Media
Communication and Our
Media
I think few would disagree that as human beings who've been on this
planet for millions of years we should be able to
talk with each other and learn about ourselves. When we
communicate we usually learn about the problems we all
share and hear new ideas about how to solve them. Communication
becomes even more important when you consider that we've grown to over
6 billion in number, and the planet doesn't feel quite as big as it
used to. Two things must exist though if we are to learn about
each other and do something about the problems we share, 1) we need a
way to communicate
our ideas with each other; and 2) we must be able to organize around
our ideas if we so wish. The media play important roles in both
of these. Media are important because they make available
to us different
thoughts and ideas so that we can find out what we all have in
common. They then enable us with the ability to organize around
our shared ideas, which includes figuring out how to solve our common
problems. Now, there's no doubt that
something currently exists in our current media (mostly with news and
public affairs programming) that makes our
ability to communicate and organize possible. But I doubt any of
us
actually thinks that our current media system is perfect. News
and public affairs programming on television, radio, Internet, and in
print all have their hands tied. News people can't do what they
need to if they are to appropriately report the news, it costs too much
money and the return isn't worth the investment. This plays
out in several way:
- News organizations have been cutting jobs over the
past decade, especially foreign correspondents, which then effects what we learn about international events and policies
- News stations have been using prepackaged news
clips where a story looks just like any other news clip, except for the
fact that it was made by someone in an arm of the federal government or
an advertiser
- Local news coverage has diminished considerably
- Stories are more and more sensationalized
- News time slots have shrunk from an hour to 1/2 hour
which
may include sports, weather, and a feel good story
- Reporters rely on the standard local and national
sources
for content because it's too expensive to be investigative and speak
with others. This then results in common, status quo ways of understanding and addressing social problems, and an inability to "think outside the box"
- The rush to be the first to break a story leads to
oversimplified and incomplete reports
News is too expensive to produce and it doesn't bring in the amount of
money that other programs do. These are only some of the
fundamental problems we must
overcome if we are to learn about each other and solve out common problems.
Social Research and
Media
Social researchers have been studying the media
since the early 1900s. These folks mostly looked at how our media
is desigend and run.
They looked into how
news organizations, newspapers, public broadcasting, mainstream
programs, and other media all work and operate. Others
looked at the content, the stories, and the characters.
These folks analyzed newspapers, news reports on television,
news crime stories, and network and cable programs to name just a few,
and
they usually looked for different messages, how they were presented,
and which ones were ignored. Researchers found that
often messages ingrained in media content contributed
to incorrect and dangerous stereotypes, especially for some
combination
of poor, usually
black and/or Hispanic, men and women. They also found that
other, still popluar and truthful messages were rather
consistenly missing, and that these messages often challenged status
quo institutions and other things we take as given in society. For example,
coverage of crime -especially local- usually focuses on poor and racial
minorities, and reporters overuse police and other state institutions
as primary sources. This often results in good questions going
unrealized. We come to hear solutions to crime such as more
police, tougher laws, and more prisons, and never really think about
whether the police should even be handling that particular
"crime." Maybe it should be a medical issue, or a social service
issue, or something else? We don't get to hear ideas that venture
outside the box.
Many studies find that media content is
conditioned by, and/or
constrained by the way a specific media organization, and the
larger media system is designed and the things it must do
to continue running. Much of the
research that social scientists conducted and the discussions that
resulted reveal the imperfections of our current media system. And one of the main problems has to do with the
continuous pressure to bring in revenue and cut expenses.
Media
Effects
Social scientists have also been asking about the
likely
effects of
such a media system on we everyday people. One of the most
significant effects has to
do
with the media's ability to make us aware of things, or what's called
"agenda
setting." With agenda setting the media don't so much tell us
what to think, but
they do tell us what to think about, they identify certain things
as important and ignore others. The power of setting agendas and
framing messages over our thoughts, emotions, and
behavior is rather strong, and can help explain how we react to local,
national, and international events (legally, politically, and in our
everyday lives), such as why we fight wars
and why we use
police and prisons to solve many of our common social problems.
One reason why media effect us is because of our
over confidence in our ability to thwart and resist media messages, and
the fact that we often only see media effects as immediate and
direct. What's ironic though, is that we do this while
simultaneously thinking that others are, in fact, affected.
Almost all of us think we're special in that we can resist media power,
we believe we're unique in this strength, yet we belive others are not
as strong. For
some reason we think that despite being born and raised in an
environment saturated with media, we (i.e., just me, not most others)
are somehow immune to any effect. Somehow we (again me, not most
others) prevent our senses from being tricked and manipulated in any
way. Social scientists call this phenomenon "third-person
effect,"
and it makes it easier for us to be tricked and to buy into the trick
without knowing it. If you still think you're immune
then ask yourself how you think you might be different had you
grown up where there were no mainstream media system. How much of
what you know and think was informed by the media rather than personal
experience, schooling, or other avenues? Questions about media effects are not
yes/no, but how much and in what ways.
The media's ability to set agendas, inform, frame, and limit media
content and messages, all reflect the way it's designed, and all reveal
the power of our
current media, particularly news and public affairs media. If we
are to think
of a better way to communicate, learn about each other, and find out
what we have in common then we must begin to think more seriously and
rigorously about our current media system. Coming up with better
ideas is a difficult task and is more easily and effectively
accomplished through informed and widespread thought and
consideration. That's
where this webpage comes in.
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Media Links and Files (pdf)
Below, I offer links to
various media related resources, mostly media specific organizations or
organizations with broader purposes but that also address media. I do
this to assist journalists, policy makers, and those
who wish to start thinking more seriously about the media and wish to
ground their knowledge on research, or who wish to see
what people with similar concerns are doing. Some of the sources below are specifically relevant for Hartford, CT. I hope you find
these useful.
Links
Files
News Organizations Based on
Different Designs/Ideas (remember, it's the design that matters not the
particular people involved)
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