Media, Culture and Society

Readings Encoding, Decoding and Preferred Meanings Social Context and Differential Readings Audiences as Cultural Producers Ethnographies of Audiences, Fans and Users Conclusion: An Uncritical Celebration?PART TWO: MEDIA, POWER AND CONTROL6. Media as Manipulation? Marxism and Ideology Introduction Marxism and Ideology: Basics The Culture Industry as Mass Deception Unsupported Elitism? Ideological Meanings Beyond Marx's Materialism Case Study: Consumerist Myths Political Economy and Ideology Manufacturing Consent Cultural Imperialism as Globalization of Ideology Arguments and Criticisms Political Economic versus Cultural Approaches Complex Communication Flows and Consumer Resistance Conclusion: Avoiding Easy Dismissals7. The Construction of News Introduction Selection, Gatekeeping and Agenda-Setting News Values Case Study: September 11th 2001 Constructing Stories Differences between News Providers Medium Style and Market Position Political Stance Similarities: Back to Bias and Ideology? Class Bias Institutional Bias Infotainment and Depoliticization Conclusion: Bad News?8. Public Service or Personal Entertainment? Controlling Media Orientation Introduction Public Service Broadcasting (PSB) Reith and the BBC Differing PSB Arrangements Developing PSB Principles Enabling or Imposing? Censorship: Preventing Harm and Offence Avoiding Majority (and Minority) Offence Pornography Violence Preventing Harm or Inhibiting Freedom? Commercial Competition and Consumer Choice Neo-Liberal Approaches US Broadcasting: A Free Market Model A Toaster with Pictures: The Decline of Regulation Conclusion: A Rosy Commercial Future?9. Decline of the National Public: Commercialization, Fragmentation and Globalization Introduction Media and the Public Sphere Habermas' Public Sphere Media and Public Engagement Nation as 'Imagined Community' Decline of the Public Sphere From Facilitators to Shapers Commercially Driven Content Digital Dilution of the Nation Fragmentation Globalization The Internet: Interactive but Fragmented Conclusion: National Public - Good Riddance?PART THREE: MEDIA, IDENTITY AND CULTURE10. Media, Ethnicity and Diaspora Introduction Racism and Exclusion Representation Under-Representation Stereotypical Representations The Reproduction of Subordination Promoting 'Positive' Images Reversing Stereotypes of Passivity Successful, Well Adjusted, Integrated The Burden of Representation New Ethnicities and Diaspora New Ethnicities Diaspora Representing Diaspora Audience Segregation Newspapers, Video and Global Bollywood Digital Specialization Online Diaspora Conclusion: Empowerment or Ghettoization?11. Media, Gender and Sexuality Introduction Constructions of Femininity Female Marginalization The Male Gaze Patriarchal Romance and Domesticity Post-Feminist Independence? The Enduring Gaze Elitist Critics? Empowering Possibilities Reading the Romance Subversive Pleasures? From Consumers to Producers Remaining Critical Media and Masculinities Masculinity or Masculinities? Lads' Mags and Contradictory Representations Beyond Heterosexuality Conclusion: A Balanced Approach12. Media Communities: Subcultures, Fans and Identity Groups Introduction Media versus Community Homogenization and Atomization Resisting Mass Culture (and Media): Youth Subcultures Moral Panic and Mass Media Stigmatization Targeting Community Local Media Niche Magazines and Consumer Groupings Niche Digital Media DIY Media and Internet Communication Fanzines Online Micro-Communication Virtual Community Communities or Individuals? Conclusion: All about Definitions13. Saturation, Fluidity and Loss of Meaning Introduction Saturation as Loss of Meaning Consumerism: Expansion and Speed-up Information Overload Media = Reality From Truth, to Ideology, to Simulacra Celebrity Culture as Hyperreal Identity: Fragmentation and Fluidity Recycling and Pastiche The Internet as Virtual Playground Simulated Identity? Internet as Extension of Everyday Life Case Study: Social Networking Sites Conclusion: Saturated but Real?Glossary