Short Bites on The Mass Media
Some people argue that television has a very powerful influence on our ideas, attitudes, beliefs and even behavior. Others would claim that television merely reflects the range of attitudes which already exist on society, and that people can choose to watch programmes which confirm their existing beliefs [which in reference can be interpreted as the willingness to filter information in conformance to our personal beliefs] rather than those which challenge them.
The Mass Media can be interpreted in forms of -
Books, Newspapers, Magazines or Publications of any kind. These are more commonly termed as Printed Forms of Communication.
Radio, Compact-Disc [CD], Digital Versatile Disc or formerly known as Digital Video Disc [DVD], Moving Picture Experts Group [MPEG] 1 Audio Layer 3 or popularly known as MP3, Laser Disc [LD], Cassette Tapes and even old time Records. They can be classified as Audio Communications.
Movies, Television and Video-tapes. These would be classified as Audio-Visual Communications.
Well, where does the Internet come in? Within the Internet you get publications, you get Videos-On-Demand [VOD] and even Radio Blogs. It's almost like the Internet encompasses everything.
An Online Article called the American Psychologist once described the Internet as a "Social Technology that reduces Social Involvement and Psychological Well-Being." For further references in relation to this particular article you can try here.
From a Liberal Consensus Point of View we can argue that the Mass Media exposes people to a wide range of opinions. The public is then free to accept or reject these opinions as they wish.
+ They have a free choice of which newspapers to choose from, example Straits Times or Streats or Today or even The New Paper.
+ If they cannot find a newspaper which supports their views they will find alternatives to make themselves heard as Liberals argue that freedom of expression is imperative.
+ They firmly believe that the public is in control of the Media and they have a choice by - switching off their television sets or simply not reading a publication which disagrees with their views.
Now lets try a Conflict Theory of View. Those who supports the Conflict View sees the position of the Mass Media in serving to justify major differences in society, wealth, income and even status.
+ They believe that the conflict in our society between the rich and the poor, bosses and workers, strong and weak are made to seem natural and inevitable in ways described by the television and newspapers.
+ The Mass Media helps to maintain the Status Quo. Control the press and you control the minds of the masses - Charles P. Wallace.
+ Case study - The Glasgow University Media Group studied television coverage of news items in 1976 and claimed that the language, the photographs and the approach of news reporters was biased in favour of employers and to the disadvantage of workers or employees.
Karl Marx once wrote on fake idealism reinforced through institutional means. He means that by controlling the very means of education you receive [i.e. the schools, the mass media, the languages used and even the approved social activities] you would be moulded into conformance witht the image that the State requires.
Think.. The Matrix. Like the theory of the Human Battery. All your life you have been fed with ideals and images so that you would not be aware of the alternate reality. Another example could even be related The Truman Show starring Jim Carrey.
A more radical interpretation can mean that ownership of these resources means control over one's lives. However, given the diverification of education in Singapore this point is worth more observations and debates to sufficiently clarify.
[UK] In 1986, Winston Churchill Junior, a Conservative MP, introduced a Bill into the House of Commons to limit scenes of sex and violence on television programmes including the news. At about the same time a Labour MP, Clare Short, introduced a Bill to prevent the 'Page 3 nudes' from appearing next to stories of rape and violence against women in the tabloid press. These Bills were very different and were introduced with different reasons and with different aims, but they would have provided more control over what we see. They were both unsuccessful. Arguments about the 'freedom' of expression' were used to avoid controlling or censoring images on television or in newspapers. But gaining access to television time and newspaper space is very expensive so this is not a freedom which everyone can exercise equally.
In addition, with the introduction of Cable Television [Starhub Cable] the availability of wider varieties of programmes has also changed the relationship between the public and television. For instance, free-to-air channels only offers post-dated movie releases unlike HBO which offers up-to-date movie premieres thus increasing the element of attraction to television. The emphasis is more on entertainment than as a means of encouraging local decision-making and national politics as the enterprise is profit-driven by nature.
Even most tabloids, especially the popular ones, publishes a pin-up each day of women dressed in attractive outfits and glittering forms of jewellery. These pin-ups tend to reinforce the view of women being viewed as attractive objects rather than people.
