Defining Mediatization

When it comes to culture and society and its relations to the media, many theorists have come to develop an understanding of how it is that media has changed or is changing our understanding of modern society. The media is commonly known as the different modes of communication, which is the ability to communicate through a specific type of mode in which information has to pass from point A to B. An example of media taking effect is seen in the use of newspapers and how it is used as a medium to inform people of events happening around them. In addition, Marshal McLuhan and Raymond Williams, developed two different theories towards the development and effects of the media. McLuhan explains his theory through his book “The Medium is the Massage”, which explains how the media is the medium for everything we interact with. On the other hand, William rejects McLuhan’s idea through his article “The Technology and Society”. In his article, he states how McLuhan’s theory is in error because his theory gets rid of technology from society rather than explaining how they both interact with each other. However, both of their theories are very important when understanding how media has allowed humans to communicate, interact, and change the world we live in.

The media is capable of articulating images, ideas, concepts, and principles in order to manipulate people’s brain. Their ideas and concepts are easily identified by the passive and uncritical audience. The opinions of the observers are molded and directed by television (largest social communicator), radio, magazines, internet, and newspapers. The current role of the media creates a reality produced by themselves, thus it is capable of constructs and produces male and female behaviors.

The Media promotes and reproduces societal values and norms, establishing common meanings and understandings among groups and individuals. These common meanings are portrayed in the media and put forward by the dominant culture; and for this reason the patterns of inequality that benefit the dominant culture are produced and reproduced. The media today are not only entertaining the people but also favor the spreading of certain information. The different media thus convey the messages of the dominant culture and provide subcultures with justifications for these relations of ruling. These patterns of inequality can be interpreted through four major sociological angles: structural functionalism, conflict

Media is defined as any form of communication; however, the term is mainly used for television, radio, and the Internet. “Regardless of the form it takes, media holds the power to construct and reflect our own sense of identity, in both affirmative and detrimental ways” (199). In American society, the media makes many assumptions based on gender, race, and religion that directly affects how people in a society view each other.

The mass media has become a big part of our society and its counterparts. In a time span of 50 years this medium has influenced society to an extent where it has created wonders. This immaculate tool can control almost every action we perform, from speaking to the actions that every human being performs in society. The mass media has brought upon a new era of idea's and changes in the world we live in. As we analysis media in depth we will find many aspects of media which overlap and some of the smallest factors and aspects of media, which create the biggest impact on society.

In detail this paper will show how the media played an important role in the culture today. It will answer the questions What were the major developments in the evolution of mass media in the last century? It will also ask How did each development influence American culture? And What is ment by the term media convergence and how it affected everyday life?

Media and communications are powerful tools in the world that has had major input in the development of technology and knowledge. However, there are theoretical aspects that have gone into the development of media and communications such Marxism, structuralism, cultural studies, subcultural theory, feminism and postmodernism. Louis Althusser (1970) wrote an essay called ‘Ideology and Ideological State Apparatuses’, in which he explains how the various parts of social formation- “the family, education, the mass media, cultural and political institutions” all serve to preserve the sense of the ruling ideology (Hebdige, 2012). This connotes that there are many things that have influenced the development of mass media.

The media is the means of communication, as radio and television, newspapers, and magazines that reach or influence people widely. The growth of the media has spread vastly over the years. The media is also known as a “channel of mass communication.” “Mass Media incorporates all those mediums through which information is distributed to the masses. These include advertisements, magazines, newspapers, radio, television, and the Internet” (Sebastian). The media introduces many new things to the public, both positive and negative. The media harms the American culture by creating these celebrity idols, the glorification of violence, sex, and drug and alcohol abuse. The media positively affects the American culture by the quick and easy flow of

Media is all around us and individuals seek gratifications from using it, “In the era of mediatization, the vision of what the media do with audiences and what

In an effort to understand the media and its functionality, it is my belief that one needs to go back to inception to get a fair understanding. The twentieth century was an era that saw an explosion of mass media however, prior to the late 1980s; the only form of mass media that was prominent of that time was literature. It was noted that back in these times, the average person had to get by with music and oral storytelling or live action media through the form of plays or even gladiatorial combats (Ferguson 2013). In light of the above, one might argue that mass media back in the day experienced a little flourish, for instance the proliferation of theaters in Greek civilization or Coliseum games in Rome. Nonetheless, it would be safe to say that mass media that we have come to know today, is a comparatively modern phenomenon, due to the fact, that modern mass media differs gravely from its historical antecedents but more with regard to technology rather than content. Business dictionary defines media as the communication channels through which news, entertainment, education, data, or promotional messages are disseminated. This is inclusive of every broadcasting and narrowcasting medium such as newspapers, magazines, TV, radio, billboards, direct mail, telephone, fax, and internet. This definition simply highlights the reality that the media is so vast and complex that it is impossible to sum up what it is in a few words.

Media influence is the force by which ideas are injected into people’s lives shaping the very culture of society. This influence is masqueraded through hidden media message, resulting in a change in its audience which can be positive or negative, abrupt or gradual, short term or long term. Although mass media’s influential effect can reach a wide ranged audience as an agent of socialization the responsibility to contain what it releases has not been of importance. “The media’s socially significant obligations are formally ignored.” (A.S. Zapesotskii, 2011, p 9). Media messages can be exerted through many different outlets such as TV shows, music, movies, commercials, news, magazines, games which are all gravitated to entertain audiences ultimately offering personal gratification that can sometimes blur the lines between reality and

Media in today 's reality plays an imperative and vital part in getting down to business the conclusion of overall population over different matter of political and social criticalness. Ideas like trial by media and so forth are occurring which are an immediate consequence of activism of media and the dynamic effect that media plays on the mentalities of overall population.

The media’s job is to entertain, inform, and educate society on what is going on around the world. The media entertains society by reporting stories that amuse people. The educational function of the media is about allowing society to know their legal rights. The informational aspect of the media does not need to be explained; it is self-explanatory. Within the last three decades, the media’s role has changed dramatically. The media went from using telegraphs, post offices, newspapers, magazines, radio, and television to using cell phones and tablets. In the modern era, which is also sometimes referred to as the information age, global networking and global communication have shaped modern societies. The majority of

It has been concluded that: “mediatisation and duality are ideas that co-exist… the media has become incorporated into the strategies of different organisations and at the same time it has also obtained the status as being an autonomous and separate body.” (Hjavard 2008) (Strombock & Dimitrova 2011). Hjarvard (2008) Stromback & Dimitrova (2011) and Stromback & Van Aelst (2013) have argued that the notion of mediatisation is: “characterised as the methodology by the media which is independent has amassed major

The Mediatized refers to the information overload provided by the government, the media and any other mean of mass communication (Page 14). The problem resides in the notion that it is very difficult to choose which information is precise and which is information is factually wrong (Page 15). The media is usually motivated by subjectivity and biases, which removes the objectivity of the information that is being broadcast (Page 16). As a result, skepticism about the legitimacy and worthiness of the material delivered is raised in terms of serving a greater purpose of connectivity at the multitude level (Page