Media Matters

Jones, Brian J.

doi:10.1007/978-3-319-91180-9_8

Brian J. Jones²

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Abstract

Here, trends in mass media consumption and media technologies in terms of their associations with other aspects of American society are examined. Jones probes the common claims about mass media, examining the data from the Social Capital Community Benchmark Survey 2000 (SCCBS2000) and GSS in the 2000s. Despite a declining readership of newspapers and fears that new media such as television and the Internet will weaken American society, the data reveal that Americans are not watching considerably more TV than in the 1970s, while Internet hours are positively associated with measures of social capital with a tail-off after 20 hours per week.

We have met the enemy,

and he is us.

—Pogo

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Notes

1.
Philip Slater, The Pursuit of Loneliness (Beach Press, 1970), 142.
2.
Putnam, Bowling Alone, op cit., 179.
3.
Full citation, Chronicle December 6, 2009, New Hampshire, NIR, December 16, 2009.
4.
Putnam, Bowling Alone, op cit., 218.
5.
Saguaro Seminar at John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, Social Capital Community Benchmark Survey, 2000. TNS Interresearch, producer; Storrs, CT: The Roper Center for Public Opinion Research, University of Connecticut, distributor. 1 data file (29,733 logical records).
6.
For the main effect of readership, F = 501.226, p < .001. The mean for 0–1 is 2.342 compared to 3.493 for daily.
The Social Capital Community Benchmark Survey series on groups is the following:
“Do you participate in…
1. 1.
  an organization affiliated with religion?”
2. 2.
  a sports club, league, or outdoor activity?”
3. 3.
  a youth organization?”
4. 4.
  a parent association or other school support group?”
5. 5.
  a veterans group?”
6. 6.
  a neighborhood association?”
7. 7.
  a seniors group?”
8. 8.
  a charity or social welfare organization?”
9. 9.
  a labor union?”
10. 10.
  a professional, trade, farm or business association?”
11. 11.
  a service or fraternal organization?”
12. 12.
  an ethnic, nationality, or civil rights organization?”
13. 13.
  a political group?”
14. 14.
  a literary, art or musical group?”
15. 15.
  a hobby, investment or garden club?”
16. 16.
  a self-help program?”
17. 17.
  a group that meets over the internet?”
18. 18.
  other kinds of clubs or groups?”
These items were simply scored yes (0) vs. no (1), then summed to yield total Voluntary Association memberships.
7.
For the main effect of readership, F = 14.242, p < .001.
8.
For the main effect of television viewing, F = 256.417, p < .001. The respective means are 3.401 for 0–1 hours, 3.034 for 2–3 hours, and 2.472 for 4+ hours.
9.
For the main effect of viewership, F = 5.897, p < .001.
10.
For the main effect of age, F = 174.357, p < .001; for the main effect of viewership, F = 0.974, p = n.s.
11.
For the interaction of race and viewership, F = 5.406, p = .005.
12.
For the main effect of Internet use, F = 5.687, p = .001.
13.
For the main effect of Internet use, F = 6.626, p < .001.
14.
For the main effect of Internet use, F = 2.141, p = .094.
15.
The numeric data are not readily available in the public use version of SCCBS 2000, so the index is coded 0 (low), 1 (medium) and 2 (high). For the main effect of Internet use, F = 14.038, p < .001.
16.
Pew Internet & American Life Project, “Social Isolation and New Technology: How the internet and mobile phones impact Americans’ social networks,” November 2009, 3.
17.
Pew Internet & American Life Project, “The Social Side of the Internet,” January 2011. http://pewinternet.org/Reports/2011/The-Social-Side-of-the-Internet.aspx, January 2011, 2.

References

Pew Internet & American Life Project, “Social Isolation and New Technology: How the internet and mobile phones impact Americans’ social networks,” November 2009.
Google Scholar
Pew Internet & American Life Project, “The Social Side of the Internet,” January 2011. http://pewinternet.org/Reports/2011/The-Social-Side-of-the-Internet.aspx. January 2011.
Putnam, Robert D., Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community (New York, NY: Simon & Schuster, 2000).
Google Scholar
Saguaro Seminar at John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, Social Capital Community Benchmark Survey, 2000. TNS Interresearch, producer; Storrs, CT: The Roper Center for Public Opinion Research, University of Connecticut, distributor. 1 data file (29,733 logical records).
Google Scholar
Slater, Philip, The Pursuit of Loneliness (Long Beach, CA: Beach Press, 1970).
Google Scholar

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Authors and Affiliations

Department of Sociology, Villanova University, Villanova, PA, USA
Brian J. Jones

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Jones, B.J. (2019). Media Matters. In: Social Capital in American Life. Palgrave Pivot, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-91180-9_8

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-91180-9_8
Published: 27 June 2018
Publisher Name: Palgrave Pivot, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-91179-3
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-91180-9
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