Mpagaze 2011

ST.
AUGUSTINE UNIVERSITY OF TANZANIA
Introduction to Mass Communication
TEACHING MANUAL
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Denis Mpagaze (0753 66 54 84, denis_mpagaze@yahoo.com)
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Course Outline
Introduction Introduction to Mass Communication introduces students to the content and theories of mass communication to enable students to understand the nature of mass media operations, effects to the society, power and historical background of mass media from Gutenberg invention to internet era). Also some scholarly works (articles from journals and newspapers will be analyzed and some documentaries will be watched ion class) Course Aims The course aims at empowering students to become critical producers, disseminators, analyzers and consumers of mass media content. Course Objectives At the end of the course, students should: 1. Be fully exposed to the basics of mass communication as a subset of human communication. 2. Be exposed to the foundation of mass communication 3. Be acquainted with the contents and characteristics of various types of media of mass communication and their functions. 4. Have been exposed to various forms, models, elements and nature of mass communication. 5. Be able to develop, analyze, disseminate and critically consume mass media messages 6. Be exposed to how the mass media operate, and how media workers make content decisions Course Materials 1. Every students will have course outline 2. Hand out will be mailed to each students e-mail address 3. Relevant textbooks and African Communication Journals will be available in SAUT Library and Book Shop 4. Local, national and international documentaries will be shown in class 5. Selected articles of interested will be read in class
Course Content Defining Mass Communication (Fourie, 2007, pp. 95-97) Four theoretical perspectives 1. The media-culturalist perspective 2. The media-materialist perspective 3. The social-culturalist perspective 4. The Social-materialist perspective Questions related to a definition of mass communication (Fourie, 2007,pp. 97-102) 1. Who is the communicator? 2. What do we mean by medium? 3. What is the message? 4. What do we mean by audience? 5. What do we mean by feedback? 6. What do we mean by communication in mass communication? (Fourie, 2007,pp. 95-102) Development of Mass Communication (Hierbet and Gibbons, 2000,p 5-21) 1. Oral society 2. Pictures and Tokens for recod keeping 3. Stone and clay tables 4. Papyrus and parchment 5. Scrolls 6. The alphabet 7. Codex binding 8. Printing press and movables type 9. Newspapers and the rise of democracies 10. The peny press and the rise of mass media 11. Photography 12. Wired media: telegraph and Telephone 13. Motion pictures 14. Radio 15. Television 16. Computers and the Internet Mass Communication theories 1. What is theory? 2. The goal of theory 3. The building blocks of theories 4. Evaluating theory
5. Goals of mass media theory 6. Categorizing theory Power, functions and effects of the mass media 1. The positivistic approach 2. The crirtical approach 3. Meaning production theory 4. Technological determinism 5. The information society approach 6. Poststructuralistic/postmodern approach 7. Post colonial theory and the Afrocentric approach 8. Normative Theory Media Literacy Requirements Choose one task below 1. Read one article from African Communication Research as assigned by your lecturer and summarize it in one pageit should be in hand written20 marks. Note, you need to BUY your own journal.deadline.27th Oct, 2011.purpose? develop reading culture 2. Write one term paper discussing how the media shape public opinion (facts and evidence are needed) Note, dont plagiarize.20 marks..should be typed with 1.5 font size, times new roman, 20 pages).submit hard copy and soft copy in a CD.deadline.27th Oct, 2011purpose? Develop analytical skills 3. Produce a documentary which would raise the voice of the voiceless..it should be one hour documentary..20 marks.collect your work in a CDpurpose? Develop a sense of belonging Course Texts 1. Fourie, J. P. (2007). Approaches to the study of mass communication. In Pieter J Fourie, Media Studies: Media History, Media and Society. Junta. 2. Hierbert, E,R and Gibbons, J, S. (2000). Exploring Mass Media for a changing world. LEA:London Other relevant references 1. African Communication Research Journal (Issues 1-10) 2. The East African Newspapers
3. Louw, E. (2005). The media and political Process. Sage Publications: London 4. Meyer, T. (2002). Media Democracy: How the media colonize Politics. Blackwell Publishers: Oxford 5. West, R. and Turner, (2004). Introducing communication theory. McGraw Hill: London
CHAPTER ONE DEFINING MASS COMMUNICATION 1.1. Introduction Communication which is the process of transferring thoughts, ideas, facts, feelings, etc from one person to another is very important in human existence. Without communication, life will be meaningless and human interaction would be impossible. The term communication is derived from the Latin word, communicare meaning to share and from the French word communis meaning common. However, from the definition of communication we need to commonly agree that defining mass communication is not that easy and has become increasingly difficult against the background of the latest developments in information and communication technology (ICT) which has increased the number and kinds of media involved in transmitting messages of various kinds and various formats to bigger, increasingly heterogeneous and global audiences. All of this makes it difficult to get a grip on exactly what constitutes mass communication today (Fourie, 2007, p. 95). This being the case four perspectives according to Denis McQuail will lead the way toward defining mass communication. 1.1.1. Media-cultural perspective Under this perspective the definition of mass communication should base on the content, reception and context of the communication. 1.1.1.1. Content What kind of ideas that one wants to share with the mass? Is it political information, social issues, educational information? Therefore your definition should be able to tell the kind of information to be disseminated to the mass. 1.1.1.2. Reception and Context Under this category you need to tell us how the content will be received and interpreted in certain context. For example you want to talk about HIV/AIDS prevention among Tanzanians. First think of the channel you will use to share your idea with the mass and then plan what you will address according to the context. If you choose Christian Radio such RADIO SAUT, dont convince people to use Condom. Mind you that condom is ok but unethical with Christian context.
1.1.2. Media Materialists Perspective Defining mass communication under this line of reasoning you need to focus on the technical aspects and how the technology of a medium impacts on the nature of media messages and audience. For example radio is quite different from television on how the messages transmitted, consumed and interpreted. Here the technology matters a lot and this is where the dictum by Marshall McLuhan that the media is the message comes in. Read his book. 2. The social-culturalist perspective When defining mass communication under this category you need to spotlight on the influence of social factors on media production and reception and functions of the media in social life. For example how the ownership, media policy, culture and education background of media workers can influence the kind of information we get. When you buy Mwanahalisi Newspaper you should not expect to find any positive information about CCM likewise you cant read positive information about Chadema through Uhuru Newspaper. But again there some people who blame the media for moral violations of the youth. This is one way explanation of the impact of media in society. 2.1.1. The Social Materialist Perspective Because the media always takes on the form and coloration of the social and political structures within which it operates any definition should base on this perspective. For example a person from the developed country will define mass communication different from the one in developing country. Therefore when defining mass communication you need to focus on the statement, MEDIA IS THE MIRROR OF THE SOCIETY Having seen these four perspectives in defining mass communication one would remain hanging if not confused. This being the case you shouldnt be worry about this. What you need to understand in all process of defining mass communication is to pin point the following focal points: communicator, the medium, the message, the recipient or audience, the public nature of mass communication and the diverse content of mass communication. From this point of reasoning various scholars have developed various definitions of mass communication. You being among scholar develop your own definition of mass communication.
Mass communication is the process of transmitting information, ideas, attitudes, values, and beliefs through a communication device to a relatively large, heterogeneous and anonymous audience simultaneously. In mass communication, modern communication gadgets are used in putting across a message through channels like radio, television, newspapers, and magazines. Mass communication is unique because its message is often general and targeted at a very large audience, who are anonymous in nature and heterogeneous in composition and posture.
CHAPTER TWO QUESTIONS RELATED TO A DEFINITION OF MASS COMMUNICATION Introduction The importance of communication cannot be overemphasized. Communication serves as an instrument of social interaction. It helps us to understand ourselves, to keep in touch with other people, to understand situations. It is a means by which power is acquired, exercised and sustained. It is the medium through which relationships are established, extended and maintained. When talking about mass communication we need respond to the following questions: 1. Who is the communicator? 2. What do we mean by medium? 3. What is the message? 4. What do we mean by audience? 5. What do we mean by feedback? 6. What do we mean by communication in mass communication? The above six questions are answered through communication process point of view. A process is series of actions that someone takes in order to achieve a particular result. The communication process involves communicator, message, medium, receiver, and feedback. Communicator This is also known as the source, the encoder, the transmitter or the sender. The transmitter is the initiator of the communication encounter. Source or sender of the message, ideas or information may be an individual, a group or an organization. In mass communication the communicator is usually a collective body a group of people responsible for the production news bulletin, films, newspapers etc. It is therefore remain difficult to pin point individual communicator because editor a lot cannot produce a newspaper, a presenter a lot cannot produce TV programs. The editor needs reporters, media owners etc likewise TV presenter need camera man, sound engineer to make message goes to the mass. That is why when a newspaper commits a problem it is the media organization that is accountable and not individual reporter. We have several cases in Tanzania where newspapers have been banned for publishing only one malicious story which might have been published by
one journalist. Since it is very difficult to identify individual communicator in mass communication the whole organization finds in trouble. For a story to be published has to pass through many filters. Read Gate keeping Theory. Message After the sender decides to share his ideas, feelings and information with someone else, he will choose which symbols to use to put across his message to the receiver. Writing, speaking, gesturing, etc are some of the means the communicator can reach out to the intended receiver. Message has both concrete and an abstract meaning. Fourie (2007,p. 99) has said that the concrete content of media is a whole range of stories in newspapers varying from political commentary to sport, crime, economy, leisure, recipes, cartoons, disaster reporting and the like; different television and radio programs; different films on whole range and the overwhelming content of the internet. On the other hand abstract messages are about the meaning the reader, listener or viewer assigns to a particular of peace of information. The idea is one should go beyond what he reads or water and make some interpretation. For example from the article AKILI YA SOPHIA SIMBA HAIWEZI KUWAZA ZAIDI YA NGONO one would go beyond the literal meaning and come up with several meanings. For example after reading this headline one would say SOPHIA SIMBA IS VERY CONCERENED WITH UNSERIOUS ISSUE. It is from these interpretations that people make decision against the matter. If today Mwanahalisi publishes the list of mafisadi papa, the majority will interpret this as just a mere politics and hence nobody takes action. Medium The communicator chooses appropriate channel to carefully and timely convey his information to the receiver. Choice of a medium must be based on the communicator understanding of the audience. Of particular relevance in this regard is whether the receiver is educated or not; whether or not he can read and write, as well as his level of understanding of the language of communication. Other factors to consider include the physical distance separating the source from the receiver, as well as the nature of the message. You want for example to address issue of development to fishermen you need to use radio and not newspapers.
