Media & Political Ideologies: Liberalism, Liberal-Pluralism, Neoliberalism, Keynesianism, Exams of Social Work

Download Media & Political Ideologies: Liberalism, Liberal-Pluralism, Neoliberalism, Keynesianism and more Exams Social Work in PDF only on Docsity! CMNS 130 - Final Review Communication - a meaningful exchange of information Mass - used in a descriptive sense, referring to a large group of people, "society & the masses" Media - referring to mass media - institutions that information is disseminated, such as newspapers, internet, film, tv interpersonal communication - direct, face-to-face communication between two or more people popular communication - expands the power of the masses and may involve a few, or many communicators & audiences can be smal or large. ex. mass protests Arab Spring, Kinder Morgan pipeline proposals mass communication - the process of sending a message from one or a small number or sources to many receivers - mediated through technology power in media - there is always a very close connection between communication & power. Frequently, there is a power imbalance, which impacts who controls the means to disseminate content, what is communicated through those channels, and how it is received Shannon-Weaver Model of Communication - a linear model that defines human communication as the transmission of information from a source to a receiver 1. Information source - prod. of msg 2. Transmitter - encoding of msg suitable for transmission 3. Channel - through which the msg is transmitted 4. Receiver - decoding or reconstruction of the msg 5. Destination - where the msg is received & understood Dominant (liberal-pluralist) Paradigm - the most widely held societal values, or system of thought at a given time - media provides platform for the different views to be expressed/negotiated/debated w/ e/o - Representation of the different views present in society is a crucial component of the liberal-pluralist approach - the media plays an important role in keeping the society together, maintaining stability, and educating and integrating the population - believe that the market has an important role in this in the structuring of the media system, although the state also has a role in regulating the media and the promotion of public broadcasting - researchers in this paradigm are optimistic about the role of media in democracies, and how the media serves society. Media is seen as the result of negotiations between different parties and is the outcome of a kind of social contract. It has an important role in social integration, and as a result many researchers are interested in measuring the effects of the media. Concerns about dominant (liberal-pluralist) paradigm - - effects of the media on audiences & how these effects can be measured (violent video games, porn) -market is inherently democratic and therefore the best available form of social organization and one that ought to be extended to all spheres of life - media as a market, ought to only feature what survives in the market (let the best ideas survive) - state have limited - no role in media, no public media - private sector operates as it wishes - flow of information should be free, and private sector media best allows for free flow of info -early as 1970s overwhemingly celebratory of "information society/knowledge society" - belief that information age = radical break w/ the past -liberalizing and privatizing media systems the the greatest degree possible, as allowing the private sector to innovate as much as possible will supposedly enable us to reach our full communication potential individual self-interest is the guiding force the entrepreneur is the most important and dynamic figure of social life profit is good in and of itself absolutely everything needs to be commodified privatization is strongly encouraged spending on social programs should be cut national markets should be opened up to competition the power of unions should be fought and diminished industry should be deregulated "Neoliberalism, put crudely, refers to the doctrine that profits should rule as much of social life as possible, and anything that gets in the way of profit making is suspect, if not condemned. Business good. Governments bad. Big government very bad. Taxes on the rich b critical/radical perspective - - desire to change the present state of the world - believes that current media system only represents interests of people in power - state & capitalist markets perpetuate inequality Openmedia - OpenMedia works to keep the Internet open, affordable, and surveillance-free. We create community-driven campaigns to engage, educate, and empower people to safeguard the Internet. Liberal democracies & mass media - - mass media provides vehicle for voters/electorate to understand what their gov't is doing, political issues of the day, and msgs to be disseminated to citizens - mass media plays important role in development of notions of national identity by providing common messages and understanding to the ppl - mass media sets agendas for what is seen to be important / what is discussed Lasswell's Model of Communication - Who, says what, in which channel, to whom, with what effect? Who: speaker, whoever is originating the msg / in terms of mass media: who owns/controls media Says what: identifies the msg being conveyed In which channel: analysis of the media through which the msg is transmitted To whom: audience With what effect: outcome/effect of the msg Hypodermic Needle Theory - - media has a direct and powerful influence on ppl - Developed in the 1920s and 1930s -Linear Communication Theory - suggests that media msgs are injected directly into the brains of a Passive Audience - suggests that we are all the same and respond to all media msgs the same way -No Individual Difference two-step flow theory - the idea that media's influence on people's behaviour is limited by opinion leaders—people who initially consume media content, interpret it in light of their own values and beliefs, and then pass it on to opinion followers, who have less frequent contact with media - suggests that opinion leaders pay close attn to the mass media & pass on interpretation of media msgs to others - audiences are active participants in the communication process Intervening variables that complicate mass media process - 1. exposure: degree of access, attn given to the msgs in mass media 2. differential character of media: recognizes that there can be differences in the effects of msgs depending on the medium they are transmitted in 3. content: