Sociology: Media's Role in Inequality - Research Report

This library research report investigates the ways in which the media reinforces class, gender, and race inequalities. The report begins with an overview of the topic, emphasizing the media's growing influence on societal inequalities. It identifies key concepts such as the role of media, social inequality, and various forms of media representation. The author evaluates several sources, including books and academic articles, to understand the impact of media on pre-conceived notions and human behavior. The essay plan includes an introduction that highlights media's role in discrimination, a body section that explores relevant theories and media's impact, and a conclusion that emphasizes the need for critical evaluation and responsible media practices. The report provides a detailed reference list of the sources used, demonstrating a comprehensive approach to the research topic.

Running head: LIBRARY RESEARCH REPORT
Library Research Report
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author note

1LIBRARY RESEARCH REPORT
Table of Contents
Topic..........................................................................................................................................2
Starting point..............................................................................................................................2
Source evaluation.......................................................................................................................2
Essay plan...................................................................................................................................4
Reference....................................................................................................................................6

2LIBRARY RESEARCH REPORT
Topic
The topic that has been selected for the final essay is- “In what ways do the media
reinforce class, gender or race inequalities?”
Starting point
The topic selected is very eminent in this modern day and the influence of media on
the various instances of inequalities in the society is growing rapidly. The starting point for
the essay has to be a thorough understanding of the impact of media on the society. The
media is one of the most influential aspects in the society these days and people make or
break their behavioral pattern based on the reports and trends that are showcased by media.
The various keywords that have been used are listed below-
 Role of media
 Impact of media in society
 Social inequality
 Racist approach of media
 Class difference
 Gender inequality showcased by media
 Various forms of media
Source evaluation
1. Buckingham, D., 2013. Media education: Literacy, learning and contemporary
culture. John Wiley & Sons.

3LIBRARY RESEARCH REPORT
The book righty sets out the areas that are impacted by media and the pre-conceived
notions that they create in the audience’s mind. Media has the power to make the audience
think in a particular way and such is the impact that it even influences the human behavior.
2. Croteau, D. and Hoynes, W., 2013. Media/society: Industries, images, and audiences.
Sage Publications.
The author rightly shows the effect that media has in creating an image for a certain
section of society before an audience. Audience can at times judge the content critically but it
is also seen that the media consumers do not critically evaluate the content often.
3. Dubrofsky, R.E. and Wood, M.M., 2014. Posting racism and sexism: Authenticity,
agency and self-reflexivity in social media. Communication and Critical/Cultural
Studies, 11(3), pp.282-287.
Media enhances the differences at times unknowingly, however such actions have bad
results for the group at which it is targeted. Media is a channel that has the enormous
potential to reach to the masses and the emergence of social media has made it possible that
an post or a comment can reach to any part of the world in a blink.
4. Giddens, A., Duneier, M., Appelbaum, R.P. and Carr, D.S., 2016. Introduction to
sociology. WW Norton.
The various aspects of class differentiation and the idea of social differentiation is clearly
provided in this book and it helps in getting a better idea of the various concepts that are
prevalent in the social sphere.
5. Hurst, C.E., Gibbon, H.M.F. and Nurse, A.M., 2016. Social inequality: Forms,
causes, and consequences. Routledge.

4LIBRARY RESEARCH REPORT
This book clearly provides an idea of the various social inequalities that are persistent and
it gives a theoretical insight into the behavior of all those in a society. The book suggests that
the entire social phenomenon that take place have an underlying theory and concept related to
sociology.
6. Germov, J. and Poole, M. (Eds.) 2015. 3rd Ed. Public Sociology: An Introduction to
Australian Society. Allen & Unwin: Sydney.
The book gives a bright idea of the various sociological theories and the situation in the
country of Australia. The idea of digital sociology is well described in the book and it shows
the way the media and such features have impacted the social life and has lead to certain
social scenarios to rise in the society.
Essay plan
The introduction of the essay will contain a lead into the essay and it will point out
that there are various practices from the media that create certain situations that stimulate
discrimination in the society. The issue of discrimination in the society is age old but it is
seen that in the modern time, media has the most effective hold over the population to
establish an idea into their minds (Howitt 2013). At times it is seen that media does not
intentionally degrade a group, but it is seen that the way people react to a piece of media bite
changes the entire context of the content.
The body of the essay will deal with an exploration of various theories that are related
to the discrimination and unequal practices in the society. The various instances where media
has made a considerable impact in this sphere will be pointed out in the body section of the
essay. Every action from the media is greeted by the audience and such media dependency is

5LIBRARY RESEARCH REPORT
a major cause for the all the media related discrimination that has been prevalent in the
society (Shohat and Stam 2014).
The conclusion section will deal with a closing on all the issues that have been
discussed. The attitude of the people needs to be changed and it is essential that the audience
needs to evaluate the content before getting to a conclusion. The action of the media is far
reaching and it has to be understood by them and hence should act more responsibly.

6LIBRARY RESEARCH REPORT
Reference
Buckingham, D., 2013. Media education: Literacy, learning and contemporary culture. John
Wiley & Sons
Croteau, D. and Hoynes, W., 2013. Media/society: Industries, images, and audiences. Sage
Publications.
Dubrofsky, R.E. and Wood, M.M., 2014. Posting racism and sexism: Authenticity, agency
and self-reflexivity in social media. Communication and Critical/Cultural Studies, 11(3),
pp.282-287.
Germov, J. and Poole, M. (Eds.) 2015. 3rd Ed. Public Sociology: An Introduction to
Australian Society. Allen & Unwin: Sydney.
Giddens, A., Duneier, M., Appelbaum, R.P. and Carr, D.S., 2016. Introduction to sociology.
WW Norton.
Howitt, D., 2013. The Mass Media & Social Problems (Vol. 2). Elsevier.
Hurst, C.E., Gibbon, H.M.F. and Nurse, A.M., 2016. Social inequality: Forms, causes, and
consequences. Routledge.
Shohat, E. and Stam, R., 2014. Unthinking Eurocentrism: Multiculturalism and the media.
Routledge.

7LIBRARY RESEARCH REPORT