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SOCI 201

SOCIAL PROBLEMS

Professor Kurt Reymers, Ph.D.

I am gross and perverted I’m obsessed and deranged I have existed for years But very little has changed I am the tool of the government And industry too For I am destined to rule And regulate you I may be vile and pernicious But you can’t look away I make you think I’m delicious With the stuff that I say I am the best you can get Have you guessed me yet?

I am the slime oozin’ out From your TV set You will obey me while I lead you And eat the garbage that I feed you Until the day that we don’t need you Don’t go for help...no one will heed you Your mind is totally controlled It has been stuffed into my mold And you will do as you are told Until the rights to you are sold

Artist: Frank Zappa

Song: I’m The Slime

Album: Overnite Sensation

Invisible airwaves Crackle with life Bright antennae bristle With the energy Emotional feedback On a timeless wavelength Bearing a gift

beyond price --- Almost free... All this machinery Making modern music Can still be open-hearted Not so coldly charted Its really just a question Of your honesty One likes to believe In the freedom of music But glittering prizes And endless compromises Shatter the illusion Of integrity

THEME: “Integrity in the Media” Artist: Rush

Song: The Spirit of Radio

Album: Permanent Waves (1979)

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Media Theory Read: The Media and Social Problems, Douglas Kellner 2004

Media Practice Read: Media Violence, American Academy of Pediatrics 2001 Read: Video Games and Violence, Crime Prevention research Digest 2011 Read: Gender and the Media, PTA.org 2010

The Internet Read: The Meme Machine, Blackmore 1999

Watch: Digital Nation, PBS Frontline

Media Problems Readings and Assignments

Media and Society 1. Mass Media and Society a. Features of the Traditional Mass Media

Media: Message is encoded and delivered through technology (a specific medium)

Mass: One sender (mass) audience

Unidirectional: Messages flow one-way

Standardized: Same messages for all members of the audience

Spatial-Temporal Disassociation: No “co-presence” at all.

Media and Society

b. Types of Mass Media: S y n c h r o n i c i t y

max ………….……………..min

Broadcast (TV, Newspaper, Netflix)

vs.

Point-to-Point (Telephone, IM chat, Email)

c. History of the Mass Media: i. First Amendment to the Bill of Rights –

“The Establishment Clause” (James Madison)

http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/conlaw/firstaminto.htm

A lots

u d i e n c e 0

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ii. Rapid Rise of Mass Media: Adoption of Media Technology by US Households

Media Technology Year medium

reached 1% of

US Households

Number of years to

reach 75% of US

Households

• Newspaper 1833 ?

• Radio 1923 14 yrs (1937)

• Television 1948 7 yrs (1955)

–VCR

–Cable/satellite TV

1980

1970s

12 yrs (1992)

≈30 yrs (2000)

• Internet 1992 12 yrs (2004)

Source: Dr Christopher Kollmeyer, http://www.abdn.ac.uk/sociology/notes07/Level1/SO1506/Mass%20Media%20(1).ppt

Media and Society

iii. History: Rise of the Corporate Media

Source: The Free Press, http://www.freepress.net/ownership/chart/main?gclid=CKaZ7O2lnKUCFQIGbAodTyoBJQ

Corporate Ownership 2015: The Big Six

The U.S. media landscape is dominated by massive corporations that, through a history of mergers and acquisitions, have concentrated their control over what we see, hear and read. In many cases, these giant companies are vertically integrated, controlling everything from initial production to final distribution. Here is more information about the largest U.S. media firms. Example: 2011 Comcast / NBC – 2015 Comcast / Time Warner

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2. Sociological Models of Media: a. Social Structure vs. Audience Agency

Media Message

Collective Response

S

E

L

F

“Hypodermic Needle” (Bullet) Model Over-emphasizes structural control of thought

“Active-Audience” Model

Over-emphasizes independence of thought

S

O

C

I

E

T

Y

Source: Dr Christopher Kollmeyer, http://www.abdn.ac.uk/sociology/notes07/Level1/

SO1506/Mass%20Media%20(1).ppt

Media and Society

Interpretation

How do media institutions facilitate structured order? (Structural-Functional Perspective)

Media and Society

2. Social Models of Media

b. Two-Flow and Encoding/Decoding Models

i. The Two-Flow model (Lazarsfeld and Katz)

- Not the media, but “opinion leaders” primarily influence consumer and political choice; Thus, media are not directly related to social problems; the media is not a dominant institution from this perspective.

ii. Encoding/Decoding (Stuart Hall)

- There is a level of interpretation used by the media consumer; media are not neutral, but the meaning of different media is different for each consumer.

How are media institutions socially constructed ? (Symbolic-Interaction perspective)

Media and Society

2. Social Models of Media

c. “Propaganda Theory”: Is the media inherently political? Chomsky and Herman's propaganda model is the thesis that corporate media, as profit-driven institutions, tend to serve and further the agendas of the interests of dominant, elite groups in the society. (Wiki)

Are the Media Too Liberal?

How are media institutions driven by power?