Receiver The receiver is the decoder of the message. The receiver needs to pay much attention in order to receive the message with clear understanding. Studies in media have identified two types of media audience. Those who uncritically consume media messages commonly referred to passive audience and those who critically consume media messages commonly known as active audience. The point of departure in understanding passive audience is that are those people who believe any sort of information from the media. They dont bother to question the legitimacy of information, which provided it, in what motive and context. Feedback This is the reaction or reply to the message. Feedback is the last but important part of the communication process. Feedback helps to show whether or not: Communication has taken place The decoder of the message has understood The decoder is prepared and willing to partake in the communication process, and The encoder has adequately formulated and sent his message Under mass communication, there is low degree of feedback and low level of interaction. The message is rapid and transient in nature as it is meant to be consumed immediately.
CHAPTER THREE DEVELOPMENT OF MASS COMMUNICATION If you want to understand today, you have to search yesterday (Pearl Buck)..Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow (Albert Einstein) The genesis of media goes back to the oral culture (primitive society). In oral culture people had only face to face model of communication where sometimes they had to walk very long to pass information to other societies. Knowledge about the world was very poor because they knew things that came immediately and they relied on memorization. Life was mysterious and events that occurred were called magic. For any death was associated with witch craft as told by elders and witch doctors. When people learned how to cast their messages and conversations into written languages, they started to organize their lives in more rational and systematic. They started to record history and discovered patterns in the weather, their food sources and the ways of their enemies. They could take more control of their lives, solve some of the natures mysteries, and become less dependent on the whims of their gods. This posed a severed challenge to authority (elders, witch doctors, priests), obviously these leaders regarded writing as subversive, destructive and sinful because when problems occurred people consulted their historical writing and knew the nature of problem and how was it solved rather than consulting the holy men and women. It is like in Tanzania, Kikombe cha babu was threat to witch doctors and some religious leaders. Between 5000BC and 3500 BC record keeping was done on clay tablets and 3000 BC a hieroghphic system of writing was developed in Egypt. Writing controlled by members of the power structure in society, lest it destroy their civilization. The original media for expressing were not available to the average human being and carving messages on stone was equally difficulty, time consuming, and costly. Once messages were carved the writer was powerless to destroy it hence laws that were
curved on stone were to be in force forever and the creator of laws on stone was considered the Almighty. About 2500 BC a form of paper was developed from papyrus1 deeds that grew in ancient Egypt along the Nile River. This form of paper made easy the business of writing that was based on the stone. Again this was a threat to the permanence of the stone because anybody would be able to write hence freedom of expression was increase and threatened the interests of the authority. Fearing this freedom exposure of the majority ability to communicate easily through papyrus deeds, Egyptian pharaohs restricted writing on papyrus to privileged profession of scribes. Moses was among the scribes and his used this opportunity to convert the Ten Commandments engraved on two stone tablets and developed the first five books in the Whole Bible (Torah). Moses also restricted the book to privileged few-the high priests. In the first Century BC the Greeks developed a more durable form of paper by stretching animal skins into thin sheets called parchment, adding further to the utility of writing. In 700 BC they also developed 24 alphabets. Whereas the ancient Hebrews made writing sacred and thus secret and powerful and a source of authority, the ancients Greeks made writing common and available, and this encouraged the development in ancient Athens of the first great democratic society. The alphabet and papyrus made it possible for the Greeks to publish codes of laws and constitutions to organize society with some logic and thus with more equal justice, reducing the power of despotic authority and equalizing the classes. It also made possible academies in which people could learn to read what was being written. The academies in turn created scientists and philosophers and libraries when learning could be
Papyrus deeds are the material prepared in ancient Egypt from the pithy stem of a water plant and used in the ancient Mediterranean world for writing or painting on.
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accumulated and where a body of knowledge about the world could be stored. Indeed, the basis of our study today of drama, logic, ethics, rhetoric, and history all began with the ancient Greeks. At the beginning of the 60s century AD the freedom of teaching was curtailed in Athens and in 529 AD, the study of philosophy was forbidden by the edict of Justinian, which brought an end to ancient Greece and ushered in what came to be called the Dark Age. Roman Empire became the leading. Roman civilization was built on the foundation laid by Greek Thinkers, writers, dramatists, poets, military strategists, philosophers, logicians, mathematicians and politicians. The skills of developing books were developed in Rome. They cut the scroll of written laws into separate pages on one aged to form what the Codex Binding or what we call books today. The Bible was the first to be bound as a book. During the Middle Ages, when the church headquartered in Rome, became powerful in secular as well as the religious world, its leaders feared that indiscriminate study of the Bible could lead to changes of interpretations, which might challenge the authority of the church. The church reacted as Hebrews did. Its leaders allowed only privileged priests to read the bible, which was kept in sacred places within the church to keep it from improper hands. The church authority was put into an end when the printing press invented by a German Johannes Gutenberg in 15 Century came into existence. The printing at least enabled the circulation of printed material to many people. The Bible was the first to be printed followed by other classical works such as literature, philosophy and logic. About 50,000 titles were published in Latin or Greek and translations into more common languages for the common people developed slowly. In Western Europe Martin Luther the priest translated the Latin Bible into common
languages, enabling new access to the Words of God that had previously been available only to privileged few. Gutenberg invention can be termed as the genesis of mass communication and marks the beginning of many revolutions. Have you ever heard of The Copernican Revolution? What about Protestant Reformation? The tale of Copernicus Revolution The Copernican Revolution is the name given to period during which the theory of the solar system and the wider cosmos, which had the Earth at the center of everything (geocentricism), was replaced by the theory that the Earth revolved around the sun (Ladyman, 2010). It was a revolution because people at that time believed everything without questioning the authority who provided certain knowledge. For example the world before Copernicus Revolution was guided by the Aristotelian Point of view that, the Earth was placed at the center of the universe and it was the sun which used to rotate the Earth. The Catholic Church supported this Aristotelian Point of View because the idea that the sun rotates the Earth is reflected in the Bible. Remember the Biblical verse that Joshua Alisimamisha Jua na mapigano yakaendelea ? Joshua 10:13, So the sun stood still, and the moon stopped, till the people had revenge upon their enemiesSo the sun stood still in the midst of heaven, and did not hasten to go down for about a whole day. Have you ever heard or read this anywhere? What question did you formulate? If no, would you mind if a put you into the category of common people? Leo jua litachomoza saa 12 asubuhi huko Mwanza na Kuzama saa 12 jioni, is very interesting mistake media people and their audience have rejected to recognize it. In 1543 Copernicus said, Why then do we hesitate to grant it [the Earth] the motion which accords naturally with its form [that of sphere], rather than attribute a movement to the entire universe whose limit we do not and cannot know? And why should we not admit, with regard to the daily rotation, that the appearance belongs to the heavens, but the reality [of it]
is in the Earth? (Jacob 1988, p. 10). His point of departure was that people should stop relying on dogmas and base their knowledge on scientific exploration. It is a new way of expressing and describing the world. It needs courage to defend it. The church insisted that invention of Copernicus should be understood as hypothesis and no more. Justifying it was going against scriptures and Aristotelian. In 1609 through his own telescope, Galileo had seen those heavily bodies more clearly than anyone before him (Jacob, 1988, 17). He even maintained that Gods word could not ultimately contradict Gods work. But Aristotle could be contradicted because, in Galileos words, reasons persuade me- and Aristotle himself taught me to find peace of mind in that which I am persuaded by reason and not solely by authority of the master. Philosophizing must be free. (p. 19). The doctrine that the Earth is not at the center of the universe and that it is, in fact, in motion around the sun was contradiction with catholic doctrine. The controversy became quit fierce by the early years of the seventeen century and in 1616 Copernicus book and all others that adopted the heliocentric hypothesis were placed on a list of books that catholic were banned from teaching or even reading (p.17). But in 1615 while defending his own and Copernican ideas of the universe, Galileo insisted that the mobility of the earth is a proposition far beyond the compression of the common people. The idea behind common people according to Galileo is that science is fit only for the minds of the wise and not for the shallow minds of the common people (p.17). He (Galileo) insisted that in discussion of physical problems we ought to begin not from the authority of scriptural passages, but from senseexperience and necessary demonstration. In 1632 Galileo was put on trial and the following year was condemned to house arrest until his death although he was able to defend his thesis that the Earth revolves the sun. With the information available in books, middle classes began challenging the aristocracy and the divine right of kings. People began to believe they had a right to know and the understanding grew in society that information was essential to fulfill ones own destiny
rather than to live ones life to serve the needs of king or pope or aristocracy. Read the tale of Magna Carter. The coming of newspapers Newspapers began to appear in 17th Century at first reaching only a relatively small audience of elite readers. These publications were licensed by monarchical authorities, and they could be shut down if they displeased the authorities. Never less, they often contained information that informed and influenced communities, providing facts and raising questions that challenged those in authority. They helped stimulate the Revolutions in America 1776 to 1783 and in France 1789. Because they were less expensive than magazines and books, newspapers made knowledge and information available to a much large percentage of the population. They made it possible for more people to think about governing themselves, a process that finally produced democracies in the Western World, the first since the Athenian democracy of ancient Greece. Mass media required a content that a mass audience would find desirable to buy. In 1980s the rises of penny press in New York City. The first newspapers were sold for one penny and were thus affordable to the average citizen. These newspapers contained the kind of information and gossip people were interested in reading. The penny press started journalism as we now define it based on reporters going out into society and finding facts that interested their readers. The idea of objectivity is news reporting was developed as an epitome of news porting. Photography on board The introduction of photography opened new world that human had never seen before. The picture depicted the real world. In 1844 wired media were introduced to send information from one place to another and overcame the geographical distance. From phone developed radio in 1930 in which various programs were aired and people got to know what is happening from different corner of their society. World War II has been called the radio war because much of the world listed the war over the radio, since radio news is faster, more realistic and more dramatic than news in printed form. Then TV came in and changed the way peoples minds work. Many observers feel that it was TV, especially Video recordings that brought down the Soviet Empire and breached the Berlin Wall. TV has changed the nature of democracy.
