Mass media | Society and Culture | MCAT | Khan Academy
Summary
TLDRThe script discusses mass media's role in society, highlighting its functions as a source of entertainment, socialization, and a promoter of consumer culture. It explores how media reflects societal norms and divisions, with a focus on gatekeeping by a few, often leading to underrepresentation and stereotyping of minority groups. The conflict and feminist theories critique media's reinforcement of dominant ideologies and gender roles. The interactionist perspective examines how media influences personal interactions and societal behaviors.
Takeaways
- ?\ud83c? Mass media encompasses various forms of communication like print and digital media that disseminate information within a culture.
- ?\ud83e? The way mass media is consumed varies across different cultures and age groups, influencing how individuals access information.
- ?\ud83e? From a functionalist perspective, mass media serves to entertain, socialize, and enforce social norms by presenting a standardized view of society.
- ?\ud83e? Mass media fosters a sense of community and shared experiences, such as watching the Olympics or attending a movie premiere.
- ?\ud83e? It can also reflect societal expectations and values by rewarding and punishing certain behaviors, influencing what is considered acceptable.
- ?\ud83e? As a promoter of consumer culture, mass media exposes individuals, especially children, to a vast amount of advertising, shaping consumer behavior.
- ?\ud83e? The conflict view highlights how media may reflect and exacerbate societal divisions based on factors like race, ethnicity, gender, and social class.
- ?\ud83e? Gatekeeping refers to the control exerted by a few individuals or corporations over the media content that the public consumes.
- ?\ud83e? The dominant ideology often influences mass media, leading to underrepresentation and stereotyping of minority groups and women.
- ?\ud83e? Feminist theory critiques mass media for its stereotypical and sexist portrayals of women, enforcing traditional gender roles and sexual objectification.
- ?\ud83e? The interactionist perspective examines how mass media shapes everyday behaviors and interpersonal interactions, such as online dating and social communication.
Q & A
What is mass media and what does it include?
-Mass media refers to the dissemination of information within a culture, including print media like books, newspapers, and magazines, as well as digital media such as TV, movies, radio, and the internet.
How does the consumption of mass media differ across cultures and age groups?
-Consumption of mass media varies; for instance, older generations might rely more on TV and newspapers, while younger individuals primarily consume information online.
What is the functionalist view on the role of mass media in society?
-The functionalist view suggests that mass media serves to entertain, socialize, and enforce social norms by presenting a standardized view of society and providing collective experiences.
Can you provide an example of a collective experience facilitated by mass media?
-Watching the Olympics on television or attending a movie on its opening night are examples of collective experiences facilitated by mass media.
How does mass media influence societal expectations?
-Mass media can influence societal expectations by rewarding and punishing certain behaviors, such as promoting the idea that criminal behaviors are bad and should be avoided.
What is the role of mass media in promoting consumer culture?
-Mass media promotes consumer culture by exposing individuals, especially children, to a large number of advertisements and sales promotions across various platforms.
What is the conflict view's perspective on mass media?
-The conflict view focuses on how mass media reflects and may exacerbate societal divisions based on race, ethnicity, gender, or social class.
What does the term 'gatekeeping' mean in the context of mass media?
-Gatekeeping refers to the process by which a small number of individuals or corporations control the flow of information and media content that reaches the public.
How does gatekeeping affect the representation of different social groups in media?
-Gatekeeping can lead to underrepresentation or stereotyping of minority groups, women, LGBT individuals, and working-class people, as the gatekeepers are often white, male, and wealthy.
What is the feminist theory's view on mass media representation?
-Feminist theory views mass media as perpetuating stereotypes and misrepresentations that align with the dominant ideology, particularly focusing on gender roles and the portrayal of women.
How does the interactionist perspective analyze the impact of mass media?
-The interactionist perspective examines how mass media shapes day-to-day behavior and blurs the line between solitary and group activities, as well as how media connections evolve over time.
