Toward a Sociological Explication of Mass Media Reception

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to consider the possibility of a new sociological approach to explicating mass media reception. First, we outline Steven Clayman's discussion on displaying neutrality in television news interviews. Clayman elucidates how the interviewer's neutral stance is achieved in and through the social organization of television news interviews. Then, reconsidering Clayman's analysis, we explicate a social organization in the very process of watching television news interviews. This paper suggests a sociological approach to practices of receiving mass media.