Table Of ContentUnderstanding Media Culture
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Understanding
Media Culture
Jostein Gripsrud
Professor of Media Studies, University of Bergen,
Norway
A member of the Hodder Headline Group
LONDON
Co-published in the United States of America by
Oxford University Press Inc., New York
First published in Norwegian as Mediekultur, Mediesamfunn by Scandinavian University Press,
© Universitetsforlaget 1999.
This English language version first published in Great Britain in 2002 by
Arnold, a member of the Hodder Headline Group,
338 Euston Road, London NW1 3BH
http://www.arnoldpublishers.com
Co-published in the United States of America by
Oxford University Press Inc.,
198 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016
Translation © 2002 Jostein Gripsrud
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accurate at the date of going to press, but neither the authors nor the publisher
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ISBN 0 340 72034 4 (hb)
ISBN 0 340 72035 2 (pb)
1 23456789 10
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Contents
Acknowledgements vi
Part 1: THE AUDIENCE AND THE MEDIA 1
1 Identity: the media and our understanding of ourselves 3
2 Influence: the media's power - and our own 31
3 Distinctions: social difference, lifestyle and taste 60
Part 2: PERSPECTIVES ON MEDIA TEXTS 97
4 Semiotics: signs, codes and cultures 99
5 Hermeneutics: interpretation and understanding 128
6 Rhetoric: language, situation, purpose 154
7 Narratology: the forms and functions of stories 191
Part 3: PRODUCTION: CONTEXTS AND CONDITIONS 225
8 Public sphere and democracy: ideals and realities 227
9 Broadcasting: technology, society and policy 260
10 Production: creativity, contexts and power 287
Biblioggraphy 311
Index 323
Acknowledgements
Thanks are due to copyright holders for permission to reproduce copyright
material. Individual credits and sources are acknowledged under the relevant
illustration. Every effort has been made to trace copyright holders of material
reproduced in this book. Any rights not acknowledged here will be
acknowledged in subsequent editions if notice is given to the copyright
holder.
PART 1
The audience and the
media
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1
Identity: the media and
our understanding of
ourselves
The media and the world around us
I knew a woman of almost 90 who had a problem. Every evening she had total
strangers visiting; they filled her living room and made her feel angry and
afraid. Some younger relatives solved her problem, at least temporarily. They
explained to her that the strangers were only appearing on TV and did not
really invade her home in any other way.
Most people do not feel the media to be quite as intrusive as television was
for this old lady. However, when radio was first introduced, in the 1920s,
broadcasters thought of themselves precisely as uninvited guests in people's
homes, and this had consequences for how programmes were made (Scannell,
1996: 19). Now we are so used to the media as intruders in our homes and
everyday lives that we have stopped worrying: people are awoken by clock
radios; the radio in the kitchen is switched on as the morning tea or coffee is
prepared; the morning paper is skimmed while the radio or TV, or both,
churn out news, chat or music in the background; driving to work or school,
the car radio or stereo will be on; and both cyclists and pedestrians use
personal stereos; those who travel by bus or rail may take a newspaper or book
too; the streets are lined with advertising boards; at work or school there are
computers linked to the Internet; and, in the evening there's the cinema,
novels, radio, TV, CDs and so on. The media are simply everywhere.
It is hard to read the newspaper while shaving or searching for something in
the fridge. Radio, on the other hand, may follow us everywhere in our more or
less complicated morning rituals. It is a perfect secondary medium. That is, it
is - contrary to what has been called a primary medium - a medium that we
can use while doing something else. Radio is thus possibly the medium that
best illustrates how our everyday lives are pervaded by mass media. We can
Description:This refreshingly different introduction to media studies offers an understanding of the mass madia which is critical but which does not deny the pleasures they offer. Reflecting the trends of today's media and cultural studies courses, it introduces students both to social scientific approaches and
