinati,
1995: 165)
Gramscianism
on Communications Matters
From
a "Gramscian" perspective, the mass media have to be
interpreted as an instrument to spread
and
reinforce
the dominant hegemony... although
they could be used by those
who want to spread
counter-
hegemonic
ideas too.
If
these assumptions are
correct, we can conclude that the media
are the instruments to express
the
dominant
ideology as an integral part of the
cultural environment
The
works carried out by the
mass media can be seen, then
not merely as carriers of ideology
that
manipulate
and indoctrinate people with
certain views. The media, as
unwitting, instruments of
hegemonic
domination, have a much broader and
deeper influence- they shape
people's very ideas
of
themselves
and the world, they shape
peoples world views.
Frankfurt
School and Critical
Theory
The
term critical theory serves to
this long and diverse tradition
which owes its origin to the
work of
group
of post 1933 scholars from
the Marxist school of Applied social
research in Frankfurt.
The
most important members of the
group were Max Horkheimer and Theodor
Adorno but other
including
Herbert Marcuse and Walter
Benjamin played an important
role.
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The
school was engaged in a critique of the
enlightenment.
It
thought that the promise of the
enlightenment, the belief in the
scientific and rational progress and
the
extension
of human freedom, had turned into a
progress and the extension of human
freedom, had
turned
into a nightmare the use of
science and rationality to stamp
out human freedom.
The
school had been established originally to
examine the apparent failure of
revolutionary social
change
as predicted by Marx,
and
in explanation of the failure they
looked to the capacity of the
superstructure
(especially ideas and ideology
represented in the mass media) to subvert
historical forces
of
economic changes also the promise of the
historical forces of economic change
(and also the promise
of
the enlightenment).
The
universal and commercialized
mass culture was seen as
one important means by which
this success
for
monopoly capital had been
achieved.
The
affluence and consumerism generated by
the economies of capitalist societies,
and the levels of
ideological
control possessed by their
culture industries, have ensured
that the working class has
been
thoroughly
incorporated into the
system.
False
Needs
The
concept of false needs is identified
particularly with the work of
Marcuse. It is based upon
the
assumption
that people have true or
real needs to be creative,
independent and autonomous, in control
of
their
won destinies, fully participating
members of meaningful and democratic
collectivities for
themselves.
The
cultivation of the false needs is bound
up with the role of culture
industry. It is so effective that
the
working
class is no longer likely to
pose a threat to the stability and
continuity of capitalism.
The
media and culture industry as a whole
were deeply implicated in this
critique. The school
contained
a
sharp and pessimistic attack on mass
culture, for its uniformity,
worship of technique,
Monotony,
uniformity
and repetitiveness escapism and production of false
needs, its reduction of
individuals to
customers
and the removal of all
ideological choice.
Political
Economy Theory
It
directs research attention to the
empirical analysis of the structure of ownership and
control of media
and
to the way media market forces
operate.
Three
economic processes that have
increased the reach of media
corporations
Three
economic processes that have increased
the reach of media corporations
are:
·
Internationalization
·
Integration
·
Diversification
Internationalization
Corporations
are ceasing to be simply
national in their operations and are
becoming global. This
trend
of
internationalization was noted by
Murdock and Golding who consider it
another aspect of how
concentration
contributes to consolidation the
necessary commercial constraints on
cultural production
In
every part of the global media
industries the dominance of a few
corporations is document.
Integration
Contemporary
statistics show that fewer
and fewer large companies
increasingly own what we
see, hear
and
read.
Integration
takes two forms:
Vertical
and horizontal
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Vertical
integration
Vertical
integration refers to the process by
which one owner acquires all
aspects of production and
distribution
of a single type of media
product.
Horizontal
integration
Horizontal
integration is the process by which one
company buys different kinds of
media,
concentrating
ownership across different
kinds of media.
Diversification
However,
cross-media ownership control by
non-media companies, the integration of
media companies
and
the internationalization of ownership have
widened and deepened media concentration
to an
unprecedented
degree.
Two
approaches analyzing the relationship
between ownership and control
Murdock
in 1980 identifies two
approaches in Marxist thought to
analyzing the relationship between
ownership
and control what he labels
as
Instrumental:
direct intervention
Structural:
economic structures shape the activities
of media owners
Instrumental:
direct intervention
Sometimes
the impact of the views and
prejudices of those who own and
control the capitalist media is
immediate
and is direct by the constant and
every day
interventions.
Structural:
economic structures shape
the activities of media
owners
Analysis
is not centered on the activities
and interests of individual owners
but on the constraints and
limitations
placed on owners, managers and workers by nature of
the capitalist economy.
Economic
structures shape the
activities of media owners, controllers and
workers and pressures
under
which
they work.
Agenda
Setting Theory
Agenda
setting as laid out by
Maxwell McCombs and Donald
Shaw is `agenda-setting
is the process
whereby
the news media lead the public in
assigning relative importance to
various public
issues'
Spiral
of Silence
Its
originator is Elizabeth Noelle-Neumann.
She argued that her perspective involves
a return to the
concept
of powerful mass media.
Because
of people's fear of isolation or
separation from those around them,
they end to keep their
attitudes
to themselves when they
think they are in the
minority.
So
she identified three characteristics of
the news media that produce this scarcity
of perspective:
Ubiquity:
The
media are virtually everywhere as
sources of information
Cumulation:
The
various news media tend to
repeat stories and perspectives
across their different
individual
programs
or edition, across the different media
themselves and across
time.
Consonance:
The
congruence or similarity of values held
by news people influences the content
they produce.
Marshall
McLuhan: the medium is the
message and
massage
Because
he argued that technology inevitably
causes specific changes in
how people think, in
how
society
is structured, and the forms of culture
that are created.
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He
coined several phrases and
terms that have become part
of the common vocabulary we use to
talk
about
media and society.
He
suggested the term
Global village to refer to the
new form of social
organization that
would
inevitably
emerge as instantaneous, electronic media
tied the entire world into
one great social,
political
and cultural
system.
He
proclaimed media to be the extensions of man and
argued that media quite literally
extend sight,
hearing,
and touch through time and
space.
Electronic
media would open up new vistas for
average people and enable us to be
everywhere,
instantaneously.
Among
the most popular of McLuhan's
ideas was his conception of
hot and cool media.
He
argued that during the 1960s the
United States was emerging
from an era dominated by hot
print
media,
in the future, the new, cool
medium of television would
prevail.
According
to him, the television is cool
because it presents us with vague,
shadowy images
To
make sense of these electronic
images, people must work
hard to fill in missing sensory
information;
they
must literally participate in
creating fully formed images
for themselves,
Print
on the other hand, is hot. It supplies us
with all the information we
need to make sense of things.
It
does
the work for us, offering
predigested descriptions of the social world.
Knowledge
Gap Theory
The
team began by empirically
establishing that news media
systematically inform some
segments of
the
population, specifically persons in
higher socioeconomic groups, better than
the media inform others
theory.
Overtime,
the differences between the better
informed and the less informed
segments tend to grow
the
knowledge gap between them gets larger
and larger
Uses
and Gratifications
Theory
The
uses and gratification
perspectives takes the view of the media
consumer. It examines how
people
use
the media and the gratification
(satisfaction, pleasure) they seek
and receive from their
media
behaviors.
Uses
and gratification researchers
assume that audience members
are aware of and can
articulate their
reasons
for consuming various media
content.
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