Andriana Toneva W1499024
Book Review
Michael Schudson The sociology of news
Michael Schudson takes on the hard task to combine research of sociology, politics, journalism and communications in his brief introduction of news role in society. “The sociology of news” makes a contribution to the sociological understanding of the role of news for the formation of public consciousness, judgement and comprehension. A book which pulls you in the exploration of the mainstream media, the emphasize of the importance of politics, examining the constant debate of framing and bias in the news, analysing the illusion of the power of media and throughout all showing contrasting opinions which are easily battled with the persuasive arguments of …show more content…
Contrasting the popular belief, an interesting point which he makes is that the power of the media is just an illusion, created by people because “the media are the visible tip of the iceberg of social influences on the human behaviour” (p. 19) However strong our conviction is that the media are influencing everything, as the author points out “half of American population beliefs in devils”, and there are no news about devils at all in the mainstream media, this just showcases how the influence of the media is not what we think of. The power of the media is a special sort of power, that 's why it 's hard to determine its …show more content…
Loosing the point of the argument and getting confused. Another disappoint thing is that in the beginning he mentions how he will examine examples from other countries as well, and even though he does do that, it was at rare times. It would have been better if at some points he focused more on international examples, because it would have fit better to his argument, however it is understandable why he didn 't do it, as it is a book focusing mainly on America.
Another thing which could have been better if he focused more on the news effects, not on the journalism
The sociology of news gives a comprehensive explanation of news and their impact on society, and especially on politics. Schudson gives sceptical and reasonable arguments against populist opinions, academic research and journalists views over the news media. His objective is to clarify the controversies and the debates. Unsurprisingly it is a well researched and supported example of Schudson 's expertise. Overall it is a well-written and interesting book which journalists can appreciate, and make students comprehend the machinery behind the
Book Review
Michael Schudson The sociology of news
Michael Schudson takes on the hard task to combine research of sociology, politics, journalism and communications in his brief introduction of news role in society. “The sociology of news” makes a contribution to the sociological understanding of the role of news for the formation of public consciousness, judgement and comprehension. A book which pulls you in the exploration of the mainstream media, the emphasize of the importance of politics, examining the constant debate of framing and bias in the news, analysing the illusion of the power of media and throughout all showing contrasting opinions which are easily battled with the persuasive arguments of …show more content…
Contrasting the popular belief, an interesting point which he makes is that the power of the media is just an illusion, created by people because “the media are the visible tip of the iceberg of social influences on the human behaviour” (p. 19) However strong our conviction is that the media are influencing everything, as the author points out “half of American population beliefs in devils”, and there are no news about devils at all in the mainstream media, this just showcases how the influence of the media is not what we think of. The power of the media is a special sort of power, that 's why it 's hard to determine its …show more content…
Loosing the point of the argument and getting confused. Another disappoint thing is that in the beginning he mentions how he will examine examples from other countries as well, and even though he does do that, it was at rare times. It would have been better if at some points he focused more on international examples, because it would have fit better to his argument, however it is understandable why he didn 't do it, as it is a book focusing mainly on America.
Another thing which could have been better if he focused more on the news effects, not on the journalism
The sociology of news gives a comprehensive explanation of news and their impact on society, and especially on politics. Schudson gives sceptical and reasonable arguments against populist opinions, academic research and journalists views over the news media. His objective is to clarify the controversies and the debates. Unsurprisingly it is a well researched and supported example of Schudson 's expertise. Overall it is a well-written and interesting book which journalists can appreciate, and make students comprehend the machinery behind the