Presenter: Lecturer:
Theme 4: The media Track 4.1
Nowadays, the media is big business. It is obvious that we all encounter media all the time. Television, radio, movies, music and, of course, social media like Facebook and Twitter. The audience is, potentially, worldwide. Sociologists and psychologists are interested in three questions about media. The questions sound very similar but they are, in fact, very different. By the way, I’m taking my points today from the 2010 edition of Denis McQuail’s book about mass communication theory.
OK. The first question is: what do audiences use media for? In other words, how do they use it? This might seem a very easy question to answer. But it is interesting to see how McQuail answers the question. We’ll come to that in a minute.
Secondly, what does media do to the audience? What I mean is, how does media influence the opinions and attitudes of the audience? Psychologists used to be very worried about this, and it’s still a concern, but McQuail has some interesting points to make in this area.
The third, and for me the most interesting question, is this: what does the audience do to the media? Or to put it another way, how does the audience change the media? Perhaps it is strange for you to hear that the audience can change the media when we are talking about some of the biggest organizations in the world – the giant media companies, I mean. But research shows that the audience can and does change the media to some extent.
Presenter: Lecturer:
Track 4.2
OK, so, first question. What do audiences use media for? According to McQuail, audiences use media for four main purposes. Can you guess what they are? Well, it’s likely that you can work out two of them, but it’s doubtful that you will get the other two. They are not really obvious.
Firstly, McQuail says people use media for information and advice. People get news from media, but in addition, people use media to get advice. The internet, particularly, is a major source of advice, from TripAdvisor on hotels to price comparison sites for all kinds of consumer products. It’s known that most people check out companies and products on the internet now before they make a buying decision. So, that’s information.
The second use is … entertainment. It’s obvious that people use media like films and television programmes, music and the theatre for relaxation and enjoyment. For a short time, they stop thinking about work or worrying about their lives. Some people say it is their only way to relax. It’s sad that this is true, but it is part of modern life, perhaps.
So we’ve got the two obvious ones out of the way. Did you guess them? Now, how else do people use media? Well, in McQuail’s view, they use it for, thirdly, personal identity. What does that mean in this situation? Well, personal identity in this case is the way that you see yourself. I’ll repeat that. The way that you see yourself. We all have a view of our personal identity. McQuail believes that people use the media to find out more about themselves.
Finally, in McQuail’s view, audiences use media for interaction. Interaction. For example, people often start conversations by referring to media – for example, Did you see that programme on television last night? Or Have you seen the latest Bond movie? Just think back to the last few days. When did you last start a conversation with a reference to media of some sort. I bet it was very recently.
Presenter: Lecturer:
Track 4.3
OK, so we have heard about the first question. Now, the second question. What does media do to the audience? It is known that some media items, like tabloid newspapers, have a very powerful influence. News media forms opinions about political points and social points in its audience. Advertising media gets people to buy products – maybe products they don’t need or can’t afford. The internet contains lots of websites with information which is simply not true. But some believe everything they read on the internet. So it is important that we teach children to recognize the power of the media and teach them also to think critically about information from media sources. It’s sometimes called media literacy – meaning the ability to read the media, as opposed to normal literacy, which is the ability to read text which does not have a hidden message.
Finally, question 3. What does the audience do to the media? It is interesting that the answer has probably changed in the last 20 years. Until about 2000, the answer was probably that the audience did not change media at all. All the interest of sociologists was on the second question – what does the media do to the audience? But now, many sociologists think that audiences are affecting the media in a big way. Perhaps you can guess the things that have produced this change in the last 20 years? Of course, it’s social media. It’s fantastic that Twitter and blogging and other social media have given the audience a voice, and a very powerful voice, too. It’s believed that sometimes, the modern audience changes a message from the media in a very strong way.
OK. So, those are the three questions. Now, let’s look at each point in more detail ...
200 Transcripts
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124 |
Page 125 |
Page 126 |
Page 127 |
Page 128 |
Page 129 |
Page 130 |
Page 131 |
Page 132 |
Page 133 |
Page 134 |
Page 135 |
Page 136 |
Page 137 |
Page 138 |
Page 139 |
Page 140 |
Page 141 |
Page 142 |
Page 143 |
Page 144 |
Page 145 |
Page 146 |
Page 147 |
Page 148 |
Page 149 |
Page 150 |
Page 151 |
Page 152 |
Page 153 |
Page 154 |
Page 155 |
Page 156 |
Page 157 |
Page 158 |
Page 159 |
Page 160 |
Page 161 |
Page 162 |
Page 163 |
Page 164 |
Page 165 |
Page 166 |
Page 167 |
Page 168 |
Page 169 |
Page 170 |
Page 171 |
Page 172 |
Page 173 |
Page 174 |
Page 175 |
Page 176 |
Page 177 |
Page 178 |
Page 179 |
Page 180 |
Page 181 |
Page 182 |
Page 183 |
Page 184 |
Page 185 |
Page 186 |
Page 187 |
Page 188 |
Page 189 |
Page 190 |
Page 191 |
Page 192 |
Page 193 |
Page 194 |
Page 195 |
Page 196 |
Page 197 |
Page 198 |
Page 199 |
Page 200 |
Page 201 |
Page 202 |
Page 203 |
Page 204 |
Page 205 |
Page 206 |
Page 207 |
Page 208 |
Page 209 |
Page 210 |
Page 211 |
Page 212 |
Page 213 |
Page 214 |
Page 215 |
Page 216
