Video Cultures

Television Sociology in the 'New TV' Age

Bibliographic Data

ID2297563
AuthorsLaura Grindstaff (0000-0001-8897-4237, Department of Sociology, University of California, Davis, California 95616;), Joseph Turow (The Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104)
Year2006
Volume32
Issue1
Pages103-125
Publication date2006-08-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueAnnual Review of Sociology (BOOK_SERIES)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0360-0572 • E-ISSN: 1545-2115
PublisherAnnual Reviews (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1146/annurev.soc.32.061604.143122
OpenAlexW2142807803
LanguageEN
Citations received19
References cited89

We argue that the most significant and influential research on television over the past five decades positions the medium as a key site for addressing the complex interrelationship between culture and institutional/organizational power. Granting that such work is theoretically and methodologically diverse, we employ an organizational frame that groups political-economic approaches on the one hand and cultural approaches on the other. Political-economic approaches largely attend to issues of power at a macro level, focusing on how ownership and control of television along with the organization of television production practices shape and influence content; cultural approaches focus more on the expressive and symbolic dimensions of television programming and reception. At the same time, contemporary changes in the medium threaten to make past research on television appear quaint and anachronistic. The industry's transformation of television into continually emerging sets of multifaceted digital-interactive technologies challenges researchers to draw enduring perspectives from the older work and assess how they apply to the new-media environment. Consequently, we suggest the term 'video cultures' in lieu of 'television sociology' as a way of capturing future trends

Anachronism · Media studies · Political science · Politics · Power (physics · Public relations · Sociology · Television studies · Work (physics · Cinema and Media Studies · Engineering · Media Studies and Communication · Social and Cultural Dynamics

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