The Functionalist Theory & the Mass Media

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The Functionalist Theory & the Mass Media

How we live, our lives are influenced one or the other by media. Media, at its simplest refers to a medium of communication that allows for messages to be delivered to an intended audience. Therefore, media communication comes in many forms. Traditional media include the radio, newspapers, journals, magazines and any printed/published material intended to inform and/or to entertain, television and the movies. All these also pertain to Mass media, an incarnation of information delivery that is intended to reach very large audiences like a nation or a state. These days, through communication technology (i.e. the internet over wi-fi networks and mobile, landline communications and satellite television) via digital format, information and access to the news and entertainment media has never been easier. Functionalists like to look at society as the sum of its parts. They are interested to see how 'each part' works to ascertain that certain kind of interaction by which 'the machine', society can run smoothly. In Functionalism, 'the basics' - essentials necessary that would allow society to survive, is identified as the 'basic parts' without which society as a machine can't run smoothly - ...