Sociology- Mass Media Studies

New Media Monopoly (2004):

In 1983, 50 corporations controlled the vast majority of all news media in the USA. In 1992, ‘fewer than two dozen’ own and operate 90%. In 2000, the number had fallen to six. In 2004, it was four.

Governments are no longer interested in controlling the activities of media owners.

Four distinct periods about owner intervention and the consequential undermining of journalistic and editorial integrity. 1920- 1950, 1951-1974, 1974-1992, 1997-present day.

Key News Values (1970):

VIP’s- Celebrities and certain countries are deemed more important.

Extraordinary- Unusual, doesn’t happen every day.

Human Interest- Sad, illness, children involved. East Midlands Today. Dramatic With Clear

Consequences- Violence/Racism is on-going but is seldom reported.

Threshold- the bigger the event, the more likely it is to be reported i.e. The Royal Wedding.

The role of the mass media is to shape how we think about the world we live in. We are never encouraged to be critical of capitalism and are rarely informed of important issues i.e. poverty

Women are often found in a limited number of roles often delegated to housewives and mothers.

Male gaze. They are portrayed in a way that will appeal to men.

The Beauty Myth:

She discusses how the ideal body is unattainable for most women.

Magazines encourage women to be concerned about marriage, family and looking good.

Magazines can be supportive for women, she uses examples like Take A Break who offer advice for women being abused.

The media rarely focuses on men’s marital and domestic roles, or claim that fathers’ lack of contact with their children leads to problems such as juvenile delinquency.

A variety of media, especially Hollywood films and computer games, transmit the view that masculinity based on strength, aggression, competition and violence is biologically determined and therefore a natural goal for boys to achieve.

the rise in men’s fashion magazines and the advertising and consumption of male toiletries and designer-label clothing for men, reflected change in masculine social attitudes and, in particular, the emergence of the metrosexual male.

The Monarchy have persuaded the mass media to support their cause i.e. Royal Wedding. They reinforce national identity.

Media meritocracy i.e. Alan Sugar. The belief that the u/c have worked for what they have.

The underclass are continually labelled and demonized, unworthy of public sympathy. JK shows them to be failures.

Analysis to the public reaction of Princess Diana suggests that the public grief that followed was ‘substantially shaped and sustained’ by media responses to her life and demise. Such representations made it difficult to be critical of her life style or indifferent to her death.

Notes how TV dramas stereotype northern culture. Women are often 2 faced, however they are strong in a crisis.

The black stereotypes used to portray black people in the media have three characteristics.

The NATIVE is portrayed as inferior and subservient to whites in a negative context.

The ENTERTAINER is based upon assumptions about the fun-loving, innately happy nature of the majority of ethnic minority groups and their ability to entertain and please.

The SLAVE portrays blacks as low intelligence, lack of ingenuity, poor judgement, getting caught being stupid and breaking the law.

Ethnic minorities are either:

Criminal, abnormal, unimportant, dependant and a threat.

Argues that TV coverage of ethnic minorities over focuses on crime, AIDS in Africa, and black underachievement in schools, whilst ignoring the culture and interests and age and their rich contribution to UK society. IN other words, news about black communities seems to be ‘bad news’.

Suggest a black person is constricted in the media with 3 attributes- criminality, sports or entertainment. Anything that lies outside of this is not of any interest to the media. Black people are often seen as the perpetrators of crime, not the victim.

The reporting of inner-city race disturbances involving members of e/min groups often stereotypes them as ‘riots’. Implies they are irrational and criminal.

Moral panics often result from media stereotyping of blacks as potentially criminal.

The relationship with rap and gun crime.

Blacks who are deprived and living on council estates feel stigmatised and stereotyped.

The use of rap music enables them to have an identity culturally in order to communicate their anger and sense of injustice.

Rap highlights racism and oppression + celebrates black culture and gives white people an insight.

Rap can glorify violence, shows pimps and drug dealers. Famous rappers are known to show violence to women and other blacks.

The media constructs stereotypical signs of gayness i.e. vocal tricks, stances, clothing, in order to make the invisible visible. Subject to prejudice + discrimination by others

Whenever gay characters are in the media they’re often stereotyped as having amusing or negative psychological and social characteristics.

Camp- most used representation.

Macho- relies on exaggerating masculinity by transforming practical male clothing itno ****** symbols.

Deviant- by the media or as sexual predators.

Gays in the news- distorts the true lives of gays and lesbians.

Coverage of AIDS- society was fearful abd disliked the gay community. Resulted in unsympathetic accounts that suffers only had immoral and unnatural behaviour to blame.