History of media studies

Last updated

Media studies encompasses the academic investigation of the mass media from perspectives such as sociology, psychology, history, semiotics, and critical discourse analysis. [1] The purpose of media studies is to determine how media affects society.

Contents

Media studies in the United States is also known as Mass Communication, Communication Studies, Media Ecology.

Chicago School

Chicago High School.png

Though not yet named as such, media studies' roots are in the Chicago School and thinkers such as John Dewey, Charles Cooley and George Mead. These authors saw American society on the cusp of positive social change toward pure democracy. Mead argued that for an ideal society to exist, a form of communication must be developed to allow the unique individual to appreciate the attitudes, viewpoints and positions of others unlike himself, and allow him to be understood by others as well. Mead believed that this "new media" would allow humans to empathize with others, and therefore moves toward an "ideal of human society." [2] Where Mead sees an ideal society, Dewey names it the "Great Community," and further asserts the assumption that humans are intelligent enough for self-government, and that that knowledge is "a function of association and communication." [3] Similarly, Cooley asserts that political communication makes public opinion possible, which in turn promotes democracy. Each of these authors represent the Chicago School's attention to electronic communication as a facilitator of democracy, its faith in the informed electorate, and its focus on the individual as opposed to the mass.

First M.A. Media Studies program in the U.S.

The social impact of mass communication has been studied at The New School University in New York since its founding in 1919. The first college course to investigate the motion picture was offered here in 1926. In the late 1960s it was that when it came to the knowledge of media, there was more information outside of classrooms compared to in it, due to film and TV. Marshall McLuhan's colleague, John Culkin who was one of the first educators of media education in schools, [4] brought his Center for Understanding Media to The New School in 1975 and The New School began offering the Master of Arts degree in Media Studies, one of the first graduate programs of its kind. [5] Today, among other programs, [6] MA in Media Studies is still being offered by School of Media Studies, The New School, which will celebrate 40th anniversary of Media Studies at The New School during the academic year 2015–2016 [7]

Propaganda studies

Between the First and Second World Wars, the Institute for Propaganda Analysis briefly rose to importance. Their definition of propaganda was

expression of opinion or action by individuals or groups deliberately designed to influence opinion or actions of other individuals or groups with reference to predetermined ends. [8]

Harold Lasswell, who worked in the paradigm of the Chicago School of sociology wrote Propaganda Technique in the World War , which included this definition of propaganda:

Propaganda in the broadest sense is the technique of influencing human action by the manipulation of representations. These representations may take spoken, written, pictorial or musical form. [9]

These definitions of propaganda clearly show that this was a school of thought that focused on media effects, as it highlighted the influence that media could have over its audiences attitudes and actions. [10]

Epitomizing this early school of media effects studies are experiments done by The Experimental Section of the Research Branch of the U.S. War Department's Information and Education Division. In the experiments, the effects of various U.S. wartime propaganda films on soldiers were observed. [11]

Current Propaganda studies are applied into many fields besides politics. Herman described a propaganda model as "a model of media behavior and performance, not of media effects." (Herman, 2000, p. 63) He argued: "They are profit-seeking business, owned by very wealthy people (or other companies); and they are funded largely by advertisers who are also profit-seeking entities, and who want their advertisements to appear in a supportive selling environment." [12] He also presented "five factors: owner ship, advertising, sourcing, flak and anti-communist ideology-work as filters through which information must pass, and that individually and often in cumulative fashion they greatly influence media choices." [12] Until now, there is no conclusion of propaganda, debate still continues.

Frankfurt School Critical Theory

Typified by the philosophical and theoretical orientations of Max Horkheimer, Theodor Adorno, Walter Benjamin, Leo Lowenthal, and Herbert Marcuse, the Frankfurt school contributed greatly to the development and application of critical theory in media studies. Their Marxist critique of market-driven media was critical of its atomizing and leveling effects.

