Chapter 16 - Media
Is Rick a Typical College Student?
Rick’s parents helped him sign up for and pay for a smart phone. That way he could access the Internet on the bus and between classes when he didn’t have time to sit down and open his laptop. Three weeks later, Rick walked into his parents’ room and asked them if they would take back his smart phone and help him get a flip phone that supports calling but not texting. Strange isn’t it. Why did Rick give his smart phone back? Before I tell you let me share a true story about an experience, I recently had in a local high school classroom.
I had been asked to support my academic department by actually observing AP Sociology teachers in a number of local high schools. This one really opened my eyes to what smart phones can do to a teenager and how they connect to peers using them. The teacher asked everyone who had a cell or smart phone to get it out and place it with the ringer and vibrate and notification turned off on the top of their desk, screen down. He asked them to get their notebook and pen and put everything else into their backpack under their desk. He actually said, “Now, no matter how you might feel, don’t pick up your phones until I ask But, we are going to use them for research later, in about twenty-five minutes.” Then he began to teach the lesson for the day. Soon, a student raised her hand and asked “Why did you want us to put our phones on our desk and not just leave them in our backpacks?” (by the way, I myself wandered about this).
The teacher said this, “Great Question! I forgot to give you all the instructions for this part of the lesson. I want each of you to count (don’t actually touch), just count every urge or feeling you have that you are being called or texted and need to reach over and look at the phone. Don’t reach over or even touch the phone, just count it and write a tick mark down for each urge or feeling you have to check it on the open notebook you have. Then we are going to look up a concept on the Internet using your phone after that.”
He went on with his lecture and I really enjoyed observing him. He had some awesome and engaging teaching strategies that made it comfortable for students to raise their hand and share their ideas or ask a question. As far as me observing him went, I actually counted how many different students participated (18 out of 25 ask or comment in about 30 minutes of time) and included this in my observation report. The teacher then changed the subject back to their smart phones. He said, “Okay, would each of you count up a total of the urges and feelings you documented. I want everyone to write the total number of marks you made, put your name on it, and I’ll come pick it up.” Since, I didn’t know any of the students’ names he asked me to quickly get a class average and include the lowest and highest counts. He later told me he had prearranged for the young woman to ask her question if after 1 minute of time passed none of the other students had asked. He went on to teach about group norms and peer pressure and I did some simple calculating. When I handed him back the papers, he asked me to report to everyone.
Believe it or not, in only 30 minutes of time, these students averaged about 30 urges or feelings per student per minute! One had documented 82 urges and one had only documented 22. But everyone felt compulsive urges to check it frequently. The teacher used this to discuss peer pressure and how uniquely intense it can be for high school aged teens in the U.S. That led him to introduce the subdiscipline of Social Psychology and how it overlaps with both Sociology and Psychology and how smart phone companies and app designers use these social science research strategies to get more advertising revenues; get more teen (and older smart phone users) to spend more of their awake time on the phone, and how their need to “be cool” or at least accepted by their closest friends on a constant level.
Literally hundreds of scientific articles are available on topics such as “phantom cell phone vibration syndrome;” smart-phone related anxiety and depression; late night smart phone use by teens; etc. Many of these and more are not as Sociological as they are clinical, but in the case used here Sociologists could add to both the description of the problem in our society and to the potential solutions (See for example: Brad Ichtech (Feb. 2019). “Smartphones and Face‐to‐Face Interaction: Digital Cross‐Talk During Encounters in Everyday Life.” Symbolic Interaction Journal, Vol 42, Issue 1, DOI https://doi.org/10.1002/symb.406 ; or even MIT’s Sherry Turkle’s books “Reclaiming Conversation: The power of talk in a digital age” or “Alone Together.” Both available in e-book form).
All this ties the case of Rick together for us. In answer to the question about Rick being a “typical college student” or not. I knew he really wasn’t. He graduated younger than most and went up to college as a Freshman but was not yet 18 at that time. He left high school friends to finish their senior year and decided to go ahead and enroll in college. I know so much about Rick because he is our son. The evening he handed back his smart phone, he explained to us that 24 hours per day, 7 days per week his friends were texting calling, needing something or just checking in with him. He was literally exhausted by it all! He said he finally realized he needed to get a flip phone for a while after one of his acquaintances from high school texted him at 2:30am and the text read, “Urgent, I need to talk now!!!” He woke himself up enough to help her then texted back, “Is everything ok?” She literally texted back, “I’m bored…” He came in to give us back the phone that same day. You’ll be happy to know he eventually exchanged his flip phone back for his smart phone.
