Theory
Freedom versus Control
Denis McQuail believes the relations between media and society both have political and social-cultural aspects. Vital to the political aspect is the question of freedom and control.
The newspaper press establishes its claim to freedom entirely on its political purpose of conveying opinions and spreading political and financial information. The television and radio uses political purposes of the newspaper and provides information based on a general public interest. As the television industry increases, market controls replaces political power. New media networks as Denis McQuail believes is still awaiting classifications of their amount of political freedom on the basis of privacy or content being distributed to individual users opposed to mass distribution. Denis McQuail also believes new media needs regulations to avoid misuse of monopoly power. The degree of control in the views of Denis McQuail’s suggests control of media by state or society relies on the likelihood of utilizing it. Denis McQuail also believes as new media broadens freedom of communication, the controls of continual organizations alongside the market, in regards to flow, and reception should not be underestimated.
The use and reception of media
McQuail makes special mention in Mass Communication Theory of the difficulty that surrounds identifying specific uses of media, as well as the difficulty of understanding the reception that any specific medium may have. McQuail uses the medium of the television as an example and notes that despite the many changes and extensions that the occurred, the television is still primarily seen as a medium of family entertainment.
The topic of interactivity is also breached in the book, with McQuail suggesting that the degree of interactivity is yet another defining feature that confuses the useful purpose and reception of mass media forms.
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