Global village: The case of internet Today we are in the internet age in which the world has become the sitting room if not Global Village. The Internet has become an important part of everyday life to many people. There are now 1.5 billion Internet users around the world (Internet World Stats, 2008) who are spending more and more time online. Information, news, music and film can be found on the Internet where users can read newspapers and watch TV for free, whenever they want.
CHAPTER FOUR MASS COMMUNICATION THEORIES For a forensic analysis of the mass media in the social environment, it is important to understand the theories of the mass media that operate in the social environment. To a large extent, the theories of the mass media define the operation of the media in the society. Defining Theory At the beginning of my teaching carrier at the university I came to realize that the term THEORY is very intimidating concept to students. I tried to randomly ask students from various disciplines: from Mass Communication to Law, Sociology, Economics, Education, Business, Philosophy and Public Relations to define the term but, very few students were able to tell what theory is. Some even showed that theory is a very difficult term to an extent they dont even want to hear it. I dont know if you are also intimidated with theory but it is my hope that after reading this work you will be okay with THEORY. First of all you need to know that you have been using theories to describe and explain events, phenomenon, occasions, etc in your daily life. In other words a human being develops a lot of theories every day. For example, telling your friend about the car accident that you witnessed know that you are developing theories. At their best level theories provide us with a lens by which to view the world. Think of theories as a pair of glasses. Corrective lenses allow wearers to observe more clearly, but they also impact vision in unforeseen ways. For example, they can limit the span of what you see, especially when you try to look peripherally outside the range of the frames. Similarly, lenses can also distort the things you see, making objects appear larger or smaller than they really are. You can also try on lots of pairs of glasses until you finally pick one pair that works the best for your lifestyle. Theories operate in a similar fashion. A theory can illuminate an aspect of your communication so that you understand the process much more clearly. Theory also can hide things from your understanding or distort the relative importance of thingsi. For example You may find that when lecturers go to class to lecture they find classes are full of students to an extent some of students get nowhere to sit. But
the very same classes sometimes lecturers find the number of students is very small to an extent one student can occupy two seats at once. When such situation occurs lecturers may wonder to themselves, or even ask each other, 1. Why in some days classes are full of students and not at other days? 2. How can we stop this behavior of class attendance? Providing answers to these questions is a kind of theory formulation. From the quotation above we have read that theories may hide things and distort the meaning. Likewise a lecture can get an answer to those two questions which are misleading and end up with bad decisions. For example he may say that students never come to class because of ignorance. Again in Tanzania there some questions I believe you have been asking to yourself such as 1. Why wife beating in Kurya land is a sign of love but the same action is a sign of evil in Sukuma land? 2. Why some university girls behave the way they do? 3. Why some women in Democratic republic of Congo when are raped they inform their husbands while others do not? 4. Why SAUT did restrict female students to wear pair of trousers? These questions look simple but it is not easy to answer however, communication researchers believe that we can provide answers to these kinds of questions with theory, a type of framework that helps us sort out the separate bits of our behavior and quilt them together in some meaningful way (West and Turner, 2004,pp.42-43). Theories shape our sense of reality. In other word if you are able to tell the reasons behind wife beating as a sign of love among the Kurya you will be giving out the theory. The theory therefore begins with a question or questions about a specific phenomenon in the mind of person (theorist). Up to now can you be able to tell what theory is? In your own word define it then? Theory can therefore be defined as a set of inter-related propositions (hypotheses) that suggest why events occur in the manner that they do (Infante, et al, 1997, p. 38). It is human account of what something is, how it works, what it produces or causes to happen, and how that something can be changed, if necessary. Hypotheses or propositions are statements
about the relationships between concepts. In many ways we use to roughly define hypothesis as an intelligent guess. For example if you have ever been puzzled about someones behavior and tried to figure out the cause of it without directly asking the person, you almost certainly formed a hypothesis. Theory or hypothesis Suppose you see your boyfriend crossing the street a short distance ahead and you call his name, but he doesnt respond, and we normally expect that when we call our friends especially by names they likely to respond promptly. Therefore having been ignored by your boyfriend what follows are hypotheses formulated in your head, such us: 1. He deliberately ignored me because he was angry 2. He might have not listened to me because the street noisy was too loud 3. He heard me but he no longer loves me because he has engaged to another lady These are the few propositions that one can choose to explain the behavior that the friend has exposed. These hypotheses or propositions that explain the behavior of this friend performs a number of functions 1. Help you to understand why such an event (being ignored by friend) has occurred as it was 2. It helps you predict the future. This is, you will be in a good position of preparing yourself for peaceful divorce But again you can still argue to yourself that because of the noise in the street he would not listen to me therefore I dont have to worry about the divorce. He is still mine. This will therefore help you to control your communication behavior that you should be very louder when calling a person when there is louder noisy in streets. Thus you try to be louder than before. He turns and smiles, and one of your hypothesis testing is rewarded and you ignore others. Although you have not yet confirmed why your friend did not hear you the first time, you could now ask him questions to explore the causes of his silence. By asking these questions you will be in a position of knowing the exact reason for his non response. You may get almost different answers relating to your hypotheses and opens the new chance of getting new hypotheses. For example he may tell you that at the time you called him he was busy
listening to the news bulletin via headphone of his mobile. This confirmed response is called A THEORY Exercise Read the story below and 1. Develop two questions 2. Develop two hypotheses 3. Construct two theories (how have you made it?) Masunga has been hearing some rumors from here and there that his wife Celina has an affair with men from other corner of the village. The incident always takes place when Masunga goes to shamba. One day Masunga came early at home and through window he was able to see two people sleeping on his bed. He dropped down his log from the shoulder and went directly to cut these people with his panga. As he was about to enter the room and accomplish his target, he sees Celine coming from the river with crock on head and she shouted, Husband! Your brother and his wife have arrived this morning and they are sleeping in our room
TYPES OF THEORIES To understand fully the concept of theory, great thinkers have categorized it into three Common sense theories These are theories developed by theorists through life experience. They emerge out of the knowledge and experience people possess about a particular phenomenon 1. Wanaume wafupi ni hatari 2. Dawa ya kifaransa ni mzola tu Although these are theories that emerged from experiences rather than generalizations from social scientific inquiry, they cannot be dismissed as nonsense. Coming in media perspective you may find so many common sense theories developed through peoples experience about media. For example people talk much about mass media in Tanzania without scientific enquires. A person may say all Tanzania journalists are liars, but the very same person when asked to provide evidence on his claim mtamaliza pori. Thus "common sense" (in this view) equates to the knowledge and experience which most people already have, or which the person using the term believes that they do or should haveii. Working Theory Working theories are generalizations made in particular professions about the best techniques for doing something. For example journalists work using the inverted pyramid. Working theories are more systematic than the common sense theories, because they represent agreements- on ways of doing things on a particular profession. These are examples of all what we are taught in different courses. For example in Public Relations we have some agreed steps that are used in crisis management, in TV and photojournalism we have agreed on ways that different shots are used to capture the attention of the viewers, and participatory communication is an example of working theory that should be used to raise democracy in a society. Scholarly Theories The term scholarly indicates that the theory has undergone systematic research. They provide more thorough, accurate, and abstract
explanations for communication than do common sense or working theories. There are more than 200 scholarly theories in this field of communication and public relations. This being the case any one of you should at least critique one theory. Enjoy these few scholarly theories Agenda Setting Theory Accommodation theory Information overload theory
GOALS OF MASS MEDIA THEORY Introduction Show me your friend I will tell who you are! is an adage which summarizes our todays class. The idea is that a person is a reflection of his companion. Fishman will always enjoy being with fish men friends and they will real behave as fish men. The bible verse says utawatambua kwa matendo yao. The idea I am trying to make here is that the behavior of people are determined by social institutions they are affiliated with. Social institutions according to Obeta (2003, p. 77) are the basic social organizations that regulate and organize most of the activities of individuals in society into definite organizational pattern in order to achieve the fundamental goals of societal life. Without social institutions, none of the perennial, basic problems of any society will be solved. Social institutions ensure that patterns of behavior of individual members are regulated according to some definite, continuous and organized patterns. This regulation is upheld by norms and by sanctions which are legitimized by society. The following are the types of social institutions: The Family and Kinship Institutions This institution regulates behavior patterns in the area of procreations, biological relations between individuals in society and the initial socialization of the new members of society. A good or bad person might be associated with the family they are coming from. Like farther like son. Take for example those students who perform wonderful in their exams you will find the culture of reading was cultivated through his family. Educational Institutions Educational institutions deal with the socialization of the young into adults as well as the differential transmission of knowledge, values, attitudes skills and other aspects of cultural heritage of society from one generation to another. University student is different from a peasant. Ongea kama msomi wewe is a reflection that an educated person should have the characteristics associated with education. Economic Institution The economic institution is central to the survival of society. It deals primarily with the production, distribution and consumption of goods
