Social Functions of Media
Dr. Fausto Neto presented an all-too-brief picture of today's complex religious market, describing it as "a battle of symbols." He outlined these four aspects of media as a way to understand, in a practical way, the complex functions of the media marketplace.
1. Constitutional: media legislation that advances political agendas
2. Market: media provide the entertainment, leisure functions within a society
3. Societal: daily-life mediations within a context of symbolic choices
4. Educational: media as the context for the emancipation of subjects
He re-stated the transition that we've gone through in our media analysis, from a "system" understanding to a "process" understanding.
System understanding includes:
a) the enunciative power of an author
b) strategy and tactics
c) seduction and induction
d) notion of the receiver as object
Process understanding includes:
a) co-authorship
b) relationship through acknowledgement and evocation
c) negotiation
d) notion of the receiver as subject
This was at the annual seminar of "Creators of Christian Images" held at the Unisinos University, Sao Leopoldo, Brazil.
I found it really helpful.
am