Media and communication Theory
CH1. Media/Society in a Digital World
Mass media are pervasive
One key sociological concern is the tension between structure and agency
Communication media = the different technological processes that facilitate communication
between (and are in the middle of) the sender of a message and the receiver of it.
➢ Interpersonal communication -> contacting a single person. Often highly interactive. (Phone call)
➢ Mass communication -> a known sender and an anonymous receiver (radio)
Humans are comfortable with media, so often they take them for granted. Media are like the are we
breathe, ever present yet rarely considered.
Theory = a systematic explanation for the observations that relate to a particular aspect of life
Why media and communication theories?
There are many popular assumptions about the effects of media
Media have become a dominant social institution in our society
The mass media are a powerful socializing agent (we learn things from the media)
Where do media and communication theories come from?
• Industries
o Production
o Distribution
o Marketing
• Audiences
o Research
o Culture
o ideology
• Content
o Genre
o Narrative
o Status
The relationship with sociology is also a factor that connect media and communication
Simplified model of media and the social world (Croteau and Hoynes)
• All the arrows are double headed: reflecting
the potentially interactive nature of media. It
indicates the contact between elements in
de model.
• The model is circular: because users are
more active than in the past. It suggests an
endless feedback loop that occur among
these components
,Simplified Model of Media and the Social World
➢ (Media) Industry (content)-> the entire organizational structure that makes up the media,
including all media personnel. It is the producer of the media content.
➢ Users -> may be influenced by the industry, but they must actively interpret and construct
meaning from that content (social construction of reality).
➢ Technology -> The direction and development of technology is affected by how users choose
to use it (or not). Technology has a potential impact on the public.
➢ Social world -> all the social elements not included in the four main boxes. Some are crucial
for understanding the workings of the media, and thus in the middle.
^ Users and industry => include human agents (real people)
Content and technology => human creations
^ People are the medium trough which media content and technology affect each other
Every component of the model simultaneously relates to other components
Changes of the simplified model
‘Industry’ replaces ‘sender’ -> since professional and usually commercial nature of media organizations are
responsible for most content.
‘Content’ replaces ‘message’ -> to reflect the wide range of media subject as experienced by users
‘Technology’ replaces ‘medium’ -> to isolate the material elements of media
‘Users’ replaces ‘receivers’ -> when they actively consume content created by industry professionals and
create their own content.
‘Social world’ as new element -> includes a variety of social forces and non-media actors that affect the
communication process, such as cultural norms and government regulation.
^ The model includes both traditional mass media and internet-based communication
Media or communication studies -> defined by a particular substantive area of interest
Sociology -> a perspective that is applied to a wide range of substantive areas, including the media
^ Not all sociologists study the media, and not all communication researchers use a sociological
perspective
Why a sociological perspective? → a focus on social relationships
➢ Between the media and other social institutions
o How does the structure of the media industry affect media personal and, indirectly, media content?
o How do media personnel influence media content and media organizations?
➢ Withing the media industry
o How do social structures (government, economy) affect the media industry?
o How does the media industry influence other social structures
➢ Between de media and the public
o How does the media industry influence the users of media?
o How do choices and actions of media users affect the media industry?
More broadly, the individual is a product of social interaction to varying degrees. The language we
use, the education we receive, and the norms and values we are taught are all part of a socialization
process through which we develop and embrace a sense of self. We become who we are largely
through our social relations with others.
Collective contexts in which we develop our roles and identities are -> family, friendship circles,
school, teams, work, communities.
Each roll brings with it a set of expectations about our actions
,Socialization = the process whereby we learn and internalize the values, beliefs, and norms of our
culture and, in so doing, develop a sense of self
Social construction of reality = the process of shaping reality trough social interaction. While reality
exists, we must negotiate the meaning of the reality
The production of social reality
People create society.
Over time, these creations come to seem objectively real. This happens because when
something is done repeatedly, it seems to be truth.
People internalize the norms and values of their culture.
^ Within this process there is one main idea: ‘structure’ and ‘agency’. Even though it seems that they
are two separate ideas, but one can’t exist without the other. These ideas can’t exist separately. (There
is no structure without agency and there is no agency without structure)
The push-pull interactions that result from structure and agency are essential to understanding
social life, media included
Is a television content executive fully autonomous in his/her decision? -> No, he needs to respond to
the needs of the market. Even if you are at the top of the category; so, power and money don’t stop
you from needing to balance structure and agency
Agency => intentional and undetermined human action
➢ Independent action and decisions
➢ What choices are based purely on autonomous decisions, actions, and creativity?