recognizes that those differences then result in diff perceptions 4. attitudes & psychological predispositions: recognizes internal predispositions can alter how media msg is received The intervening variables were like filters placed between the message and the audience, impacting how audiences would receive, understand, and use a particular message. Uses and Gratification Theory - Claims people use mass communication to gratify their interests and desires. Frankfurt School - media theory, centered in neo-Marxism, that valued serious art, viewing its consumption as a means to elevate all people toward a better life; typical media fare was seen as pacifying ordinary people while repressing them Why do cultural industries matter? - information society: problems - - inability of ppl to respond to rapid social transformation - acts of individual and group terrorism - invasions of personal privacy leading to a crisis of highly controlled society - people/society unable to adapt fast enough to widespread changes political economy of communication (PEC) - - "studies the power relations that constitute the communication of information from the mass media to its publics" - economics of media from a political perspective - market democracies like Canada's most media are financed through advertising, a fact that gives advertisers an enormous amount of power over our (supposedly independent) commercial media system important theoretical approach to media that draws on the political economy tradition (including the classical political economy of Adam Smith and Marxist critiques) as a means to understand and explain the power relations found in the contemporary media industries - political perspective for media analysis - deeply concerned w/ questions of ownership and control of media & exploration of problems that arise as result of ownership and control patterns within a market-oriented media system - deeply opposed to neoliberal regulation of telecommunications and media - skeptical abt neoliberal transformation - information society is deeply unequal society, in which media are generally a tool for powerful, marginalizes and silences alternate opinions - commercial media perpetuates inequality - mass media purpose to amuse, entertain, and inform - exists to inculcate individuals with values, beliefs, and codes of behaviour that will integrate them into the institutional structures of the larger society - systemic propaganda - media in all forms, serves the ends of a dominant elite, promoting views that reflect its interests as normal and marginalizing dissent - process of commodification - relates to relationship b/w two other important terms, use value and exchange value use value - The usefulness of a commodity exchange value - price of something, what it's worth on the market Paramount Decision - the 1948 U.S. Supreme Court decision that ended vertical integration in the film industry by forcing the studios to divest themselves of their theatres media convergence - the merging of traditional media with digital communication technologies such as telecommunications and the internet allows media conglomerates to deliver diversity of products over one platform / one product over a diversity of platforms three parts: - technical: convergence of systems linked by common standards and common digital language - industrial: breakdown of ownership barriers between diff forms of media - convergence between forms: growing combo of prev more distinct cultural forms - goal of convergence for corporations: one stop shop for media customers Media concentration - The gathering of ownership of newspapers and other media in the hands of a few large corporations. top five media companies in canada - - telus - shaw - quebecor - bce - rogers Alternative Media - media channels that give voice to a wider range of viewpoints than mainstream media - key part: social activism - typically engages in efforts to create social, political, or economic transformation, often promoting radical social change - seeks to give voice to the concerns and aspirations of groups that are marginalized by mainstream media (ethnic media) - work on the principle that you don't need to be trained to be able to provide a voice (non-professional citizen journalists are qualified) --> this perspective also recognized by mainstream media - typically operates outside of the corporate/mainstream media non-profit - seeks to address lack of particular voices / identities in mainstream media (aboriginal peoples television network) important things about alternative media projects: - - focuses on communication and media entertainment as an instrument of one nation-state's economic, geopolitical, and cultural power over others (Donald Duck Threat) media imperialism - domination of a mass medium by a single national culture and the undermining of other national cultures globalization - growth to a global or worldwide scale - mass media system key means for transfer of ideas and culture ten aspects of cultural imperialism - 1. CI is part and product of US empire and capitalist imperialism 2. CI represents the world system as comprising a strong or "dominant" media centre (US) and weaker or "dominated" peripheries (non-US) 3. CI says that audio-visual trade between rich and poor countries is not reciprocal and that US is the central and most influential source of entertainment media worldwide (one way flow of media entertainment, Us --> rest of the world) 4. global expansion of US media industry relies on the universalization of the capitalist media model and dismantling of publicly owned media systems 5. universalizations of commercial media model and growth of media corps are structurally functional to the spread of capitalism 6. US gov't actively supports the dominance of US media corps, expansions of the US corporate media model, and the cross-border flow of entertainment media by means of foreign media policy: free flow of information doctrine 7. content of US corporate / state produced entertainment represents American nationalists / consumerist capitalist ideologies (glorifies American way of life) 8. entertainment media is a means by which the strong states and corps headquartered in them influence, change, or erode the local cultures of other, weaker states 9. US entertainment media has effects upon local audiences that are negative 10. CI paradigm is postcolonial media globalization - reflects both a cultural as well as an economic shift in emphasis in the production and distribution of a wide range of products including media goods.