Book: Media/Society by Croteau and Hoynes 6th edition (2019)
This summary includes:
Chapter 1 to 10 + lecture notes
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,Chapter 1: Media/Society in a Digital World (W1)
à We take media for granted
à This book asks you to reflect on the media environment, asking Qs like “How has the
internet transformed politics and journalism?” and “How do companies like Google
and Facebook shape what we see- and don’t see?”
The Importance of Media
Media devices: Radio, Television, Computers, Smartphones/Cellphones
As users embrace new technology, they change the media equipment landscape (ex.
Introduction of smartphones led to decline of landlines)
With the vast exposure to media at all ages we can argue that media are the dominant
social institution in contemporary society supplanting the influence of older institutions
such as schools, religion and sometimes family. à Media and Society are fused to
Media/Society.
If we had no media, our world view would be “smaller” (only direct experiences) and
“slower” (pace of information decreased)
Models of Communication Media
Media is the plural of medium
Communication media: the different technological processes that facilitate communication
between (and are in the middle of) the sender of a message and the receiver of that
message.
à Interpersonal communication: you are contacting a single person that is likely
known to you (ex. Phone call)
§ Highly interactive
à Mass communication: A message is sent to an unknown and potentially mass
audience (known sender, unknown audience) (ex. Radio)
§ Limited, if any, interaction
The roles of users changed as the internet developed à send an e-mail to a friend
(interpersonal communication) + upload public video to YouTube (mass communication)
Users can be more active in:
• Choice what media content (ex. Politics on your feed yes/no)
• Deciding when they will use media (ex. Scheduled broadcasts vs. streaming
whenever)
• Sharing/promoting/distributing media (ex. Reposts on Instagram)
• Responding/commenting on media content (ex. Writing in the comment section of a
YouTube video)
• Creating your own media content (ex. Posting on Instagram)
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, • “Industry” replaces “sender” to
flag professional + commercial nature
of media organizations responsible for
most media content
• “Content” replaces “messages”
to better reflect wide range of media
subjects
• “Technology” replaces “medium”
to isolate material elements of media
• “Users” replaces “receivers”
because they actively consume and
create their own content.
The “Social World” element includes a variety of social forces and non-media actors that
affect communication process such as cultural norms/government regulation
A Sociology of Media
A sociological perspective encourages us to see and understand the relationships between
individuals and the broader social context in which they live.
à Example: Students make ‘individual’ decisions about college but society
features economy (higher education = higher paid job), dominant culture
(formal education = high value), government (funding for some students),
families (encouragement from home to attend) and media (positive
portrayals of graduates and commercials of colleges).
à So, their ‘individual’ decision is affected by social contexts.
à To understand people’s actions, you must consider their social context
The individual is a product of social interaction to varying degrees:
• Language we use
• Education we receive
• Norms/Values we are taught
• Daily activities
à We become who we are largely through social relations with others
To understand media, you need to see it in larger context of social world, enabling you to
see how media relates to actors and social institutions + their influence on the social world =
Push-pull interaction. à Structure and Agency
Structure suggests constraint on human action & Agency indicates independent action
à Social structure: any recurring pattern of social behavior (ex. Family structure is
pattern of behaviors associated with culturally defined idea of family)
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, à These structures can be enabling; they help people achieve something but limits
options for many (ex. Wives were denied using their skills outside the
house/Husbands denied raising children more).
§ Agency: intentional and undetermined human action
§ Reproduces or sometimes changes social structure
§ Our actions reproduce existing social structures
§ Structure constrains agency, but it is human agency that alters/maintains social
structures
In the media the tension between structure/agency is present on at least 3 levels:
• Relationships among institutions
à Institutions outside the control of media personnel set legal and economic
limits within which the media industry must operate + has agency in the
sense of acting on its own and perhaps influencing other social institutions
• Relationships within an institution
à Internal workings: social positions, roles and practices, not on particular
individuals
à Processes of professional socialization: structures of media institutions, who
holds the power, professional norms/expectations with different positions
à Structure and Agency are related to how much autonomy media personnel
have in doing their work à structural considerations may significantly affect
the individual agency of media personnel + collective agency of those who
work in the media has potential to alter structures that constrain individual
media professionals
• Relationships between an institution and the public
à Media users are active ‘readers’ of media content = they interpret media
messages through own social lenses
à BUT media content usually doesn’t allow for intimate interaction of
sender/receiver à media users must rely on other resources to make sense
of the messages in media content
A Model of Media and The Social World
• Media industry = entire organizational structure
that makes up media (plus personnel)
• = affected by changes in Technology and
instrumental in influencing direction/application
of technology.
• = producer of media content
• Users may be influenced by the media content
they see and actively interpret, construct
meaning. (‘social construction of reality’)
• Social World are all other social elements that are crucial to understand workings of
media (ex. Role of government)
• Top and Bottom elements (users and industry) include real people (human agents),
Left and right are human creations
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