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EMERGENCE OF CRITICAL & CULTURAL THEORIES OF MASS COMMUNICATION

<< SYSTEMS THEORIES OF COMMUNICATION PROCESSES:System
REVISION:Positivistic perspective, Interpretive Perspective, Inductive approach >>
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Theories of Communication ­ MCM 511
VU
LESSON 21
EMERGENCE OF CRITICAL & CULTURAL THEORIES OF MASS COMMUNICATION
Closed versus open systems
Two fundamentally different types of systems can be differentiated and used to model different forms
communication. Systems can be closed and homeostatic or they can be open and dynamically balanced.
Closed systems are like simple machines that perform a task endlessly. There is limited monitoring of
the external environment. The machine works well as long as all the parts interrelate in the same,
unchanging manner. If a part becomes so worn that it stops working or a wire that is part of
communication link frays, the system will fail. It has no capacity to adjust to problems. The role played
by communication in these closed systems tends to be highly structured and predictable.
They often communicate in very simple digital messages turn on and turn off.
Open system
An open system consists of parts that interrelate in such a way that overall system can monitor its
environment and adjust to both internal and external changes. The parts of open system can alter their
functions so that if one part fails, others can adjust and take over its function. These systems can be
capable of growth and change over time, often, their relationship to environment can change as well.
These systems are said to dynamically balanced- that is they are able to maintain their integrity and a
high level of organization while undergoing significant changes .They are able to combine stability with
change. A classic example of an open system is a biological organism.
In our body the various organs communicate in a variety of ways- using electrical and chemical
messages transmitted by the nervous and circulatory systems. The body can adapt in very complex ways
to the failure of some of its parts and changes in the external environment. Complex adjustments occur-
yet the body as a whole maintains its physical integrity- it can grow and change and yet remain highly
organized.
Systems theory had its greatest practical impact on mass communication theory several decades after the
burst of initial interests in the 1960s.
Criticism of systems models
Systems models have a limitation that some critics find troublesome. A status quo bias in systems
models can tend to concentrate our attention on observable structures and lead us to assume that the
primary function or role of these structures is to maintain and serve the overall system. We are led to ask
research questions like
·
Is a particular part doing what it should?
·
Is it communicating properly?
·
Is it maintaining a proper relationship to other parts?
·
Is it enabling the system to operate properly?
The value of each part is assessed by its contribution to the whole. When we view a system in this way
we might be concerned about communication but only in a limited way. We tend to view
communication as something that merely interconnects parts in much the same way that occur nervous
and circulatory systems interconnect h organs in our bodies. If the system is doing what we think it
should, then we conclude that communication must be appropriate. If we think the system is failing then
we look for communication problems. But sometimes systems should fail. Sometimes systems go
through necessary transformations in which existing structures break down and give way to new
structures. In such case communication will necessarily play a very different role.
Summary
In the last couple of sessions we have studied two bodies of thought ­social cognitive theory and system
theory, both of which came to mass communication theory from outside the discipline itself ­ signaled
an important shift in thinking about mass communication.
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Theories of Communication ­ MCM 511
VU
Emergence of critical and cultural theories of mass communication
Before we proceed lets briefly overview how the challenge to limited effects paradigm came from ideas
other than social cognitive learning and systems theories. As we know limited effects theory focuses on
whether media content can have an immediate and direct effect on specific thoughts and actions of
individuals. Researchers typically sought evidence for these effects in experiments or through survey.
However, there is another way of approaching the study of mass media effects. 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 interfere into and modify how we make sense of our social world and ourselves. These theories
are quite diverse and offer very different answers to questions about the role of media in social life.
Nevertheless, in all these theories, the concept of culture is central.
Media affect society because they (media) affect how culture is created, shared, learned and applied.
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.
1. 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
2. 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
Cultural studies theories are less concerned with the long-term consequences of media for the social
order and more concerned with looking at how media affect our individual lives. These theories are said
to be micro ­level or microscopic because they de-emphasize larger issues about the social order in
favor of questions involving the everyday life of average people.
Critical theories and political economy theories by contrast are macroscopic cultural theories, which are
less concerned with developing detailed explanations of how individuals are influenced by media and
more concerned with how the social order as a whole is affected.
These theorists until recently microscopic and macroscopic theories developed in relative isolation.
Theorists were separated by differences in geography, politics and research objective. But that may be
changing, as we will discuss in the coming sessions.
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. They view our
experience of everyday life and of reality itself as an artificial construction that we somehow maintain
with only occasional minor breakdowns. They want to know how mass media have been incorporated
into the routines of daily life without creating serious disruptions. Perhaps the media do cause problems
that are somehow being compensated for or concealed? If so, how is this being done? Will there be a
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Theories of Communication ­ MCM 511
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breakdown eventually- or are we being systematically desensitized and trained to be aggressive? Or is
everyday life being transformed in useful ways ­ are we becoming kinder and gentler.
