Mass Media Functions, Knowledge And Social Control

654.IO U R N A I. 1 S Mbut is expressed by different means.Media reporting of a clash between scientific opinion on supersonic transportsand governmental policies regarding suchtechnology represents a generating ofconflict. From a systems perspective,such reporting is functional for maintenance of the total system in that it increases the likelihood of preserving anequilibrium state.Media Systems andSystem Dependency*Dependence on secondary mediaby other institutions is much greater ina modem pluralistic society. than wastrue in the small community. System stability is one of the more general needs;a proposition about stability which counterposes the consensus and conflictmodels is that:The less complex and differentiated thesystem, the more likely mass media withinthat system are to confine themselves tothe distributive aspect of system maintenance.The corollary is that:The more differentiated and pluralisticthe system, the more likely mass media areto perform a feedback-control as well as adistributive function.This proposition applies to severalsocial situations and is especially relevant for current technological and environmental crises. In the small townor suburb, there is often a tendency tomanage conflict at an informal level toprevent social disruption. Small community media tend to refrain from reporting social and technological controversies, concentrating instead on cohesion and consensus and publicizingpublic decisions after the fact. Datafrom studies in Minnesota and otherlocations support this proposition andindicate that norms of both media andpolitical subsystems of small communitits tend to be supportive of thispattern.10 Implications for transmissionof relevant technological informationseem to be clear. Media in small com-Q U A R T E R L Ymunities will tend to confine themselvesto descriptive reporting of technologicalissues, unless outside forces intervene.Outside forces may appear, however,as confrontations develop between subsystems and agencies of another subsystem of the total pluralistic system.A control attempt by a regulatory agency, such as a state anti-pollution bureau, over a small town industry is anillustration. Metropolitan media whosecoverage includes that community mayreport the issue, but in a way orientedtoward their feedback function for thelarger, pluralistic system. In such acase, mass media are serving as systemregulators, applying corrective pressures to subsystems that may be out offunctional balance in relation to others.In this perspective, "muckraking" bymass media performed the same maintenance function in an earlier era. Thisis far different from seeing muckrakingas a wayward act of newspapers sensationalizing for sensation's sake. Rather,as Lippmann viewed it, muckrakers applied dominant social norms to socialgroups and institutions which were new,deviant or not yet fully integrated intothe social structure. Similarly, Lasswell's "surveillance"and "correlation" functions seem to refer to feedback-control processes in system terms.Merton and Lazarsfeld refer specificallyto "the enforcement of social norms" asa prime example of the "power of thepress."II These writers referred tosocial issues of an earlier era. Morerecent examples of mass media reporting serving a feedback-control functionfor the total social system includedRachel Carson's "Silent Spring," sublac. N. Olien. G. A. Donohue and P. J. Tichenor. T h eCommunity Editor's Power and the Reporting of Conflict."JOURNALISMQUARTERLY,45243-52 (1968); also sa Akx S.Edelatein and Blaine Schulz, "The W e n h i p Rok of theWeekly Newspaper a8 Seen by Community Leaders: A Sociological Perspective," in Lewis Anthony Dexter and DavidManning White,People. Sociefy and Mass Cornmuniceriom (New York The F r a Pms of Gknca. 1964).1' Walter Lbprnann. Drtt a& Marrrrg ( E n g k w d Cliffs,N.J. Prenticc-Hall. I%lk Harold D. Lasawcll, "T KStructure and Function of Communication in Soekty," pp. 37-51,and Paul F. Lazarsfeld and Robert K. Mcnon. 'Mau Communication, Popular Taste and Organized S0ei.l Action."pp. 95-118. in Lyman Bryron, cd., Thr Conunvnicotion 01Ideas (New York Harper, 1948).&.Downloaded from jmq.sagepub.com by FELICIA GREENLEE BROWN on April 12, 2012