This specific high school teacher was an amazing and engaging Sociology AP teacher who actually taught me something new. Most of you probably already knew about how smart phones are used and some of the pitfalls to teens and young adults. Older students like me don’t have those experiences. Would you believe they did not even have smart or flip cell phones when I was growing up?! We used land lines attached to out house. Weird to even think about that today, but it is true. As far as being connected constantly was concerned, we either hung out together or called, but since we shared a phone with other family members, most of the time we were not available 24/7 to connect with our friends.
We got all our news from these things they printed everyday called Newspapers. As a teen sometimes I would watch 1 of the 3 nightly news shows, but often we did not follow current events. News in newspapers was typically a day or more after the event happened and there was no video available of these events. Since newspapers depended on paid advertisements for revenue, the emergence of the Internet’s availability, increase in many online news outlets, and business-specific Websites who could reach far more customers online; newspapers dropped from their record high 64 million subscribers in 1974 down to around 30 million by 2018. Many local and a few major national newspaper companies are going under, some after centuries of being in the business (see PewResearch Barthel, M. (23 July 2019). “5 key takeaways about the state of the news media in 2018.”; retrieved 18 July 2020 from https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/07/23/key-takeaways-state-of-the-news-media-2018/ ).
The same PewResearch report showed other media trends including: declines in paid cable services, increases in online/cable news network viewers, ups and downs in the radio sector; increases in media revenue, but mostly for Facebook, Google, and a few other Internet-based media services; and ups and downs (mostly downs) for local news outlets. Here’s another question for you. When is the last time you read a newspaper (printed on paper)? What it a student, business provided, or family member provided newspaper? Have you ever paid for a printed newspaper? I recently overheard a loacal newspaper salesman trying to seel a subscription to the local printed newspaper to a younger customer. That young man said what many of us waiting in the checkout line were already thinking which was “Why would I want to pay for news?” The salesman had no answer. Newspapers are certainly one form of communication that is still included in the Social Institution of media.
But, in our day and age, most of us have access to social media without having to pay for it and with massive benefits such as nearly instant reporting with digital images and videos and even sound. Social Media=is a technology-based form of media that facilitates users to interact with and maintain their social networks at the primary and secondary levels of groups. The forms of social media change very quickly and include a list of social media platforms that constantly see new platforms emerging and existing one either adapting to hold their market share or disappear and get replaced. Brian Solis has developed a striking visual of the everchanging forms of social media and has carved out a niche as an expert in the field of using social media for a number of goals and purposes (search the “Conversation Prism” to see the images or go to https://www.briansolis.com/category/articles/ ).
Statista reported that worldwide in 2020 there were 3.6 billion social media users and that was expected to increase to 4.41 billion by 2025 (retrieved 18 July 2020 from SOURCE). Space X has systematically launched low-earth orbit satellites so that it can provide Internet access worldwide and users only need obtain a small device to mount on a tree, roof, pole, or building ( see Starlink). Space X is capitalizing on the fact that 4.1 billion ( an many more later on) will have access to and be using social media speaks to its use in the poorer regions of the world. How can poor people afford computers or other devices to gain social media access? Technological innovations have led to less expensive devices that give more access and do it at a much more affordable price. (see PewResearch 2018 Social media SOURCE). For those who can afford digital access huge expanding markets exist for large Internet service companies. As the economies of many of these poorer nations grown and the GDPs rise, the ability of more people in that nation to buy a device will increase. Google already provides its Internet search service for free (see SOURCE) and is undertaking a massive effort to launch ballons worldwide which can provide Internet service access in poorer nations so that it can capture the next billion or so new Internet users (SOURCE). Facebook is another example of Internet-based services being generously provided to people in poorer nations (SOURCE). There are really too many examples to list here, but suffice it to say that mega corporations have aggressive ongoing efforts to engage billions of the world’s poorest people in their service. Some are doing this to relieve or eliminate poverty. Others are more transparent about for-profit motives and future market shares. In our day, social media and Internet media is essential to how we live our lives and stay current and connected in our social networks.
