Sociology Essay: Media Analysis Through Functionalism & Conflict

This essay explores the role of media in society through the theoretical frameworks of functionalism and conflict theory. Functionalism views media as contributing to social cohesion and providing essential functions such as news, socialization, and entertainment. It emphasizes media's role in transmitting culture, enforcing norms, and informing the public. Conversely, conflict theory posits that media is controlled by powerful organizations to maintain their agenda, perpetuate social inequalities, and promote the interests of the elite while marginalizing other groups. The essay contrasts these perspectives, highlighting their differing views on media's impact on social order, conflict, and the distribution of power within society. The analysis concludes that both theories offer valuable insights into understanding the complex relationship between media and society, acknowledging that media both shapes and is shaped by societal forces.

Media according to functionalism and conflict theory 1
MEDIA ACCORDING TO FUNCTIONALISM AND CONFLICT THEORY
Name:
Institution:
Course:
Tutor:
Date:

Media according to functionalism and conflict theory 2
Introduction
In the present society, it is tough to imagine of any single hypothesis or theoretical
viewpoint that can clarify the diversity of approaches where individuals cooperate with
technological advancement and the media. The figure of individuals that have right to use a
diversity of media persists to progress exponentially. Different theories offer various
perspectives that are essential to the social world on the use of media and its effect on customs
(Tiehen 2014). Technology conceals a large choice from basic to obscure ideas. Media is
universally and on every device that individual possesses. Hence, media performs a key function
in the operations of different persons around the present society. Theory of functionalism
emphasizes media’s strength, but warns of the danger of having its authority controlled by a
number of few organizations or persons (Brinkert 2016). Besides, conflict theory claims that the
community is in the condition of perpetual conflict due to competition for available resources
that are limited in nature. Therefore, the primary target of this research paper is to examine
media from the perspectives of functionalism alongside conflict theory.
Media according to functionalist theory
According to functionalist theory, media is a feature of customs that is independent and
donates to the functioning of society in general. Furthermore, the theory give emphasis that
the community is apprehended together by cohesion and social accord where every member
concur upon and working mutually to attain appropriate benefits for the community all
together. The approach of functionalist on the media shows how media is able to seals the
useful responsibility that offer the people with much-needed news, socialization, together with

Media according to functionalism and conflict theory 3
entertainment. Communities are currently emerging bigger, and media is the right channel that
helps to extend to several individuals making operations of media to be important. Therefore,
mass media according to this theory is useful as it comes to give information concerning things
that are happening in different regions around the globe to the community (Cian and Amann
2017). The theory concentrates on how media alongside technology advancement play a role to
the effective performance of community. More implicitly, functionalism theory claims that if
something does not operate the vital idea in the community, it might fail to endure from
solitary invention to the subsequent (Vos 2018). Anchored in the viewpoint of this theory, an
individual might wrap up that the function of media has turn out to be gradually practical to the
community since its dominance has only risen. Besides, from the viewpoint of functionalist
theory, media operate under different vital duties (Solum 2013). Some of these duties include
the idea that media acts as socialization means, it enforces social norms, media confers status,
media promotes consumption, as well as media, keep people around the society to be informed
concerning their environment.
The functionalist theory has different elements that put together desire the use of
media by the audience. Some of these elements consist of surveillance, correlation, cultural
transmission function, and mobilization among other aspects (Cian and Amann 2017).
Surveillance as an element of functionalist theory means that the media is essential in giving
news and information. Correlation stand to the idea that the media offers data to people once
they choose, understand, and assess similar information (Solum 2013). Besides, according to
functionalist theory, its element of cultural transmission function means that the media reflect

Media according to functionalism and conflict theory 4
individuals’ values, norms, as well as belief. It is clear through this element that media also
entertains people during their free time together with providing them with escape from daily
operations (Dan 2015). It is also clear under the element of mobilization of the theory that
media function towards promotion of the interest of society particularly in moments of crisis.
Therefore, functionalist theory reports that media acts as the useful agent of socialization by
transmitting the cultural heritage of the society and its fundamental system of values and
norms.
Media also is seen to comprise of messages that are mostly about strengthening
common ideals. Such ideas consist of fairness, democracy, uniqueness, and value for the
regulations. According to perspectives of functionalism theory, media function as an agent of
social control by collecting data (Cian and Amann 2017). The theory also reports that media
engage in the process of surveillance of the social setting. Media also offer entertainment and
pleasure leading to effective management of tension. Functionalist theory has the perspective
that media has manifested and latent function in society. Some of the manifested functions of
media according to perspectives of functionalist’s theory consist of the idea of selling the
products and making revenue (Vos 2018). Other manifest function of the media includes the
idea of maintaining demand for goods as well as operations significance to the sustained
progress of the industrial economy. Media also dish up as the joint recall of a state, selectively
recalling, overlooking together with renovating the ancient times. As a functionalist, individual
is probable to view the choices of programming of the reports concerns to executives that
intentionally make a decision (Tiehen 2014). The decision can be to skip unconstructive