The Frankfurt school also lamented the effects of the "culture industry" on the production and appreciation of art. For example, in A Social Critique of Radio Music, Adorno asserts:

...music has ceased to be a human force and is consumed like other consumers' goods. This produces 'commodity listening'…The listener suspends all intellectual activity. [13]

As the Frankfurt school lamented on the effects of the "culture industry" they also began to identify mass culture and high culture as two distinct entities. Scholars like Benjamin (1936) and Adorno (1945) can be credited with what would eventually become known as popular culture and high culture. Their finite distinction of equating original production with ritualistic behavior as compared with mass culture that finds its identifying symbols in reproductions. These reproductions are souless and lacking in definition and originality.

Media effects

The less paradigm in media studies since the Second World War has been associated with the ideas, methods and findings of Paul F. Lazarsfeld and his school: media effect studies. Their studies focused on measurable, short-term behavioral 'effects' of media and concluded that the media played a limited role in influencing public opinion. The "Limited-Effects" Model developed by Lazarsfeld and his colleagues from Columbia was highly influential in the development of media studies. The model claims that mass media has "limited-effects" on voting patterns. Voters are influenced, rather, through the 'two-step flow' model, the idea that media messages are disseminated through personal interaction with 'opinion leaders'. [14]

The model of limited- effects was so influential that the question of media "effects" on politics was left largely unaddressed until the late 1960s. Eventually Mass Communication scholars began to study political behavior again and the limited-effects model was called into question. [15]

Uses and gratification model

As a response to the previous emphasis upon media effects, from the 1970s researchers became interested in how audiences make sense of media texts. [16] The "uses and gratifications" model, associated with Jay Blumler and Elihu Katz, reflected this growing interest in the 'active audience'. One such example of this type of research was conducted by Hodge and Tripp, [17] and separately Palmer, [18] about how school-children make sense of the Australian soap opera Prisoner . They found that pupils could identify with the prisoners: they were "shut in", separated from their friends and wouldn't be there had they not been made to be, etc. Also, the children could compare the wardens to their teachers: "the hard-bitten old [one], the soft new one, the one you could take advantage of..." [19] John Fiske summarises:

The children inserted meanings of the program into their social experience of school in a way that informed both – the meanings of school and the meanings of Prisoner were each influenced by the other, and the fit between them validated the other. [19]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ethnocentrism</span> Judging another culture solely by the values and standards of ones own culture

Ethnocentrism in social science and anthropology—as well as in colloquial English discourse—means to apply one's own culture or ethnicity as a frame of reference to judge other cultures, practices, behaviors, beliefs, and people, instead of using the standards of the particular culture involved. Since this judgment is often negative, some people also use the term to refer to the belief that one's culture is superior to, or more correct or normal than, all others—especially regarding the distinctions that define each ethnicity's cultural identity, such as language, behavior, customs, and religion. In common usage, it can also simply mean any culturally biased judgment. For example, ethnocentrism can be seen in the common portrayals of the Global South and the Global North.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Propaganda</span> Communication used to influence opinion

Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to influence or persuade an audience to further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loaded language to produce an emotional rather than a rational response to the information that is being presented. Propaganda can be found in a wide variety of different contexts.

The Radio Research Project was a social research project funded by the Rockefeller Foundation to look into the effects of mass media on society.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Theodor W. Adorno</span> German philosopher, sociologist, and theorist (1903–1969)

Theodor W. Adorno was a German philosopher, musicologist, and social theorist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harold Lasswell</span> American political scientist (1902–1978)

Harold Dwight Lasswell was an American political scientist and communications theorist. He earned his bachelor's degree in philosophy and economics and his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago. He was a professor of law at Yale University. He served as president of the American Political Science Association, American Society of International Law, and World Academy of Art and Science.

The hypodermic needle model is claimed to have been a model of communication in which media consumers were "uniformly controlled by their biologically based 'instincts' and that they react more or less uniformly to whatever 'stimuli' came along".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Two-step flow of communication</span> Model of communication

The two-step flow of communication model says that most people form their opinions under the influence of opinion leaders, who in turn are influenced by the mass media. In contrast to the one-step flow of the hypodermic needle model or magic bullet theory, which holds that people are directly influenced by mass media, according to the two-step flow model, ideas flow from mass media to opinion leaders, and from them to a wider population. Opinion leaders pass on their own interpretation of information in addition to the actual media content.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paul Lazarsfeld</span> Austrian-American sociologist (1901–1976)

Paul Felix Lazarsfeld was an Austrian-American sociologist. The founder of Columbia University's Bureau of Applied Social Research, he exerted influence over the techniques and the organization of social research. "It is not so much that he was an American sociologist," one colleague said of him after his death, "as it was that he determined what American sociology would be." Lazarsfeld said that his goal was "to produce Paul Lazarsfelds". He was a founding figure in 20th-century empirical sociology.

