This document discusses key concepts in media sociology including definitions of different types of media, technological developments, effects on audiences, and issues of representation. It covers how the media contributes to socialization through subtly reinforcing gender roles and political views. It also examines debates around media influence, including whether violence in media causes real-world effects, and the extent of press owner control over content. Sample exam questions are provided at the end.

1. Mass Media Sociology GCSE

2. Explain what sociologist mean
by…
 Mass media – the forms of communication
(media) that reaches a large audience
 Traditional media – newspapers, magazines,
books, TV, radio, cinema
 New media – internet, mobiles, digital radio,
cable and satellite TV, DVD, video games
 Press – newspapers and magazines

3. ……..
 Quality press – traditional broadsheets such as
The Times, Telegraph and the Guardian
 Tabloid press – Sun, Mirror Star
 Broadcasting – TV and Radio – BBC publicly
funded via the TV licence , all other channels are
funded by advertising.
 Electronic media – internet, you do not have to
be a journalist to create content – anyone can
publish on the Web and contribute – increases
participation in creating and publishing
information. People can also join pubic
networking sites and create blogs.

4. Technological developments in the
last 30 years….
 TV – more channels, development of satellite
TV which can be received by free view or by
paying subscriptions
 Digital broadcasting – offers interaction with
the audience – red button, entering
competitions, voting in a reality show
 Cross media interaction – interact with the
programme through other media – websites,
texts from mobiles etc.

5. Technological developments over the
past 30 years…
 Convergence – images sounds etc. can be transmitted
simultaneously through different types of media – for
example some mobile phones can connect to the
internet and receive e mails, you can watch TV via the
internet etc.
 Digital radio – better sound quality and we can listen to
digital radio through digital TV services
 Teletex – access to regularly updated news – we can
access breaking news and follow stories as they unfold
 Newspaper production now involves the use of
technology – computerised layout and digital printing
and newspapers can now be accessed on the internet

6. Internet access
 Rapid growth 10% in 1998 – 61% by 2007
 Internet access linked to household income –
high income households are more likely to have
internet access
 Uses of internet – info, e mail, shopping,
banking, gaming, travel, social networking,
downloading music, listen to radio, watch TV
 Digital divide – gap between those who have
access to the new technologies and those who
do not – income, location etc.

7. Effects on the audience
 Hypodermic syringe – media has a lot of
power over the audience, audience received
daily injections of messages from TV and
newspapers – these messages work like a
drug and have a powerful effect on the
behaviour and attitudes of the audience
 Experiments on children bandura 1963

8. Effect of the media on it’s
audience
 Uses and Gratifications
 What the audience use the media for and how
our needs are met (gratified) by the media.
 Information – watch news, documentaries
 Personal identity – gain insight into ourselves
 Personal relationships – a substitute for real life
companionship
 Entertainment – escape from problems or to fill
time

9. Effects of the media on the
audience.
 Decoding approach (Abercrombie 1996)
 The content of TV programmes has several
possible meanings and different sectors of the
audience may decode the messages in very
different ways it could depend on social
background, class, culture, etc.
 The hypodermic syringe sees the audience as
passive but the decoding approach sees the
audience as actively interpreting the messages
for themselves.

10. Media and socialization
 Socialization – how we learn the culture of
the society that we are born into and our
roles within that society.
 Agent of socialization – institutions that
contribute to the socialization process,
families, schools, peer groups and the mass
media

11. Media and socialization
 “mums go to Iceland” – Gauntlett (2008) by
presenting messages about the role of women
the media contributes to gender socialization
 The influences in the media may be subtle but
they can build up over time and lead to
stereotypes being formed for example – women
and men being associated promoting different
products may lead to decisions in these areas
being taken by those genders – women and
washing powder, men and cars!