Mass Media are channels of communication in a mass society, especially electronic and print media. Mass media are not verbal and represent the use of technology in communication. Media can be found in artifacts from lost civilizations thousands of years into the past. Paintings on cave walls, pottery, or even field sculptures of stones all represent some of these ancient forms. Etchings on metal plates or writings on skin or paper scrolls were made at great expense in the past. They were rare then and only a few are still available today.
In the early 1400s Johannes Gutenberg, who was a goldsmith, invented the world's first mechanical press. The Gutenberg Bible was the first ever mass produced book and its introduction into society marked the beginning of printed media. Gutenberg not only invented a printing press, he facilitated the ability of the masses to learn how to read. He also created a logical cultural process in Western Civilization, wherein most of us learned how to read, think, store, and process information. Top to bottom, left to right, punctuation, spelling, and grammar considerations all became part of the mainstream culture.
Many cultures have different rules about how to read and write, yet all follow a logical and linear pattern of reading and writing. This pattern remained in place, un-challenged until the Internet came onto the scene. Over the last 30 years, technology that led up to the Internet as we know it today changed the rules of reading and gathering information through the media. The Internet currently connects over a billion online users together worldwide. Whereas the paper form of media is bound by its physical mass, the Internet form of media is limitless because it is based on light and electricity, both of which travel very fast and facilitate information sharing in nearly limitless volumes and rates of speed.
When I grew up in the 1960s-80s I had to ask a teacher or other authority figure any answers to questions I wanted to know. We had to pay for encyclopedias and books that could teach and inform us. Today, one need only turn on the computer or handheld device and connect to the Internet. All the information in the world that is on the Internet can be obtained to some degree: free, instantly, non-linearly, and without the direct involvement of an authority figure. It is fascinating how information for the masses has transformed in such a short amount of time.
The media has societal functions as one of the seven basic social institutions in our modern societies. First the media disseminates information. Not all of that information is created equally. Some media is the focus of tremendous protest and outcry while other forms of media are less conspicuous and controversial. The media also molds and shapes public opinion while reporting current events. Because media corporations have rather strict control over the stories they tell, we in the US often don't even find out about many salient international issues. These issues may be crucial to non-US citizens, but are not reported by US media outlets. Often the US is criticized for its narrow world view.
I remember once riding in a taxi in the Washington DC area. My driver was from Ethiopia. At that time the US media was all over the Ethiopian famine and how to get relief to those starving peoples. I asked the driver what he thought about the famine. "Which famine?" He replied. "We have had 4 major famines in the last 15 years and it wasn't until this one that the US media reported the story." What an eye opener for me.
When the news media select a story, they monitor the opinions of those who watched it and the indicators which show public interest in it. If it proves to be of enough interest then they will provide more coverage. If not they let it go. Competition between news shows and outlets makes the coverage of specific news stories relevant from a business rather than an information dissemination point of view.
Television Viewing
We in the US love media in all its forms. Nielsen Media Research regularly reports on how much TV people in the US typically watch. Statista had a number of recent (2019 and later) statistics on media consumption in the average U.S. home (see SOURCE and Wikipedia has an ongoing page on the subject at SOURCE ). Pre COVID 19 Pandemic levels were nearly 4 hours of TV and 5 hours of streaming per day. A Variety of reports have shown that in certain areas these have increased and nearly double. Typically 3-5 hours of TV consumption would be expected by the average person in the U.S. with 3 or more hours of Internet use per day (Search Mass Media Consumption per day in the United States to find latest estimates).
In 2019 emarketer estimated that each day, the average adult (18+) consumed 12 hours and 9 minutes of media per day (about 3.5 hours of TV, 3.5 hours online; and listened to the radio for nearly 1.5 hours; and read paper-printed magazines and newspapers nearly 11 minutes per day (SOURCE). If you sleep 8 hours per day that means there are only about 4 hours (17%) of your day while you are awake that you are not consuming media each day and 20 (83%) hours you are.
If they are pretty close on their estimate and each of us watches about 4 hours per day, then that's a great deal of TV in a lifetime. Multiply 4 hours by (7 days then 52 weeks), you'll find that we watch an estimated 1,456 hours of TV per year. If we maintained that every year from Kindergarten through 12th grade we'd end up having watched about 17-19,000 hours of TV by the time we graduated high school (give or take a few hours per week). Interestingly, K-12 typically equals about 16-17,000 hours of at school learning by the time of graduation. Not only do we watch TV shows but we also watch TV commercials-perhaps a quarter million by the time we graduate high school. Estimates vary but we also use the Internet, radio, cell phone, video games, and big screen movies as forms of daily media consumption.