and services. Asiye fanya kazi na asile is a symbol that a person engaged in economic institutions have the culture of working hard. Political Institution The political institution ensures that man is organized into political units. It deals with the control and the use of force within the society, and the maintenance of internal and external peace, as well as the mobilization of resources for the implementation of various goals etc. The point of departure is that any human being is a politician in nature. Legal Institution This institution articulates and sets-up just laws that will guarantee justice, fairness and equity in order to ensure that there is order and peace in society. Laws, may not change the heart, but they restrain the heartless. People from these institutions are always behaving as freedom fighters. The VC of SAUT Charles Kitima (Rev. Dr.) when address any meeting is very easy to know in whether he comes from legal institutions. Religious Institution Religious institutions deal with mans relationship with his creator. Christians are taught to forgive and love their enemies and never to revenge. Akikupiga kofi shavu la kushoto, mgeuzie na linguine. Muslims are taught to defend their Allah at any cost. The list of social institutions is endless. Fourie (2005, p.113) argues that these structures and institutions make up our living reality and are responsible for how we think and act in terms of values and norms defined, passed on and entrenched by these structures. These agents of socialization teach people how to live and interact with each other. Media as the most important social institution Today the media have become one of the most import social institutions/ structures. Through media we learn about , politics, economics etc. Therefore the main goal of media theory is to describe and explain the social relationships between media and other social institutions. Question.What does relationship mean?
BUILDING BLOCKS OF THEORY Ontology As we have seen that theory begins with a question or questions about a specific phenomenon in the mind of the theorist or group of theorists. For example, Can the media frame a person, group, an event or topic in a certain way so as to influence public opinion about a person, group, event or a topic in a specific direction? Consider the way 1. Africa is presented by Western Mediaa place for hunger, wars and disease (HIV) 2. Ghadafi was presented by the mediacrazy king of Africa, dictator, ghost, idiot etc 3. Idd Amin Dada was portrayed by Radio Tanzania Dar es Salaamnduli, fashist. 4. Think of how Clouds FM promotes itself ...kisima cha burudaniburudani jadi yatu Providing responses to all questions that deal with humanity (behavior, thinking, reflecting etc) will be the theorists view of human nature (keeping in mind that media content is a product of human activity). Therefore all theories in human and social sciences begin with human nature. In the philosophy of science this view of human nature is called ONTOLOGY As far as ONTOLOGY is concerned we study human behavior into two perspectives; deterministic view of human behavior (determinism) and liberal view of human behavior (humanism) Determinism Viewing human nature in the perspective of determinism we need to know that human behavior is governed by forces beyond individual control. According to this line of reasoning response to the question (Can the media frame a person, group, an event or topic in a certain way so as to influence public opinion about a person, group, event or a topic in a specific direction?) is YES because people have little control. Humanism The point of departure in humanism is the belief that people have a free will and that they make choices about how to act. Therefore there is no direct humanistic answer to the question (Can the
media frame a person, group, an event or topic in a certain way so as to influence public opinion about a person, group, event or a topic in a specific direction?) because people can think for themselves and in a responsible way. Epistemology We have been discussing that for any hypotheses to be valid one needs evidence. The evidence my come from ones experience about some phenomenon or through searching for truth from other sources. For example (Do the media frame people and events to influence public opinion in a specific direction?). The hypothesis to this question would be YES, the media frame people and events to influence public opinion in a specific direction. To make this hypothesis theory you need facts from your experience or from outside your experience i.e conducting some researches. Justifying a particular theory you will be demonstrating the processing of knowing. This process of knowing what you know is EPISTEMOLOGY. Broadly, we can distinguish between two schools of thought about EPISTEMOLOGY: those who believe in objective truth and those who believe in subjective experience, interpretation, perception and understanding. Objectivism (empiricism) The followers under objectivistic school of thought believe that they know what they know because the phenomenon they are investigating about exists objectively, independent from their understanding, interpretation, experience and perception. From our question above (Do the media frame people and events to influence public opinion in a specific direction?) one needs to undergo scientific research to provide the understanding. The point of departure in objectivism is that the reality is something outside to the human mind, independent of feelings, and the same for everyone. Subjectivism (being critical, interpretive, and phenomenological) This school of thought is other ways round i.e subjectivists do not believe in objective truth assuming that there are multiple views of reality, no one which is intrinsically more valid than any other. From our question (Do the media frame people and events to influence public opinion in a specific direction?) cannot be separated from our knowledge of the media, its history, its institutions, its way of production, its people
(workers) and so on. Such knowledge will influence our understanding and interpretation.
Purpose Theory has been taking much of our time. But we need to ask ourselves what are these theories for? Are they to help us discover and formulate universal laws about the nature of a particular phenomenon or is the purpose to discover patterns behavior of this phenomenon that may prevail under certain conditions in certain circumstances? For example what would be the purpose this question (Do the media frame people and events to influence public opinion in a specific direction?). One would develop a theory from this question for two major purposes. To establish universal law of the nature of media, in other words to be able to say that the media always function in this or that way i.e. media always influence peoples opinion. The other purpose is to generate only rules that describe patterns in human behavior rather than universal law. This being the case we can distinguish two schools of thoughts universalism and situationalism. Universalism Followers in this school of thought believe that purpose of theory is to generate universal laws of a particular phenomenon. From the question (Do the media frame people and events to influence public opinion in a specific direction?) one would say that laws about how and when the media frames people and events can be described and are universal. Situationalism This school of thought believes that it is not possible and that theory can only articulate rules that describe patterns in human behavior, rather than laws. From our question (Do the media frame people and events to influence public opinion in a specific direction?) given certain conditions and circumstances the media may frame people and events in different ways.
EVALUATING THEORY
Broadly, social sciences are evaluated through five criteria namely Scope Under this scope we need to determine how much do the theory explain or describe a particular phenomenon. For example in mass communication some theories explain and describe every aspect of mass communication process such as sender, message, channels, receiver, and feedback. Such theories that tend to explain and describe every aspect in mass communication we commonly known GRAND THEORIES. For example the theory by Marshall McLuhan the medium is the message. This theory tends to describe and explain everything about mass communication. On the other hand there are theories that explain a particular aspect of a phenomenon. For example FEMINIST MEDIA EFFECT THEORIES. Two aspects in scope 1. Law-based explanation The assumption is that if A happens B will follow. For example if I send a particular message I would expect the reactions from the audience. This school relates to deterministic ontology, objectivistic epistemology, universalistic purpose, and behaviorist focus. 2. Rule-based explanation This line of reasoning argues that one should identify a rule that explain why certain things happen. The aim should be to identify patterns rather than laws, to describe and explain what may happen under certain conditions. It relates to humanist ontology, subjectivist epistemology, situationalistic purpose and humanistic focus.
Testability Any theory to be valid must be scientifically tested and verified. You need to investigate a theory to determine whether it is valid or invalid. I know that every of you in this class have a theory provided by your mwalimu. It is high time you tested you theory and demonstrate whether it is valid or not. Determinists, objectivists, Universalists and behaviorists believe that the empirical scientific methods allows for verification. Harmonize the
understanding of EMPERICAL SCIENTIFIC METHODS from RESEACH METHODOLOGYs class. Parsimony This school of thought argues that a theory needs to be very simple and not complex to demonstrate clear explanation and description of a particular phenomenon. For example BULETTIN THEORY OF THE MEDIA is very simple. Not only bulletin theory but all theories that I provided to you are very simple and I will wonder when some of you fails to happens critiques his or her theory. Utility This school of thought argues that any theory should have a practical value in terms of our understanding, controlling and improving phenomenon. For example a theory helping to understand how mass communication works might lead to media workers, media users and media researchers control of this phenomenon to the benefit of people and society. Heuristic Value We expect theories in social sciences to answer the following questions
1. Does the theory lead to new thinking? 2. Does it contribute to our knowledge? 3. Does it provide us with the potential for further investigation?
