What are institutions? This week’s topic had me somewhat puzzled, so I turned to dictionary.com for some enlightenment, but, faced with no fewer than 8 different meanings, I was none the wiser.

I then Google searched ‘institutions media’ and found this somewhat more relevant definition:

Screenshot taken 9/5/16

From what I’ve been able to piece together, institutions can can take on different forms, from social institutions like marriage, or media institutions like the ABC, both of which are relevant to the study of media and communication.

Institutions are concerned with the organising structures of society, as well as social, political, cultural and economic relations. Media institutions are long-standing, such as cinema, and are associated with certain values and working practices.

Examples of media institutions include:

• Community radio
• Public broadcasting
• Cinema
• Journalism
• The news