Age

Who will
consume Culture
which
media???

Profession
Who consumes which
media???
Mass Media as social
institution
 What is a social institution???

A social institution is an organization that is

critical to the socialization process; it
provides a support system for individuals as
they struggle to become members of a larger
social network.
Examples????
 What is a social institution???

Mass media have emerged as a social

institution, assuming many of the functions
formerly served by traditional social
institutions such as the church, school,
government, and family
analysis of the Mass Media through the
perspective of the three main Sociological
theories

Functionalism,
Interactionism and
Conflict Theory
 Functionalism/ Functionalist Theory
society as an interdependent system that can only be understood by
examining how separate structural parts relate to each other and to
society as a whole.

society is held together by social consensus and cohesion, in which

members agree upon and work together to achieve what is in the best
interests for the society as a whole.
 Does media work to function society???

The it acts a means of socialization;

media
serves enforces social norms;
five confers status;
essential
functions promotes consumption; and
–
keeps us informed about our environment.
Functionalist view:

According to it,

Mass media entertains us...

Standardaized view
of society..
Collective experience...
 Does media function society??
Functionalism suggests that the mass media’s
common perspective and shared common
experience bind society together.
 Two functions of mass media:

• Manifest (intended) functions

• Latent (hidden/unintended) functions
Merton
(1968)
A manifest function could be the need to sell
goods for profit.
The latent functions included supporting the
status quo by reinforcing values.
Charles Wright developed what became known as the classic four
functions of the media. He stated that media theorists ‘noted three
activities of communication specialists:
(1) surveillance of the environment,
(2) correlation of the parts of society
(3) transmission of the social heritage from

He also identified a fourth element -entertainment

 Interactionism/ Interactivity theory
people attach meanings to symbols

and then they act according to their subjective

interpretation of these symbols.
Say the first word that comes to your mind...
Say the first
word that
comes to your
mind...
 interactionists seek to analyze how the mass
media contributes not only in shaping social
behavior between members of society, but also to
creating shared understandings of the same
behavior
 Whats the
difference???

youngsters spend a significant

portion of their day on Facebook
and Twitter, whereas
functionalists may be concerned
with how these new media serve
to maintain social stability,
interactionists would focus on the
effects these media have in the
peoples’ everyday interactions
with each other and with society
at large.
Wow.....media is something great!!!!!
 Conflict
Theory
 HOW MUCH TRANSPARENT IN
FUNCTIONING????
Dissemination of information

Marx argued that members of the elite produced the dominant

societal ideas to conceal exploitation of the working class while the
mass media manipulated information to normalize inequality
 as opposed to functionalists, conflict theorists
believe that the mass media serves to reinforce
the distance and discord between genders,
different races and ethnicities and social classes,
rather than promoting social harmony.
• Conflict theorists challenge this and seeks to
promote social change
• https://youtu.be/owGykVbfgUE
Seeing same incident in 3 different lights....

As an editor, you decide to omit a

negative theory....
If you believe in functionalist theory.....
as a neutral act designed to reduce potential disharmony within the
organization and possibly the public at large

You will try to explore if you are successful to serve the society and
maintain a harmony???
If you believe in the interactivity theory.....
As an interactionist, you would be interested in how
the decision may affect the day to day interactions
between the members of the organization or even
between the organization and members of the public
may be affected.
If you believe in the conflict theory.....
What you have done is called 'gatekeeping'

Gatekeeping is the method by which power is

maintained within the elites which control the flow of
information by ensuring that material must travel
through a series of checkpoints before reaching the
public (Schaefer, 2009).
Lets talk...as a news editor you got this
news..
What will you do????