themselves. The writers of Lost,for example, scour Inter-
net chatrooms and message boards to determine the pop-
ularity of plot twists and even to get new ideas. Consumers
are not just sitting idly by, consuming media as if they were
popcorn; they create their own fan fiction, blogs, chat-
rooms, message boards. Consumers are also producers,
using the same technologies to write books and magazines
and produce movies.
However, the distinction between mass media produc-
tion and consumption is still useful, particularly as we try
to figure out exactly what happens as a message goes from
my brain into words, sounds, and pictures (is encoded), is
transmitted over a long distance through a mass medium,
and then gets into your brain (is decoded). It’s not at all
like talking to you or showing you pictures face-to-face.
To paraphrase Marshall McLuhan, the medium changes
the message. Actually, the medium changes everything.Culture Industries
Like any other industry, mass media are characterized by
industrial patterns such as hierarchy and bureaucracy. But
the goal of most industries is to provide a product that you598 CHAPTER 18MASS MEDIAJIn today's interactive media environment, the line
between consumer and producer is becoming blurred—at
least for those consumers with access to the technology.
Network television stations add additional content as well
as provide opportunities for interactions among fans of
their most popular TV shows.
Source:Screen capture “Heroes” from the NBC website, http://www.nbc.com/Heroes,
accessed October 24, 2007. Reprinted by permission.
Minorities in Media
Television helps sell products to everyone, majority
and minority alike, so we would expect television
executives to make a concerted attempt not to offend
minorities by including them in the sitcoms, cop
shows, and commercials. However, while most
ensemble shows are far more diverse than they might
have been in the past, they are still disproportionately White
and middle class. A report from Children Now(2005) found that
73 percent of prime time characters in the 2003–2004 season
were White, 16 percent African American, 6.5 percent Hispanic,
3 percent Asian, and 1.5 percent other. Only African Americans
were close to representing their real numbers. Sixty-five percent
of prime-time characters were male and only 35 percent female,
obviously disproportionately high for the men. Children,
teenagers, and young adults were highly overrepresented: Only
16 percent of male and 6 percent of female characters were over
50 years old. Those youth, the most racially diverse population
in America, are represented as even more predominantly White
than other age groups—77 percent of prime-time charactersunder 18 are Caucasian. The report doesn’t mention GLBT peo-
ple at all, but in 2006–07, the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against
Defamation counted 9 gay men and lesbians out of a total of
679 prime-time lead or supporting characters, or 1.3 percent,
again an under representation (GLAAD, 2006).
Even when members of the minority group appear in a media
text, the way they are presented sometimes reinforces negative
ideologies. They may display negative stereotypes. On television,
Latinos have begun to appear more frequently in prime time, but
they tend to be cast disproportionately in low-status occupa-
tions and are four times more likely than other groups to por-
tray domestic workers (Children Now,2005). In popular video
games, seven out of ten Asian characters are fighters; eight out
of ten Black characters are sports competitors. Nearly nine out
of ten Black women were victims of violence. Nearly 80 percent
of Black men are shown as physically and verbally abusive (Chil-
dren Now,2001). Even those women and minority characters who
are shown in authoritative positions, like district attorneys or
police chiefs, are mostly seen but not heard, having few lines
and/or little influence in the flow of the plot.Sociologyand ourWorld