Agenda-setting theory suggests that the communications media, through their ability to identify and publicize issues, play a pivotal role in shaping the problems that attract attention from governments and international organizations, and direct public opinion towards specific issues. The theory suggests that the media can shape public opinion by determining what issues are given the most attention, and has been widely studied and applied to various forms of media. The way news stories and topics that impact public opinion are presented is influenced by the media. It is predicated on the idea that most individuals only have access to one source of information on most issues: the news media. Since they establish the agenda, they may affect how important some things are seen to be.

Uses and gratifications theory is a communication theory that describes the reasons and means by which people seek out media to meet specific needs. The theory postulates that media is a highly available product, that audiences are the consumers of the product, and that audiences choose media to satisfy given needs as well as social and psychological uses, such as knowledge, relaxation, social relationships, and diversion.

In media studies, mass communication, media psychology, communication theory, and sociology, media influence and themedia effect are topics relating to mass media and media culture's effects on individuals' or audiences' thoughts, attitudes, and behaviors. Through written, televised, or spoken channels, mass media reach large audiences. Mass media's role in shaping modern culture is a central issue for the study of culture.

Audience theory offers explanations of how people encounter media, how they use it, and how it affects them. Although the concept of an audience predates media, most audience theory is concerned with people’s relationship to various forms of media. There is no single theory of audience, but a range of explanatory frameworks. These can be rooted in the social sciences, rhetoric, literary theory, cultural studies, communication studies and network science depending on the phenomena they seek to explain. Audience theories can also be pitched at different levels of analysis ranging from individuals to large masses or networks of people.

Communicology is the scholarly and academic study of how people create and use messages to affect the social environment. Communicology is an academic discipline that distinguishes itself from the broader field of human communication with its exclusive use of scientific methods to study communicative phenomena. The goals of these scientific methods are to create and extend theory-based knowledge about the processes and outcomes of communication. Practitioners in the communicology discipline employ empirical and deductive research methods, such as cross-sectional and longitudinal surveys, experiments, meta-analyses, and content analyses, to test theoretically-derived hypotheses. Correlational and causal relationships between communication variables are tested in these studies.

Herta Herzog-Massing was an Austrian-American social scientist specializing in communication studies. Her most prominent contribution to the field, an article entitled "What Do We Really Know About Daytime Serial Listeners?", is considered a pioneering work of the uses-and-gratifications approach and the cognitive revolution in media research. She was married to Paul Lazarsfeld, and later to Paul Massing, and was stepmother to Lazarsfeld's daughter, MIT professor Lotte Bailyn.

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to communication:

Popular culture is generally recognized by members of a society as a set of practices, beliefs, artistic output and objects that are dominant or prevalent in a society at a given point in time. Popular culture also encompasses the activities and feelings produced as a result of interaction with these dominant objects. The primary driving forces behind popular culture, especially when speaking of Western popular cultures, are the media, mass appeal, marketing and capitalism; and it is produced by what philosopher Theodor Adorno refers to as the "culture industry".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Active audience theory</span>

Active Audience Theory argues that media audiences do not just receive information passively but are actively involved, often unconsciously, in making sense of the message within their personal and social contexts. Decoding of a media message may therefore be influenced by such things as family background, beliefs, values, culture, interests, education and experiences. Decoding of a message means how well a person is able to effectively receive and understand a message. Active Audience Theory is particularly associated with mass-media usage and is a branch of Stuart Hall's Encoding and Decoding Model.

The multi-step flow theory assumes ideas flow from mass media to opinion leaders before being disseminated to a wider population. This theory was first introduced by sociologist Paul Lazarsfeld et al. in 1944 and elaborated by Elihu Katz and Lazarsfeld in 1955.

