- [Voiceover] What exactly are we talking about
when we talk about mass media?
Well, we're talking about the dissemination of information,
or how information is transmitted within a culture.
And this can include print media,
like books, newspapers, and magazines,
as well as digital media,
like TV, movies, radio, and the internet.
Exactly how this media is consumed
changes across cultures and age groups.
For example, my grandmother gets a lot of her information
about current events through TV and newspapers,
but I primarily get this information online.
And when we look at mass media,
we can look at the role it plays in our society
through different sociological perspectives.
So according to the functionalist view,
one of the most important functions of mass media
is to provide entertainment.
So it's meant to occupy our leisure time.
But the functionalist view also says that mass media
can also act as an agent of socialization
and an enforcer of social norms.
It presents a standardized view of society
and provides a collective experience
for members of that society.
Think about the shared experience
of watching the Olympics on television,
or being with a group of people
to see a movie on opening night.
Mass media also functions to bring people together.
And there are entire internet-based communities
that are focused on things like
LGBT rights or childcare,
or fans of music groups that sing songs about Harry Potter.
But mass media can also tell us
about what society expects of us
through what it rewards and punishes.
So when we hear something about
criminal behavior from mass media,
it is often talked about in terms of
bringing criminals to justice.
Which reinforces the idea that criminal behaviors
are bad and should be avoided.
However, the media can sometimes also glorify behaviors
that society as a whole would deem to be wrong.
Things like intense physical violence.
Mass media also functions
as a promoter of consumer culture.
At the turn of the century, the average U.S. child
saw 20,000 commercials a year on TV.
And that doesn't include ads on the radio
or billboards or signs in front of stores
announcing 50% off sales.
And it's only increased from there.
And it's not necessarily clear what kind of an impact
this might have on the next generation.
The conflict view focuses on
how the media reflects and portrays,
and may even exacerbate,
divisions that exist within our society.
Like divisions based on race, ethnicity, gender,
or social class.
Conflict theory uses the term gatekeeping
to describe the process by which
a small number of people and corporations
control what material is being presented on the media.
It describes how information,
so things that appear in our newspapers,
the stories that are made into movies,
what TV shows are turned into pilots,
it describes how these things move through a series of gates
before they can reach the public.
In some countries, this might be controlled
primarily by the government.
But for others, it's decided primarily
by large media corporations.
Gatekeeping can also have more of an effect
on some media than others.
For example, a lot of control is put on
what big-budget movies are made,
but there is very little overhead control
of what gets posted online.
The conflict theory also describes
how mass media often reflects the dominant ideology.
Giving time and space, or privileging,
certain social, economical, and political interests,
while sometimes actively limiting other views.
The people who make the choices about
what media is produced, the gatekeepers,
are predominantly white, male, and wealthy.
And as a result, stories representing the views
of racial minority groups, women, LGBT individuals,
and working class people are typically underrepresented.
And because of this divide, portrayals of minority groups
can often be stereotyped,
or guided by unrealistic generalizations
about a certain group of people.
And while some corporations have taken the steps
to try to improve this,
they sometimes take it in the wrong direction,
which results in tokenism instead of actual diversity.
Or cases where a single minority member
is added to a TV show or movie
as a stand-in for that entire group.
Feminist theory's understanding of mass media
is similar to what we would see in conflict theory
in that it also holds that mass media stereotypes
and misrepresents society towards the dominant ideology.
Specifically, it focuses on the way that messages
about men and women are represented in the media.
It notes that women are often
underrepresented in media content,
that men are often considered normal
while women are considered to be other.
Think about ads for products.
We have razors and razors for women.
Pens and pens for her.
Depictions of men and women
are often highly stereotyped,
enforcing strict gender roles
and emphasizing traditional sex roles.
So women are more often portrayed as victims
and men as aggressors.
And women are much more likely to be depicted
as shallow or being obsessed with looks,
which also makes it more likely
that they'll be sexualized and objectified.
The interactionist perspective
looks at mass media on the micro level
to see how it shapes day to day behavior.
It looks at how mass media blurs the line
between solitary and group activities.
So think of the act of seeing a movie.
You may be watching it with other people,
but because of societal norms or even theater rules,
you are actually forbidden from talking about the movie
with the people you're with.
It also looks at the fact
that how we connect with other people using media
tends to change over time.
So whereas before I might have called
my grandparents to keep in touch with them,
now I can talk with them via email,
or even text message.
The rate at which people meet romantic partners
online has also increased,
which is something that probably would have seemed
very confusing to just a few generations before ours.