MASS COMMUNICATION-Spring of 2013

1. MASS COMMUNICATION-Spring of 2013 • WELCOME! • Mrs. Clark-after school in room 205 • ATTENDANCE • Assigned seats (tomorrow) • We may be changing rooms (I will let you know)

2. Class Expectations • Be on time • Be prepared with your materials • Be prepared to participate in class socratic seminars and other discussions • Be respectful • 5 points off for late homework, 10 points off for a late project

3. You and the Media We will now take a look at some of the main ideas and issues we will focus on this semester. • We will also discuss your weekly Media Journal that will be due every Monday. • 1st Media Journal is due Feb. 4th

4. You and the Media • You have been using media all of your life – watching TV, playing video and computer games, listening to music, going to movies, reading books, magazines and newspapers, surfing the Internet and creating, posting and sharing photos, videos, music and other content online. By now you are somewhat of an expert in mass communication.

5. Continued… • But how much do you really know about the media you use? At the very least, you know a lot about popular culture, and probably have strong opinions about what you like and don’t like.

6. Questions Raised… • QUESTIONS RAISED…. • Have you ever thought about how media influence the way you act with your friends and family? Or how you dress? Or the expressions you use? How do media affect your attitudes toward people who are different than yourself? How do advertisers get you to buy products?

7. Questions Raised Continued… • What are the legal guidelines about downloading music and movies online? Who has access to photos or comments you post on social network sites? Who owns the media you use? What impact do American media have on other cultures? Do TV shows and movies affect how people from other countries view Americans? How does news shape what you know about the world? Why is freedom of speech and the press important in a democracy?

8. MEDIA JOURNAL REQUIREMENTS • Every Monday I am going to check your Media Journal. You are to view a news source three times during the week. • PLEASE WRITE DOWN THE ASSIGNMENT: • Get the daily news habit! 
Students are required to read or watch the news THREE TIMES during the week to develop news literacy skills.


9. MEDIA JOURNAL REQUIREMENTS • Select a print or electronic news outlet – newspaper, news broadcast or online news source • The Media Journal should have the dates you viewed the broadcast or read the article, the title or the topic discussed, and a brief summary of the topic. Please include the channel, source of website and time you read the article. Try and stay away from trending news on YAHOO.

10. Mass Communication:A Critical Approach Chapter 1

11. Mass Media and Our Political Process OUR OVERARCHING QUESTIONS: • What exactly is the nature of our relationship with media? • Could we sustain our social ties and our democratic practices if we were unable to connect to each other through mediated words, sounds, and images?”

12. The Media Storytellers • THERE ARE TWO SIDES TO EVERY STORY….. • At their worst, the media’s appetite for telling and selling stories leads them to exploit or misrepresent tragedy. • Exploit or misrepresent events or people • Hurtle from one event to another • Lose their critical distance

13. Media Storytellers • At their best, our media reflect and sustain the values and traditions of a vital democracy. • Help us understand events and trends • Engage and entertain

14. Medium vs. Media Medium-an intervening material or substance through which something else is conveyed or distributed. • Mass Medium=Singular • Mass Media= Plural

15. Mass Media Definitions • Mass media are industries that create and distribute the following to large numbers of people: • Songs • novels • Newspapers • movies • Internet services • TV shows • magazines

16. Mass CommunicationDefinition • Mass communication: the creation and use of symbols that convey information and meaning to large, diverse audiences through all manner of channels • Examples of symbols: • Languages • Morse code • motion pictures, • binary computer codes

17. READING Please read from the beginning of the chapter up THROUGH media convergence.

18. HOMEWORK • REMEMBER TO WORK ON YOUR MEDIA JOURNAL. • IT IS DUE MONDAY • 3 entries • DATE • TOPIC/TITLE • SOURCE • SUMMARY

19. MEDIA JOURNAL TEMPLATE • Here is a look at the Media Journal Template I attached to the website. • You can print out multiple copies of this and use the template for each week. • http://admin.vhs.valhallaschools.org/cgi-bin/homework/homework.ssp?homeworkClassREC_ID=507092&rn=543823242187

20. HOMEWORK • Read pages 10-18 in Chapter One • From Topic “Mass Media and the Process of Communication TO “A Closer Look at the Social Scientific Model • We will have an OPEN NOTES/OPEN CHAPTER QUIZ on CHAPTER 1 Friday

21. Evolution of Mass Communication • Oral Era • Information and knowledge circulates through spoken traditions- poets, teachers, tribal storytellers. • Philosophers worried that written word would hamper conversation between people. • Written Era • Written word emerges-creating manuscript culture- overshadows oral communication. • Manuscripts transcribed by philosophers, monks to record religious works, literature, personal chronicles.

