Community structure theory: Difference between revisions

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Tichenor, Donohue and Olien<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Tichenor|first=P.J.|last2=Donohue|first2=G.A.|last3=Olien|first3=C.N.|year=1973|title=Mass communication research: Evolution of a structural model|url=|journal=Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly|volume=50 (3)|pages=419–425|via=}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|title=Community conflict and the press|last=Tichenor|first=P.J.|last2=Donohue|first2=G.A.|last3=Olien|first3=C.N.|publisher=SAGE|year=1980|isbn=|___location=Beverly Hills, CA|pages=}}</ref> evolved Park’s and Janowitz’s work with their concept of [[Structural pluralism|structural pluralism,]] finding differences between newspaper reporting in smaller, relatively homogenous metropolitan areas and that in larger, more demographically diverse areas, the latter manifesting more progressive coverage. These University of Minnesota theorists later developed the “guard dog” hypothesis, emphasizing the “social control” role of media, whereby local media function less as watchdogs and more as guard dogs protecting the interests of powerful, elite members of society.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Olien|first=C. N.|last2=Tichenor|first2=P. J.|last3=Donohue|first3=G. A.|date=1988-06-01|title=Relation between Corporate Ownership and Editor Attitudes about Business|url=http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/107769908806500201|journal=Journalism Quarterly|language=en|volume=65|issue=2|pages=259–266|doi=10.1177/107769908806500201|issn=0022-5533}}</ref>

Other scholars in the late 90s (Hindman, 1999; Demers & Viswanath, 1999; McLeod and Hertog, 1999) also recognized a connection between mass media coverage and community characteristics, but emphasized the role of media less as mechanisms for social control than for social change.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/231777603|title=Mass media, social control, and social change : a macrosocial perspective|last=P.|first=Demers, DavidD.|last2=Viswanath|first2=K.|date=1999-01-01|publisher=Iowa State Univ. Press|year=|isbn=0813826829|___location=|pages=|oclc=231777603}}</ref> When Hindman compared media coverage in large vs. small ethic populations, he found a difference in how similar stories were covered based on the relative size of ethnic groups in communities. Similarly, McLeod and Hertog (1999) found news media covered protest mobilizations more favorably in communities with a greater numbers of protesters. Demers and Viswanath (1999) enhanced previous structural findings by exploring the role of media as agents of both social control and social change.

With the introduction of digital tools for analyzing media texts, the community structure model was successfully expanded, tested, and used to study systematic news reports of critical events in communities across the nation and throughout the world by John Pollock, who began identifying this work as “Community Structure” research.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":0" /><ref name=":2">Pollock, J. C. (2013a). Community structure research. In P. Moy (Ed.), ''Oxford Bibliographies Online.'' New York, NY: Oxford University Press.</ref><ref name=":3">{{Cite book|title=Media and social inequality: Innovations in community structure research|last=Pollock|first=J.C.|publisher=Routledge|year=2013|isbn=|___location=New York|pages=}}</ref>