Various aspects of communication have been the subject of study since ancient times, and the approach eventually developed into the academic discipline known today as communication studies.

Lasswell's model of communication is one of the first and most influential models of communication. It was initially published by Harold Lasswell in 1948 and analyzes communication in terms of five basic questions: "Who?", "Says What?", "In What Channel?", "To Whom?", and "With What Effect?". These questions pick out the five fundamental components of the communicative process: the sender, the message, the channel, the receiver, and the effect. Some theorists have raised doubts that the widely used characterization as a model of communication is correct and refer to it instead as "Lasswell's formula", "Lasswell's definition", or "Lasswell's construct". In the beginning, it was conceived specifically for the analysis of mass communication like radio, television, and newspapers. However, it has been applied to various other fields and many theorists understand it as a general model of communication.

References

  1. ↑ "Media Studies". Oxford Reference. Retrieved 2021-11-16.
  2. ↑ Mead, George Herbert. "Obstacles and Promises in the Development of an Ideal Society." Mind, Self & Society, pp. 317–28. Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Press, 1934.
  3. ↑ Dewey, John. "Search for the Great Community." The Public and Its Problems, pp. 143–84. New York: Henry Holt & Co., 1927. "Nature, Communication, and Meaning." Experience and Nature, pp. 138–70.
  4. ↑ "John Culkin, SJ: The Man Who Invented Media Literacy: 1928-1993 | Center for Media Literacy | Empowerment through Education | CML MediaLit Kit ™ |". www.medialit.org. Retrieved 2021-11-16.
  5. ↑ "About | Media Studies | Schools of Public Engagement". www.newschool.edu. Archived from the original on 2021-10-29. Retrieved 2021-10-31.
  6. ↑ "Academics | Media Studies Degree Programs". www.newschool.edu. Archived from the original on 2021-10-15. Retrieved 2021-10-31.
  7. ↑ "Media Studies 40th Anniversary Celebration Fall 2015- Spring 2016". smscommons.newschool.edu. September 14, 2015. Archived from the original on February 11, 2019. Retrieved October 31, 2021.
  8. ↑ Lee, Alfred M. (With Elizabeth Briant Lee) (1937). The Fine Art of Propaganda: A Study of Father Coughlin's Speeches.
  9. ↑ Lasswell, Harold. (1937). Propaganda Technique in the World War. pp. 214–22. ISBN   0-8240-0458-2.
  10. ↑ Lasswell, Harold (1937). "Propaganda". Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences. pp. 521–27.
  11. ↑ Hovland, Carl I.; Arthur A. Lumsdaine; Fred D. Shefield (1949). "Experiments in Mass Communication". Studies in the Social Psychology in World War II, American Soldier Series. New York: Macmillan. 3: 3–16, 247–79.
  12. 1 2 (Herman, 2000, p. 62)
  13. ↑ Adorno, Theodor W. (1945). "A Social Critique of Radio Music". Kenyon Review. 7: 208–17.
  14. ↑ Gitlinn, Todd (1974). Media Sociology: the Dominant Paradigm.
  15. ↑ Chaffee, Steven H., & Hockheimer, J.. "The Beginnings of Political Communication Research in the United States: Origins of the 'Limited Effects' Model". The Media Revolution in America & Western Europe, pp. 267–96. Ed. Ev Rogers & F. Balle. Norwood, N.J.: Ablex, 1985.
  16. ↑ Hutchby, Ian (2006). Media Talk: Conversation Analysis and the Study of Broadcasting. Berkshire: Open University Press. p. 5. ISBN   0-335-20995-5.
  17. ↑ Hodge, R.; Tripp, D. (1986). Children and Television . Cambridge: Polity Press. ISBN   0-8047-1352-9.
  18. ↑ Palmer, P (1986). The Lively Audience: A Study of Children around the TV set. Sydney: Allen & Unwin. ISBN   0-86861-970-1.
  19. 1 2 Fiske, John (1987). Television Culture. London: Routledge. pp.  68–9. ISBN   0-415-03934-7.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.