- What were the earliest types of
media studies, and why weren't they more scientific?
In the early days of the United States, philosophical and
historical writings tried to explain the nature of news and print media. During
most of the nineteenth century, media analysis was based on moral and political
arguments. For example, the French political philosopher Alexis de Tocqueville,
author of Democracy in America, noted
differences between French and American newspapers in the early 1830’s.
- What were the major influences
that led to scientific media research?
More scientific approaches to mass media research did not begin to
develop until the late 1920s and 1930s. Walter Lippmann’s Liberty and the News called on journalists to operate more like
scientific researchers in gathering and analyzing factual material. Lippmann’s
next book, Public Opinion (1922), was
the first to apply the principles of psychology to journalism which led to an
understanding of the effects of the media, emphasizing data collection and
numerical measurement. Four trends contributed to the rise of modern media research: propaganda analysis,
public opinion research, social psychology studies, and marketing research.
- What is content analysis, and
why is it significant?
Researchers developed a method known as content analysis to
study the specific media messages (gun, violence, fistfight, etc.). Such
analysis is a systematic method of coding and measuring media content. Although
content analysis was first used during World War II for radio, more recent
studies have focused on television, film and internet. The limits of content
analysis have been well documented. First, this technique does not measure the
effects of the messages on audiences, nor does it explain how those messages
are presented. Second, problems of definitions occur!
- What are the differences
between the hypodermic-needle model and the minimal-effects model in the
history of media research?
The concept of powerful media affecting weak audiences has been
labeled the hypodermic-needle model, sometimes also called the magic bullet theory or the direct effects model. It suggests that
the media shoot their potent effects directly into unsuspecting victims.
Cantril’s research helped to lay the groundwork doe the minimal-effects model,
or limited model. With the rise of
empirical research techniques, social scientists began discovering and
demonstrating that media alone cannot cause people to change their attitude and
behaviors.
- What are the main ideas behind
social learning theory, agenda-setting, the cultivation effect, the spiral
of silence, and the third-person effect?
Albert Bandura studied links between the mass media and
behavior, and developed social learning theory as a four-step process:
attention, retention, motor reproduction and motivation. A key phenomenon
posited by contemporary media effects researchers in agenda setting: the idea
that when the mass media focus their attention on particular events or issues,
they determine – that is, set the agenda for – the major topics of discussion
for individuals and society. The cultivating effect suggests that heavy viewing
of television leads individuals to perceive the world in ways that are
consistent with television portrayals. The spiral of science theory links the
mass media, social psychology, and the formation of public opinion. The
third-person effect theory suggests that people believe others are more
affected by media messages than they are themselves.
- What are some strengths and
limitations of modern media research?
The wealth of research exists partly because funding for studies
on the effects of the media on the young people remains popular among
politicians and has drawn ready government support since the 1960s. Media
effects research is inconsistent and often flawed but continues to resonate
with politicians and parents because it offers and east-to-blame social cause
for real-world violence. Funding restricts the scope of some media effects and
survey research, particularly the government, business, or other administrative
agendas do not align with researchers’ interests.
- Why did cultural studies
develop in opposition to media effects research?
During the rise of modern media research, approaches with a
stronger historical and interpretive edge developed as well, often in direct
opposition to the scientific models. An important body of research – loosely
labeled cultural studies – arose to challenge
mainstream media effects theory. Cultural studies research has focused on how
people make meaning, understand reality, and order experiences by using
cultural symbols that appear in the media. This research has attempted to make everyday
culture the centerpiece of media studies, focusing on how subtly mass
communication shapes and is shaped by history, politics, and economics.
- What are the features of
cultural studies?
Cultural studies research focuses on the investigation of daily
experiences, especially on issues of race, gender, class, and sexuality, and on
the unequal arrangements of power and status in contemporary society. Such
research has emphasizes how some social and cultural groups have been
marginalized and ignored throughout history. The major analytical approaches in
cultural studies research today are textual analysis, audience studies, and
political economy studies.
- What is the major criticism
about specialization in academic research at universities?
The growth of mass media departments in colleges and
universities has led to an increase in specialized jargon, which tends to
alienate and exclude nonacademic. The larger public has often been excluded
from access to the research process even though cultural research tends to
identify with marginalized groups. The scholarship is self-defeating if its
complexity removes it from the daily experience of the groups it addresses. Researchers
themselves have even found it difficult to speak to one another across disciplines
because of discipline-specific language used to analyze and report findings. Also,
researchers become isolated from the outside of society.
- How have public intellectuals
contributed to society's debates about the mass media? Give examples.
Public intellectuals have contributed to society by writing
about race, class, and politics. In
recent years, public intellectuals have encouraged discussion about media
production in the digital world. Harvard law professor Lawrence Lessig has been
a leading advocate of efforts to rewrite the nation’s copyright laws to enable noncommercial
“amateur culture” to flourish the internet.