Television viewing is not completely without effect upon the viewer. George Gerbner (1919-2005) was a professor of Communications. He founded the Cultivation Theory which claims that the types of TV viewing we watch accumulate within us and impact our world view. In other words, if we only watched crime, detective, and forensic shows we would have the additive effect of these shows on our perception of how the world really is. The types of TV we watch passively, yet persistently shape our world view.
The Mean World Syndrome is the tendency to view society as being meaner and more violent than it really is because of the violent and harsh TV shows one has watched over the years (see George Gerbner's (1994) "Reclaiming Our Cultural Mythology." In The Ecology of Justice (IC#38), Spring page 40, Context Institute retrieved 16 April 2009 from http://www.context.org/ICLIB/IC38/Gerbner.htm ). If someone preoccupied their daily TV viewing to soap operas then Gerbner would say that that person would have a world focus that overemphasized soap opera-melodramatic themes. The same could be said of anyone who watches mostly: police shows, pornography, sports, news, or reality TV.
But, keep in mind that TV is not produced by people who simply want to entertain us. So, what is the main purpose of media in our day? Money. Entertainment, access to information, advertising, and/or attitude shifting is at the core of most media-based ventures. They charge money for the commercial time or product placement. What they really want is for you to watch their shows and see their advertisements and buy a product or service because you were watching. The online Television Advertising Bureau (TAB) reported that most people use broadcast television and that during a recession most people sacrifice pricey cable for the bare minimum broadcast television (see SOURCE . Most importantly as we focus on the for-profit advertising issue, in the United States 2012 that was up to approximately $74 billion (retrieved 19 May 2014 from SOURCE). TV specific ad revenues were down to about $44.2 billion in 2019 (see 2020 report at SOURCE) and Digital ad revenue was estimated to up to $57.9 billion in 2019 https://www.iab.com/news/u-s-digital-ad-revenue-climbs-to-57-9-billion-in-first-half-2019/ ).
Advertisings Negative Effects
One has to focus on the impact media can have with that level of revenue at stake. Perpetual Discontent is a two-pronged advertising theme which emphasizes: 1) how broken and flawed we are and 2) how we can buy hope in the form of a product being sold. Women in the US are bombarded daily with advertising images that point out their flaws. They are constantly having it brought to their attention how they are too: thin, fat, short, thin, round, wrinkled, blond, brunette, red, dark, light, wrinkled, tanned, freckled, etc. This trend is exceptionally cruel for teen and young adult women. Men are not exempt from the abuse of perpetual discontent. There has also been a barrage of messages about the same flaws women are taught to loath which now lands in the individual sense of self for men.
Many argue that this has lead not only to discontent with our body images, but also discontent with every aspect of our spending life (products, house, cars, computers, clothes, etc.). Of ironic note is the fact that many millions and millions of people don't get enough food to eat every day while we in the United States have become so conscious of the self we portray to others that we self-limit our food intake and go to drastic measure in diet, exercise, and even surgery. Every year, millions pay vast sums of money to acquire surgical beauty enhancements.
The trend of desiring plastic surgery procedures has be increasing and it was reported that in the U.S. in 2018, there were 1.8 million plastic surgery procedures and another 15.9 million procedures that were minimally invasive and not considered “surgery.” In Table 1 you can see the top five 2018 U. S. Plastic Surgeries procedures included:
Table 1. Top 5 U.S. Plastic Surgery Procedures in 2018*
- Breast augmentation (313,735 procedures, up 4 percent from 2017)
- Liposuction (258,558 procedures, up 5 percent from 2017)
- Nose reshaping (213,780 procedures, down 2 percent from 2017)
- Eyelid surgery (206,529 procedures, down 1 percent from 2017)
- Tummy tuck (130,081 procedures, about the same as 2017)
The media is perhaps one of the most underestimated of the 7 social institutions. At the personal level, people think of it in terms of convenience and entertainment rather than political influence, power, and control. The media is mostly controlled by wealthy people and at the national and world level is tightly controlled in terms of political ideologies of those who decide what we get to watch, hear, and read. The owners and managers seek profits while promoting their own political agenda, selecting and shaping advertisement, and for providing exposure to political and special interests groups they favor. Counting beauty products, procedures, clothing, self-care, and other forms of goods and services Business insider estimated the worldwide total beauty-related 2019 revenues to be slightly more than $one-half trillion U.S. dollars (see https://www.businessinsider.com/beauty-multibillion-industry-trends-future-2019-7 ).They also attribute the rise in Internet-based social media marketing that deliver powerful messages to most women and some men about the newest and latest beauty-care goods and services.
