ABSTRACT
This chapter develops a detailed analysis of the role of the media in legitimating claims about the social problem status of a phenomenon and mobilizing public opinion about it. In an article on sociological approaches to mass communications, Thompson has outlined a framework for analyzing and interpreting media products involving critical and interpretive methodologies. In his essay on mass communications, Thompson points to two kinds of context within which television programmes are made. First is what might be called the socio-historical context which comprises the changing economic, cultural and political environment within which programmes are made. Second is the institutional context comprising the organizations, procedures and technologies of television production. The chapter considers the 'effects' of the media products. As Fejes notes, a critical media studies has tended to ignore this issue, preferring instead to concentrate on the control, production and content of media messages.
