ISSUES IN MEDIA, SOCIETY &

CULTURE: THE CONNECTIONS &

CONFLICTS
SYED AGIL ALSAGOFF
MEDIA & SOCIETY
What reflect media towards society?
Social Image potrayed
Social identities
Changing of nature communication technologies
Media content affect the nature of medfia audience
and society at large
MEDIA & CULTURE
How media determine the culture?
How media promotes the culture and changing the
culture?
How media effect the culture?
How regulations would be able to control the role of
media towards culture context?
PUBLIC INTEREST DEFINITION
McQuail (1992) identifies public interest in media
context to refer to ‘the complex of supposed
informational, cultural dan sofial benefits to the wider
society which go beyond the immediate, particular and
individual interests of those who communicate in
public communication, whether as senders or
receivers’
Issues Public & Media
Are the news media biased?
Have TV talkshows gone too far with their sensationalized
topics?
Should the content of Internet be regulated?
Are media shaping our values?
IS TV harmful for our children?
Do media drive foreign policy?
Are newspapers insensitive to minorities?
Is emphasis on body image harmful to our society?
Should the names of rape victims be reported?
Should tobacco advertising be restricted?
Should the media cover criminal trials?
Do media reports of crime heighten the fears of
citizens?
Is coverage of political campaigns fair?
Is advertising ethical?
Do media content threaten Intellectual Rights?
Does concentration of ownership jeopardize media
content?
Does the globalization of media industries homogenize
media content?
What is the nature of the relationship
between media and society?
(the micro level)
the role of media in our daily lives

(the macro level)

economy, politics, religion and technological
development
POLITICAL FUNCTIONS OF COMMUNICATIONS MEDIA
In the political sphere, government has always
depended on the capacity of rulers and officials to
communicate ‘downwards’ and receive reactions and
information in return (e.g. by way of voting and public
opinion, often expressed in the newspaper press).
Horizontal communication between elites and
amongst citizens is also a pre-requisite for any form of
organized political life.