Outlines
📺 Understanding Mass Media
The script discusses mass media as a means of disseminating information across cultures, encompassing both traditional print media like books, newspapers, and magazines, as well as digital media such as television, movies, radio, and the internet. It highlights how media consumption varies by culture and age, using the example of the narrator's grandmother preferring TV and newspapers versus the narrator's online consumption. The functionalist view is presented, emphasizing mass media's role in entertainment, socialization, and the enforcement of social norms. It also discusses how mass media fosters a collective societal experience and can bring people together, as seen in online communities. The script further explores the media's role in promoting consumer culture and its potential impact on future generations. The conflict view is introduced, focusing on media's reflection and exacerbation of societal divisions, such as those based on race, ethnicity, gender, or social class. The concept of 'gatekeeping' is explained, illustrating how a few individuals or corporations control the information that reaches the public, potentially leading to the dominance of certain ideologies and the underrepresentation of minority groups.
👩💻 Stereotypes and Media Representation
This paragraph delves into the feminist theory's perspective on mass media, which critiques the media for stereotyping and misrepresenting society, particularly in terms of gender roles. It points out the underrepresentation of women and the perpetuation of traditional sex roles, where women are often portrayed as shallow or obsessed with their appearance, leading to their sexualization and objectification. The paragraph also touches on the interactionist perspective, examining how mass media influences individual behavior and blurs the lines between solitary and group activities, using the example of watching a movie in a theater. It discusses the evolution of communication methods over time, from phone calls to emails and text messages, and the increasing trend of meeting romantic partners online, which would have been unfamiliar to previous generations.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Mass Media
💡Entertainment
💡Socialization
💡Collective Experience
💡Consumer Culture
💡Gatekeeping
💡Dominant Ideology
💡Underrepresentation
💡Tokenism
💡Feminist Theory
💡Interactionist Perspective
Highlights
Mass media disseminates information through various channels like print and digital media.
Media consumption varies across cultures and age groups.
Functionalist view sees mass media as a provider of entertainment and socialization.
Mass media presents a standardized view of society and provides a collective experience.
Shared experiences like watching the Olympics or movie premieres are examples of mass media's unifying function.
Mass media can also dictate societal norms and expectations.
Media sometimes glorifies behaviors that society deems wrong.
Mass media promotes consumer culture, with children exposed to a large number of commercials.
Conflict view highlights how media reflects and may exacerbate societal divisions.
Gatekeeping is the process by which a few control what material is presented in the media.
Gatekeeping can be controlled by governments or large media corporations.
Mass media often reflects the dominant ideology, privileging certain interests.
Gatekeepers of media are predominantly white, male, and wealthy, leading to underrepresentation of minority views.
Media portrayals of minority groups are often stereotyped or unrealistic.
Some corporations attempt to improve diversity but sometimes result in tokenism.
Feminist theory critiques mass media for stereotyping and misrepresenting gender roles.
Interactionist perspective examines how mass media shapes individual behavior and social interactions.
Media blurs the line between solitary and group activities, like watching a movie.
The way we connect with others using media has evolved over time, such as through email and text messages.
The rate of meeting romantic partners online has increased, reflecting changes in social interactions.
Transcripts
- [Voiceover] What exactly are we talking about
when we talk about mass media?
Well, we're talking about the dissemination of information,
or how information is transmitted within a culture.
And this can include print media,
like books, newspapers, and magazines,
as well as digital media,
like TV, movies, radio, and the internet.
Exactly how this media is consumed
changes across cultures and age groups.
For example, my grandmother gets a lot of her information
about current events through TV and newspapers,
but I primarily get this information online.
And when we look at mass media,
we can look at the role it plays in our society
through different sociological perspectives.
So according to the functionalist view,
one of the most important functions of mass media
is to provide entertainment.
So it's meant to occupy our leisure time.