22. Evolution of Mass Communication (cont) • Print Era • Gutenberg creates printing press in 15th century. • Books become affordable to lower classes over time and spawn new socioeconomic classes, spread of literacy, focus on individualism. • Electronic Era • Telegraph makes transmission of media messages instantaneous for first time in 1840s. • Important electronic devices include film, radio, and most important, television.

23. Evolution of Mass Communication (cont) • Digital Era • Cutting-edge communication gadgetry emerges smaller personal computers, cable TV, e-mail, DVDs, DVRs, Internet, direct broadcast satellites, cell phones. • Digital communication makes mass communication instantaneous, inexpensive, global.

24. Media Convergence • Convergence refers to the appearance of older media forms on the newest media channels. • Convergence also refers to newspaper, broadcast, and Internet outlets existing under one corporate roof (also known as cross platform).

25. Evolution of a New Mass Medium • Novelty, or development, stage: inventors and technicians try to solve a particular problem • Entrepreneurial stage:inventors and investors determine practical, marketable use for new device • Mass medium stage: businesses figure out how to market the new device as a consumer product

26. Media Literacy-the attempt to understand how media works and what impact they have on our lives (Linear Model) • Senders-authors, producers, organizations • Messages- programs, texts, images, ads • Mass Media Channel-newspapers, books, magazines, radio, television, internet • Receivers- readers, viewers, consumers • Gatekeepers-news editors, tv and movie producers • Citizens and consumers return FEEDBACK, or messages, to senders or gatekeepers through letters, phone calls or emails

27. “Mind Over Mass Media” • We are going to read the op-ed article together in class. • http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/11/opinion/11Pinker.html?_r=0

28. READ TOPIC • Read from Mass Media and the Process of Communication TO A Closer Look at the Social Scientific Model • Pages 10-18

29. “Mind of Mass Media”In class Reflection Response-(30 points) • “Far from making us stupid, these technologies are the only things that will keep us smart.” • Please reflect on the article we just read. • Do you agree or disagree with the author’s opinion? Are these technologies helpful? Or are they hurtful? Can they be both? Explain. • Provide examples that connect to your everyday life or society as a whole.

30. Notes for Thursday-Debates over Media’s Role in Everyday Life • People have always debated media’s merits and dangers. • Ancient Greeks -corrupt youth. • Leaders at the turn of the 20th century feared that “low culture” forms would undermine American values. • Modern people -media violence spawns real violence and media influences attitudes and behaviors.

31. Models of Mass Communication • Cultural Model: • Individual cultural component • Selective exposure • Storytelling • Social Scientific Model: • Tests hypotheses with measurable data • Provides valuable insight into questions about media • Helps groups test their messages (politicians, corporations)

32. Cultural Model • Culture as skyscraper: • High culture-fine art, higher education, “good taste” • Low culture- pop culture, or “junk” • Low culture driving out high culture-Big Mac Theory • Culture as map: • Culture is an ongoing, changing process. • Provides familiarity and newness

33. Modern Period Values • Four values of the modern period (Industrial Revolution–1950s): • Working efficiently • Celebrating the individual • Believing in a rational order • Rejecting tradition/embracing progress

34. Postmodern Values • Four features of the postmodern era (mid twentieth century–present): • Celebrating populism-the elite try to relate to “ordinary” people • Reviving older cultural styles • Embracing technology • Embracing the supernatural

35. Social Scientific Model • Gather data using content analysis, experiments, and surveys • Code and count content of various types of media • Conduct experiments using randomly assigned subjects • Conduct surveys the federal government funds and makes available

36. Critiquing Media • Read results of both cultural and social science researchers who have studied various aspects of media • Understand their limitations • View with critical eye • Learn to critique ourselves in methodical, disciplined way

37. Critical Process • Description • Analysis • Interpretation • Evaluation • Engagement

38. To Conduct Our Own Critiques • Obtain working knowledge of the particular medium • Examples: TV show, film, magazine, video game • Transcend personal preferences and biases

39. Benefits of a Critical Perspective • Reassess and rebuild the standards by which we judge our culture • Recognize the links between cultural expression and daily life • Monitor how well the media serve democratic practices • Ask and continue to ask important questions that shape our world

40. Read topic