Democratic political institutions arose historically out

of the effective circulation of ideas and information.
The machinery of politics, especially competition
between parties for support via democratic elections,
simply cannot operate without a large and continual
flow of information.
 Active participation in political life by the majority is
an essential component of democracy, but it too
depends on an adequate flow of communication to and
amongst citizens and constituent bodies.
There has to exist the organized possibility to express
and disseminate views critical of government and of
information which exposes abuses of power.
Regulation may be needed to secure all these
conditions.
 SOCIAL – CULTURAL FUNCTIONS OF COMMUNICATION MEDIA
The social and cultural functions of communication
overlap with the field of politics, but have a much
wider reference. They relate to the whole range of
news, entertainment and arts, amusement, sport
coverage and public education.
The social and cultural tasks often allocated to, or
adopted by, the media include:
the expression and continuity of national and cultural
identity;
the reflection of regional and other forms of diversity;
and the binding together’, by intercommunication, of
society as a whole and of particular communities and
 constituent elements.
It is widely assumed that continuous communicative
interaction, at numerous ‘levels’, from that of the family to
the state, is necessary for the ‘healthy’ or just ‘normal’ life
of societies.
In each separate institutional field of social and cultural
life (e.g. education, the arts, leisure and sport, religion,
science), there are extensive internal and external
communication requirements.
These needs have to be served not only by the mass media,
but also by telecommunications and other related services.
These institutional processes can expect favorable
treatment and public support. This often takes the form of
subsidies, preferential access or protective regulation.
There may often be regulations designed to uphold
cultural and behavioral standards in public
communication, with particular reference to crime,
violence, pornography, protection of children,
commercialism.
ECONOMIC FUNCTIONS OF COMMUNICATIONS MEDIA
The economic value of communication to society is
unmistakable and is increasing all the time. The mass
media and many related communication activities are
often industries in themselves, producing
informational products.
A large and growing sector of industrial production is
devoted to electronics and information technology
hardware and software of all kinds, from radio sets to
mainframe computers or telephone systems.
A large part of the traffic which flows in
communication systems nationally and internationally
consists of business and economic data and modern
economies cannot operate without vast amounts of
diverse data flow (think of 24-hour global market
information systems). This being so, it is not
surprising that communication businesses are
regulated just like other business.
Special policies are often formulated to stimulate the
application of communication technology in the
economy and the growth of the information
technology sector. They may also be intended to
protect national economic interests.
The Main Issues of Regulation
Policies have to be expressed in specific rules or
regulations which can be applied to guide and control
the activity of the media on a practical basis.
Regulations are devices for solving or avoiding some
particular problem or issue of media policy.
The term issue refers to a particular matter of dispute
or conflict which is isolated in the “public sphere” and
which gives rise to a call for some policy or regulatory
action.
Issues have to be defined by relevant actors before they
are recognized as needing policy attention.
Because of continually developing technology and
changing social and economic context, the issues for
communication policy are never fixed and static.
They change their character and their salience over
time and from place to place.
Keys issues
There are two main keys to the issue agenda.
One is the economic – industrial impetus behind the
extension of new technologies.
Another is the political struggle over control and
direction of the forces unleashed, especially in the
context of a global information society.
Perhaps equally important are the various conflicts over
the cultural implications of media change.
In some countries there is an ongoing and diffuse
struggle over the proper scope of public intervention in
the communication system.
There may also be a conflict between democratic
national choice and the workings of a global market. We
can name several of the key issues which are alient in
may countries and internationally during the 1990s.
At the International Level:
(The most relevant actors are likely to be national governments as
well as transnational media firms and other agencies)
Communication sovereignty over the national territory
versus securing freedom of cross-border communication
and reception. The Soviet Union, for instance, used to jam
radio broadcasting into its territory for political reasons.
Transnational communication and “cultural imperialism”.
The global flow of mass media is imbalanced, with much
more news and entertainment flowing from the developed
to the undeveloped world (North-South), threatening
national identity and cultural autonomy. This applies to
developed countries as well, e.g. the USA and Canada.
The question of copyright payments on cross-border publication,
transmission and reception. In 1995, for instance, the United
States was in dispute with China over pirating music, videos and
computer software.
Free trade in media products and services versus subsidiaries and
quotas. There is an ongoing dispute between the United States
and European Union over this in the context of GATT free trade
agreements.
Rights and responsibilities of international communication. For
instance a Unesco Media Declaration in 1978 sought to outlaw
media activities which were an incitement to war or racial hatred.
The development of common regional media and
communication policies and agreements. For instance, in
Europe, the Arab sphere, North America, South – East Asia.
At the National Level:
(The actors are very numerous, but especially political parties, advertisers,
the media and many social cultural bodies)
The need to stimulate new information technology for
national economic interests. Many governments have
relaxed regulations on broadcasting to stimulate the
audio-visual market or have promoted technological
innovation.
The pros and cons of deregulation and privatization of
broadcasting and/ or telecommunications. Many
political and socio-cultural voices have been raised
against privatization
The alleged threat of media concentration and cross
ownership to diversity and access. Monopoly has been
the object of fierce criticism since the early days of the
mass press.
The future of public service broadcasting (role,
financing, special privileges). In many countries, a
battle is being fought to maintain a communication
sphere free from dominant commercial interests.
Maintaining cultural goals under conditions of market
freedom. Subsidies and protectionism are the main
means of limiting the effects of commercial media, but
are controversial for reasons given above.
CLASS PERSPECTIVES
Who owns the media- and why does it matter?
How are media products created?
What should be government's relation to regulating the media?
Why are some images and ideas so prevalent in the mass media,
while others are marginalized? Whose voices are not heard?
How has growth in mass media influenced the political process?
What impact do mass media have on our society and on our world?
How do people use and interpret the mass media?
What is the effect of technological change?
What is the significance of the increasing globalization of mass
media?
CLASS ACTIVITIES
Pick-up one issues on media, culture and society
Determine the effects of media towards culture and
society based on the selected issues
Items to be discussed as follows;
Media content
How regulations play roles
Media effects
Tendency of public behavioral and thinking towards
changing culture promoted by media