➢ It reproduced (or sometimes changes) social structure
Agency = freedom of action
Structure => any recurring pattern of social behaviour
➢ Constraint on human action
➢ What choices are influenced or constrained by other things and thus not so autonomous (e.g.,
patterns, taken for granted ways of doing this)
➢ Not something physical
➢ Can be restrictive or even coercive: they deter people from doing something
Producing television content is shaped by:
Human agency -> e.g.: personal style, creative decisions, personal preferences
Structural constraints -> e.g.: economic considerations, genres, routines, television history
Studying the production, texts, and reception of mass media
1. There is (infinite) tension between structure and agency
2. Structure is partially shaped by agency
3. One can be more shaping than the other
The tension between ‘commerce’ and ‘creativity’ in the media industries
Commerce -> money, commerce
Creativity -> artistic freedom
^ This also shows why we use the model of media and the social world
, Correlation ≠ causation
There is always a mixture of social constraint and independent agency. Therefore, media researchers
examine how social structures external to the media affect the industry and how the media affect
other social structures.
The tension between structure and agency is related primarily to how much autonomy media
personnel have in doing their work. The amount of autonomy will vary depending on the position an
individual occupies.
Media content, however, usually does not allow for the intimate interaction of sender and receiver
that characterizes interpersonal communication. Media users, therefore, must rely on other
resources to make sense of the messages in media content.
Main media categories
News media
It plays a big role in the democracy
The advent of mass communication and mass media (Belongs to the news media category)
• Mass media cannot be separated from large-scale consumption
• One-way flow of content (producers produce and consumers consume)
• A known sender and anonymous audience (a relationship between a producer and consumer)
Entertainment media
The cinema was the first type of media in the 1920s
The other big types of mass media are broadcasting technology
Some facts about media
Radio is a nearly universal presence in U.S. households and automobiles, reaching more Americans
in any given week than any other media platform (Nielsen 2017d).
Television is in almost all homes, with 82% of TV households paying for programming – through
cable 44%, satellite 33% or a fibre optic line from their phone company 8% and 13% relying on free
over-the-air broadcast television. The remaining 5% of TV households forgo traditional broadcast or
cable television and rely exclusively on a broadband internet connection for video content. Devices
that can connect to the internet are available to most Americans. About 95% of adults have a cell
phone of some sort 77% have a smartphone. 78% of US adults have a desktop or laptop computer,
and 51% have a tablet.
As users embrace new technology, they continually change the landscape of media equipment.
People spend a huge amount of time using various forms of media. E.g.: Americans spend more than seven
hours a day watching television.
Internet of things (IoT) = the network of internet-connected objects that enables machine-to-machine (M2M)
communication.
With vast exposure to media at all ages, it can be argued that the media are the dominant social
institution in contemporary society, supplanting the influence of older institutions, such as schools,
religion, and sometimes even family. With the presence of media throughout our lives, our media
and society are fused.
CH1. Media/Society in a Digital World
Mass media are pervasive
One key sociological concern is the tension between structure and agency
Communication media = the different technological processes that facilitate communication
between (and are in the middle of) the sender of a message and the receiver of it.
➢ Interpersonal communication -> contacting a single person. Often highly interactive. (Phone call)
➢ Mass communication -> a known sender and an anonymous receiver (radio)
Humans are comfortable with media, so often they take them for granted. Media are like the are we
breathe, ever present yet rarely considered.
Theory = a systematic explanation for the observations that relate to a particular aspect of life
Why media and communication theories?
There are many popular assumptions about the effects of media
Media have become a dominant social institution in our society
The mass media are a powerful socializing agent (we learn things from the media)
Where do media and communication theories come from?
• Industries
o Production
o Distribution
o Marketing
• Audiences
o Research
o Culture
o ideology
• Content
o Genre
o Narrative
o Status
The relationship with sociology is also a factor that connect media and communication
Simplified model of media and the social world (Croteau and Hoynes)
• All the arrows are double headed: reflecting
the potentially interactive nature of media. It
indicates the contact between elements in
de model.
• The model is circular: because users are
more active than in the past. It suggests an
endless feedback loop that occur among
these components
,Simplified Model of Media and the Social World
➢ (Media) Industry (content)-> the entire organizational structure that makes up the media,
including all media personnel. It is the producer of the media content.
➢ Users -> may be influenced by the industry, but they must actively interpret and construct
meaning from that content (social construction of reality).
➢ Technology -> The direction and development of technology is affected by how users choose
to use it (or not). Technology has a potential impact on the public.
➢ Social world -> all the social elements not included in the four main boxes. Some are crucial
for understanding the workings of the media, and thus in the middle.
^ Users and industry => include human agents (real people)
Content and technology => human creations
^ People are the medium trough which media content and technology affect each other
Every component of the model simultaneously relates to other components
Changes of the simplified model
‘Industry’ replaces ‘sender’ -> since professional and usually commercial nature of media organizations are
responsible for most content.
‘Content’ replaces ‘message’ -> to reflect the wide range of media subject as experienced by users
‘Technology’ replaces ‘medium’ -> to isolate the material elements of media
‘Users’ replaces ‘receivers’ -> when they actively consume content created by industry professionals and
create their own content.
‘Social world’ as new element -> includes a variety of social forces and non-media actors that affect the
communication process, such as cultural norms and government regulation.
