9/2
The mediated construction of reality - Couldry and Hepp (Week 1)
➔ Connection between social media and the public
➔ Mediatized refers to the underneath presence of media in our everyday lives whether
directly or indirectly
➔ Social construction is sustained through communication
➔ We make connections and links through communicating with each other
➔ Language as a medium of action
➔ Daily interactions include more than face to face communication
➔ Social worlds consists of various other groups
➔ Defined by a primary activity
➔ Media is not just technological, could be language / money
➔ Materialization - material sense, norms and beliefs
➔ Naturalization - certain aspects have become natural
➔ Propaganda posters of the soviet union (advertising as a form of propaganda, politics is
being consumed)
➔ repercussions of social isolation of media (a mediated society)
9/18
Media Culture notes - Kellner (Week 3)
● Media elements like film, tv, radio etc group society into categories (“them” and “us”)
● Media helps us determine what’s good, bad, who has power, who doesn’t
● Cultural studies - study of culture, society and politics
● Also explores how individuals resist dominant norms
● Mainstream and subcultures (African-american, punk, etc)
● Culture studies allow the examination of the whole range of culture without prior
prejudice against each other / no presumptions
● Well-defined rules that construct a standard - eg: popular songs are 3-5 mins long
● Globalization : organizations develop international influence
● Media culture supports capitalist views and ideals
● Artifacts in media : devices to convey information
● Semiotics : how linguistic and non-linguistic signs relate to meanings that are associated
with positive or negative connotations
● People of different classes, genders and races are going to interpret and read texts
differently
, In class discussion:
● Anthropology - originated during the British era, used to send strategists/scholars to
indigenous communities to find their weaknesses, find their backgrounds in order to
colonize them. Emergence of Anthropology.
● Broad perspectives but not as extensive as Hepp
● How much of what you consume from media is, in reality, algorithmic?
● Twitter - discussion about real users or bots? Elon Musk controversy.
● Authenticity is quantitative (this is subjective)
● Causal relationship (8) - direct relationship between two variables does not exist
● Media culture can inform and influence
● Hegemony (9) systems of power by which society functions // examining these in a
critical way - when they publish things its embedded in systems of power, economic
factors etc
● Counter hegemony - pushes back against liberal media. Literally the opposite of
Hegemony.
● Ideology -
● Reality is a human construct or much rather, a media construct. Reality is different for
everybody because everyone interprets news in different ways.
● Use Kellner and Aufderheide as citations (2-3 quotes)
Prepare for wednesday : 3 readings
Reading reflections - update!!!
Week 4 :
Reading 1:
● Sometime in the late 2000s, our relationship with computers changed. We now trust the
computational system to tell us what to do in life.
● An old word has become new again: the algorithm. Either overlooked or overhyped, the
algorithm is rarely taken seriously.
● Algorithms are everywhere.
● Even the engineers behind some of the most successful and ubiquitous algorithmic
systems (Google and Netflix) admit that they understand only some of the behaviors their
systems exhibit.
● Highlighted words : Big data-programmability-thingness- sourcery
● algorithm is a recipe, an instruction set, a sequence of tasks to achieve a particular
calculation or result
The mediated construction of reality - Couldry and Hepp (Week 1)
➔ Connection between social media and the public
➔ Mediatized refers to the underneath presence of media in our everyday lives whether
directly or indirectly
➔ Social construction is sustained through communication
➔ We make connections and links through communicating with each other
➔ Language as a medium of action
➔ Daily interactions include more than face to face communication
➔ Social worlds consists of various other groups
➔ Defined by a primary activity
➔ Media is not just technological, could be language / money
➔ Materialization - material sense, norms and beliefs
➔ Naturalization - certain aspects have become natural
➔ Propaganda posters of the soviet union (advertising as a form of propaganda, politics is
being consumed)
➔ repercussions of social isolation of media (a mediated society)
9/18
Media Culture notes - Kellner (Week 3)
● Media elements like film, tv, radio etc group society into categories (“them” and “us”)
● Media helps us determine what’s good, bad, who has power, who doesn’t
● Cultural studies - study of culture, society and politics
● Also explores how individuals resist dominant norms
● Mainstream and subcultures (African-american, punk, etc)
● Culture studies allow the examination of the whole range of culture without prior
prejudice against each other / no presumptions
● Well-defined rules that construct a standard - eg: popular songs are 3-5 mins long
● Globalization : organizations develop international influence
● Media culture supports capitalist views and ideals
● Artifacts in media : devices to convey information
● Semiotics : how linguistic and non-linguistic signs relate to meanings that are associated
with positive or negative connotations
● People of different classes, genders and races are going to interpret and read texts
differently
, In class discussion:
● Anthropology - originated during the British era, used to send strategists/scholars to
indigenous communities to find their weaknesses, find their backgrounds in order to
colonize them. Emergence of Anthropology.
● Broad perspectives but not as extensive as Hepp
● How much of what you consume from media is, in reality, algorithmic?
● Twitter - discussion about real users or bots? Elon Musk controversy.
● Authenticity is quantitative (this is subjective)
● Causal relationship (8) - direct relationship between two variables does not exist
● Media culture can inform and influence
● Hegemony (9) systems of power by which society functions // examining these in a
critical way - when they publish things its embedded in systems of power, economic
factors etc
● Counter hegemony - pushes back against liberal media. Literally the opposite of
Hegemony.
● Ideology -
● Reality is a human construct or much rather, a media construct. Reality is different for
everybody because everyone interprets news in different ways.
● Use Kellner and Aufderheide as citations (2-3 quotes)
Prepare for wednesday : 3 readings
Reading reflections - update!!!
Week 4 :
Reading 1:
● Sometime in the late 2000s, our relationship with computers changed. We now trust the
computational system to tell us what to do in life.
● An old word has become new again: the algorithm. Either overlooked or overhyped, the
algorithm is rarely taken seriously.
● Algorithms are everywhere.
● Even the engineers behind some of the most successful and ubiquitous algorithmic
systems (Google and Netflix) admit that they understand only some of the behaviors their
systems exhibit.
● Highlighted words : Big data-programmability-thingness- sourcery
● algorithm is a recipe, an instruction set, a sequence of tasks to achieve a particular
calculation or result