The Power Elite in the Media
Do you personally know someone who owns a TV, radio, or newspaper/magazine? Most of us don't unless we happen to fall into a wealthy income category. C. Wright Mills made a powerful observation (remember his was also the Sociological Imagination idea). He recognized that wealth and power is unevenly distributed in society and that it is the relatively wealthy privileged few who control the power. The other argument (contrary to Mills' Power Elite) is called Pluralism, which claims that power is diffused among many diverse interests groups and that in fact not all wealthy elite people unite on the same side of most issues. The accurate description of today's society-level power structures is that there is a large, unconnected category of powerful people, each exerting their own wills upon others, either against or in cooperation with other powerful people. In Figure 1 you can see that the top 10 percent of society's members are the wealthy elite and own or control the corporate (including media corporations), military positions and political offices. The next 20 percent are also relatively wealthy and connected to the power elite. This class runs the government, political scene, and interests-groups. They often are given coverage in the media and are considered among our "famous" members of society.
Then there's you and me. We are among the 70 percent of the common people who comprise the masses. Most of us enjoy politics, media, and other newsworthy topics but rarely understand the reality of their day-to-day functioning and influence on our lives. We are uneducated about the power elite's actions that often harm us in the long-run (take the recent mortgage and financial market schemes that have made the top two classes very wealthy at the expense of the bottom 70 % for an example). Mills also described False Consciousness, which is when members of groups which are relatively powerless in society accept beliefs that work against their self-interests. Typically our ignorance is played upon and erroneous information is provided in a calculated manner by the power elite for the further gain of their goals
.Figure 1. C. Wright Mills' Power Elite Model*
You can learn a great deal about the power of media by studying societies outside of the United States. A Totalitarian Government is a political system where small power elite controls virtually every aspect of the personal and larger social levels of society. Some examples include Nazi, Germany, North Korea, Russia in Stalin's era, and a few eastern European countries that were once part of the former Soviet Union. In these systems, the media was strictly controlled and some systems failed once media control was lost.
The media has tremendous political power, especially in the national election coverage they provide. The journalists who provide our media have distinct goals and values which motivate them to typically take a more negative position towards a candidate than the candidate would prefer. Many sources officially give or withhold their support for a candidate while other news and media sources continue to work in a more objective manner. In the 2008 Presidential campaign, literally hundreds and hundreds of polls were taken and reported on the national news via TV, radio, Internet, and printed news. The very presence of poll results can actually influence the choices made by voters who are undecided and others who have made their choice, but might be influenced to change their minds. Many feel that their candidates were treated with bias by the media (they are probably correct). The Harvard Shorenstein Center is known for its objective evaluation of U.S. media trends. In 2016 they reported that both Clinton and Trump received negatively toned coverage and perhaps Clint received more (See Patterson, T. E. (7 Dec. 2016). “News Coverage of the 2016 General Election: How the Press Failed the Voters” retrieved 18 July 2020 from SOURCE). The Investor’s Business Daily online called the 2016 presidential campaign media coverage “ Media Malpractice” (SOURCE). The idea of the Media failing voters and members of United States society is one that is exceptionally easy to believe in from a media consumer point of view.
Since being elected in 2016, a variety of studies have found that President J. Donald negative news coverage has been the most biased in U.S. history. Agencies that study the media and the types of coverage in the many forms of news that exist, provide very similar analysis. Please remember my efforts at being neutral that permeates this entire textbook. I am not supporting or discounting any political party or candidate here. I am trying to show the potential power collective media messages can have on a society.
The Investor’s Business Daily online reported in 2018 that the major news agencies had been found to give 92 percent negative coverage and only 8 percent positive coverage between 2016 and 2018. They reported that:
“For its report, the Media Research Center did a lot of visual spadework. It viewed some 1,007 evening news stories about the Trump White House on ABC, CBS and NBC from June 1 to Sept. 30. That's the equivalent of about 32.7 hours of coverage, by TV standards an eternity of news time.
