IBCOM Year 1
CSF Notes
1. Hjarvard
The mediatization of society: A theory of the media as agents of social and cultural change.
Mediatization in postmodern theory:
Baudrillard: The symbols/signs of media culture (images, sound and advertisements)
to form simulacra, semblances of reality that not only seem more real than the
physical social reality, but also replace it.
In this model, the symbolic world of media replaces the real world.
Mediatization - Central concept in a theory of the intensified and changing importance of media in
culture and society.
A process whereby society to an increasing degree is submitted to, or becomes
dependent on, the media and their logic.
Media Logic - The institutional and technological modus operandi of the media.
Includes the way in which media distribute material and symbolic resources and
operate with the help of formal and informal rules.
Mediation - The communication via a medium. The intervention of which can affect both the
message and the relationship between sender and receiver.
Medium is technology that allows people to communicate over time and space.
Direct mediatization - The situation where formerly non-mediated activity converts to a mediated
form.
The activity performed through interaction with a medium.
Strong form of mediatization
Establishes a 'before' and 'after'
Indirect mediatization - When a given activity is increasingly influenced with respect to form, content
or organization by mediagenic symbols or mechanisms.
Weak form of mediatization
Does not necessarily effect the way people perform the activity.
Both types of mediatization often operate in combination.
The media as an independent institution:
Media is an independent institution that provides means by which other social
institutions and actors communicate.
The media intervene into and influence the activity of other institutions, such as the
family, politics, organized religions.
Institutions are the stable, predictable elements in modern society.
Giddens: Institutions are characterized by two central features
Rules and allocations of resources
, Rules are the implicit and practical outgrowths of tacit knowledge as the proper
behavior and the explicit and formal rules.
o Media have drafted their own codes of good practice and sanctioning
systems.
The allocation of resources has two forms: Material resources (raw material, buildings)
and authority (hierarchy, who is in charge of what/who).
o Media have increasing differentiation and division of labor.
Ways in which media affects society:
Within an institution
Between institutions
In society at large
Social interaction consists of:
Communication
Action
Media is a means of communication, but also leads to and permits social action.
Gibson: Affordances - The potential uses that a given physical object, by virtue of its material
characteristics has.
The affordances of any given object make certain actions possible, but limit or exclude
others.
Whether the affordances are used depends on the characteristics of whom interacts
with the object.
Norman: Perceived affordance - The relational aspect of affordance, such as the user's psychological
evaluation of the object in relation to his objectives.
Media is recognized as a technology, each of which has a set of affordances that
facilitate, limit and structure communication and action.
Thompson: Three types of interaction
Face-to-face interaction - Verbal and non-verbal expressions
Mediated queasy-interaction - Mass media
Mediated interaction - Through a medium
Three functions of media on macro-level:
An interface in the relations within and between institutions
A realm of shared experience
Creation of a political public sphere
Media serves as a connection between institutions.
2. Stromback & Dimitrova
Politicians underestimated and misunderstood the impact of television on politics and society.
Mediated politics - A situation in which the media have become the most important source of
information and vehicle of communication between the governors and the governed.
Four phases of mediatization:
CSF Notes
1. Hjarvard
The mediatization of society: A theory of the media as agents of social and cultural change.
Mediatization in postmodern theory:
Baudrillard: The symbols/signs of media culture (images, sound and advertisements)
to form simulacra, semblances of reality that not only seem more real than the
physical social reality, but also replace it.
In this model, the symbolic world of media replaces the real world.
Mediatization - Central concept in a theory of the intensified and changing importance of media in
culture and society.
A process whereby society to an increasing degree is submitted to, or becomes
dependent on, the media and their logic.
Media Logic - The institutional and technological modus operandi of the media.
Includes the way in which media distribute material and symbolic resources and
operate with the help of formal and informal rules.
Mediation - The communication via a medium. The intervention of which can affect both the
message and the relationship between sender and receiver.
Medium is technology that allows people to communicate over time and space.
Direct mediatization - The situation where formerly non-mediated activity converts to a mediated
form.
The activity performed through interaction with a medium.
Strong form of mediatization
Establishes a 'before' and 'after'
Indirect mediatization - When a given activity is increasingly influenced with respect to form, content
or organization by mediagenic symbols or mechanisms.
Weak form of mediatization
Does not necessarily effect the way people perform the activity.
Both types of mediatization often operate in combination.
The media as an independent institution:
Media is an independent institution that provides means by which other social
institutions and actors communicate.
The media intervene into and influence the activity of other institutions, such as the
family, politics, organized religions.
Institutions are the stable, predictable elements in modern society.
Giddens: Institutions are characterized by two central features
Rules and allocations of resources
, Rules are the implicit and practical outgrowths of tacit knowledge as the proper
behavior and the explicit and formal rules.
o Media have drafted their own codes of good practice and sanctioning
systems.
The allocation of resources has two forms: Material resources (raw material, buildings)
and authority (hierarchy, who is in charge of what/who).
o Media have increasing differentiation and division of labor.
Ways in which media affects society:
Within an institution
Between institutions
In society at large
Social interaction consists of:
Communication
Action
Media is a means of communication, but also leads to and permits social action.
Gibson: Affordances - The potential uses that a given physical object, by virtue of its material
characteristics has.
The affordances of any given object make certain actions possible, but limit or exclude
others.
Whether the affordances are used depends on the characteristics of whom interacts
with the object.
Norman: Perceived affordance - The relational aspect of affordance, such as the user's psychological
evaluation of the object in relation to his objectives.
Media is recognized as a technology, each of which has a set of affordances that
facilitate, limit and structure communication and action.
Thompson: Three types of interaction
Face-to-face interaction - Verbal and non-verbal expressions
Mediated queasy-interaction - Mass media
Mediated interaction - Through a medium
Three functions of media on macro-level:
An interface in the relations within and between institutions
A realm of shared experience
Creation of a political public sphere
Media serves as a connection between institutions.
2. Stromback & Dimitrova
Politicians underestimated and misunderstood the impact of television on politics and society.
Mediated politics - A situation in which the media have become the most important source of
information and vehicle of communication between the governors and the governed.
Four phases of mediatization:
