Overview of Media Problems

Learning Objectives

• Describe the institution of media and the various forms of media today. 
• Summarize how the three classical theoretical perspectives frame problems of media. 
• Define concepts relevant to technological and media inequality. 
• Describe problems of online and technological privacy, security, control, and obsolescence. 
• Identify problematic advertising practices and portrayals. 
• Describe how media fuels fragmentation, particularly as it relates to political ideologies. 
• Connect the institution of media to the phenomenon of globalization and related problems.
• List examples of strategies to address problems of media. 

  

When a celebrity announces that they're quitting social media, it’s big news (especially on social media). Depending on the star’s status and their reason for leaving, the decision is met with a blend of astonishment, dismay, concern for the individual or others they affect, and discussion about social problems like bullying or online harassment. Why do they quit? Their reasons vary, and many eventually return. Selena Gomez has had a complicated relationship with social media, having announced several times of quitting and going through periods of downtime. Gomez explained, “I sort of freaked out. It had become so consuming to me. It’s what I woke up to and went to sleep to. I was an addict, and it felt like I was seeing things I didn’t want to see, like it was putting things in my head that I didn’t want to care about” (Haskell 2017). Lizzo left Twitter (now X) after claiming there were “too many trolls.” Lorde indicated that the stress of continual updates, “having front-row seats to the hellfire” necessitated a break (Kirkpatrick 2020). Rhianna took a six month hiatus; Justin Bieber, Adele, and Coldplay also went without for some time.

These experiences reflect our contentious relationship with social media, which like other forms of media has both positive and negative consequences. For instance, it can give individuals a sense of community, provide information that users otherwise would not encounter, help fuel national and international social movements, and more. However, as this is a social problems course, our focus will be on problems connected to the institution of media, which are many.

Media is the social institution that produces and distributes information and entertainment to the population through several mediums (channels of communication). It is typically synonymous with mass media, that is channels of information or entertainment distributed to the masses. The institution of media is vast because it involves so many mediums: Social media, TV shows, books, newspapers, movies, radio, internet, music videos, magazines, video games, blogs, and so on. Advertising is also part of this institution, as most of these mediums involve ads. Media is also an agent of socialization, as we learn about cultural expectations and norms through the media that we're exposed to such as children's books or shows, social media posts, movies, and magazine ads. Media also shapes our values and belief systems, sometimes in manipulating ways. 

In this chapter we will cover a variety of social problems related to the institution of media. Below we provide an introduction to some of the major types of media, though this Overview page is shorter than most because media problems are varied and difficult to write a singular introduction for. We spend more time on the Patterns page discussing examples of these varied media problems. We also include points about technology in this chapter, since media and technology are inherently intertwined. 

  

Types of Media

Media and technology have evolved hand in hand, from early print to modern publications, from radio to television to social media. New media emerge constantly, such as we see in the online world and with the recent rise of AI.

Newspaper

Early forms of print media in ancient Rome were hand-copied onto boards and carried around to keep the citizenry informed. With the invention of the printing press, the way that people shared ideas changed, as information could be mass produced and stored. For the first time, there was a way to spread knowledge and information more efficiently. The invention of the telegraph, in the mid-1800s, changed print media almost as much as the printing press. Suddenly information could be transmitted in minutes. As the nineteenth century became the twentieth, publishers redefined the world of print media and wielded an enormous amount of power to socially construct national and world events, such as with the media empires of William Randolph Hearst and Joseph Pulitzer. However, as those were growing, print media also allowed for the dissemination of countercultural or revolutionary materials. For instance, internationally, Vladimir Lenin’s Irksa (The Spark) newspaper was published in 1900 and played a role in Russia’s growing communist movement (World Association of Newspapers 2004).

With the invention and widespread use of television in the mid-twentieth century, newspaper circulation steadily dropped off, and in the twenty-first century, circulation has dropped further as more people turn to internet news sites and other forms of new media to stay informed. This shift away from newspapers as a source of information has profound effects on societies. When the news is given to a large diverse conglomerate of people, it must maintain some level of broad-based reporting and balance in order to appeal to a broad audience and keep them subscribing. As newspapers decline, news sources become more fractured, so each segment of the audience can choose specifically what it wants to hear and what it wants to avoid.

