SOSC 1040 Lecture 14: Mass Communications & Media Culture

• School: York University
• Department: Social Science
• Course: SOSC 1040
• Professor: Claudio Colaguori

Document Summary

All freedom begins with freedom of thought this underscores the importance of mass media and its power over public thought. Public media creates the mental environment that shapes our ideas, beliefs and influences the way we understand the world. The media disseminates forms of knowledge and information which are significant forms of power over people. We live in a media culture media culture as the dominant culture it is the primary medium through which consumerism is promoted. Communications media shape social relations between people. Humans are story-telling beings media as the main story teller. Basic model of monological mass communication: sender message receiver. Media effects theories how do people interpret media messages? the mainstreaming of perception. Ideological hegemony (soft control) getting people to consent through ideas rather than by force (hard control) Messages have manifest and latent content overt/surface meaning, and the hidden meaning contained in ideological subtexts. Ideology disguises its effects, its not always obvious as propaganda can be.