Thursday, September 1, 2011

Are American Values Shaped by the Mass Media?

YES (Schiller):
-  Schiller argues that mass media institutions are key elements of the modern capitalistic world order
-  Media produces economic profit and the ideology necessary to sustain a world system of exploitative divisions of social and financial resources

NO (Carey):
-  Communication is not simply a process of sending messages as the transmission model would suggest
-  Communication is a symbolic process which is inherently linked to culture and our lives

-  The critical/cultural perspective is advocated by Schiller, the ritual view of communication by Carey
-  Schiller outlines the five myths that structure media content and manipulate consciousness
      -  These myths function to produce the status quo and maintain existing social power structures
-  Mass communication scholars are concerned that the power of the media to shape attitude and opinions, paired with inevitably result in a recreation of current power structures, which inequitably divide social resources
-  Carey defines communication as a "symbolic process whereby reality is produced, maintained, repaired, and transformed"
      -  Ritual models see communication a directed toward the maintenance of society in time and the representation of shared beliefs

-  Many people do not consider the media as having an observable impact on them or on those around them

-  Schiller was a powerful proponent of the theory that media is structured by the economic conditions under which it operates
-  Carey argues that commitment to the transmission model of communication has inevitably focused our attention on issues of power, administration, and control
-  The ritual view of communication turns our attention to aesthetics, religion, values, and intellect

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