Chapter 8

Media & Technology

OER Textbook

July 18, 2017

8.1 Media & Technology Today

Technology Today

What is Technology?

• The application of science to address the problems of daily life.

Technology Today

The Evolution of Technology

• Today we are influenced by digital technology; Previous technology made calculations with an abacus

• Agricultural technology includes machines that till, thrash and plant; In Criminal Justice they use DNA testing, etc…

Technology Today

Knowledge Gap: an ongoing and increasing

gap in information for those who have less

access to technology

E-readiness: the ability to sort through,

interpret, and process knowledge

Technology & Inequality

Technology Today

Digital Divide: the uneven access to

technology among different races, classes, and

geographic areas.

Technology & Inequality

Technology Today

Use of Technology & Social Media

Online Privacy & Security

Net Neutrality

Planned Obsolescence

Current Issues

8.2 Media & Technology in Society

Media

Media is a term that refers to all print, digital, and electronic

means of communication.

From the time the printing press was created, technology

has influenced how and where information is shared.

Today, it is impossible to discuss media and the ways

societies communicate without addressing the fast-moving

pace of technology change.

Categorizing Technology

These are granted for the invention or discovery of

any new and useful process, product, or machine,

or for a significant improvement to existing

technologies

Utility Patents

Categorizing Technology

Commonly conferred in architecture and industrial

design, this means someone has invented a new

and original design for a manufactured product

Design Patents

Categorizing Technology

recognize the discovery of new plant types that can

be asexually reproduced.

While genetically modified food is the hot button

issue within this category, farmers have long been

creating new hybrids and patenting them.

Plant Patents

Types of Media & Technology

Print Newspaper

Television & Radio

Film

New Media

Product Advertising

Homogenization & Fragmentation

different news outlets all tell the same stories,

using the same sources, resulting in the same

message, presented with only slight

variations.

So whether you are reading the New York

Times or the CNN’s web site, the coverage of

national events like a major court case or

political issue will likely be the same

Homogenization

Homogenization & Fragmentation

With so many choices, people increasingly

customize their news experience, minimizing

their opportunity to encounter information that

does not jive with their worldview

Fragmentation

8.3 Global Implication of Media & Technology

Global Implication of Media & Technology

is the worldwide integration of media

through the cross-cultural exchange of

ideas

Media Globalization

Global Implication of Media & Technology

refers to the cross cultural

development and exchange of

technology

Technological Globalization

Media Globalization

The Process in which fewer and fewer

owners control the majority of media

outlets

Media Consolidation

Media Globalization

a few firms dominate the media marketplace.

In 1983, a mere 50 corporations owned the bulk of mass

media outlets.

By 1999, in the United States (which has no government-

owned media) just five companies control 90 percent of

media outlets (McChesney 1999).

Oligopoly

.

8.4 Theoretical Perspectives on Media & Technology

Theoretical Perspectives on Media & Technology

Commercial Function

Entertainment Function

Social Norm Function

Life Changing Function

Functionalism

Theoretical Perspectives on Media & Technology

Control of Media and Technology

Gatekeeping

Technological Social Control and

Digital Surveillance

Feminist Perspective & Cyberfeminism

Conflict Theory

Theoretical Perspectives on Media & Technology

Social Construction of Realty

Social Networking & Social

Construction

Symbolic Interactionism