MMC2200Book NotesIntroduction to Mass Media• Ultimately, media is communication• Communication: encoding and decoding information and messages; difficult to agree on one definition of the wordo Harold Lasswell’s Questions: who says what to whom over what channel and to what effect? SMRC: Souce – delivers message over some channelMessageReceiver: receives messageChannel Model does not reflect notion of interactiono “Process of creating shared meaning”: communication is not just about conveying ideas to a receiver but making sure they understand through shared processo Osgood and Shramm’s Model of CommunicationMessage decoder / interpreter / encoder message encoder / interpreter / decoder repeat Encode idea into message, send through channel, decoded and interpreted by the receiver who responds by encoding a messageo Process of communication similar to the process of mass media• Mass communication: “process of shared meaning between mass media and audiences” o Media communication continuum: ranges from personal communication, such as intra- and inter-personal communication, small group, large audience, to less personal communication, such as general book and music, national radio, and national/global television As you move across this continuum, the communication process changes by becoming:• Messages become more generalized and less personal• Audience becomes more remote (physically and mentally) and less involved (more heterogeneous)• The channel is more technological driven, making access more costlyMass Media and Culture• Communication produces, maintains, repairs, and transforms culture• Culture: learned behavior of members of social group; norms (moral and not) we are taught as we grow up through communication (verbal and nonverbal); also responsible for reasons that control our actions and what we do; “lens through which we make the world meaningful” – a lens that is shaped by communication • How do media create culture?o Culture has an influence on how we see and think about somethingo Changes the way we communicate and think Development of written media• Written media changed culture from one that was oral to one that was literate (can write), which allows one to convey their message to a broader radius of people• Decreased the importance of memory • Language changed from specific/local to uniform/mobile because it reaches more people • Allows one to communicate at a distance • Differentiate history from myth• Notion of power – through making laws, democracy, rhetoric, persuasion, etc Development of print media• Ex. Renaissance, Protestant Reformation, standardized laws, modern science and medicine, industrial revolution, information as a commodity (something to make money from), transformed thinkingo Serves as a cultural storyteller Forms a lens through which we see (and expect to see) the world• Ex. What we think of as a “happy couple” has been shaped through media storieso Serves as cultural forum Media serves as a place for us to discuss, critique, transform, etc, our culture Media identifies important topics in our culture and shape the way we discuss them Gives us a place to debate them (or to see them debated) Establishes “important” topics and shapes the way we discuss themHow Do Media Create Culture?• Short film about the printing press notes: Transformation of Knowledgeo Printing press enabled standardization of religiono Printing press brought together people from various classes and trades, giving numerous opinions about what should be printed o Printing made information a commodity o Books allowed people to make direct observations because one could take the books around and compare information to the real thingo Latin began to decline has books increased in popularityo Memory declined as something that was necessary due to the accessibility of information o Dissemination of information to the mass quickero Language became definedMedia in Culture• Media are only ONE source of cultureo If media is a product of communication, culture is developed where communication takes place, such as demographics, religion, school, dinner table, etc• Media ownership (of TVs, radio) is in high demand• The typical US adult spends the majority of his media-using time watching TV, then radio, while Internet trends are beginning to rise• Although a lot of time is spent with media, what areas of media being used are changing• TV station: local affiliate of larger broadcast network Media in Flux• How media are shaping culture is changingo Good news for media: consumption at an all time higho But key changes are occurring in the media industry and society as a whole (6 primary changes of media in society): Concentration of media ownership, which limits the number of voices heard in media dialogue (particularly minorities left out) Conglomeration: large corporations that aren’t in the media have driven out most large networks; ex. GM owns NBC; they have influence over what we get Convergence: multiple platforms are owned by the same corporation, giving us the same information from various sources; erosion of distinction of media (radio shows are making video clips online) Audience fragmentation: masses don’t necessarily get all the same information; this changes the relationship we have with media and media with culture; no longer are the masses watching one source because so many are available Hypercommercialism: everyone is trying to sell you something; deals with issue of paying for media (advertising) Globalization: exportation of media across the glove• The only way to deal with these issues is to become more media literate:o The ability and willingness to make an effort to understand content, to pay attention, and to filter out noiseo Understanding of and respect for power of media messageso Ability to distinguish emotional from reasoned reactions to media and to act accordinglyo Development of heightened expectations of media contento Ability to think critically about media messagesFirst Amendment• “Congress shall make no law … abridging freedom of speech or of the press.”o As well as freedom of religion and the right to peacefully assembleo Judicial branch “polices” these rights, along with all laws• What’s under First Amendment protectiono Print and news are assumed o 1942: ads (Valentine v Christensen)o
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