(Social Conflict perspective)

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Propaganda Model: Who Owns the Media?

Source: http://www.corporations.org/media/

Propaganda Model: Who Owns the Media?

Source: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/04/22/326320/-Is-it-time-for-the-Media-Ownership-Reform-Act-again

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Media and Society

3. Are The Media Too Violent? A problem with definition exists: What one person sees as violent may not be seen the same way by others. UK - 2,078 programs analyzed, 4 week sample, under 30.1% contained

some violence, frequency of violence 1.7 acts per hour (Cumberbatch: 1987)

NZ - 846 episodes of violence on one week, 9.5 acts per hour

Sweden, Switzerland - low rates of violence, 2 acts per hour (NZ Foundation

for Peace Studies: 1986);

Average Australian child - see 15,000 murders on TV during school year;

97% of crime shows, 74% adventure, 86% cartoons contain violence (Chain Reaction: 1992)

b. ‘Television Violence Causes Aggression’ Reports support findings: 1972 Surgeon General’s Report, 1982 National Institute of Mental Health, Royal Commission on Violence in Communications Industry, American Pediatrics Association (2001), etc.

Feshback & Singer study (1973) found boys viewing aggressive TV showed increase in aggressive behavior;

Belson study (1978) interviewed 1565 teenage boys in England between 1959 and 1971 - boys gave info on own level of violence, frequency. Belson found that

viewers who watched high amounts of violence reported greater violence; (Williams: 1986);

“Bidirectional model” - television violence influences aggression,

aggression influences preference for television violence (Huston & Friedrich-Cofer:1986)

Media and Society

Media and Society

c. ‘Television Violence Does NOT Cause Aggression’

Research on violence is inconsistent and flawed; findings

generalized to real world;

Effect is too small to make much difference;

There is no clear definition of violence;

Violence on TV is just reflecting real life (Josephson, 1995)

False correlations in research: e.g., study of adolescent boys watching

nonviolent programs, more aggressive. Errors - required to watch disliked programs, not in the home, boys not representative of population, disruption of social setting; (Freedman, 1984)

(Source: Huston & Friedrich-Cofer - Television Violence and Aggression)

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Media and Society

d. Game Violence Debate Digital games were linked to two highly public acts of

violence: the Columbine High School shootings in 1999 and Erfurt, Germany school shootings in 2002.

Violent games (as well as cinema, comics or rock music) have been blamed for violence, but it has been hard to demonstrate a clear, cause-and-effect relationship between media violence and real violence.

Debate around violent games continues and many countries have introduced games-related legislation.

Increasing REALISM in games

Video Games: Towards 3-Dimensional Technology

Most contemporary digital games require real-time three-dimensional image synthesis.

The increase of available memory and computing power is reflected in how 8-bit gaming technology was replaced first by 16-bit and then by 32, 64 and 128-bit systems.

Home computing devices capable of real-time three-dimensional graphics became widely available in the 1990s.

Media and Society

8-Bit Era

Atari 2600 (1977)‏

Magnavox Odyssey2 (1978)‏

NES/ Famicom

‏(1983)

Nintendo Game Boy (1989)‏

Commodore 64 (1982)‏

Image credits: Wikipedia, www.wikipedia.org.

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16-Bit Era

PC Engine/ TurboGrafx-16 (1987)‏

Sega Mega Drive (1988)‏

Neo Geo (1990)‏

SNES (1990)‏

Image credits: Wikipedia, www.wikipedia.org.

32-Bit / 64-Bit Era

3DO Interactive Multiplayer ‏(1993)

Amiga CD-32 (1993)‏

Atari Jaguar (1993)‏

Sega Saturn (1994)‏

Sony PlayStation (1994)‏ Nintendo 64 (1996)‏

Image credits: Wikipedia, www.wikipedia.org.

128-Bit Era

Sega Dreamcast (1998)‏

Sony PlayStation 2 (2000)‏

Nintendo GameCube (2001)‏ Microsoft Xbox (2001)‏

Image credits: Wikipedia, www.wikipedia.org.

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Current Era

Nintendo DS (2004)‏

Sony PlayStation Portable ‏(2004)

Microsoft Xbox 360 ‏(2005)

Sony PlayStation 3 (2006)‏

Nintendo Wii (2006)‏

Image credits: Wikipedia, www.wikipedia.org.

Start of Three-Dimensional Action:

“DOOM”

Doom (id Software, 1993) combined free movement in a three-dimensional environment and fast, shooter style action successfully.

With its multiple followers (‘Doom clones’), it started the First Person Shooter (FPS) genre.

An important factor in the game’s success was its atmosphere, derived from horror and science fiction film conventions.

Also, the shareware distribution model contributed to Doom spreading quickly among the computer gamer communities.

DOOM Game Art

Download and play a Windows version of the free Doom shareware episode: http://www.download.com/Doom-95-demo/3000-7453_4-855497.html

Image credits: id Software.

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Gameplay Immersion: Point of View

The first person view does not focus our attention as much on the game character as the view used in ‘third person shooters’ (see Tomb Raider style of games)‏.

