scholarly journals A Response to McMurtry's System of Fallacy in the Media

1992 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Walter Ulrich
Keyword(s):  
Mass Media ◽  
Agenda Setting ◽  
Communication System ◽  
Mass Communication ◽  
General System ◽  
Informal Logic ◽  
Media Agenda ◽  
Current Mass ◽  
The Media ◽  
The Mass Media

In the Fall 1988 issue of Informal Logic, John McMurtry suggests that the current mass communication system "obstructs and deforms our thinking and our reasoning by a general system of deception" (p. 133). This essay suggests that McMurtry's view of the mass media is inaccurate. The mass media needs to make choices about what material it includes; McMurtry's description of the media could be explained by a rational theory of media agenda setting. Finally. it is argued that critical thinkers need to go beyond the mass media to make decisions; the mass media should not be expected to provide all arguments and viewpoints.

Political Agenda Setting and the Mass Media

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefaan Walgrave ◽  
Peter Van Aelst
Keyword(s):  
Mass Media ◽  
Agenda Setting ◽  
Media Coverage ◽  
Political Agenda ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Actors ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
The Media ◽  
The Mass Media ◽  
The Individual

Recently, the number of studies examining whether media coverage has an effect on the political agenda has been growing strongly. Most studies found that preceding media coverage does exert an effect on the subsequent attention for issues by political actors. These effects are contingent, though, they depend on the type of issue and the type of political actor one is dealing with. Most extant work has drawn on aggregate time-series designs, and the field is as good as fully non-comparative. To further develop our knowledge about how and why the mass media exert influence on the political agenda, three ways forward are suggested. First, we need better theory about why political actors would adopt media issues and start devoting attention to them. The core of such a theory should be the notion of the applicability of information encapsulated in the media coverage to the goals and the task at hand of the political actors. Media information has a number of features that make it very attractive for political actors to use—it is often negative, for instance. Second, we plead for a disaggregation of the level of analysis from the institutional level (e.g., parliament) or the collective actor level (e.g., party) to the individual level (e.g., members of parliament). Since individuals process media information, and since the goals and tasks of individuals that trigger the applicability mechanism are diverse, the best way to move forward is to tackle the agenda setting puzzle at the individual level. This implies surveying individual elites or, even better, implementing experimental designs to individual elite actors. Third, the field is in dire need of comparative work comparing how political actors respond to media coverage across countries or political systems.

The agenda-setting function of mass media1 2

2017 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 105-116 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maxwell E. McCombs ◽  
Donald L. Shaw
Keyword(s):  
Mass Media ◽  
Agenda Setting ◽  
News Story ◽  
Amount Of Information ◽  
Political Reality ◽  
The Media ◽  
The Mass Media

Abstract In choosing and displaying news, editors, newsroom staff, and broadcasters play an important part in shaping political reality. Readers learn not only about a given issue, but also how much importance to attach to that issue from the amount of information in a news story and its position. In reflecting what candidates are saying during a campaign, the mass media may well determine the important issues – that is, the media may set the "agenda" of the campaign.

scholarly journals The Concept “Mass Media” in the Lithuanian Language: Problems and Searches for the Equivalent

Lituanistica ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 65 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrius Gudauskas
Keyword(s):  
Mass Media ◽  
Mass Communication ◽  
Public Discourse ◽  
Communication Theory ◽  
Information Science ◽  
Communication Process ◽  
Mainstream Media ◽  
General Terms ◽  
The Media ◽  
The Mass Media

