And here is the final part:
After
thoroughly examining all of these editions of The Daily Tar Heel it appears
that the newspaper does an excellent job performing the
socialization function
as identified by Croteau and Hoynes.
Socialization can provide a way for individuals to be connected to a
larger social world. Croteau and Hoynes
state in Media Society that socialization is the process whereby we
learn and internalize the values, beliefs, and norms of our culture and, in so
doing, develop a sense of self.
According to this definition The Daily Tar Heel is an effective
socialization tool as it provides a means with which freshmen can learn the
values, beliefs, and norms associated with the culture that is this
university. Learning these things can
be a great benefit when trying to join this larger social world, which can be
very tough coming out of high school.
According to Croteau and Hoynes, during the socialization process
individuals learn to perform certain roles in their society such as
students. These roles become
internalized and the values and beliefs that go with them become the norm. In this way students can learn to behave in
the socially acceptable ways in this university. They go on to say that the mass media can serve as a powerful
socializing agent. The Daily Tar
Heel exemplifies this claim.
Obviously there are other factors that help socialize freshmen into
their new surroundings but the university’s newspaper can be important in this
process as well. However, it is clear
that media play at least some sort of role in the socializing of individuals
into a culture including at this university.
Judging by the entire weeks editions, The Daily Tar Heel provides
many different aspects that can contribute to the socialization function of
freshmen into this university’s culture and community.