CHAPTER FIVE Power, functions and effects of the mass media Introduction How we think about the power of the media, the Medias effects on behavior, and the functions of the media in society and so on is usually done from a specific theoretical perspective and approach/paradigm. We have therefore seven perspectives. The Positive Approach Positivism has to do with scientific method in gathering or understanding the phenomenon. Followers of this paradigm are empiricists in the sense that they believe in experiment and observation. Their guiding dictum is, NO RESEARCH NO RIGHTS TO SPEAK. Therefore before you preach to people that the media can influence public to engage in economic development you need to have conducted a research through scientific method. For example you want to report the role of media in changing the behavior of the youth you need to conduct ethnography study. Can you study the following? 1. The effect of political news on the media users voting behavior 2. The portrayal of violence by the media on the behavior of people 3. The effect of television communication within the families 4. Function of media on social development 5. The influence of media on public opinion against ufisadi in Tanzania 6. How can the media best and effectively inform people about HIV/AIDS in Tanzania? Agenda setting theory, the accumulation theory, diffusion of innovation theory, modeling and theory just to mention but a few are the results of empirical researches conducted over particular period of time. Does your theory fall under this category? Critical Approach This approach considers media to be very harmful and threat to peoples minds. The media has the power of controlling and influence people to involve in any conflicts. Moral degradation, increase in violence, theft and
burglary, riots, revolutions and other unethical dealings are associated with mass media. Some people never tune to any media outlets when their children get sited in the sitting room. Prof. Ted Walters advised people not to own set of television because they will never do anything for development. Believers in critical approach hate the media. Examples of scholars who hate media abound. Squires (2000,p. 77) reports that many scholars of media and democracy would agree with Habermass critique that todays news media are debilitating rather than energizing the public sphere. Negative perception about media according to Fourie (2005) is often expressed in the dialogue between characters in soap operas and situation comedies when they refer to journalists and the media as follows: count your words in front of a journalist; who can believe the media?; dont trust a journalist; be careful of journalists, and so forth. Individuals are only persuaded to consider and act on new information when the provider is perceived to be knowledgeable and trust worthy (Moehler and Singh, 2011). Media critic Nick Davies in his article, Our Media have Become Mass Producers of Distortion argues that an industry whose task should be to filter out falsehood has become a conduit for propaganda and second hand news. Davies says that in one of the study about 2000 UK news stories from Times, Telegraph, Guardian, and Independent, the Daily Mail discovered that only 12% of the stories were wholly composed of material researched by reporters, with 8% of the stories, they just couldn't be sure, the remaining 80%, were completely, constructed from second-hand material, provided by news agencies and by the public relations industry. This would be compared to parachute journalism. John Stuart Mill, de Tocqueville and Ortega y Gasset, shared a concern that, under the guise of liberating the masses and the privilege of freedom of expression, journalists were contributing to a mass society in which a majority would gain power without having the necessary intellectual, social and cultural skills to lead the masses. They saw the media as a threat to democratic institutions, to elite cultural values and as contributing to the reduction of the autonomy of the best people (Ortega, 1930 in Fourie, 2005). The following selected five theories are examples of critical paradigms that explain and describe the danger of mass media in society. 1. Mass society theory (Ferdinand Tonnies, 1855 -1936)
Some of the underlying assumptions of mass society theory are that the media - Have the power to influence the minds of average people (mass man, common man) - Corrupt peoples minds. - Initiate social chaos - Trivialize culture and such as contribute of the decline of civilization. 2. Frankfurt schools Regarding Frankfurt school Philip J Hanes in his article, The Advantages and Limitations of a Focus on Audience in Media (2000) says, the Frankfurt schools, set up in 1923, were concerned about the possible effects of mass media. They proposed the "Effects" model, which considered society to be composed of isolated individuals who were susceptible/vulnerable to media messages. The Frankfurt school envisioned (imagined) the media as a hypodermic syringe (or bulletin theory), and the contents of the media were injected into the thoughts of the audience, who accepted the attitudes, opinions and beliefs expressed by the medium without questioning. This model was a response to the German fascists use of film and radio for propaganda uses, and later applied to American capitalist society. The followers of the hypodermic model of effects adopted a variant of Marxism, emphasizing the dangers of the power of capitalism, which owned and controlled new forms of media. Like in Tanzania today very few and powerful business men who are affiliated with political parties own the media.Diallo Antony, Rostam Aziz and Reginald Mengi.what do you expect the media content to be? 3. Hegemony theory of the media Whether we like or not we all live in a society with very powerful social institutions which shape our reality. Remember the adage, show me your friend and I tell who you are? There you are. Most social institutions that we have are controlled by powerful people. Who control your university, religious institutions, media, political parties, financial institutions, communication companies? The point of departure in this theory is that ruling and powerful class usually control most of social institutions and common people always do things, willingly and happily, in their daily lives that keep these powerful people on top.
Hegemony is therefore the way the ruling and powerful class controls the institutions that influence peoples thought but in the consent of the influenced. No force is used. Gramsci believes that the media have always a key role in teaching people to do things in their everyday lives that support the power structures. This is associated to how the media support power structures such as government, capitalism/corporations, and patriarchy. For example: a. A news report that shows strong support for a president to sign the Katiba Bill can be said to hegemonically support the government. b. When you read a newspaper advert convincing you to buy very expensive and modernized car can be said to be hegemonically supporting the capitalist economic system. c. A soap opera by Kanumba shows women scantily-clad women passively behaving in the house until the husband tell him to do something be seen as hegemonically promoting patriarchy. One of my students was shocked to see me sitting in changanyikeni when THE AMBASSADOR CHOIR from Rwanda was performing at CCM Kirumba stadium and she said, Mwalimu nakuongezea hela utoke hapo. She wanted me to occupy expensive sits simply because they charged 10,000 tshs instead of 3000 Tshs. She was a very good lady with hegemonic caliber. If she was a media I would say the lady was promoting capitalist economic system. It is pure hegemonic ideology. Political economy Political economy is an umbrella term for all those theories and analytical approaches which seek to understand how economic and political relationships, interests and functioning of social institutions. It is believed that if you want to explore the power of media you need to start with the owner. Political economy states that despite media claims of being the voice to the voiceless, media owners are primarily interested in financial profits. And the major characteristics of profit oriented institutions struggle to avoid risk (remember economics I and II you started in previous semester and score A or B+?). For example one of the documentaries I showed you in Class about Geita people on land conflict with mining investors produced by Dotto Emmanuel Bilulendu was rejected to be aired by Star TV unedited. It took almost a month to get air time but with thorough editing. You know why? Fear of risk. The point of departure is that much of media institutions in Tanzania are profit
oriented and not voiceless centered as they use to name themselves. Let me try you this other example. Mobile phone companies in Tanzania have a lot of network problems, especially Tigo but you will never see this reported in any Tanzanian media. Why? A Swahili proverb goes, huwezi kukata mkono unaokulisha. Mobile phone companies are the big advertisers of our media. Edward S. Herman and Chomsky Noam in their Book Manufacturing Consent developed propaganda model showing how the media in US works. They say media are established for the purpose of making profit and therefore any information that people consume has to pass through five filters. The case in point is that media have to observe these five filters in order to survive and keep on making profit. Enjoy these filters and try to contextualize in your todays society. 1. Ownership of the media Because media in US are highly concentrated among a few dozen of largest owners for Profit maximization willy-nilly their needs for profit severely influence the news operations and overall content of the media. What is the media ownership situation of Tanzania? 2. Advertising About 80 of media income in US come from advertisers. This has colonized mass media content. Remember and adage, he who pays for the piper calls the tune? What is the situation in Tanzania? If you criticize us we dont advertise in your media. Remember what happened in THIS DAY PAPER? 3. Sourcing The American media content is based on the dictum of OBJECTIVITY and the norm of BIG MAN MAKES A BIG NEWS. Government officials, intellectual and scientists who would provide views on their interests will enable the media to win the audience. The audience is always interested to WHO is talking or has commented on a particular piece of information. Journalists will therefore have to establish good friend ship with sources and write what sources like. Against to this you lose your sources. 4. Flak
In US there are some institutions established by the powerful people to critics media messages for their interests and sometime these institutions embark threats to any media and journalists who go against their interests. For any media or journalists to survive they have to undergo self censorship to avoid conflicts with flak. Do we have this in Tanzania? No. In Tanzania we have draconian laws which I would term as flak, because if you scrutinize you will find that most of the laws in Tanzania were established to serve the interests of the ruling class. For example the Newspaper Act of 1976 gives much power the minister of information. For instance, the law contains a section which states that the Minister of Information, Culture and Sport has the mandate to ban any news paper if it seems to endanger the national security. Do remember what happened to Mwanahalisi which resulted to a book by Ndimara Tegambwage, UHURU GEREZANI. 5. Anticommunist In US media were not allowed to publish any information that favor communism like in Tanzania during Ujamaa any information against Ujamaa was forbidden. The point of departure regarding anticommunism is that media had to operate within a dominant ideology of the country. Do you know what happened to the first editor of THE STANDARD which is today known as THE DAILY NEWS? - In May 1971, the Sudanese president, An Numeiri, was overthrown by Communist revolutionaries led by Mohammed Mahgroub. From Ginwalas point of view, Mahgroub made the fatal error of not killing Numeiri because the president returned to power only 48 hours later. The Standard came out with a strident editorial. It said, in effect, that if you were going to stage a coup, then it was better to kill of the head of state than to leave him alive Sturme (1998, p. 120). The dilemma, though unknown to Ginwala, was that Numeiri was shortly to pay a state visit to Tanzania. In the same evening, she was lost her job for criticizing the socialism brother of Nyerere (Read Freedom in Chain by Rioba). MEANING PRODUCTION THEORY How it is possible to know what is real? Husserl in Fourie (2007, p.146) argued that there is only one way, namely through experience. Everything we see and know is filtered by our own experience and is thus a creation of ones own consciousness. In the process of the construction
of reality the mass media are not simply transmitters of objective information but active constructers of information and meaning- what is presented as news are an interpretation and a construction of meaning through the process of emphasizing some events and de-emphasizing other events. TECHNOLOGICAL DETERMINISM (MARSHALL MCLUHAN) In technological determinism it is believed that technology and technological innovation drive social change, culture, economics and politics. McLuhan argues that every technology is an extension of peoples senses or some human faculty. Media technology affects our perception of what is the reality and how we think about the reality. Compare how democracy is practiced today and during Platos age. Political campaigns come into our sitting rooms and in other countries you vote while at home. THE INFORMATION SOCIETY APPROACH This perspective considers the role of new media and ICT in society such as increase the production and flow of information of all kinds, decrease distance and cross geographical borders, increase interactivity between senders and users of messages, interconnect people, groups, nations and organizations, decrease the cost of the transmission of information and entertainment and provide speed and volume. Topics that you need to explore regarding the development of new media and ICT (1) The impact of ICT on leisure-time (2) The nature and possible consequences of virtual or cyber communities (3) The nature of participation in the cyber space (4) The consequences of ICT for democracy, for theft online banking and theft (5) The role of ICT in development (6) ICT possibility of a growth. (7) Privacy issues (8) Regulation and control of the internet (9) Impact of ICT on old media.