12. Media and socialization
 Political socialization – acquire political views
and preferences and in turn these may influence
how we participate in politics
 Importance of media – can be our only source of
information about the political parties –
impotent during election campaigns!
 Voting – newspapers can be biased towards one
party
 Curtice and Mair (2008) – readers of a newspaper
may be exposed to a particular view on current
affairs that could encourage them to vote for one
party over another

13. Media and socialization
 Curtice and Mair (2008) – 2 concerns about
the press and voting behaviour
 The press has too much influence on how we
vote
 The press has such negative coverage of
politics that it discourages people from voting
at all
 The press readership has declined – they
argue this is good for democracy

14. Press ownership and content
 Do the owners of the mass media have the power to
influence the content?
 Pluralists – no single group dominates
 The range of opinions and views are represented in the
press
 Newspapers give the readers what they want to read – if we
don’t get what we want we stop buying the papers
 Public control the content of the press by their market
power
 Freedom to set up newspapers if the existing ones do not
meet demands
 We can put forward our view by writing to the editor
 Day to day control in the hands of the journalists

15. Press ownership and content
 Conflict view – Marxists
 Newspaper owners – wealthy powerful group
 Protect the interests of this group by putting
their views across in the media
 Unlikely to publish content that will be critical of
the powerful
 Cross media ownership gives them more control
 Journalist dependent for their jobs – will write
what the owners want to see

16. Black people in the media
 1950 to 1970s – black people absent or portrayed
stereotypes – criminals or narrow roles – sports,
dancers, entertainers
 Negative associations – famine, crime, riots war
 1990s changes – more black actors playing
ordinary characters, Cosby show
 But still negative reporting prevalent – Bradford
riots 2001 – more interested in the negative
actions of Asian youths than the provocation
from the white national front (Bagguley and
Hussain 2008)

17. Gender and media
 1970s – research indicated that mass media
representations of women were stereotypical
rather than realistic and the images of women
did not reflect the roes they played in society
 Cumberbatch (1990) – men and women
 2/3 people in adverts were men
 Nearly all voice overs were male
 Women were usually young and blond
 Men shown in professional settings
 Women shown with a male partner

18. Gender in media
 Women in sport
 Women invisible in sports coverage and when shown their
role is trivialised
 William 1997 – women’s football ignored compared to men
 Gauntlett (2008) – male magazines
 Key themes of masculinity
 Men like to look at women
 Men like gadgets, cars and sport
 Men need help with fashion and grooming
 Men are fascinated by bravery and danger
 Is this as big a stereotype as Mums gone to Iceland?

19. Deviance amplification
 Stan Cohen (2002) – media are involved in the creation of moral panics –
exaggerating the extent and significance of a social problem.
 A group is cast as a “folk devil” which becomes a threat to the values of
society
 This group is shown in stereotypical terms in the media
 Mods and rockers – media reported in sensationalistic headlines and
distorted what happened – this created a false image of young people
 Amplification – exaggerating and distorting the events – this can lead to
other s behaving ion the same way as the group has been portrayed in
the media – further disturbance lead to a public outcry – a moral panic
 Police responded by harsh treatment and further arrests – the media
can amplify the deviance and provoke more deviant behaviour

20. Contemporary issues
 Potential harm to children – provoking
violent behaviour
 Bandura (1963) – hypodermic syringe
 1990’s – Child’s Play 3 and Natural Born
Killers lead to copy cat crimes in the USA and
the Jamie Bulger case in the UK
 Sociologists research has shown that children
can distinguish between real and fictional
violence and they do not passively accept TV
images

21. Contemporary issues
 Gauntlett (2008) – research failed to show a
strong connection between violent teenagers
and the TV programming they watched
 Peak and Fisher (1996) – TV violence has
become a scapegoat for the violence seen in
society and the true cause is poverty,
unemployment, homelessness, abuse and
personality traits

22. Exam questions
 How far would sociologist agree that
exposure to violence in the media can
encourage violence in everyday life
 How far would sociologists agree that the
mass media is the most powerful agency of
political socialization in Britain today
 How far would sociologists agree that the
press owners in Britain control the content of
the media.