لخّصلي

Media, Culture, Society It is worth remembering that media is the plural of the term medium, which refers, essentially, to the means through which content is communicated between an origin and a destination.We will explore the possibility, then, that media have, in one way or another, become integral to what we might term the broader social and cultural environment, something that includes the distribution of wealth, power and influence, the operation of social structures and institutions, class, gender and ethnic relations, patterns of identity and community, ideas and understandings, practices of intellectual, artistic and creative expression and broader ways of life.Crucially, it is difficult to envisage a study of such questions about the make-up of society, the arrangement of social relations or the balance of structure and agency, that omits the cultural ways of life and expression which lie at the heart of all societies - and equally difficult to imagine how one might examine questions about cultural rituals, understandings, identities or creative practices without reference to the society in which they take place.The word culture, then, often refers simultaneously to creative practices and broader ways of life, whether in reference to the distinctive identities, rituals, practices and forms of expression associated with a particular group (as in 'punk culture'), or a certain activity (as in 'television culture'), or as a more general way to invoke the range of cultural features and practices across a broader range of people.Although contemporary large-scale 'mass media' figure heavily in our discussions, we'll focus on a broad range of different types and scales of communication involving a plethora of organisations, communities and individuals.After all, the practices of creative, artistic and intellectual expression in a given society encapsulate anything from the production and consumption of famous art, literature, music or television programmes to grassroots dancing, music-making, dress and acts of worship - all of which form an integral part of the overall ways of life of that society.Society particularly invokes an emphasis on social relations, including the detail of everyday interactions and the operation of broader social groupings and categories of social differentiation, such as those based on class, ethnicity and gender.Yet our concern here is with the use of artificial forms of media to enhance and extend our communicative capacity beyond the capabilities of our own bodies, transforming the range of expression open to us and mediating what we say over longer distances or to greater numbers of people, for example.At one extreme, such media may enable each of us to interact with friends or acquaintances without the need to be in the same room, city or even country, while on the other, they may enable a relatively small number of professional media producers to transmit large volumes of content to audiences of millions.Patterns of wealth, power and inequality are a further core element of societies, as are social institutions, including the apparatus of government and law, education systems, religious organisations, commercial corporations and smaller-scale organisational units such as the family.Together with established hierarchies of wealth, power and control, such institutions form a complex set of structures through which social relations are lived out.

Media, Culture, Society
It is worth remembering that media is the plural of the term medium, which
refers, essentially, to the means through which content is communicated
between an origin and a destination. It could be argued that the human
body acts as the first and most fundamental medium in this respect,
transferring thoughts, ideas and emotions into speech or gestures audible
or visible to others. Yet our concern here is with the use of artificial forms of media to enhance and extend our communicative capacity beyond the
capabilities of our own bodies, transforming the range of expression open
to us and mediating what we say over longer distances or to greater
numbers of people, for example. At one extreme, such media may enable
each of us to interact with friends or acquaintances without the need to be
in the same room, city or even country, while on the other, they may
enable a relatively small number of professional media producers to
transmit large volumes of content to audiences of millions. Such
producers, along with the technologies they utilise and content they
distribute, are often collectively referred to as ‘the media’ and this
certainly has become an acceptable use of the term. It remains important,
however, to understand media as plural and diverse. Although
contemporary large-scale ‘mass media’ figure heavily in our discussions,
we’ll focus on a broad range of different types and scales of
communication involving a plethora of organisations, communities and
individuals. This is of particular importance in the context of a digital
media age in which the interrelationships between traditional forms of
mass media and a range of more interactive forms of communication have
become pivotal.
Two connected senses of the word culture are of importance to our
discussions in this book, both of which are identified in the influential
writings of Raymond Williams (1988; 1989) on the subject. First, culture
is sometimes used in a specific sense to refer to the worlds of creative
expression or, as Williams puts it, ‘the works and practices of intellectual
and especially artistic activity’ (1988: 90). Traditionally this sense of the
term was reserved for elite or ‘high’ forms of literature, music, art and
theatre, but increasingly its use also encapsulates the larger realm of so-
called popular culture, including pop music and popular fiction or drama,
for example. As Williams puts it, ‘culture is ordinary’ (1989: 3). At certain
points, we’ll use the term culture in this more restricted sense, including as
a means to refer to mediated forms and practices of expression.
Importantly, however, such creative forms and activities form just part of a
crucial second sense of the word culture, as a way to refer to the whole
way of life of a society or group, including values, meanings, identities,
traditions, norms of behaviour and ways of understanding the world. As
Williams argues, although they are different, the two senses of culture are
closely related. After all, the practices of creative, artistic and intellectual
expression in a given society encapsulate anything from the production
and consumption of famous art, literature, music or television programmes to grassroots dancing, music-making, dress and acts of worship – all of
which form an integral part of the overall ways of life of that society. The
word culture, then, often refers simultaneously to creative practices and
broader ways of life, whether in reference to the distinctive identities,
rituals, practices and forms of expression associated with a particular
group (as in ‘punk culture’), or a certain activity (as in ‘television
culture’), or as a more general way to invoke the range of cultural features
and practices across a broader range of people.
Society, meanwhile, is a closely related, but somewhat broader term, which
refers to the whole social world in which we exist or ‘the body of
institutions and relationships within which a relatively large group of
people live’ (Williams 1988: 291). Society particularly invokes an
emphasis on social relations, including the detail of everyday interactions
and the operation of broader social groupings and categories of social
differentiation, such as those based on class, ethnicity and gender. Patterns
of wealth, power and inequality are a further core element of societies, as
are social institutions, including the apparatus of government and law,
education systems, religious organisations, commercial corporations and
smaller-scale organisational units such as the family. Together with
established hierarchies of wealth, power and control, such institutions form
a complex set of structures through which social relations are lived out.
Among those who study societies, a key question concerns the relationship
between these established structures and human agency, which means
people’s ability to be self-determining. Are we shaped by the gender,
social class or ethnic category into which we were born – or indeed by the
family structure, education system or religious institutions which play a
role in our lives? Or do we have the power to determine our own futures?
The importance of media at so many levels of contemporary social life
renders it a crucial consideration in such questions of structure and agency.
Crucially, it is difficult to envisage a study of such questions about the
make-up of society, the arrangement of social relations or the balance of
structure and agency, that omits the cultural ways of life and expression
which lie at the heart of all societies – and equally difficult to imagine how
one might examine questions about cultural rituals, understandings,
identities or creative practices without reference to the society in which
they take place. The emphasis of the terms culture and society is different
in some respects, then, but there are extensive overlaps and ambiguities
between them, something that particularly applies to the connection
between society and the broader sense of culture as way of life. I would urge readers to feel comfortable with this fuzziness. For although the
particular emphasis of one term or the other may be invoked at different
stages of the discussions ahead, our ultimate concern is with the
relationship of communications media with the range of phenomena
covered by the two. We will explore the possibility, then, that media have,
in one way or another, become integral to what we might term the broader
social and cultural environment, something that includes the distribution of
wealth, power and influence, the operation of social structures and
institutions, class, gender and ethnic relations, patterns of identity and
community, ideas and understandings, practices of intellectual, artistic and
creative expression and broader ways of life.