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Mass Media Industries

Mass Media Industries. Mass Communication: A Critical Approach Chapter 1. t he omni-present screen. Take a moment and reflect on how many different screens you have watched in the last 24 hours. .

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Mass Media Industries

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  1. Mass Media Industries Mass Communication: A Critical Approach Chapter 1

  2. the omni-present screen Take a moment and reflect on how many different screens you have watched in the last 24 hours.

  3. Media Literacy is “an understanding of the media that are powerfully shaping our world (& being shaped by it).” p. 4 • What is your relationship to the screens in your life? • Are they used to connect with others? Learn? Entertain? Spy? Work? • Like all technology, the new media and old media have their good and bad sides; useful effects and destructive ones.

  4. To gain media literacy we will: • Trace the evolution of mass communication – from oral & written to print & electronic. • Examine mass media & the process of communication. • Consider two main approaches to research. • Explore ways of critiquing the mass media and reflecting on the importance of doing so. p. 5

  5. Evolution of Mass Communication We study media because its roots lie in mass communication p. 5. Media/Medium

  6. How mass communication evolved • Historically, media developed through several eras, all of which still exist today. • Oral, written, print, electronic, & digital. • Only the last three eras used media to communicate with symbols to convey information to large & diverse audiences through the use of channels. • Convergence of channels has changed the game again.

  7. The Eras

  8. The Oral Tradition • The spoken word, face to face communication, is the earliest form of human communication. • Story-tellers, sages, poets, teachers were respected for their ability to remember what happened. • Once alphabets emerged, manuscripts were written to preserve knowledge.

  9. The Print Era Johannes Gutenberg invented moveable metallic type which ushered in the modern print era. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1vl2j24Mtk

  10. Effects of Mass Production • Printed materials proliferated and spread. • Protestant Reformation in Europe led to protests against the Catholic Church and one interpretation of the Bible. • People began to think for themselves. • Other goods were mass produced, leading to a rise in the middle class. • Spread of literacy, a uniform spelling of words • Individualism led to entrepreneurialism.

  11. The Electronic Era • In the U.S. and Europe, people adapted to the development of electricity and electric power which fueled other inventions. • The Telegraph and Morse Code in the 1840s • Samuel Morse invented the telegraph in 1844, • Messages could travel at the speed of electrons. • Wireless telegraph in 1894 Guglielmo Marconi. • Titanic http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8E4wrcVQSgw

  12. Electronic & Digital Eras • Radio 1920-1940s. The Golden Age • Film in 1920s, • Following WWII, TV in the 1950-60s • Digital communication paralleled then surpassed electronic communication. • Digital code of ones and zeros. • New Technology – now, today, tomorrow?

  13. What is Media Convergence? Two possible definitions. 1. Merging of content accessible on different platforms: watching TV or movies via a streaming device. 2. Used to denote a particular business model where by a company consolidates various media holdings. Century Link, Comcast, Charter all provide “bundled” services via a cable or line.

  14. downsides of convergence • It limits the range of perspectives (viewpoints) b/c media is consolidated into fewer and fewer outlets. -- http://www.freepress.net/ownership/chart -- http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/cool/giants/ • Economic shift from existing media to new media. Record stores disappear, bookstores sell more merch than books, theaters close.

  15. Mass Media & the Process of Communication Typically, mass media goes through an evolution following these stages: • Novelty or development – invention & tinkering. • Entrepreneurial – how to make $$ or use the new technology. • Mass medium – how to market to consumer on a mass scale.

  16. Debating Media’s Role in Everyday Life • How much media do you consume? • TV, radio, newspapers, magazines, film, audio recordings? • In the U.S. alone, major corporations take in more than $200billion annually. How can the everyday person exert some control over what they are exposed to via media?

  17. Media Literacy • Know how media influences us. • Traditional approaches look at the process: Linear Model

  18. Review of Approaches • Cultural Model • I.e. “the Meme” • https://www.google.com/search?site=imghp&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=1024&bih=686&q=media+memes&oq=media+memes&gs_l=img.3..0.2458.4199.0.4438.11.11.0.0.0.0.111.607.10j1.11.0.chm_pq_ffrac%2Chmss2%3Dfalse...0...1.1.32.img..0.11.607.HzUlnUPKrJE#q=beyonce+media+memes&tbm=isch&facrc=_&imgdii=_&imgrc=KwTnSeo2xobh_M%253A%3BFzHxJ5y3_y6EjM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fcdn.24.co.za%252Ffiles%252FCms%252FGeneral%252Fd%252F2628%252Fb12960ca8f7549d08acf6c2c251a8813.gif%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.women24.com%252FTVAndGossip%252FCelebGossip%252FBeyonce-concert-snapshot-becomes-meme-20131211%3B400%3B600

  19. Approaches/Models Cultural Model Social Scientific Model Tests hypothesis with measurable data. Results are generalizable. Studying human behavior is not easy. Humans are unpredictable. Subjects related to behavior using surveys are common. • How individuals assign diverse meanings to messages, depending on age, gender, educational level, ethnicity, occupation, religious beliefs. • Analyzes and interprets media content.

  20. Media Literacy and Approaches Cultural as a Metaphor Social Science: Data Gathering http://www.npr.org/2014/01/13/262175399/is-16-and-pregnant-an-effective-form-of-birth-control Quantitative by method, counting up instances of something be they survey question responses, or content-specific appearances of a defined “something”. Correlations found. Experiments “test” randomly assigned subjects. • High and low culture like a skyscraper. • Culture as a map – locates the familiar and the new. • Values • Modern Era: work, individual, rational, progress. • Postmodern Period: populism, style, tech, supernatural.

  21. The Critical Process Behind Media Literacy aka “Critical Process” • Stage One: Description • Stage Two Analysis • Stage Three: Interpretation • Stage Four: Evaluation • Stage Five: Engagement Apply to the Alaska Airlines Travel Magazine photograph advertising the Make a Wish Foundation http://www.paradigmcg.com/digitaleditions/aam-1213/index.html

  22. Sea Shepherd contact points • http://www.seashepherd.org/cove-guardians/what-you-can-do.html • Facebook • https://www.facebook.com/SeaShepherdCoveGuardiansOfficialPage

  23. Benefits of the critical perspective • Allows us to credibly engage in debate about media’s effects on democracy and culture. • Know the pros and cons of a privately owned commercial enterprise. • Raise consciousness about our own media consumption. • We are each responsible for what we choose to watch, read, and listen to in the media.

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