Mass media, social control, and social change : a macrosocial perspective / edited by David Demers and K. Viswanath.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Demers, David, 1953-

Viswanath, K. (Kasisomayajula)

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Social change.

Mass media--Influence.

Mass media.

Social control.

Mass media--Social aspects.

Physical Description:

xiii, 454 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

Ames : Iowa State University Press, 1999.

Summary:

Are mass media an agent of social control or social change? To varying degrees, the contributors to this book take up this question. Some place greater emphasis on control; others on change. But all share the view that the media processes and effects cannot be explained solely as a function of either control or change.

The contributors to this volume also share a commitment to explaining media processes and effects from a structural, macro, or systemic perspective -- a sorely neglected level of analysis.

The 17 chapters in this book are written by both established and emerging scholars from the fields of media studies, political communication, and media sociology. They examine a number of important topics, including social conflict, guided and secular social change, media and public opinion, civic communication, coverage of social groups, social movements, media impact on individuals, groups and institutions, and news making.

This book is a must read for advanced students and scholars in mass communication, journalism, sociology, and political science.

Contents:

Introduction: Mass Media from a Macrosocial Perspective / K. Viswanath, David Demers 3

Part I Societal Level of Analysis

1. Cultivation and Social Control / James Shanahan, Victoria Jones 31

2. The Effect of the Mass Media on Opinion Formation / Elisabeth Noelle-Neumann 51

3. Media Dependency Theory: Origins and Directions / Debra Merskin 77

4. Social Control, Social Change and Local Mass Media / Douglas Blanks Hindman 99

5. Social Control, Social Change and the Knowledge Gap Hypothesis / Emanuel Gaziano, Cecilie Gaziano 117

Part II Community Level of Analysis

6. Structural Pluralism and Media Accounts of Risk / Sharon Dunwoody, Robert J. Griffin 139

7. Community Pluralism and the "Tipping Point": Editorial Responses to Race and Related Structural Change / Oscar H. Gandy Jr. 159

8. Shaping the News Mirror: Community Structure, Reporter Specialization and Content Diversity / William F. Griswold 183

9. Community Integration and Mass Media: A Reconsideration / Lewis A. Friedland, Jack M. McLeod 197

Part III Organizational Level of Analysis: Guided Social Change

10. Changing the Media Production Process: From Aggressive to Injury-Sensitive Traffic Crash Stories / Sandra J. Ball-Rokeach, Matthew Hale, Adam Schaffer, Lorena Porras, Philip Harris, Miguel Drayton 229

11. Entertainment-Education Media Strategies for Social Change: Promises and Problems / William J. Brown, Arvind Singhal 263

12. A Rhetorical Analysis of Rupert Murdoch's Vision for Social Change / Ian G. Weber 281

13. Social Control, Social Change and the Mass Media's Role in the Regulation of Protest Groups / Douglas M. McLeod, James K. Hertog 305

Part IV Organizational Level of Analysis: Media Practices

14. Journalistic Occupational Development and Discourses of Power / Patricia L. Dooley 333

15. Sociocultural Evolution and the Gratification Niche / John Dimmick 359

16. Corporate News Structure, Social Control and Social Change / David Demers 375

17. Justifying Change and Control: An Application of Discourse Ethics to the Role of Mass Media / Theodore L. Glasser, Peggy J. Bowers 399

Conclusion: What Promotes or Hinders the Role of Mass Media as an Agent of Social Control or Social Change? / David Demers, K. Viswanath 419.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

0813826829

OCLC:

39322640