The article deals with the terms of communication science used in the Lithuanian language that specify the means whereby mass communication is carried out. Several different concepts are used in theoretical discourse in Lithuania: the means of mass communication, the media, the mass media (žiniasklaida), media, audiovisual media, and the like. The terms “the mass media” (žiniasklaida) and “the media” (medijos) used in the Lithuanian language are both translated into English as “media”, although these are different words and do not always mean identical things. The Lithuanian compound word (term) žiniasklaida is made of two independent words, žinios (news) and sklaida/skleidimas (dissemination). The Dictionary of the Lithuanian Language defines the word žiniasklaida as measures of periodical information – the press, radio, and television. In fact, when we speak about the radio, television, and printed newspapers in general terms, we often use this particular word of Lithuanian origin – žiniasklaida. Conceptual terms defining the means of communication discussed in the article have peculiar aspects and notional etymological nuances. These rather different terms entered the common usage at the end of the twentieth century and have been used ever since, that is, they are still used in the theoretical literature of communication sciences and in the public discourse of Lithuania of the early twenty-first century. The internationally and globally established scientific concepts “the mass media” and “the media” used to be translated into the Lithuanian language differently and therefore they were treated ambiguously, at times not accurately enough, and deviated from the postulates of the general communication theory. Lithuanian researchers who use the terms discussed in the present article were noticed to have had the universal concept of the mass communication theory, “the mass media”, in mind. The author also addresses the differentiated usage of different terms mentioned in the article in the Lithuanian language and different notional fields that they create. This is discussed when these terms are used synonymically and when they do not refer to identical things. In recent years, attempts to dissociate from the term žiniasklaida became noticeable in the works of Lithuanian researchers (Laima Nevickaitė, Žygintas Pečiulis). The semantic field of this term does not encompass all the existing means of communication as, for example, the terms “media” (medijos) or “the means of mass communication” can do, and this points to the conclusion that the Lithuanian neologism žiniasklaida should be avoided in research texts when we have the concept “the mass media” in mind. It is particularly pertinent in those cases when we refer to the overall communication process encompassing all possible means of communication and all possible effects on the perception of the audience, as well as the audience’s responses to the world we live in. The question of whether the term žiniasklaida could be used to define the conformity of the term “the mainstream media” should be discussed in future studies into the terminology of communication and information science. The author of the article proposes recommendations for correcting both the headline of the article Žiniasklaida in the Lithuanian version of the free online encyclopaedia Wikipedia and its content, whose current references to other languages are as follows: English – mass media, Russian – Sredstva massovoi informatsii (Средства массовой информации), German – Massenmedien, and so on. This would remove the discrepancy between the headlines and the content of encyclopaedic texts. Finally, due to the pluralistic and liberal usage of the terms “the mass media” and “the media”, which is becoming more and more firmly established, this analysis of these terms is relevant and useful in further developing a purposeful discourse of communication and information science and its popularisation.

The Mass Media and the Policy Process

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Annelise Russell ◽  
Maraam Dwidar ◽  
Bryan D. Jones
Keyword(s):  
Public Opinion ◽  
Mass Media ◽  
Policy Process ◽  
Agenda Setting ◽  
Political System ◽  
The Political ◽  
Mass Public ◽  
The Media ◽  
The Mass Media

Scholars across politics and communication have wrangled with questions aimed at better understanding issue salience and attention. For media scholars, they found that mass attention across issues was a function the news media’s power to set the nation’s agenda by focusing attention on a few key public issues. Policy scholars often ignored the media’s role in their effort to understand how and why issues make it onto a limited political agenda. What we have is two disparate definitions describing, on the one hand, media effects on individuals’ issue priorities, and on the other, how the dynamics of attention perpetuate across the political system. We are left with two notions of agenda setting developed independently of one another to describe media and political systems that are anything but independent of one another. The collective effects of the media on our formal institutions and the mass public are ripe for further, collaborative research. Communications scholars have long understood the agenda setting potential of the news media, but have neglected to extend that understanding beyond its effects on mass public. The link between public opinion and policy is “awesome” and scholarship would benefit from exploring the implications for policy, media, and public opinion. Both policy and communication studies would benefit from a broadened perspective of media influence. Political communication should consider the role of the mass media beyond just the formation of public opinion. The media as an institution is not effectively captured in a linear model of information signaling because the public agenda cannot be complete without an understanding of the policymaking agenda and the role of political elites. And policy scholars can no longer describe policy process without considering the media as a source of disproportionate allocation of attention and information. The positive and negative feedback cycles that spark or stabilize the political system are intimately connected to policy frames and signals produced by the media.

