MACS 110 | Introduction to Mass Communication Theory translate
Week 10: Critical and Cultural Theories of Mass Communication back to MACS 110 Home
Questions for consideration
"we're losing touch with locally based cultures and are moving into a media-based global cultural environment." p.200 How might you define "glocalization" within the context of critical theory and the above quote ?
Given the importance of TV news, should it come under close scrutiny in terms of critical theory ? Do you think the critical analysis of Fox News in the documentary Outfoxed is fair ?
"Marx believed ideology operated much like a drug." p.207 How does Marxist theory contribute to critical theories of the media ?
"neo-Marxist positions have achieved great popularity and broad acceptance in the social sciences." p.207 Why is this so ?
Do you agree with the claim the media are set up in such a way they serve to constrain thought and action ? ...our "experience of everyday life and of reality itself as an artificial social construction." p.202
How can you apply the Frankfurt School of thought to Canadian culture? Do you agree that the culture industry serves more to constrain that liberate ?
How does political economy theory provide perspectives on "how the processes of content production and distribution are constrained." ? p.212 Why is a focus on media ownership and control essential ?
Why is it useful to employ "oppositional readings" to mass mediated popular culture ?
In what ways is critical theory political/action-oriented ?
Why might supporters of limited effects be concerned about the rise of cultural theories ?
Do you feel popular culture resembles an "efficiently run machine ?"
In what ways might mainstream culture absorb and neutralize counter culture ?
What current examples can you provide of counter culture - or oppositional culture - in Canadian society ?
What do you understand by the term over-determined, or over-socialized ?
What TV drama or movies contain noteworthy ideological content that promotes hegemonic culture ?
What do you understand by the term "Consciousness Industries" ?
Consider critical theory as it could be applied to the role of the U.S. mass media in the documentary Hijacking Catastrophe | The Big Brother State | Big Brother Talks Back | Fox News Promotes Verichip | Your Papers Please | The New Panopticon: The Internet Viewed as a Structure of Social Control
