Culture,the Public Sphere,and Media Sociology: A Search for a Classical Founder in the Work of Robert Park |
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Authors: | Ronald N Jacobs |
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Institution: | (1) Department of Sociology, University at Albany, State University of New York, 1400 Washington Avenue, Albany, NY 12222, USA |
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Abstract: | This article examines the history of media sociology in the U.S., through a critical analysis of articles published in the
major sociology journals during the twentieth century. I argue that media sociology has been at its most vibrant when its
goal has been to understand the dominant cultural structures that shape the public sphere. Robert Park was the first sociologist
to adopt this perspective, with his research on newspapers and the power of the press. This interest continued into the 1950s,
with research on media and propaganda. By the 1960s, however, concern had shifted away from the public character of media,
focusing instead on the ways in which social factors intervened between media messages and society. While important, this
shift in analytical focus ultimately led to a more reductionist media sociology, which failed to explore how media provided
a distinctive type of social output. There is evidence that a less reductionist media sociology has begun to emerge since
the 1990s, with the rise of cultural sociology and theories of the public sphere. This new media sociology could increase
its visibility within mainstream sociology by making more explicit connections to the Chicago School tradition, and by claiming
Robert Park as its classical founder. |
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Keywords: | |
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