Ethical issues and criticisms

FOLLOW-UPS.

Discussion.

PART 2.

1) The “why”-questions. Provocative thinking.

1. Why did literacy spread so slowly?

2. Why didn’t the newspapers reach mass audience before the 19th century?

3. Why did the increase in circulation lead to a decline in feedback?

4. Why do people tend to like simpler mass media, that do not interfere in their chores?

5. Why is television considered a ‘chewing gum for ears and eyes’?

2) Research questions. Choose the issue that interests you most and search for more information. Prepare a report and deliver it to your classmates.

1. “Diamond Sutra”.

2. Johannes Gutenberg and his invention.

3. “The Times”.

4. “Public Occurrences Both Foreign and Domestic”.

5. Google – creation and facilities.

6. Educational TV.

3) Some of the American newspapers have been mentioned in the text. Your task now is to choose any American newspaper / magazine / journal and make a review about it.

4) Here are some issues that are traditionally mentioned in mass media:

-) current events

-) economy

-) art and culture

-) advertisement

-) hot news

-) politics

-) sport

-) religious issues

-) racial conflicts

Rank them in order of popularity and explain why you’ve ranked them this way.

5) A “mini-saga” article. Write a 100-word article on a topic of current importance for America or Russia.

6) Find out any song with the lyrics containing political issues. Bring the text in the class and analyse the content.

Supplementary reading.

Lack of local or specific topical focus is a common criticism of mass media. A mass news media outlet is often forced to cover national and international news due to it having to cater for and be relevant for a wide demographic. As such, it has to skip over many interesting or important local stories because they simply do not interest the large majority of their viewers. An example given by the website WiseGeek is that "the residents of a community might view their fight against development as critical, but the story would only attract the attention of the mass media if the fight became controversial or if precedents of some form were set".

The term "mass" suggests that the recipients of media products constitute a vast sea of passive, undifferentiated individuals. This is an image associated with some earlier critiques of "mass culture" and mass society which generally assumed that the development of mass communication has had a largely negative impact on modern social life, creating a kind of bland and homogeneous culture which entertains individuals without challenging them. However, interactive digital media have also been seen to challenge the read-only paradigm of earlier broadcast media.

Whilst some refer to the mass media as "opiate of the masses", others argue that is a vital aspect of human societies. By understanding mass media, one is then able to analyze and find a deeper understanding of one's population and culture. This valuable and powerful ability is one reason why the field of media studies is popular. As WiseGeek says, "watching, reading, and interacting with a nation's mass media can provide clues into how people think, especially if a diverse assortment of mass media sources are perused". Since the 1950s, in the countries that have reached a high level of industrialization, the mass media of cinema, radio and TV have a key role in political power. Contemporary research demonstrates an increasing level of concentration of media ownership, with many media industries already highly concentrated and dominated by a very small number of firms.

Дата добавления: 2014-12-23