Old & new media

• Traditional media — TV, radio, newspapers. New media — the internet and social media (interactive, global).
• The media are an important agency of secondary socialisation.

Spec note (please read): Media is not a topic in the current Cambridge IGCSE 0495 syllabus (2025–2027), whose topics are Research methods, Identity, Social inequality, Family, Education and Crime/deviance. Media appeared in earlier versions of the course. This lesson teaches the sociology of the media as useful, board-general content. Check the current 0495 syllabus for what is examinable.

Media & socialisation

How the media affect audiences

• Hypodermic syringe model — media 'inject' messages into a passive audience.
• Uses and gratifications — audiences actively choose media for their own needs.
• Debate about media effects (e.g. on violence) is contested.

Sort the model

Tap a statement, then whether it fits a passive or active view of the audience (or applies to both debates).

Media model

Representations & stereotypes

• The media represent groups (by gender, ethnicity, age, class) — sometimes as stereotypes.
• Feminists note the media may reinforce traditional gender roles.
• Gatekeeping and agenda-setting shape what counts as 'news'.

Your turn — percentage

Moral panics & deviance amplification

• A moral panic is an exaggerated media reaction to a group seen as a threat (linked to Stanley Cohen's work on 'folk devils').
• The reaction can cause deviancy amplification — making the behaviour worse.

Your turn — percentage change

Match the term to its meaning

Tap a term, then its meaning.

Your turn — response rate

Your turn — percentage

Moral panic

Your turn — sample size

Ownership

Media — the big ideas

You've covered the sociology of the media. Press Finish.