POSTSTRUCTURALIST/POSTMODERN APPROACH Under this approach you need to think on how the media programs are developed and presented. This being the case followers of this paradigm argues with reference to television that programs are in fragmented in nature. This fragmentation is caused by program schedules, program formats, the lack of clear genres, the mixing of genres and the technique of pastiche. Televisions daily offering is characterized by a succession of programmes that follow one another in sequence. The major purpose of this of sequencing of programs is to have the largest viewing public possible, which would be likely to bring in the largest advertising revenue at a given time of the day, in conjunction with most suitable programme for this purpose, in the hope that both the broadcaster and the advertiser will benefit. Furthermore, the viewer can choose between different channels, usually with the aid of a remote, which certainly makes selection easier but does magnify fragmentation (Fourie, 2005, p. 161). Also programmes are fragmented by advertising flashes,continuity announcements, news flashes, jingles and music flashes. The point of departure in modernized society is that fragmentation is an obstacle to coherent meaning in the daily programme offering and most programmes. Fragmentation is also a prominent feature of television news. There is fragmentation of images through montage, juxtaposition and the use of close-ups which are inherent construction of reality and which, in addition to their visual qualities, heighten the effect of the irregular flow of dialogue, giving television a rhythm of its own which is far removed from reality. The adaptation of a reality in news is aimed not at the meaning of the reality portrayed but rather at the imitating. While the existence of reality is never denied, reality and its meaning are made subordinate to the question: is it good television? Connor in Fpurie p 162 agues the TV network does not aim to represent the world, but enacts itself, its own forms and languages, in a pure performing present Terrorist violence is represented on news programme by means of scenes of violence, interviews with victims, and opinions from politicians, the police and other interested persons. In this process the actual event, the terrorist crime, may simply disappear into the background. The violence as referent becomes nebulous and ends up as a fragment of an image. A report of this kind is likely to undergo further fragmentation as a
result of the alternation of various stories, the role of the presenters and programme format, which usually start with the most important events, followed by sport, the weather, a human interest story and so on (p.162). This being the case there is a possibility to understand the reality in fragmentation. Key thinkers in postmodern society Roland Barthes (1915 1980) In his essay the Death of the Author (1969) Barthes argues that meaning does not derive from authors intention and structured representation but from the readers interpretation which is open and can differ from reader to reader. The emphasis in post structuralism has moved from author as creator of meaning to the recipient as creator of meaning. The author has no custody over a text once it is out of his/her hands (p.164). Michel Foucult (1926 1984) Meaning is not contained within a statement as such but it is derived from the myths, taboos, social rules and knowledge about a topic at a specific time. For example you may express your opinion about premarital sex in a statement about this topic. The meaning of your statement is not only contained in your statement as such, but in your thinking about the topic that precedes the statement and allows you to speak about the topic in a certain way. Such thinking is the product of your own background, culture, religion, politics and culture and is imprinted on you by those with power be it your parents, teachers, church leaders or political leaders. Foucult argues that in order to understand the meaning of a statement about a topic one should go beyond the statement and rather focus on the conditions that made the statement possible in the first place, how such conditions at the particular time in history determine what is said, what may be said, and how we converse and think about a topic. For example the issue of USHOGA you need to expect different meaning from African people, European People, Christians, Buddha. Piere Bourdieu (1930 2002) French sociologist Piere Bourdieu, who worked in the disciplines of anthropology, education and cultural studies, argued that the analysis of
power relationships should begin by focusing on how power is structured internally within different professionals, such as in the field of journalism, and how these fields interrelate. He coined two concepts: habitus and symbolic capital. Habitus means that journalists may take certain practices and conditions as being natural, objective, as a social institution (the way we do things), a nature. But are they? What are the alternatives? Bourdieu saw Habitus as being structural limitations that hide truth. Those with power (such as journalists and media owners) may dictate and hide habitus and own what Bourdieu calls symbolic power. In exercising their power they commit symbolic violence. The task of analysis should be to expose habitus and symbolic power. In his book on television (1998), Bourdieu argues that the structural limitations of the journalism profession include economic censorship brought about by the financial cost of covering a story and whether a story will be cost-effective in terms of the size of the audience it will draw. There are the limitations of time, space and format (in the shortest time or smallest space a story needs to be covered), work routines (deadlines, working against the clock), and conditions of labour (low salaries which do not necessarily draw the best and most responsible intellectual minds). Yes journalists may not always question these structural limitations as responsible for them obscuring instead of exposing the truth. They may see it as part of the nature (habitus) of the job, the way in which things should be and are done and as the unquestioned rules of the profession. These and other structural limitations of the profession may have lowered journalistic standards and quality, and may continue to do so unless a significant proportion of journalists themselves question the structures and practices of their profession, while journalists may pride themselves on isolating the truth that hides behind the rhetoric of governments and the business elite, in the end they may accomplish the apposite. Instead of exposing the way things work, journalism may mystify them further (Barnhurst, 2005). These structural limitations are contrary to moral and ethical conduct, given the fact that the symbolic capital or journalism lies in the fact that journalism is, after all,
contemporary persons main lens on the social world. Through news (and the media in general), we understand our world (s) and rely on news to take crucial decisions (Szeman 2005). Neil postman (1931 2003) and media as show business American researcher Neil Postman (1931 2003) argues that television turns everything into entertainment, even news. By so doing, television masks reality and the truth. In his book, Amusing Ourselves to Death! Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business (1985), he argued that news is guided by two questions such as; 1 Will the story (politics, human interest, crime, disaster, reality) work on television? 2 Will it make for good television? Is it visually appealing? (1985:1992) In order to make reality good television, everything on screen acquires the character of show business. If the show is to go on, there is no time for searching discussion and inquiry, and this applies particularly to controversial public issues. Postman suggests that thinking does not come across well on television, so there is little intellectual communication on television. The interviewee (who may be a politician, business person, academic, leader of society), like the presenter, is expected to be a show person, he/she is there to show off an image: either that of the organization or political party that he/he represents, or at any rate that of her/his own sagacity, which has to be captured in one or two punchy statements or soundbites. It would fatally damage ones television image to say I dont know or Ill check up on television. For this reason many people who are likely to appear on television are trained in the finer points of acting before the camera. The effect of this on the eventual way in which people see, experience and react, especially to public affairs can be enormous. Do the television images of bloody wars and revolution really speak to people and touch us in an emotional and existential way, or do we experience them as just a part of the show on television?
