TV and Advertising as Agent of Socialization

Consuming Kids 

The media has become a powerful force over the last few decades.  This social construction is different from other agents of socialization because it is so recent and so vast.  Similar to family, media starts influencing kids from a young age, even before young kids have a conscious sense of self.  Marketers call this "cradle to grave" marketing.  The point of the marketing campaign is to turn kids into consumers from the moment they are born, until they die.  And they have become very good at it.  So good, that one might say kids have become consumed by the omnipresent media.  That is the focus of the documentary called Consuming Kids.  (Yes - I get the irony of using a documentary to teach about media) Below is the trailer for Consuming Kids. But you can see the whole video by clicking here and logging into mediacast, or in parts at youtube and find more info on the Media Ed website.

The documentary draws on the work of sociologist Juliet Schor from Boston College.  Here is an interview with her on NPR and an excerpt from her book, Born to Buy.

Some of the most important claims from the documentary are:

• Big media and corporations have been successful at deregulating the industry which has allowed for more and more control in the U.S. markets.
• Marketers have invested in psychology, neurology and a number of other advanced studies about how to capture consumers.
• They have successfully tied individual identity to products.
• Media is pervasive and omnipresent; it started as simple radio and tv, but is now everywhere - especially digitally on social media devices and social media platforms.

McGrane's Un-TV

TV is all a message to you to be a consumer and a conformer.  It is also produced so that as a viewer you don't question what you are doing, certainly not while you are watching the TV.  The TV is in many ways like a good friend of ours waiting for us in our living room. It's there with us giving us the feeling that we are connected to and engaged in society, when the reality is exactly the opposite.  Try the Un-TV experiment from Professor Bernard McGrane of Chapman University to experience how TV shapes you.  The Un-Tv assignment is another great exercise in sociology from Bernard McGrane and his book, The Un-Tv and the 10mph car.  McGrane has also published a more recent book that is completely focused on the media called Watching TV is not Required; Toward Media Mindfulness and Enlightenment TV.  Here are some of the reflections on this experiment from Mcgrane's book.



You have been socialized by the media.

If you are skeptical that you have been socialized by the media, try playing one of the corporate logo games here.  See how much you have been influenced.  Or try this quiz of tv show theme songs.  Or this quiz from sporcle for commercial jingles.  Or this commercial jingle quiz from business insider.  What is interesting to me is that none of us ever consciously tried to learn the logos or the theme songs and jingles, but we know so many of them.  Media influences us without us realizing it.


Media Stats

98% of American homes have TV (that’s more than have phones 94%)
- the average American household has at least one set turned on for 7 hours per day.
-the average American child watches 20,000 commercials per year.
- TV watching is a routine that children learn before learning to read.
- many children spend as much time watching TV as they do interacting with parents.
- Sex, violence and wealth are more prevalent in mass media than in real life.
- Minorities watch 40% more TV than those in the majority, but they are not involved in the shows.
42% of children under 8 years old have a television in their bedroom.
Half (52%) of all 0- to 8-year-olds have access to a new mobile device, such as a smartphone, video iPod, or iPad/tablet.
More than a third (38%) of children this age have used one of these devices, including 10% of 0-to 1-year-olds, 39% of 2- to 4-year-olds, and more than half (52%) of 5- to 8-year-olds.
In a typical day, one in 10 (11%) 0- to 8-year-olds uses a smartphone, video iPod, iPad, or similar device to play games, watch videos, or use other apps. Those who do such activities spend an average of 43 minutes a day doing so.

BIG Media Ownership

https://forums.civfanatics.com/media/media-ownership-chart-with-logos-2016.4425/full

The graphic above shows how much the big media companies own.  Here is a chart from Vox from 2018.  Also, this chart is from 2012, but it explains the trend nicely.  Owning so much allows media to cross-market and create a sense that their shows/products are important.  They actually produce the culture that we consume.  In other words, they convince us what we should be watching, then we consume it.  Another resource on media ownership is from the Columbia Journalism Review.

A few examples of how this plays out to shape public thought are:

• When news like ABC run a story about their own shows.
• When radio stations run the same song on multiple stations.
• The attempt by NBC to cover up the Harvey Weinstein allegations as reported by Ronan Farrow.

Merchants of Cool, though a little older, highlights the media's impact on teens.