^ The model includes both traditional mass media and internet-based communication
Media or communication studies -> defined by a particular substantive area of interest
Sociology -> a perspective that is applied to a wide range of substantive areas, including the media
^ Not all sociologists study the media, and not all communication researchers use a sociological
perspective
Why a sociological perspective? → a focus on social relationships
➢ Between the media and other social institutions
o How does the structure of the media industry affect media personal and, indirectly, media content?
o How do media personnel influence media content and media organizations?
➢ Withing the media industry
o How do social structures (government, economy) affect the media industry?
o How does the media industry influence other social structures
➢ Between de media and the public
o How does the media industry influence the users of media?
o How do choices and actions of media users affect the media industry?
More broadly, the individual is a product of social interaction to varying degrees. The language we
use, the education we receive, and the norms and values we are taught are all part of a socialization
process through which we develop and embrace a sense of self. We become who we are largely
through our social relations with others.
Collective contexts in which we develop our roles and identities are -> family, friendship circles,
school, teams, work, communities.
Each roll brings with it a set of expectations about our actions
,Socialization = the process whereby we learn and internalize the values, beliefs, and norms of our
culture and, in so doing, develop a sense of self
Social construction of reality = the process of shaping reality trough social interaction. While reality
exists, we must negotiate the meaning of the reality
The production of social reality
People create society.
Over time, these creations come to seem objectively real. This happens because when
something is done repeatedly, it seems to be truth.
People internalize the norms and values of their culture.
^ Within this process there is one main idea: ‘structure’ and ‘agency’. Even though it seems that they
are two separate ideas, but one can’t exist without the other. These ideas can’t exist separately. (There
is no structure without agency and there is no agency without structure)
The push-pull interactions that result from structure and agency are essential to understanding
social life, media included
Is a television content executive fully autonomous in his/her decision? -> No, he needs to respond to
the needs of the market. Even if you are at the top of the category; so, power and money don’t stop
you from needing to balance structure and agency
Agency => intentional and undetermined human action
➢ Independent action and decisions
➢ What choices are based purely on autonomous decisions, actions, and creativity?
➢ It reproduced (or sometimes changes) social structure
Agency = freedom of action
Structure => any recurring pattern of social behaviour
➢ Constraint on human action
➢ What choices are influenced or constrained by other things and thus not so autonomous (e.g.,
patterns, taken for granted ways of doing this)
➢ Not something physical
➢ Can be restrictive or even coercive: they deter people from doing something
Producing television content is shaped by:
Human agency -> e.g.: personal style, creative decisions, personal preferences
Structural constraints -> e.g.: economic considerations, genres, routines, television history
Studying the production, texts, and reception of mass media
1. There is (infinite) tension between structure and agency
2. Structure is partially shaped by agency
3. One can be more shaping than the other
The tension between ‘commerce’ and ‘creativity’ in the media industries
Commerce -> money, commerce
Creativity -> artistic freedom
^ This also shows why we use the model of media and the social world
, Correlation ≠ causation
There is always a mixture of social constraint and independent agency. Therefore, media researchers
examine how social structures external to the media affect the industry and how the media affect
other social structures.
The tension between structure and agency is related primarily to how much autonomy media
personnel have in doing their work. The amount of autonomy will vary depending on the position an
individual occupies.
Media content, however, usually does not allow for the intimate interaction of sender and receiver
that characterizes interpersonal communication. Media users, therefore, must rely on other
resources to make sense of the messages in media content.
Main media categories
News media
It plays a big role in the democracy
The advent of mass communication and mass media (Belongs to the news media category)
• Mass media cannot be separated from large-scale consumption
• One-way flow of content (producers produce and consumers consume)
• A known sender and anonymous audience (a relationship between a producer and consumer)
Entertainment media
The cinema was the first type of media in the 1920s
The other big types of mass media are broadcasting technology
Some facts about media
Radio is a nearly universal presence in U.S. households and automobiles, reaching more Americans
in any given week than any other media platform (Nielsen 2017d).
Television is in almost all homes, with 82% of TV households paying for programming – through
cable 44%, satellite 33% or a fibre optic line from their phone company 8% and 13% relying on free
over-the-air broadcast television. The remaining 5% of TV households forgo traditional broadcast or
cable television and rely exclusively on a broadband internet connection for video content. Devices
that can connect to the internet are available to most Americans. About 95% of adults have a cell
phone of some sort 77% have a smartphone. 78% of US adults have a desktop or laptop computer,
and 51% have a tablet.
As users embrace new technology, they continually change the landscape of media equipment.
People spend a huge amount of time using various forms of media. E.g.: Americans spend more than seven
hours a day watching television.
Internet of things (IoT) = the network of internet-connected objects that enables machine-to-machine (M2M)
communication.
With vast exposure to media at all ages, it can be argued that the media are the dominant social
institution in contemporary society, supplanting the influence of older institutions, such as schools,
religion, and sometimes even family. With the presence of media throughout our lives, our media
and society are fused.
