CMN 3104 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Manufacturing Consent, Social Stratification, Psychoanalysis

• School: University of Ottawa
• Department: Communication
• Course: CMN 3104
• Professor: Dina Salha

Document Summary

The direct effect theory assumes that media messages directly impact behaviour (clinical psychology - pavlov). Influenced by the studies of crowd mentality by gustave lebon. The social-functionalist theories do take into consideration the fact that individual and interpersonal communication contribute to decision making and interpretation of texts and messages (lasswell, lazarsfeld, merton) Mathematical theories of the media (cybernetics) consider the media as a part of a system of meta-stability and they facilitate the equilibrium of social organization and control. Critical theories view the media as tools that circulate the ideologies of the elites in order to get the consent of public. This means that, in order to maintain the status quo, those in power need to maintain the consent of the public by peaceful means rather than by coercion (gramsci) In principle, the role of the media as tools to expand the public sphere and public debate but distortions persist (habermas)