Doom has very transparent interface: the player focus is strongly on the task and a feeling of immersion in virtual space is created.

Image credits: Core Design, Crystal Dynamics; sources: www.tombraiderchronicles.com, www.wikipedia.org.

Gameplay Experience Model

Game – player interaction and the three components of immersion in play (the SCI model, Ermi & Mäyrä, 2005).

Image credits: Laura Ermi & Frans Mäyrä.

Controversy Continues

FPS action has become part of ‘family games’ too, like those in the Harry Potter franchise.

The Grand Theft Auto series has created controversy with its violent and sexual content.

The violent, adult-oriented themes of FPS style games continue to evoke debate.

Is violence just a tool of capitalism?

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Media and Society

4. Memetics and the Media

a. Language (code) allows for cultural evolution

Some scientists believe that culture and language evolve using the same patterns and principles as genetic evolution.

Principles of Natural Selection apply Variation

Inheritance

Selection (survival of the fittest)

Media and Society

4. Memetics and the Media DNA and memes succeed when they are present in the following

ways:

i. ↑Amount of transmitted material - Fecundity

ii. ↑Accuracy of transmission - Fidelity

iii. ↑Age of replicator - Longevity

Media and Society

4. Memetics and the Media

b. Whereas the “gene” is the unit of transmission

(replicator) in biological evolution, the “meme” is the unit of transmission (replicator) in cultural evolution.

“Meme” is a shortened version of the Greek word “mimeme”, which means “imitation” or “mimicry”.

Gene : DNA

Meme : Media

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Media and Society

4. Memetics and the Media

c. What is a Meme?

“ a replicator that conveys the idea of a unit of cultural transmission, or a unit of imitation”

--Richard Dawkins

- or -

“an information pattern, held in an individual's memory, which is capable of being copied to another individual's memory.” -- F. Heylighen

Media and Society

4. Memetics and the Media c. A meme unit is the smallest idea (or set of ideas) that get

copied completely.

Examples of memes or meme units:

(Beethoven’s 5th) Advertising slogans and jingles

Viral Internet jokes

Religious beliefs

Scientific Knowledge

Media and Society

e. Meme “vehicles” or “machines” are ways in which idea sets get copied from one brain to another.

Meme machines always rely on human transportation and communication technologies.

Examples of meme machines are:

Human signals

Human speech

Traditional Media: printing press, newspaper, radio

New media: TV, the Internet, email, etc.

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Media and Society

Gene in parent

Gene in progeny

Gene Transmission

Meme Transmission

Offspring brain

Unrelated next

generation brains

Peer brains

Related or unrelated previous generation

Media and Society

f. “Meme machines” are getting more complex and accurate over time (Blackmore 1999)

The new media are particularly engaging the transition to digital media as a more effective means of replication of ideas.

i. ANALOG DIGITAL transition

ii. Computers copy instructions -software) (vs copying the product -hardware)

iii. Ease of use of computer software has fostered replication.

Media and Society The burgeoning literature ...

A New Theory of How We Think &

Communicate

Journal of Memetics online … And finally … a great web site …

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Frontline: Digital Nation

PT II 2’30” Multitasking study at Stanford 4’40” “Are we changing what it means to be human?” 5’10” Impact of the Internet on the brain PT III South Korean video game parlors; a problem of public health; End: The Netiquette Song! PT IV Computers in the classroom (New Jersey); is it valuable or just

“instant gratification education”?

Frontline: Digital Nation PT V

Schools in the Bronx have improved learning (test scores) with I.T.

1’45” BUT, when kids get older, reading suffer

Bubbe – grandma’s internet cooking show

5’00” World of Warcraft convention

7’45” “The urge to connect to other people” defines the reason for the compulsion; an intensity of relationships exists; people are deeply connected – technology offered a “new way to be intimate”

PT VI

Interview with Philip Rosedale of Second Life; Will technological innovation solve technological alienation?

4’00” Second Life at IBM

Sherry Turkle:

Frontline: Digital Nation PT VII

Virtual experiences can profoundly effect a person.

2’00” The “Swimming with Whales” experiment

3’00” Army use of VR to treat PTSD

4’50” Technology is driven by warfare

10’00” Ethics of drone aircraft

PT VIII

Army Experience Center

2’25” “Blurring the lines between the virtual and the real”

4’00” Kids have the ability to “naturally” jump between worlds

6’00” We have to PROTECT SCHOOLS from technology!

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Frontline: Digital Nation

7’00” Sherry Turkle:

“Technology challenges us to assert our human values, which means that first of all we have to figure out what they are – and that’s not so easy”…

“Technology isn’t good or bad – it’s powerful… and it’s complicated!”

The New Media have the power to transform the way we collectively see the world, which will be important when we need the world to change!

Frontline: Digital Nation 7’00” Sherry Turkle:

“Technology challenges us to assert our human values, which means that first of all we have to figure out what they are – and that’s not so easy”…

“Technology isn’t good or bad – it’s powerful… and it’s complicated!”