It would be difficult to deny that entertainment is the dominant metaphor in and through which television discourse is conducted, argues postman. Thus after every evenings ration of tragedy on the news, the presenters invite the viewer to join them again at the same time tomorrow night for another dose of the same. Things which should have kept the viewer awake all night are forgotten within seconds. The format of news bulletins contributes to this effect: glamorous presenters, catchy introductory music, attractive graphic designs, advertising interludes, a concluding quip to give the news a cheerful ending. All this permits viewers to ignore the horrors they have just watched and accept the invitation to join us again tomorrow night. Along with the presenters they become voyeurs, looking in on reality (or a fragment of it) from the outside. There is no real involvement. Opportunity to take a highly sensational peek at the wretchedness and tragedy of other lives from the outside, just as one would watch a movie in a cinema or on television. What postman thus argues is in line with Bourdieus view that under the pressure of its own unquestioned ways of production, professional practices and styles (habitus), the media and journalism (in this case television) conceals a truth and reality, instead of exposing it. Jean Baudrillard (1929 2007) and media as simulation Boudrillard argues that television creates a hyperreality without any history (see the earlier reference to postmodernisms break with history). The reality we experience through television is a simulated creation in which any distinction between real and unreal is difficult. Television creates a political and cultural cul-de-sac2 Barring Canadian researcher Marshall McLuhan (1911-1980) and Welsh academic Raymond Williams (1921 1988), there have been few thinkers on mass communication whose work has aroused as much intellectual interest as that of Boudrillard. This probably because he was
2
cul-de-sac means the same
the first person to describe the media, especially the electronic media, as part of humanitys postmodern condition. According to the Flemish philosopher Herbert Dethier (1993: 512 520), Baudrillards work can be summed up as a postmodern interpretation of late 20th century consumer society. In this society there in no longer any distinction between private and public or between intimacy and publicity. The realty we observe (and experience) in postmodern consumer society is a simulated reality - this simulation is chiefly the product of the media, which create a hyperreality without any material origin or reality. The foundation of truth is eradicated in the media culture and all that remains is a self-referent simulations which makes it impossible to distinguish between the real and the unreal. The media create a cultural and political cul-de-sac (Dethier 19913:512). Boundrillards criticism of the media amounts to the following: mass communication is non-communication. If we define communication as dialogue, then according to Baudrillard we can do no other than to regard the communication of the mass media as non-communication. Mass communication impedes the exchange of ideas and denies us the opportunity to reply. The talk shows and opinion and actually progrmmes are mere simulations of dialogue. They are and remain a show. A show is intrinsically a representation of something. When dialogue is simulated on television it is difficult to distinguish between television as the communicator, television as the transmitter, television as the process of communication and television as the medium. Television has to be all these things simultaneously. In this sense television is an abstraction of communication. In addition to the intrinsic self- centeredness and the egotistical, self-contained and self-reflecting nature of television, it should also be remembered that television is a medium where ownership and control (in the case of private ownership) and power (especially in the case of state ownership) are internal. Television is a medium that exists in and for itself. To Marshall McLuhans claim that the medium is the message, Jean Baudrillard replies that this is the very thing that means the end of the
message, and of the medium and therefore the end of mass communication. Like McLuhan uses the warm/cool metaphor in describing the media McLuhan uses the warm/cool distinction to distinguish between the technical abilities of the various mass media. A medium that is full of data and high definition, and which leaves little to the recipients own interpretation and signification, is warm. Photographs, films and the radio are examples of warm media. In contrast, a medium containing relatively few data and low definition, which therefore invites the recipient to participate in completing the message, is cool. In comparison with a photography which is full of data (warm), a cartoon strip contains little data and is therefore cool. For Baudrillard the warm/cool distinction doesnt refer to the technical capacity of the media but to what the media actually do. The media turn a warm event into a cool media event. warm means that emotion expectation, anticipation, mise-en-scene and spectacle are present, making the reality or actual event warm. With the aid of flash-backs, replays and close-ups, the media turn a warm event (reality) into a cold event. The media therefore have a chilling effect. POST COLONIAL THEORY AND THE AFRO CENTRIC APPROACH Postcolonial studies have focused attention on how dominant media theories are a product of Western epistemology and thus emphasize a Western way of thinking about the role of the media in society. In this regard, the late Zambian scholar Francis Peter Kasoma produced groundbreaking work in the fields of an African perspective on media ethics, media training, and freedom of expression. His works as well as those of other scholars, suggest that an African epistemology would rather seek to understand the media and its role from the perspective of communal beliefs and values Ubuntu (a Zulu word widely understood across southern African which defines peoples humanity in terms of their responsibilities in helping others) is then seen to be a possible African alternative to Western media theory. Postcolonial media theory also readdress the unequal production and distribution of information and entertainment between the North and the
South and focus the attention anew on unequal access to media and information and communication technology. Closely associated with postcolonial studies is the Afrocentric paradigm. This paradigm has its origin in the African-American experience. It came into prominence with the publication of Molefi Kete Ashantes book Afrocentricity (1980) followed by The Afrocentricity Idea (1987). Ashante says Afrocentricity establishes; a frame of reference wherein phenomena are viewed from the African perspectiveit centers on placing people of African origin in control of their lives and attitudes about the worldas an intellectual theory, afrocentricity is the study of the ideas and events from the standpoint of Africans as key players rather than victimsit is Africa asserting itself intellectually and psychologically, breaking the bonds of western domination in the mind (in Mazama 2003 in Fourie, 2005,p. 177). Afrocentric paradigm is concerned with; 1 Developing a philosophy based on African values and ideas; 2 Rediscovering African history and the contribution of Africans to the development of Western civilization; 3 Developing African literature, culture and aesthetics; 4 Developing consciousness of African nationalism; 5 Developing African scientific methods and practice; 6 Encouraging African education. The Afrocentric paradigm encourages awareness of the particular ways that African communication, such as oratory and rhetoric, differ from the western modes of communication, and how issues of the representation of Africans in the mass media and African aesthetics are emphasized. NORMATIVE THEORY Media should play a role of some kind in society, be it to sustain democracy, to contribute to societys development, to educate and entertain people, to act as a watchdog over politicians, academia and financial institutions, among others. From this assumption, specific normative theories libertarian, authoritarian, social responsibility and development theory originated.
Authoritarian Media Theory Dates from the 16th century, the theory describes a situation in which the mass media are subordinated to state power. Whether the media ownership is private or public, they are expected to service the government or its functionaries and are forbidden to criticize government or its functionaries. The instruments of authoritarian control of the media are many and varied. They include heavy taxation, repressive legislation and direct or subtle state control of staffing. Libertarian Theory (Free Press) The Libertarian theory or free press theory believes that an individual should be free to publish what he or she likes and to hold and express opinions freely. It is based on the concept of free market place of ideas which held that good ideas would inevitably drive out bad ones if both were guaranteed free expression. The theory does not however obliterate the laws of defamation, sedition, obscenity and invasion of privacy. It believes that human beings including journalists are rational and have the ability to differentiate between right and wrong. The theory exists mainly to check on governments or its functionaries and therefore must ideally be free from government control. The clearest expression of the libertarian principle can be found in the first amendment to the American Constitution, which upholds on freedom of speech or of the press. This is a good example of the theory at work. Democratic Participant Theory The main thrust of this theory as enunciated by McQuail lies on the insistence that the existing bureaucracy and professional hegemony in media system should be done away with so as to ensure easy access to the media by allowing potential users and consumers. Conclusively, it insists that previous media theories have failed to deliver the expected results and therefore calls for grassroot participation in the control of the mass media.
Social Responsibility Theory The social responsibility theory can be aptly described as a child of the industrial revolution. The industrial revolution and the emerging multimedia society provided the conducive environment for the development of a theory that is based on the assumption that while the press should be free, it must nonetheless be responsible. This theory places emphasis on the moral and social responsibilities of people, who, and institutions which operate the mass media. The main theme of the message therefore is In Public Interest. It holds the position that one has the right to print, but he does not have the right to libel. It admits no censorship, but depends solely on the maturity of proprietors, editors and reporters. The main difference to the libertarian theory of the mass media lies in the demand for social responsibility which, if need be, can be enforced on the media by other institutions when it acts contrary to the laid down principles of social responsibility. Development Media Theory Development media theory was put forward as a means of paying for the imbalance in development and information flow of the Third World Countries and a solution to the technological problems facing them. The Third World Countries are bedeviled by problems that make the development of mass media system difficult. Some of these problems are the absence of communication infrastructure, the professional skill, the production and cultural resources and the available audience. The major tenets of Development Media Theory as enunciated by McQuail are: Media must accept and carry out positive development tasks in line with naturally established policy Freedom of the media should be open to economic priorities and development needs of the society Media should give priority in the content to the national culture and language. Journalists and other media workers have responsibilities as well as freedom in their information gathering and dissemination tasks.
In the interest of development, the state has a right to intervene or restrict media operation. The following questions are at the core of normative theory; How do the media cover different perspectives in a society? What is perceived to be in the publics interest, and why? How is public interest defined? What are the social responsibilities of the media? How should the media be organized legally and financially in order to realize any potential as a carrier of public values? Should the media identify and solve social problems? Should the media provide essential public services without profit? What moral and ethical standards should guide media professionals? When may the media the media invade someones privacy? What is the truth? What is objectivity? Currently in their book, Normative Theories of the Media: Journalism in Democratic Societies 2009, Christians, Glasser, McQuail, Nordenstreng, and White have summarized the roles of the mass media into: monitorial, facilitative, collaborative and radical. The monitorial role of the media Monitorial role echo the surveillance role of the mass media which was developed by Harold Lasswell. The term surveillance has been replaced by monitorial role because the term refers to as spying. The most basic meaning of the term monitorial is that of an organized scanning of the real world of people, condition, and events, and of potentially relevant source of information. In monitorial role, the media among other things, should adopt a watchdog stance by barking when some major actor is seen as acting against the public interest, especially in disguised way (Christians, 2009 et el, p.146).The watch dog role, of the press according to Kierran (1999, p.26) calls for the, media to keep a watch on those in positions of power, in order, to report what is actually happening and being done in peoples name.