What they found was, as Trump himself might say, sad: "Over the summer, the broadcast networks have continued to pound Donald Trump and his team with the most hostile coverage of a president in TV news history — 92% negative, vs. just 8% positive." (see IBD 10 Oct. 2018) “Media Trump Hatred Shows In 92% Negative Coverage Of His Presidency: Study” retrieved 18 July 2020 from SOURCE.
A newspaper study stated that from March 4 through 31 may the news coverage from ABC, CBS, and NBC News casts was 95 percent negative against trump but, specifically in May, 2020 it jumped to 99.5 percent negative (see Graham, T. (15 June, 2020) “Media ups the ante on negative coverage of Trump” retrieved 18 July 2020 from https://www.bostonherald.com/2020/06/15/media-ups-the-ante-on-negative-coverage-of-trump/ ). One has to question the validity of news coverage from the main news networks studied and mentioned here (or if FoxNews Network were also evaluated for pro-Trump coverage); the validity of news shared on social media platforms and online media service providers. Turns out there was no criminal “Russian collusion” (see Wikipedia page at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special_Counsel_investigation_(2017%E2%80%932019) ); “Fake News” is a real which both Clinton and Trump warned about ( see Wikipedia page at SOURCE); and that social media bots are fake news media attempts by foreign and local entities set on shaping U.S. politics to favor their goals ( I found a series on the free YouTube channel “Smarter Every Day” see channel at SOURCE and specific user training videos on how to sort through Reddit; Twitter bots; Facebook; and a multi-part series on YouTube itself. Be aware that he is not simply decrying fake news. He has experts and insightful strategies to see what is real and what is just claimed and more importantly how you can discern and identify the Fake or false information).
How do average U.S. Consumers view existing news agencies? Gallup (2019) showed a trend analysis of their Figure 2 shows the trend of decline dropping from 53 percent stating they have a “Great deal and a Fair Amount” of trust in news reporting “fully accurate and fairly.” It’s not low across the political spectrum. There were 69 percent of Democrats; 36 percent of Independents; and only 15 percent of Republicans reporting trust. In 2016 Reblicans hit an all time record low of 32 percent trust which has steadily declined since then to its current all-time low (15%). Figure 3 shows the same 1997-2019 Trusts levels breaking out results for Democrats, Republicans and Independents.
Figure 2. Gallup Trends of U.S. “Trust in Mass Media” 1997-2019
It becomes apparent that the biases in major news network coverage of President Trump 2016 through 2019 correspond with a sharp increase in Democrat Party members levels of Trust (2016 was only 51% and 2018 was 76% (an all-time high for this party) and back down to 69% 2019). It also corresponds to the Republican Party members (decline down to 15% in 2019) and Independents decline down to 36% in 2019).
Figure 3. Gallup Trends of U.S. “Trust in Mass Media” by Political Party Affiliation 1997-2019
How does the media write news so that it might be biased in favor of or against certain people and issues? The media has editorial strategies which easily coincide with the goals of the power elite. Framing involves placing the news story into a preexisting frame of reference for the public so that they understand it as journalists would have it be understood. The protestors were "freedom fighters, martyrs, or courageous." Even though two people died, the frame changes them from terrorists to saints. Formatting is the design and construction of the news story. One might see a story that includes an introduction about the sacrifices made by the protesters which runs for 45 seconds. This story might end with a 15 second summary of their protest actions as being martyr-like.
Sequencing is ordering news stories in such a way as to present a thematic message. An example of this would be to run the story about the protesters right after the story about the military occupants who were allegedly guilty of raping and torturing inmates. Agenda Setting is the process of selecting and screening topics which will be presented to the general public. An example of this might be the omission of successes on the battlefield and the inclusion of crimes by soldiers, losses by civilians, and outcry by the country's political enemies.
The "Coffee Filter" Power Elite Metaphor
Figure 4 shows the "Coffee Filtering" metaphor of the power elite as it has broken into two semi-oppositional schools of thought often referred to as the "Left and Right." If you consider the Power Elite model over the pluralism model of power in society, you can see how the elite who control media, military, and corporations shape politics and laws. Mill's model fits just as well now as it did in his day, but there is a twist on the polarized culture between Left and Right wing influences in society. Figure 4 shows how the elite form a type of filter (coffee) that shapes the flow of political and legal outcomes in the form of laws, treaties, and legal precedence. Although not formally unified into one centralized political social movement, the Left and Right shakers and movers each influence this filtering process for their own interests and goals.
