This refers to the ways media influences the development of an individual's culture and the culture of groups.
When Mass Media create a system of beliefs for an individual or group, Mass Media influences Mass Culture.
All five of the Roles of Mass Media, (Module 3, Part 4), can go into the making of a Media Mythos.
The article below touches on themes from both Module 3 and Module 4.
It talks about new sources of news information. This would normally be considered good, since different sources counter some of the bad effects of concentration of ownership.
It talks about globalization, since these new sources are not American.
It talks about how these new sources are forcing traditional news media to deal with issues of gate keeping.
And it talks about the front line of the war on terrorism - not the hillsides of Afghanistan or the cities in Iraq, but the hearts and minds of the billions of media consumers across the world.
The Industrial Revolution gave the working class more leisure time. As leisure became more important to society, becoming part of that leisure became more important to mass media.
3) Commercialization of Culture
The Industrial Revolution also brought the concept of rapid consumption of goods and services. And Mass Media played a key role in promoting consumption.
1) Media and Socialization
This refers to the ways media influences the development of an individual's culture and the culture of groups.
Two of the most powerful ways media achieves this socialization are:
People get information from many sources, but their primary source of information is the media.
20% of high school students listed rock music as an important source of information about moral values.
25% said it was an important source of information about interpersonal relationships.
Rap music has long been criticized for its anti-social and anti-feminist portrayals. The video below, from 2007, pits rap producer Irv Gotti against two social critics, a radio personality, and a model.
However, you also have the danger of sweeping generalizations about rap. Not all rap artists demean women in their music. And some female rap artists are cited as examples of empowerment.
Some critics also condemn popular music for its sexual attitudes. A study of 2009 Billboard hits across Country, Pop, and R&B found "approximately 92 percent of the 174 songs that made it into the [Billboard] top 10 in 2009 contained reproductive messages."
So what's wrong with Media as a Source of Information? It depends on how accurate the media is. What happens if we make decisions based in inaccurate information?
It depends on how many gatekeepers are involved, and whether the gatekeepers are biased. If our sources of information are unbalanced because of gatekeepers with an agenda to promote, we can make bad decisions.
Most importantly, it depends on whether the media is our only source of information about a culture. How much of our attitude towards Islam is based on news reports of violent attacks?
The two articles below point out some major trends in the news industry and discuss some of the dangers to the public caused by those trends.
The authors of "Warp Speed" examine what they call the new Mixed Media Culture, in which the classic function of journalism to sort out a true and reliable account of the day's events is being undermined and displaced by the continuous news cycle, the growing power of sources over reporters, varying and inconsistent standards of journalism, and a fascination with inexpensive, polarizing argument. The authors explore the implications of these changes for the role of journalism as a cohesive element in our culture and as a forum for public debate and catalyst for problem solving.
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