The society needs this information both to know what is happening and what their representatives are doing because, according to Day (1991, p.158) journalisms primary responsibility is to their readers and viewers. Journalists have an ethical obligation to their audiences and to those whose activities they report upon to be as accurate as possible, and that failing to be accurate is professionally culpable and constitutes a moral failure to live up to the responsibilities of ones job (Richards, 2002, p.4). The mass media should act as a link between government (policy makers) and the public. They need to provide the information the public need for forming its own opinion. Certainly during the nineteenth century and even earlier, the press acquired a key task of reporting on proceedings in parliament and similar assemblies without which their democratic credentials would have been much reduced. This aspect of the presss role gave rise to the notion of a Fourth Estate, which attributed power to the press as at least equivalent in principle to that of other branches of government (p.144). Monitorial role is that media should circulate information about government actions, problems, issue and politics affecting the public. Social responsibility theory of the media formulated in the report of the Hutchins-Commission (Blanchard, 1977, Hutchins, 1947) in a famous phrase it called on the press to provide a truthful comprehensive and intelligent account of the days event in a context which gives them meaning. The press was asked to separate fact from comment and present both sides of disputed issue. The monitorial role involves any or all of the following practice in various form and degrees (p. 145). 1 Keeping and publishing an agenda of public event, 2 Maintaining reportorial presence at the main forums where political, social and economic decision are made or new events are announced and set in motion; this included routine coverage of parliament, assemblies, law courts, press conference of significant bodies, and so forth. 3 Publishing reports on significant current events and reproducing key factual data on a continuous basis (ranging from financial data to sports results)
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Providing the public with warning of risks, threats, and dangers that might have consequence for it, ranging from weather reports to travel disruptions and foreign war and disorder. Providing a guide to public opinion and to attitudes and beliefs of key group and figures on major issues. Offering an agenda that signal current problem and issues according to criteria of relevance and significance to the audience and society. Providing analyzing and interpretation of event and opinion in a balanced and judicious manner. Acting as a fourth estate in a political matter by mediating between government and citizen and providing a means for holding government accountable at the bar of public opinion. Adopting an active watchdog stance by barking when some major social actor perceived to be acting against the public interest, especially in an underhanded or disguised way.
Those who define objective in such a way do not want their press to do more than tell them what is happening in social reality, without value judgment emotions, or interventions. The monitorial task is appropriate to liberal and individualistic democracy presuppose that citizens as voters need to know enough to make informed and rational decisions, especially at periodic elections. The press has to be a major source of such information, since no other institution is able to offer enough ostensibly disinterested knowledge on such as a scale and in so timely a manner members of the public served by a press in this role are deemed to be capable of learning whatever they need to know about reality and in a position to act in their own self-interest (p. 149). The press in its monitorial role is primarily accountable to its own audiences, clients, and sources for the way it carries out this role. Facilitative role In facilitative role the media promote dialogue among their readers and viewers through communication that engages them and in which they actively participate. The media facilitate the process of negotiation over the social, political and cultural agenda. Deliberation is open to a wide range of evidence; respectful of different views, rational in weighing available data and willing to consider alternative possibilities (p.159).
The Hutchins Commission recommended that the media serve as a forum for the exchange of comment and criticism (p. 23). The major mission of mass communication This commission understood facilitative role the commission argued, is to raise social conflict from the plane of violence to the plane of discussion. For more than decades, development communication models have taught us about the facilitative role. Ideas and plans are not imposed by outside experts, but communities build up their own knowledge and experience through interactive learning. Andrew Moemeka argues for a facilitative strategy in which development communicators lead from behind. Leading from behind is a Socratic process of identifying together what is appropriate to do and how to effectively and efficiently do it. This dialogic version of development communication depends on collaboration within the grass roots rather than a top-down approach to problem solving. Development-oriented news media give people a voice, allowing them to talk, letting them run move of society and then reporting on what happens. Such media promote participatory communication among ordinary people and respond to the peoples concerns rather than the interests of the governmental elite and powerful nations. This kind of journalism or media we call it civic/community/public media. The media should facilitate civil society. The media do not simply report on civil societys activities and institutions but seek to promote and improve them ie take the info to the public. The civil society argument is considered, a strategy to remedy a member of the political ills that plague contemporary politics (p. 163). These are nongovernmental and non-economic connections and voluntary association structures of the public sphere in the society component of the life world (p. 164). In this sense, healthy democracies depend on an energetic civil society which is able to force issues and perspectives onto a public agenda. Through the communication human beings not only exchange goods and services but vivify their beliefs and presumptions about the world (p. 166) The radical role The radical role of the media and journalism insists on the absolute equality and freedom of all members of a democratic society in a
completely uncompromising way. Journalism in the radical role makes every effort to ensure that no injustice is over tolerated. The radical democratic commitment works for the continual elimination of concentrations of social power to enable every person to participate equally in all societal decisions. The radical role recognizes that power holders impede the flow of information and that it is necessary to change the system of public communication so that less powerful groups can get the information they need. Radical media seeks to help minorities articulate an alternative set of goals that represented the needs of all, especially the marginalized, the poor and the dispossessed. The role of journalists is to challenge the injustices perpetrated by hegemonic alliances and to propose instead a new order and support movements opposing these injustices. The radical role attempts to expose the conflict of interest between those who dominate the political economic conditions and cultural values of a society and those who have little influence over these conditions. It is also sides with those who are developing forms of resistance and advocacy against the dominant power holders. Thus, the radical media are by definition partisan (p. 180) The media mobilize public opinion and public action toward the redistribution of social power. Much of this mobilization is to point out the harmful effects of the concentration of social power and conversely, the benefits of a redistribution of social power. (p. 181). In a truly democratic system the media must expose not only abuses of power but also the causes and consequences of power concentrations, helping the public to see avenues of action to redistribute social power. Journalism in radical role seeks to redistribute the social power from the privileged (typically few) to the underprivileged (typically many) The collaborative role Collaborative role of the media deals with the needs and expectations of the press. Collaboration in the tradition of development journalism usually involves a partnership with the state, though not always a formal one, a relationship premised on a commitment by the press to play a positive role in the processes of development. So long as the journalist is
aware of his responsibility towards community principally that is helping development so long he realize that his freedom has bearing on what is good for social and as such is not freedom without limits ,the traditional of mistrust will be dissolved , and government and journalism will become twin agents of socioeconomic progress.
CHAPTER SIX Media Literacy Sourced from Battleground: The Media Volumes 1 and 2 Edited by Robin Andersen Jonathan Gray (2008) Media literacy has been broadly defined as the ability to access, analyze, evaluate, and produce messages in many forms of media. Because we live in media-saturated environments it is essential that we engage in critical reflection on the media that are so much a part of our daily routines. Media are ubiquitous. In other words, there is so many media in our lives, and media images surround us to such a great extent, that they have become almost invisible. Core Concepts of Media Literacy Despite many differences in their approaches to media literacy, many educators and advocates agree on a number of core concepts, such as the following: 3. All media are constructed and media construct our sense of reality. Media images do not just appear from nowhere. They are made by people and organizations in order to convey particular ideas. Media therefore are not just reflections of reality. Most of what we think we know about people, places, and events that we have not experienced comes to us directly from media. Even when we experience something ourselves our understandings of what we have experienced may be shaped by media images and stories. 4. Different members of the audience will interpret media in different ways. Not everyone will respond to media messages in the ways that the producers intend. Our backgrounds play an important part in how we read a given message. However, media messages will often be read similarly by large numbers of people and often we do accept the producers vision. 5. Most media is created by profit-oriented businesses and has commercial implications. In the United States only a small number of large corporations own and control the vast majority of the media people read, see, and hear. The primary purpose of this media is to generate profits for the shareholders of the corporations. Information and entertainment are secondary considerations. In television, for example, the point of the programs is to get viewers in front of the set
so that they may be exposed to the real programmingthe commercials. 6. Media contain value messages and have social implications. All messages reflect the biases of their producers. Even media that appear to be just for entertainment tell us stories about the world that suggests how we should think about it. Movies, for example, show us images of men and women interacting and suggest to us what it means to be a real man or a real woman and what are acceptable sorts of gender relations. 7. Each medium has a unique aesthetic form that influences its content. A news story in a primarily visual medium such as television will convey its messages differently and affect us differently than if it appeared in a primarily print medium such as a newspaper. Media are art forms as well as forms of communication and can be appreciated for how they use the unique qualities of each medium to connect with their audience. When you come back from your x mass break we shall practically learn some internet application. Come to class with your laptop with internet connected.
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AUGUSTINE UNIVERSITY OF TANZANIA

Introduction to Mass Communication

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Denis Mpagaze (0753 66 54 84, denis_mpagaze@yahoo.com)

cul-de-sac means the same

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