Candidate Choice in Political Advertising: What Determines Who Gets Attention?

2011 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonas Lefevere ◽  
Régis Dandoy
Keyword(s):  
Content Analysis ◽  
Political Parties ◽  
Mass Media ◽  
Agenda Setting ◽  
Political Advertisements ◽  
Media Agenda ◽  
The Media ◽  
Dominant Actor ◽  
Run Up ◽  
Regional Elections

In the run up to the elections, parties have several ways of communicating with voters. In this article, we focus on one piece of the puzzle: advertisements of political parties in the mass media. More specifically, we are interested in the choice of candidates within these advertisements. In countries where parties are the dominant actor, they are faced with a choice: not all candidates can be promoted in the campaign, as this would be too costly and inefficient. Thus, the first question we want to answer is which factors determine candidate choice in political advertisements? Secondly, does candidate choice in political advertisements have an effect on the subsequent coverage in media as well? Agenda setting research has shown that as far as issues are concerned, advertisements do set the media agenda. We use a content analysis of seven magazines and newspapers that was collected in the run up to the 2009 regional elections in Flanders, the largest region of Belgium. The results indicate that both internal party hierarchy, as well as external visibility of candidates determines candidate choice in political advertisements. Furthermore, the agenda setting effect of political advertisements is confirmed as well.

scholarly journals POSISI DAN PERAN MEDIA DALAM KEHIDUPAN MASYARAKAT

TASAMUH ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 119-138
Author(s):  
Husnul Khatimah
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Mass Media ◽  
Mass Communication ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Entertainment Education ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Media ◽  
The Mass Media ◽  
Important Position

Mass media has an important position in people's lives, so mass media is placed as mass communication which acts as a communicator and agent of change, being a pioneer of change in the public environment that can influence audiences through messages such as information, entertainment, education and other messages and accessible to the public at large. As a form of the importance of media can be seen from the influence felt by the public, starting from the cognitive, effective, to conative aspects of the mass media and the negative-positive impact of social media. Even though the position and role of the media are very important, the community must also be careful with media remember that the nature of the media is so flexible. Negative values ​​of the role of the media in Indonesia can occur either from the mass media or social media, so there needs to be attention from each party, both from the media manager to the community itself. The participation of several parties in paying attention to the media is expected to filter out negative things that might occur.

scholarly journals БОДРИЈАРОВО ВИЂЕЊЕ УЛОГЕ МАСОВНИХ МЕДИЈА У САВРЕМЕНОМ ДРУШТВУ

TEME ◽  
2017 ◽  
pp. 391
Author(s):  
Ђорђе П. Ђорђевић
Keyword(s):  
Mass Media ◽  
Mass Communication ◽  
Media Culture ◽  
Jean Baudrillard ◽  
The Media ◽  
Cultural Forms ◽  
The Mass Media ◽  
Form Of Expression

Jean Baudrillard is one of the authors that constantly attract the attention of theoreticians. There are hardly any sociology textbooks which do not discuss his key ideas. In spite of all the controversy around his work, Baudrillard is an unavoidable author in any discussion on the postmodern discourse in sciences. At the same time he has inspired many artists, resulting in the fact that many film artists have created totalitarian dystopian worlds which have commonly been referred to as Baudrillard's worlds. When it comes to the mass media, Baudrillard's works emphasize the term simulacrum. According to Baudrillard, all original cultural forms are absorbed in commercial discourse. Baudrillard notices a tendency of the commercial to become a supreme form of expression, even when it does not come to a nominal commercial. His specific view of the modern means of mass communication has made him one of the key theoreticians of the media culture.

scholarly journals POST MEDIA LITERACY: SUATU UPAYA PEMBERDAYAAN HIDUP DITENGAH DUNIA YANG SESAK MEDIA

2018 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 153
Author(s):  
Khairin Nizomi
Keyword(s):  
Mass Media ◽  
Media Literacy ◽  
Narrative Analysis ◽  
Mass Communication ◽  
Human Life ◽  
Case Study Research ◽  
Media Analysis ◽  
The Media ◽  
The Mass Media ◽  
The Impact

