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It is important to note that human agency reproduces social structure. The cdu(JIIon
system or the traditional family structure continues only as long as new generawm~ of
people accept the roles they are asked to fill. Daily activities within the family and st:hool
help to reproduce social structures, and they can also be a source for changmg thrm "-'
long as most women saw themselves primarily as mothers and housewives and mrn
accepted the role of primary wage earners. the traditional family structure was .1hlr to
continue. However, when enough women began to demand the right to choosr from .a
wider set of possible roles, including having a career outside the home. fanulv struuurr
began to change. Thus, while structure constrains agency. it is human agency that botll
maintains and alters social structures.
Structure and Agency in the Media
With respect to the media, the tension between structure and agency is presem on at lc.L .. r
three levels, which correspond to the three types of social relations discussed earhrr Wr
can express these three levels of analysis as three pairs of questions about structural t:on·
straint and agency.
• Relationships between institutions. How do nonmedia social struciUres. such as
government and the economy. affect the media industry? How does the medaa
industry influence nonmedia social structures?
• Relationships within an institution. How does the structure of the media industry
affect media personnel (and indirectly media products)? How much do mtd1a
personnel influence the media products (and indirectly the media industry)?
• Relationships between an institution and the public. How do the mass media
influence the readers (audiences) of media messages? How do readers interpret
media messages and make use of media?
These basic social relations underlie our discussion throughout this book
Relationships Between the Media and Other Social Institutions
First, our broadest level of analysis is the tension between structure and agency produrrd
by different institutions. We cannot adequately understand the media industry wuhout
considering the social, economic, and political context in which it exists. Institutions OUI·
side the control of media personnel set certain legal and economic limits within which the
media must operate. In turn, media have agency in the sense of acting on their own .tnd
perhaps influencing other social institutions. A totalitarian regime. for example. IS llk('ly to
exert extreme constraint on the press in that society. There would be little room for agrnry
by the mainstream media. although underground media may emerge to challenge the"·'
tus quo. Labeling a society democratic, on the other hand, includes the suggesuon th.11 .• u
least in theory, the media are free of severe constraint by the governmenr and thus havt"
significant agency. Indeed. media in democratic societies can themselves exert a constr.tm
ing influence over other institutions.