Media, Power, & Culture

1. Media, Power, & Culture JMC 20001 Spring 2012

2. An Overview • First Amendment • MPC • Media • Power • Culture

3. The First Amendment Congress shall make no law respecting: • an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; • or abridging the freedom of speech, • or of the press; • or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, • and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

4. Culture The symbols we use to give order to our lives and to express our values

5. Effects of culture • Liberating • Provides us with useful guidelines for behavior • Can help us make meaningful decisions about right and wrong, appropriate and inappropriate, good and bad, attractive and unattractive, etc. • Limiting • Unwilling or unable to move past patterned, repetitive ways of thinking, feeling or acting

6. Cultural Symbols • Fashion • Music • Sports • Architecture • Religion • Media • Customs • Etc.

7. Media the vehicles that produce and deliver many of those cultural expressions to large, distant audiences

8. Media • Books • Newspapers • Magazines • Radio • Recordings • Movies • TV • Internet

9. POWER • The power the media have • The powers that shape media decisions • The power of the audience (us)

10. POWER THE MEDIA HAVE • Shape our values and opinions • Influence what we think about • Influence how we spend our time

11. powers that shape media decisions • Profit • Concentration of Ownership • Technology

12. Power the audience has • Don’t read, buy, watch, listen • Educate ourselves about how media work • Think critically about media messages • Be an activist • Spread opinions • Reach our own mass audiences

13. Goal • To obtain media literacy by understanding: • message form • difference between message and messenger • the motivation for a message • the limitations of the media • the traditions of the media • popular myths about the media