In conclusion, with the rapid advancement of technology comes the rapid change in ways in which television programmes and newspapers are being produced. Who owns and controls the media will still be important, whatever technology is being used to produce them.
The Mass Media can be interpreted in forms of -
Books, Newspapers, Magazines or Publications of any kind. These are more commonly termed as Printed Forms of Communication.
Radio, Compact-Disc [CD], Digital Versatile Disc or formerly known as Digital Video Disc [DVD], Moving Picture Experts Group [MPEG] 1 Audio Layer 3 or popularly known as MP3, Laser Disc [LD], Cassette Tapes and even old time Records. They can be classified as Audio Communications.
Movies, Television and Video-tapes. These would be classified as Audio-Visual Communications.
Well, where does the Internet come in? Within the Internet you get publications, you get Videos-On-Demand [VOD] and even Radio Blogs. It's almost like the Internet encompasses everything.
An Online Article called the American Psychologist once described the Internet as a "Social Technology that reduces Social Involvement and Psychological Well-Being." For further references in relation to this particular article you can try here.
From a Liberal Consensus Point of View we can argue that the Mass Media exposes people to a wide range of opinions. The public is then free to accept or reject these opinions as they wish.
+ They have a free choice of which newspapers to choose from, example Straits Times or Streats or Today or even The New Paper.
+ If they cannot find a newspaper which supports their views they will find alternatives to make themselves heard as Liberals argue that freedom of expression is imperative.
+ They firmly believe that the public is in control of the Media and they have a choice by - switching off their television sets or simply not reading a publication which disagrees with their views.
Now lets try a Conflict Theory of View. Those who supports the Conflict View sees the position of the Mass Media in serving to justify major differences in society, wealth, income and even status.
+ They believe that the conflict in our society between the rich and the poor, bosses and workers, strong and weak are made to seem natural and inevitable in ways described by the television and newspapers.
+ The Mass Media helps to maintain the Status Quo. Control the press and you control the minds of the masses - Charles P. Wallace.
+ Case study - The Glasgow University Media Group studied television coverage of news items in 1976 and claimed that the language, the photographs and the approach of news reporters was biased in favour of employers and to the disadvantage of workers or employees.
Karl Marx once wrote on fake idealism reinforced through institutional means. He means that by controlling the very means of education you receive [i.e. the schools, the mass media, the languages used and even the approved social activities] you would be moulded into conformance witht the image that the State requires.
Think.. The Matrix. Like the theory of the Human Battery. All your life you have been fed with ideals and images so that you would not be aware of the alternate reality. Another example could even be related The Truman Show starring Jim Carrey.
A more radical interpretation can mean that ownership of these resources means control over one's lives. However, given the diverification of education in Singapore this point is worth more observations and debates to sufficiently clarify.
[UK] In 1986, Winston Churchill Junior, a Conservative MP, introduced a Bill into the House of Commons to limit scenes of sex and violence on television programmes including the news. At about the same time a Labour MP, Clare Short, introduced a Bill to prevent the 'Page 3 nudes' from appearing next to stories of rape and violence against women in the tabloid press. These Bills were very different and were introduced with different reasons and with different aims, but they would have provided more control over what we see. They were both unsuccessful. Arguments about the 'freedom' of expression' were used to avoid controlling or censoring images on television or in newspapers. But gaining access to television time and newspaper space is very expensive so this is not a freedom which everyone can exercise equally.
In addition, with the introduction of Cable Television [Starhub Cable] the availability of wider varieties of programmes has also changed the relationship between the public and television. For instance, free-to-air channels only offers post-dated movie releases unlike HBO which offers up-to-date movie premieres thus increasing the element of attraction to television. The emphasis is more on entertainment than as a means of encouraging local decision-making and national politics as the enterprise is profit-driven by nature.
Even most tabloids, especially the popular ones, publishes a pin-up each day of women dressed in attractive outfits and glittering forms of jewellery. These pin-ups tend to reinforce the view of women being viewed as attractive objects rather than people.
In conclusion, with the rapid advancement of technology comes the rapid change in ways in which television programmes and newspapers are being produced. Who owns and controls the media will still be important, whatever technology is being used to produce them.
posted by Inarticulate at 1:40 AM
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