On the Left side of the spectrum, feminism, sexual politics (same-sex, trans-gendered, and bisexual), anti-natalism, environmental protection, and general secularism share many overlapping values that prove to be mutually beneficial if mutual support is given. For example, a protest at the United Nations building in New York City against a less-developed country's refusal to let their girls and women receive formal education could also be supported by: anti-natalists (the more education a woman gets the fewer the babies she has); environmentalists (the fewer the babies the less pressure on the physical environment); and secularists (the more education a woman gets the less religious she tends to be).
On the Right hand side of the cultural continuum lobbying for a continuation of tax breaks for parents and marrieds would serve all interests groups in multiple ways. One of the premier social movements to illustrate this has been the battle over the legalization of same-sex or gay marriage. It's been on the referendum ballots of a number of states. It's been considered for discussion at the federal legislation level, but returned to the state-level since states have the right to legally sanction marriages and divorces. It's been considered in a few state supreme courts with pre-emptive strikes by states which went ahead and codified marriage as being exclusively between a man and a woman. Other state supreme courts have preemptively ruled in favor of same-sex marriages. Billions of dollars, millions of volunteer hours, and countless and immeasurable levels of personal frustration are involved in this social issue. What both the Left and Right have understood and utilized for decades is the use their elite contacts to accomplish their goal-driven political and legal changes. The media will continue to play a central role in this and other heated political issues.
Figure 4. The Coffee Filter Metaphor of the Power Elite's Influence over Politics and Laws
The conservative and liberal members of our society have grown further and further apart in recent years. PewResearch ran a few reports documenting this trend and have some interactive graphics available on the 10 questions they use in their surveys to place U.S. survey respondents on either the continuum of “Consistently Liberal, Median Democrat, Mixed, Median Republican, or Consistently Conservative” categories. Figures 5 and 6 show these graphics. Figure 5 shows the 1994 overlap where most of society agreed on many social issues and there was a great deal of Overlap found in their categories. PBS News Hour ran a YouTube video identifying the 2014 trends found with the results indicating that Liberals and Conservatives, don’t live in the same areas, don’t associate together, less likely to compromise and form social relationships more on political similarities than they did in the past (See Pew Study finds Americans more polarized than ever, launched 12 June 2014 and retrieved on 18 July, 2020 from SOURCE). The Pew representative indicate that you can socially isolate yourself from others whose views you disagree with and never have to interact with them.
Figure 5. PewResearch 1994 Survey Conservative and Liberal Overlap and Similarity
Figure 6. PewResearch 2017 Survey Conservative and Liberal Polarization and Disimilarity
The police officer who killed George Floyd on 25 May, 2020 sparked a national outrage against police brutality against Black men. The numerous protests and “peaceful demonstrations” that resulted in ( and in some case violent crowds) in some ways showed some overlap between Liberals and Conservatives and also some remaining values polarization. Figure 7. Shows one of the Pew diagrams which identifies some of the Republican and Democrat similarities, yet it was framed as evidence of “further polarization” in the report. It is perhaps both. PewResearch polled them on why the protest were happening. In the first concept there was quite a bit of overlapping anger over George Floyd’s death was expressed by a majority of Republicans (59%) and Democrats (80%) with a net difference of only 21 percent. For tensions between Black people and police very similar overlap was found with a majority of Republicans (57%) and Democrats (80%) with a net difference of only 23 percent. The next two issues showed more polarization with longstanding concern about the treatment of Blacks in the country with Republicans (only 45%) and Democrats (higher at 84%) a net difference of 39 percent. The final issue showed more polarization with longstanding concern about the treatment of Blacks in the country with Republicans (only 39%) and Democrats (higher at 82%) a net difference of 43 percent.
Figure 7. PewResearch Democratic and Republican Attitudes on Factors Underlying 2020 Protests
Additional Reading
Search Internet for:
Millinneal Generation and media, cultural convergence, narcotizing dysfunction, gatekeeping, netizens, dominant ideology, stereotypes, digital divide, opinion leader, Fourth Estate, Mediascapes.
- Wikipedia on Social Media LINK
- Wikipedia on Impact of Internet use on humans LINK
- Wikipedia on List of social networking sites LINK
- University of Southern California’s Media Institute for Social Change LINK
- Media Content analysis sociology LINK
- Nielsen Rating Corporation for all types of media LINK
- Newspaper Association of America LINK
- National Association of Radio Broadcasters LINK
- Kaiser Family Health Foundation Media LINK