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? Macroscopic researchers want to know if media are intruding into or
disrupting large-scale social process. E.g. have media disrupted the conduct of national politics and
therefore increased the likelihood that inferior politicians will be elected? Macroscopic researchers
believe that such large-scale questions can't be answered if you begin by looking at individuals.
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Table of Contents:
  1. COMMUNICATION:Nature of communication, Transactional approach, Communication is symbolic:
  2. THEORY, PARADIGM AND MODEL (I):Positivistic Perspective, Critical Perspective
  3. THEORY, PARADIGM AND MODEL (II):Empirical problems, Conceptual problems
  4. FROM COMMUNICATION TO MASS COMMUNICATION MODELS:Channel
  5. NORMATIVE THEORIES:Authoritarian Theory, Libertarian Theory, Limitations
  6. HUTCHINS COMMISSION ON FREEDOM, CHICAGO SCHOOL & BASIC PRINCIPLES OF SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY THEORY
  7. CIVIC JOURNALISM, DEVELOPMENT MEDIA THEORY & DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPANT THEORY
  8. LIMITATIONS OF THE PRESS THEORY:Concentration and monopoly, Commercialism
  9. MCQUAIL’S FOUR KINDS OF THEORIES:Social scientific theory, Critical theory
  10. PROPAGANDA THEORIES:Origin of Propaganda, Engineering of Consent, Behaviorism
  11. PARADIGM SHIFT & TWO STEP FLOW OF INFORMATION
  12. MIDDLE RANGE THEORIES:Background, Functional Analysis Approach, Elite Pluralism
  13. KLAPPER’S PHENOMENSITIC THEORY:Klapper’s Generalizations, Criticism
  14. DIFFUSION OF INNOVATION THEORY:Innovators, Early adopters
  15. CHALLENGING THE DOMINANT PARADIGM:Catharsis Social learning Social cognitive theory
  16. SOCIAL COGNITIVE THEROY:Symbolizing Capacity, MODELLING
  17. MODELING FROM MASS MEDIA:Recent research, Summary, PRIMING EFFECTS
  18. PRIMING EFFECT:Conceptual Roots, Perceived meaning, Percieved justifiability
  19. CULTIVATION OF PERCEPTIONS OF SOCIAL REALITY:History
  20. SYSTEMS THEORIES OF COMMUNICATION PROCESSES:System
  21. EMERGENCE OF CRITICAL & CULTURAL THEORIES OF MASS COMMUNICATION
  22. REVISION:Positivistic perspective, Interpretive Perspective, Inductive approach
  23. CRITICAL THEORIES & ROLE OF MASS COMMUNICATION IN A SOCIETY -THE MEDIATION OF SOCIAL RELATIONS
  24. ROLE OF MASS MEDIA IN SOCIAL ORDER & MARXIST THEORY:Positive View
  25. KEY PRINCIPLES USED IN MARXISM:Materialism, Class Struggle, Superstructure
  26. CONSUMER SOCIETY:Role of mass media in alienation, Summary of Marxism
  27. COMMUNICATION AND CULTURE:Neo Marxism, Characteristics of Culture
  28. HEGEMONY:What exactly is the meaning of "hegemony"?
  29. CULTURE INDUSTRY:Gramscianism on Communications Matters
  30. POLITICAL ECONOMIC THEORY I:Internationalization, Vertical Integration
  31. POLITICAL ECONOMIC THEORY II:Diversification, Instrumental
  32. POLITICAL ECONOMIC THEORY III:Criticism, Power of Advertising
  33. AGENDA SETTING THEORY:A change in thinking, First empirical test
  34. FRAMING & SPIRAL OF SILENCE:Spiral of Silence, Assessing public opinion
  35. SPIRAL OF SILENCE:Fear of isolation, Assessing public opinion, Micro-level
  36. MARSHALL MCLUHAN: THE MEDIUM IS THE MESSAGE AND MASSAGE
  37. KNOWLEDGE GAP THEORY:Criticism on Marshal McLuhan
  38. MEDIA SYSTEM DEPENDENCY THEORY:Media System Dependency Theory
  39. USES AND GRATIFICATIONS THEORY:Methods
  40. RECEPTION THEORY
  41. FRAMING AND FRAME ANALYSIS:Information Processing Theory, Summing up
  42. TRENDS IN MASS COMMUNICATION I:Communication Science, Direct channels
  43. TRENDS IN MASS COMMUNICATION II:Communication Maxims, Emotions
  44. GLOBALIZATION AND MEDIA:Mediated Communication, Post Modernism
  45. REVISION:Microscopic Theories, Mediation of Social Relations