Media according to functionalism and conflict theory 5
narrative concerning one of its guarantor corporations as the unbiased action planned to
decrease prospect discord within the corporation and perhaps entire public.
Media according to conflict theory
Ideas of conflict theorists have reported that bunch media are managed by
organizations with the aim of pleasing their agenda. It is evident from this theory that
newscasts together with sitcoms are unplanned to consider and informing, but pretty to
maintain individuals’ benefits sufficient to convey a lucrative adverts. Besides, conflict
hypothesis views mass media to be the medium for communal oppression (Makhortykh and
Sydorova 2017). Conflict theorists recorded that manager of media utilization promoting and
encoding services to impact particular issues that affect social wellbeing of the society.
Different styles are initiated through media alongside imitated by general society offering
credibility to the hypothesis that power, oppression, along with a change in the present
community is partially due to internet usage, listening to radio, with print medium. From the
viewpoint of conflict theory, contemporary mass medium tends to be tool of communal control
(Henslin 2017). Therefore, conflict theory views mass media as the necessary evil while other
theories such as functionalist and interactionists agree that mass media is necessary for society.
Theory of conflict leans to show community the use of media to be in the diverse beam
than do the perspectives of functionalist. Reimers (2016) recorded that, as opposed to ideas
presented in functionalist theory, conflict hypothesis believe that accumulated media operate
to support the space along with dispute amongst gender, diverse ethnic group alongside social
and groups of ethnicities, instead of endorsing social accord. Conflict views concentrates more

Media according to functionalism and conflict theory 6
on conflicted and ever-shifting nature of society while functionalist perspectives concentrate on
the positive aspects of community contributing to stability of media usage (Pruitt 2018). Unlike
the theory of functionalism that focus on defending the standing quo, focus to shun different
social changes, along with declares that individuals assist to cause social command, conflict
theorists dare the standing quo, encourages change in communal status, and consider affluent
and influential individuals endeavor to compel communal order lower courses as well as
marginalized populations to dish up their personal benefits. Therefore, rooted in such idea,
conflict hypothesis contends that the mass media just replicates and frequently even
aggravates several clashes together with divisions within diverse sets in the community
(Brinkert 2016). Therefore, conflict theorists tend to observe who manages the media and how
media endorses the standards of upper class individuals in society while reducing the existence
of the employment class.
In accordance to the conflict viewpoint, major focus is the variance of opportunity to
usage of technology as well as media exemplified in the digital society. In most cases, conflict
theorists concentrate on the individual that reins the medium and the manner media supports
the standards of the classes of people in society (Macionis 2018). Some theorists of conflict
focus on how media causes the uneven political arena. It records that individual with the
majority levy accessible can purchase the most revelation of media, scrap discussion with
rivalry, and acquire complete responsibility for their image reality (Reimers 2016). Therefore,
through theory of conflict, media is able to possess a very significant duty in fueling blazes
when it approaches particular concerns such as racism and other social injustices.

Media according to functionalism and conflict theory 7
Conclusion
It is evident from the above presentation that, every theory translates the function of
mass media in a diverse mode. It is clear from this discussion that as media affects society, the
community also influences the media. Every hypothesis is probable to impact view of people
that are section of the organization in separate manners. Conflict hypothesis focuses on an
individual that controls the media, and manner in which media supports the standards of the
higher alongside middle-group of persons in the society while decreasing the being of the
individuals in marginalized groups. There are some insignificant matches of social hypothesis of
functionalism along with conflict hypothesis with respect to media. They, however, have
differences that mostly depend on what hypothesis an individual resolves to concur with their
analysis as well as attitude concerning the media. Therefore, by studying perspectives of
functionalism and conflict theory concerning media, it is clear that media truly has a significant
impact on customs, individuals, community and mass communication.

Media according to functionalism and conflict theory 8
List of References
Brinkert, R. (2016). State of Knowledge: Conflict Coaching Theory, Application, and Research.
Conflict Resolution Quarterly, 33(4), pp.383-401.
Cian, H. and Amann, H. (2017). A review of Education and Social Media using functionalist and
conflict theories of educational purposes.
Cultural Studies of Science Education, 14(1), pp.249-
254.
Cian, H. and Amann, H. (2017). A review of Education and Social Media using conflict and
functionalist theories.
Cultural Studies of Science Education, 13(3), pp.837-843.
Dan, J. (2015). An Overview of German’s Functionalist Skopos Theory of Translation Cognition.
Studies in English Language Teaching, 3(3), p.203.
Henslin J M. (2017) Essentials of Sociology. Pearson
Macionis J (2018). Sociology. Pearson Global Edition
Makhortykh, M. and Sydorova, M. (2017). Social media and visual framing of the conflict in
Eastern Ukraine.
Media, War & Conflict, 10(3), pp.359-381.
Pruitt, D. (2018). Tom Schelling's Contributions to Conflict Theory and Research.
Negotiation
Journal, 34(3), pp.283-290.

Media according to functionalism and conflict theory 9
Reimers, B. (2016). Building a Bridge across the Conflict Theory-Practice Gap: Comprehensive
Conflict Engagement in Community Contexts.
Conflict Resolution Quarterly, 33(4), pp.437-458.
Solum, L. (2013). Legal Theory Lexicon 040: Functionalist Explanation in Legal Theory.
SSRN
Electronic Journal.
Tiehen, J. (2014). The Role Functionalist Theory of Absences.
Erkenntnis, 80(3), pp.505-519.
Vos, T. (2018). Functionalist Explanations in Media Histories: A Historiographical Essay.
American Journalism, 35(4), pp.490-503.