Science & the Mass MediaChapter 15

Science as a social institution

• Sociology of science is the study of the development of scientific knowledge, how scientific developments affect the development of society• Birth of science: Greek thinkers, great Egyptian

libraries• Fall of Rome and the Dark Ages

• Rebirth of science• 1.the Renaissance-wealth leads to patronage with funds

for arts• 2.development of movable type and practical printing

press• 3.Age of Exploration-needed to assist navigation and

analyze findings in New World• 4.Protestant Reformation-lowers belief in authority,

emphasizes individual

• Scientific method developed• Age of Enlightenment

•Modern science• disciplines multiply• education spreads• private/corporate/government

sponsorship of research• public imagination

Norms of Scientific Research

• Robert K. Merton• Universalism-judge research only on its merits, not

scientist• Organized skepticism-all research should be questioned,

no blind acceptance, revisit and re-question• Communalism-all knowledge available to all, sharing

knowledge is additive• Disinterestedness-scientists seek truth not personal

gain,no alter data to gain acceptance or awards• Counter-norms-if research is controversial, may develop

new norms (particularism, dogmatism, solitariness, interestedness)

Realities of Scientific Research• Fraud-anthropology examples Piltdown hoax• Competition- push to publish, cutting corners, ethical

violations• Matthew effect-credit goes to the more famous, experienced,

not newcomer, prevents fair recognition• Conflicting views of reality-earth as center of the universe vs

sun?1600s Galileo charged with heresy. PARADIGM-set of shared concepts, methods, and assumptions that make up a scientific reality at a point in history

• Ethics – genetically altered food, stem cell research, mechanical womb, intergalactic travel…what values will science embody? Nazi experimentation in camps-do we use the data?

Science Fiction• View of how science affects the individual and society• Starts as Utopian, how science will make the world a better

place• Industrial Revolution turns much literature into dystopian

images• Frankenstein, Brave New World, 1984• Ray Bradbury & Isaac Asimov• Star Trek, Star Wars fascination in popular culture with space

and science, way of re-telling traditional myths

Mass Media as a Social Institution• Instruments of communication that reach large audiences

with no personal contact between those sending the information and those receiving it

• TV, books, newspaper, CD, surf internet• Institutionalization of mass media as a social institution driven

by a series of intellectual and technological innovations• Writing & paper-trade requires recordkeeping, Sumerians,

cuneiform, tablets, animal skins, to paper (Chinese earliest)• Printing press- 1450s Johannes Guttenberg, movable type and

printing press• Industrial age-rising literacy, advertisement, electronic media

developed: telegraph, telephone, phonograph, radio, moving pictures, tv= new forms mass entertainment

• Computer and information society completely transforms the way people store and access information

• Internet revolutionizes the way people communicate-worldwide audience, immediacy, personal affects, and political changes

• 50% of all workers are employed today in information-related fields-programming, journalism, advertising

• Fastest growing job segment

Mass Media in the United States• Print Media• 1,500 daily newspapers• 57% adults read daily• 18,000 magazines published• 80% households at least one• 70,000 books published annually• 40% Americans read 10+ books a year

• Declining readership• 13% American population read 0 books a year• Shifting to digital formats-kindle, nook, online

• Audio Media• Sound recordings (cd, videos, cassettes, vinyl)• Pirating & MP3s• 10,700 commercial radio stations, 2,200 noncommercial

• Visual Media• Movies, tv, dvds• American studios 400-500 movies a year• 7,421 movie theaters, 37,000+ screens• 98% American homes have tv, 68% wired for cable• Average American family watches 7 ½ hours/day• 85% American households have vcr/recording device

• Online Media• Email, online chat, shopping, discussion groups• 50% American households have internet access• Social media changing social rituals

• Convergence• Integration of different media technologies-ex. NYT on web, cd

versions of books• Media consumption alters with age-movies more young,

newspapers older demographic

Perspectives• Functionalist perspective• Media increases the efficiency of society• Means of socialization• Study dating changes

• Conflict perspective• How does the media maintain social order? Propaganda, how is

information provided and controlled?• Concentration of media outlets in hands of few elites• Knowledge-gap hypothesis-as new information enters society,

wealthy better educated acquire it faster, increasing gap• Digital divide-gap between those with access to new technologies

and those without• Who plays roles? Minority parts on tv

Contemporary Issues•Mass media and children• Watching too much television? Too much time online/gaming?

Disengagement from direct social contact

• Amount of violence on tv• Tv violence encourages viewers to act in aggressive ways as a

means of solving problems• Less sensitive to suffering of others• Make fearful of the world around them

• Rating system and parental controls• Advertising targeting children

Mass Media & Civic & Social Life• Bowling Alone, Robert Putnam, argues that since the 1960s

Americans have become more and more disconnected from civic and social life

• Voting decreased• Membership in civic organizations like PTA, decline• Less entertaining at home• Resulted in the decline of the nation’s social capital: social

networks and reciprocal norms associated with these networks that encourage people to do things for each other-particularly tv and internet

Power of the Media• Agenda setting- gatekeepers, media executives, editors,

reports determine what is ‘news’, they decide what issues will receive coverage and which will not

• Spiral of silence-different outlets all cover the same story, with the same spin, bombard audience with similar messages, discourage other voice

• Is there a liberal bias? FOX news?• Opinion leaders