Sociology G673 power and control

• News mostly has negative stories, rarely focus on positive sides.
• From the media people attempt to get perfection, like when they see air brushed images.
• Can make people obsessive with trying to be like a character in a film or on TV.

• People always see different parts of the media in different ways.
• Society focused mainly on achieving what they see in the media.

Ways of communicating to large audiences that involve cinema, magazines, newspapers and radio as well as new forms of media like satellite television and the Internet.

Increasing prevalence of the mass media e.g. The way we depend on the media and the way it is present in our every day lives.

• Some see the media as a beneficial institution which educates, informs, entertains and gives the audience diversity and range from which to exercise choice.
• Others concerned that the media have negative and controlling effects on audiences.
• Views formed on view that audience uncritically receives messages being transmitted. View based on concept of determinism, sees human behaviour as fixed consequence of particular events or experiences and denies or minimises possibly of free choice.
• McLuhan (see sociologists set)

• Changes your self identity
• You get rewarded fro being clever
• Changes our opinions
• Money is everything-materialisation
• Ignorance of primary socialisation
• Knowledge is power
• Overpowers everything else
• Media sets the agenda for what we talk about
• Sense of pride
• Consumption habits
• Competitive nature

• Something the media does to avoid offending people by bleeping out swear words and covering certain things.
• Ways of regulating and controlling the media, involves preventing and removing material from reaching the audience or restricting the audience.
• Can be used by the government and regulatory bodies e.g. OfCom
• Owners might be seen as exercising censorship when they want to control content.
• Can be seen as formal or informal
• Informal set by media professionals
• Some say free choice should be protected unless harm can be proven. Supporters of censorship say its important means of protecting vulnerable members of society and believe media can have significant effect on audience and society.
• BBFC-British board of film classification (classifies films e.g. PG etc.)

The idea that the world is becoming a small place where there is no national boundaries.