Media Theories

Critical Studies Looks for relationships between The media Media content Audiences for media Culture

Political economy Focus on interests-Karl Marx –Power Advertising Commercial interests and ownership Hegemony –Ideology

Hegemony An underlying consensus of ideology that favors a system that serves the interests of a dominant social group Economic system preserves the interests of the ruling classes –Mitigating factors: Consumer needs, laws of supply and demand

Setting the agenda The ability of the media to determine what is important –Two-party elections –Elian Gonzales and Cuban-American diplomacy –Activism and media event creation

Gatekeeping and framing Gatekeeping: deciding what will appear in the media –Does a media message make it through the gate? Framing: writing to tell stories –What makes the story? What is left out?

Opinion leaders People who try to influence media coverage –Diverse interests Lobbying groups –Special interests, business constituencies Ethics of media favoritism

Literary criticism Electronic media as a new kind of literature Apply tradition of literary or cultural criticism –Genre studies –Semiotic analyses

The active audience The media and audiences are both powerful Media creators have a preferred reading

Societal Functions of the Media Functions of the mass media –Surveillance – interpretation – socialization – entertainment Functions of new communications media –Interpersonal –virtual

Social Learning Theory Explains media consumption behavior in terms of –Expectations –Modeling –Cognition –Reward

Uses & Gratifications Information Entertainment Social Utility (this differs from your text)

Diffusion of Innovations Explains the spreading of new ways of doing things in a social system –Innovators –Early adopters –Critical mass –Late adopters –Laggards

Diffusion of innovations

Diffusion of Innovations Observability Trialability Utility Compatability Affordability

Diffusion VCR –VHS vs. Beta Internet – and WWW HDTV –Format wars MP3 –Systems and players