Sekarang manusia hidup dalam abad komunikasi massa kehidupan manusia sekarang tak bisa dilepaskan dari media mssa. Keluhan tentang dampak media massa kerap terdengar. Untuk itu perlu kiranya memahami apa itu literasi media. Pemahaman ini penting bagi para pegiat pendidikan melek media agar mampu melakukan kritik terhdap berbagai media yang melanggar aturan dan etika media yang ada di Indonesia sehingga terhindar dari berita yang bohong (hoax). Metode yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini adalah deskriptif kualitatif, dengan jenis penelitian studi kasus pada media social (Facebook). Analisis data dalam penelitian ini menggunakan Teori Narartive Analysis. Teknik pengumpulan data dalam penelitian ini menggunakan studi dokumen dan teknik pengambilan sampel menggunakan Proposive Sampling. Hasil dari dari penelitian ini menunjukkan Literasi media sama sekali bukanlah gerakan anti-media. Justru merupakan tindakan yang kita lakukan untuk menjaga media agar tetap bisa menjalankan fungsinya di tengah masyarakat. Dengan melek media, media massa akan memiliki khalayak bukan konsumen yang pada gilirannya akan memengaruhi bagaimana seharusnya media menjalankan peranya. Bila media tetap memperlakukan khalayak sebagai konsumen maka media akan mendapat tekanan dari khalayak.  ABSTRACTNow humans live in the mass communication age of human life now can’t be separated from the mass media. Complaints about the impact of the mass media are often heard. For that, it is necessary to understand what is media literacy. This understanding is important for media literacy education activists to be able to criticize the media who violate the rules and ethics of the media in Indonesia, so avoid that false news (hoaxes). The method used in this study is descriptive qualitative, with the type of case study research on social media. Analysis of the data in this study using the Narrative Analysis Theory. Data collection techniques in this study using document studies and sampling techniques using Purposive Sampling. The results of this study indicate that media literacy is by no means an anti-media movement. It is precisely the action we take to keep the media to stay functional in society. With media literacy, mass media will have the audience, not the consumer who in turn would affect how the media should carry out its role. If the media still treats the audience as a consumer, then the media will get pressure from the audience. Then to literacy truth of a media (news) could see how the narrative (status) is growing.

scholarly journals LIMITATIONS OF MASS MEDIA IN CREATING A CULTURE OF PEACE

2021 ◽  
pp. 91-104
Author(s):  
ALEKSANDAR FILIPOVIĆ
Keyword(s):  
Mass Media ◽  
Mass Communication ◽  
Public Discourse ◽  
Daily Lives ◽  
Culture Of Peace ◽  
The Media ◽  
The Mass Media ◽  
And Migration ◽  
Life On Earth ◽  
Peace And War

The mass media, and the media in general, play an extremely important role in every society, as well as in people's daily lives. This role was crucial even before the number and type of media, and thus the way they work, were multiplied by digitalization and migration to online digital spaces. Today, we have a situation where a certain number of people prefer to be informed through social rather than traditional media, even about issues that affect life and health. With all this in mind, it is logical to think that the media can act for the purpose of achieving any proclaimed goal, and that this action will be successful, and without significant limits in the possibilities of their action. However, when we talk about creating and promoting a culture of peace, by analyzing the most important elements, such as the ontological and phenomenological nature of peace, and war as the opposite, by analyzing and defining the ethics of peace and war, we conclude that human nature, and beyond, the nature of life on Earth, as well as history and inherited experiences from the past, in juxtaposition with the phenomenological and ontological features of the media, shows significant limitations of the media of mass communication in order to achieve this humane and desirable goal. These limits are deeply rooted in the phenomenon of peace, in the phenomenon of war, in the nature of people and society, as well as in the nature of the mass media. However, what the media can do and are not limited to is the promotion of elements of a culture of peace and non-violence, such as tolerance, dialogue, public discourse that promotes and respects differences, as well as other elements that work to calm tensions and promote a nonviolent approach to conflict prevention and resolution.

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