But the functionalist view also says that mass media
can also act as an agent of socialization
and an enforcer of social norms.
It presents a standardized view of society
and provides a collective experience
for members of that society.
Think about the shared experience
of watching the Olympics on television,
or being with a group of people
to see a movie on opening night.
Mass media also functions to bring people together.
And there are entire internet-based communities
that are focused on things like
LGBT rights or childcare,
or fans of music groups that sing songs about Harry Potter.
But mass media can also tell us
about what society expects of us
through what it rewards and punishes.
So when we hear something about
criminal behavior from mass media,
it is often talked about in terms of
bringing criminals to justice.
Which reinforces the idea that criminal behaviors
are bad and should be avoided.
However, the media can sometimes also glorify behaviors
that society as a whole would deem to be wrong.
Things like intense physical violence.
Mass media also functions
as a promoter of consumer culture.
At the turn of the century, the average U.S. child
saw 20,000 commercials a year on TV.
And that doesn't include ads on the radio
or billboards or signs in front of stores
announcing 50% off sales.
And it's only increased from there.
And it's not necessarily clear what kind of an impact
this might have on the next generation.
The conflict view focuses on
how the media reflects and portrays,
and may even exacerbate,
divisions that exist within our society.
Like divisions based on race, ethnicity, gender,
or social class.
Conflict theory uses the term gatekeeping
to describe the process by which
a small number of people and corporations
control what material is being presented on the media.
It describes how information,
so things that appear in our newspapers,
the stories that are made into movies,
what TV shows are turned into pilots,
it describes how these things move through a series of gates
before they can reach the public.
In some countries, this might be controlled
primarily by the government.
But for others, it's decided primarily
by large media corporations.
Gatekeeping can also have more of an effect
on some media than others.
For example, a lot of control is put on
what big-budget movies are made,
but there is very little overhead control
of what gets posted online.
The conflict theory also describes
how mass media often reflects the dominant ideology.
Giving time and space, or privileging,
certain social, economical, and political interests,
while sometimes actively limiting other views.
The people who make the choices about
what media is produced, the gatekeepers,
are predominantly white, male, and wealthy.
And as a result, stories representing the views
of racial minority groups, women, LGBT individuals,
and working class people are typically underrepresented.
And because of this divide, portrayals of minority groups
can often be stereotyped,
or guided by unrealistic generalizations
about a certain group of people.
And while some corporations have taken the steps
to try to improve this,
they sometimes take it in the wrong direction,
which results in tokenism instead of actual diversity.
Or cases where a single minority member
is added to a TV show or movie
as a stand-in for that entire group.
Feminist theory's understanding of mass media
is similar to what we would see in conflict theory
in that it also holds that mass media stereotypes
and misrepresents society towards the dominant ideology.
Specifically, it focuses on the way that messages
about men and women are represented in the media.
It notes that women are often
underrepresented in media content,
that men are often considered normal
while women are considered to be other.
Think about ads for products.
We have razors and razors for women.
Pens and pens for her.
Depictions of men and women
are often highly stereotyped,
enforcing strict gender roles
and emphasizing traditional sex roles.
So women are more often portrayed as victims
and men as aggressors.
And women are much more likely to be depicted
as shallow or being obsessed with looks,
which also makes it more likely
that they'll be sexualized and objectified.
The interactionist perspective
looks at mass media on the micro level
to see how it shapes day to day behavior.
It looks at how mass media blurs the line
between solitary and group activities.
So think of the act of seeing a movie.
You may be watching it with other people,
but because of societal norms or even theater rules,
you are actually forbidden from talking about the movie
with the people you're with.
It also looks at the fact
that how we connect with other people using media
tends to change over time.
So whereas before I might have called
my grandparents to keep in touch with them,
now I can talk with them via email,
or even text message.
The rate at which people meet romantic partners
online has also increased,
which is something that probably would have seemed
very confusing to just a few generations before ours.
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