Media Fiinctions, Knowledge clnd Sociul Controlsequent environmental. reporting, consumer research reporting and massmedia treatment of the Vietnam War.These forms of feedback-controlmedia behavior, such as muckraking,environmental reporting and politicalcontroversy, are regarded within thesystems perspective as more likely inbroader gauged media that serve the total system. Conflict reporting is a formof conflict management, but ordinarilynot conducive to conflict management atthe nonpluralistic subsystem level. Oncea major issue is "in the news," however, reporting of that issue is legitimized, if not in fact imperative, for local subsystem media. The subsystemmedia, however, structure their reporting of the issue in a supportive way.Through various distributional controlof techniques (including content andtiming) local media tend to support local norms and social arrangements.Tension-laden information may be restructured, or distribution may be timedto have maximum maintenance effect.This is what would be expected in a consensus system.The difference between media serving less pluralistic subsystems andthose serving more pluralistic total systems is clear in the contrast betweensmall town and metropolitan newspapers. This type of variation occurs inthe industrial sector; reporting of conflict increases as the system beingserved by the medium becomes morepluralistic and encompassing. The houseorgan of a company is functionallysimilar to the small town weekly inthat reports of controversy are absentor, at most, restrained. At a more inclusive system level, publications ofthe National Association of Manufactur"Hillier Krieghbaum, S c i m n and fhr Mass Media (NewY o r t New York Univtr8ity Prru, 1%7)."See Robert E. Park, op. cit.; Robert S. Lynd. Knowkdgefor h f ? (Princeton: Prinaton University Press, 1939)."Caler. op. cif. Thia view is notwithatanding the argument by Tom Wicker that 'in reimcc wvtragc, a first c hreporter. . is allowed more hy than a political reporter." W d e r . however, ia referring to media systemwntrol rather than soam control alone. Sce Tom Wicker.7hc Greening of the Prerr," Columbia Jarmolicm Review(May/Jum 1971). p. 10.655ers will report more conflict. At thetotal system level, the Wall StreetJournal reports more conflict than anyof the media serving less complex subsystems. By fulfilling different functions, small and large system mediajointly serve to manage conflict andmaintain the total system as a whole.Media Systems andScience SystemsAlong with deepening involvement ofscience in public decision-making hascome an increased amount of sciencecontent in mass media.12 Most of thiscontent may be described as "knowledge of' rather than "knowledge about.""Knowledge of' refers to familiaritywith a topic or events surrounding it,whereas "knowledge about" includesanalytic and formal knowledge.13 Onereason for this concentration on "knowledge of' in science, as well as in mostspecialized knowledge areas, stems fromthe limitations of the media system andthe controls exerted on media personnel. Media and science systems do notaccommodate each other as readily as,say, media and political ystems.1 Norms for entry and participation inpolitical and science groups are quitedifferent. The first is literally "everybody's game," and the control orientation of the political reporter is thusd i r a e d more toward the total system.Science, however, is more for the specially educated and the journalistic orientation toward public affairs reportingdoes not mesh easily with the scientist'sparticular control orientation towardknowledge.A fundamental proposition about control of science content in media maybe stated as:Control over mass media content concerning science and technology by the science system is a function of the degree towhich media channel members identify withthe science system.An operational implication is thatscience writers who are highly trainedin fields which they cover, and have highDownloaded from jmq.sagepub.com by FELICIA GREENLEE BROWN on April 12, 2012

656JOURNALISMlevels of association with scientists inthose fields, -will be less likely to reportscience in way that deviates from thenorms of the scientific community, particularly in 'areas of controversy involving scientists. To the extent thatthis hypothesis is supported, it raisessome question about fulfilling the feedback, or fourth estate function, in science reporting by science reporters.Such an apparent paradox may be a logical consequence of the predominant scientific orientation toward knowledgeand its spread.Accumulation of knowledge is fundamental to growth and development of ascientific field, and control of knowledge flow is crucial to the field's legitimacy and survival. A scientific groupfeels it has arrived when it possessesa unique body of knowledge which is considered necessary and can be dispensedto the nonscientific world, that is,other subsystems, in a therapeutic fashion. Research organizations by theirvery nature are control-oriented: beingcalled an "authority" is high acclaimfor a scientist.15 Procedures established by professional scientific organizations for review and criticism serveas feedback, or deviancy control, mechanisms at that subsystem level.16 Whatscientists call "professional" behavioris, from this perspective, "control"behavior.Maintenance of status position andconflict control are closely relatedbases for information control in the science subsystem. Members of elite scientific groups know that if they appearnot to possess exclusive and mutuallyacceptable knowledge, they may not beelite for long. Monopoly of knowledge isas attractive a social goal as monopolyof a commercial market. Also, a knowledge monopoly must be seen by thelarger system and other subsystems asagreed upon. Dissent among scientistsmay be functional for the science subsystem, but only to the extent that itprovides a testing ground for relativeacceptability of different perspectivesin the interest of eventual consensus.QUAR T E R I. YScientific dissent reported to the largercommunity, however, may be dysfunctional from the scientific community'sviewpoint, however enlightening it maybe in feedback terms for the audience ystem.1 Sanctions in the- scientificcommunity serve to temper any debate that breaks into the open throughmass media.18Patterns of media coverage of science point to a wide variety of directdistributional controls over sciencecontent in ways that serve to preventthe performance of a pluralistic function and, instead, serve to maintain thescience system itself. The fact that amajority of reporters may accept ameasure of prior review by scientistsbefore publication attests to the amountof science system control over massmedia today.19 Reporters who abideby scientists' wishes "to be left alone"are submitting to distributional control.It may be highly desirable from thepoint of view of a scientific organization to withhold data and "not rockthe boat," regardless of media arguments that such data are necessary"for the public right to know."Control of science content in mediamay also be indirect, in that reportersmay adopt procedures that give thesource control without overt demands.The general tendency to report scienceas an area of consensus, even thoughthe conflict model is fundamental toorganized science, is an example. Thatis, although managed conflict is fund

communication of scientific and techno- logical knowledge is used as a case in point, to illustrate the various forms of system control that occur in mass com- munication. One should not assume from the above that social control is the only function served by mass communication, but rath- er that all communication processes