M2 Introduction -Media & Other Social Institutions

                                  

Media, Family, Politics & Education

           In module 1, you were introduced to media and society in a broader perspective. We realized how
important sociological imagination is in making sense and developing a holistic understanding of
ourselves, our history, and society. In this module, we will be more specific in our approach on the
sociology of media by exploring the interplay of the media with some key institutions of our society.
There are so many social institutions, but we will focus on only 3 of them: Family, Politics, and
Education.

          While preparing this module, the Philippine congress just “killed” a bill to give a fresh 25-year
legislative franchise to ABS-CBN. The decision to deny ABS-CBN to broadcast for free will result in losing
of jobs of more than 11 thousand employees. It will also deny millions of Filipinos who depend on the
network in accessing news and entertainment for free. This is an example of how the political system
interacts with the media. First and foremost, the private broadcast media has a certain degree of
freedom, but it gets its license to operate from the State. This is where the give-and-take relationship
begins. The media also serves as the watchdog of the government.  Because of this role, it created an
adversarial role in covering the affairs of officials and politicians. These are just some of the ways by
which these two institutions operate in a complex web of relationships.

          Family and Education institutions also play an important role in the workings of the media. Most of
the media programs particularly on entertainment revolves around family values. Media programs
whose theme centers on the family is almost always a hit to the audience. In the history of media
analysis, the media is either viewed as a protagonist or antagonist in strengthening family values
because of its power to represent how an ideal family must be imagined. On the other hand, “to
educate” has been considered to be one of the primary objectives of the media. In recent years, this
objective has been challenged by some key thinkers of the media. Niklas Luhmann for example argued
that the media’s function is not to educate but to inform. He insists that the only institution in charge of
formally educating us is the education system represented by the schools.