Radio and Television

Radio programming obviously preceded television, but both shaped people’s lives in much the same way. In both cases, information and entertainment could be enjoyed at home, with a kind of immediacy and community that newspapers could not offer. For instance, many people in the US remember when they saw on television or heard on the radio that the Twin Towers in New York City had been attacked in 2001 or when the Queen of England passed away in 2022. Media allowed people to share these moments in real time even though they were not physically together. This same kind of separate-but-communal approach occurred with entertainment too. For instance, youth chat about recent viral social media posts and office workers discuss a show that aired the previous night. 

Television control rooms feature feeds from many other networks, so that producers and reporters can see different perspectives on the same events and be alerted to new developments around the world

Anthony Quintano/flickr

Through the 1970s, US television was dominated by three major networks (ABC, CBS, and NBC) that competed for ratings and advertising dollars. The networks also exerted a lot of control over what people watched. Public television, in contrast, offered an educational nonprofit alternative to the sensationalization of news spurred by the network competition for viewers and advertising dollars. Those sources such as PBS (Public Broadcasting Service), the BBC (British Broadcasting Company), and CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Company) garnered a worldwide reputation for high-quality programming and a global perspective. Al Jazeera, the Arabic independent news station, has joined this group as a similar media force that broadcasts to people worldwide.

The impact of television on US society is hard to overstate. By the late 1990s, 98% of homes in the nation had at least one television set and the average person watched between 2.5 and 5 hours of television daily. Television has a powerful socializing effect, reinforcing social norms, values, and beliefs. 

Film

The film industry took off in the 1930s, when sound and eventually color were first integrated into feature films. Like television, early films were unifying for society: As people gathered in theaters to watch new releases, they may laugh, cry, and be scared together. Movies also act as time capsules or cultural touchstones for society. From Westerns starring the tough-talking Clint Eastwood to the biopic of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, movies illustrate society’s dreams, fears, and experiences. While many consider Hollywood the epicenter of moviemaking, India’s Bollywood actually produces more films per year, speaking to the cultural aspirations and norms of Indian society.

The film industry, like other mediums, has gone through substantial change as a result of streaming services and the new competition for people's entertainment dollars. Because the mainstream movie industry has been so reliant on ticket sales at live theaters, the COVID-19 pandemic affected it more dramatically than most other media categories. Highly anticipated movies slated for 2020 and 2021 releases were delayed or shifted to streaming distribution, reducing revenue. And some companies made lasting decisions regarding their future offerings. Today, some films are released on streaming channels at the same time as in theaters. However, the film industry remains strong as people continue to value movies as a form of entertainment. 

 

Netflix is the nation's leading streaming platform, offering hundreds of films and TV shows to subscribers at the click of a button. Streaming services dramatically changed the way that we consume these mediums. 

Netflix image by Quote Catalog via Flickr is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0

New Media

New media encompasses all interactive forms of information exchange. These include social media sites, blogs, podcasts, wikis, and virtual worlds. Many are not 'new' in the sense that they were developed in the past few years (in fact several of these may be older than you), but they are newer than the media mentioned above, and they rely on types of technologies that were not available until about a few decades ago. New media develops rapidly and frequently. In fact, the immediacy of new media coupled with the lack of oversight means that we must be careful to ensure that we're making good decisions about the accuracy, ethics, and cultural responsiveness of these formats. Think of the debates around AI regulation that have taken place over the past few years, and the current lack of governmental regulations to ensure its ethical use.

In our discussion of media social problems, we will focus primarily (though not exclusively) on new media. Before we turn to those problems, we will summarize how the three classical theoretical perspectives in sociology frame the institution of media and its problems. 

  

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This page incorporates the pages 8.1: Introduction and 8.3: Media and Technology in Society from the OER textbook Introductory Sociology 3e (OpenStax), shared under a CC BY 4.0 license.