wcc comm 101-chapter #1 focus

TODAY’S AGENDA:*Real World Media Example*Review Chapter One and

discuss its main concepts*Chapter One Study Focus

Questions

Introduction to Mass Communication: Media Literacy and Culture 9th edition Stanley J. Baran

Chapter 1:Mass Communication, Culture, and Media Literacy

FUNDAMENTAL COURSE THEME: Media does nothing alone. It does it with us as well as to us through mass communication, and it does it as a central – many would say THE central – cultural force in our society.

Communication Definition

COMMUNICATION = The process of creating shared

meaning

What Is Mass Communication?

Communication: the transmission of a message from a source to a receiver.• All messages are encoded

(transferred into an understandable sign and symbol system)•Once received, all messages are

intended to be decoded (the signs and symbols are interpreted)


LASSWELL EARLY MODEL OF COMMUNICATION:

Who? Says what? Through which channel? To whom? With what effect?

Basic Elements of Communication

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Interpersonal Communication

Osgood and Schramm’s Model of Communication

Source: From The Process and Effects of Mass Communication by Wilbur Lang Schramm, 1954. Reprinted by permission of Wilbur Schramm’s heirs.


Schramm’s Model of Mass Communication

Source: From The Process and Effects of Mass Communication by Wilbur Lang Schramm, 1954. Reprinted by permission of Wilbur Schramm’s heirs.

Appendix: Schramm’s Model of Mass Communication

Input from news sources, art sources, etc. goes to the organization to decode and interpret. The organization then encodes many identical messages to send to the mass audience. Many receivers decode, interpret, and encode. Each is connected with a group in which the message is reinterpreted and often acted upon. Delayed inferential feedback goes back to the organization.


•Media plural of medium (the means of sending mass communication/many identical messages to a mass audience)•Mass Media communication ALWAYS involves technology of some kind

Mass Communication Definition

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MASS COMMUNICATION = The process of creating

shared meaning between the mass media and their

audience

What Is Mass Communication? (Interpersonal vs. Mass)Interpersonal Communication Message: Highly flexible Between one person and

another (or a few people) in direct contact

Feedback: Immediate and direct

Result: Flexible, personally relevant

Mass Communication Message: Inflexible,

mechanically produced Between an organization

and a large audience Feedback: Delayed and

inferential Result: Constrained by

almost all aspects of the communication situation


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“Communication is a symbolic process whereby reality is

produced, maintained, repaired and transformed.” – James W. Carey,

Media Theorist (1975)


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Carey’s updated definition (1989) continues to assert that communication and reality are linked. It’s truest purpose

is to maintain ever-evolving, “fragile” cultures; communication is that “sacred

ceremony that draws persons together in fellowship and commonality.”

– James W. Carey

STUDY FOCUS QUESTION #1

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Describe a situation in which you find that reality is

“produced, maintained, repaired and/or transformed” by mass

media communication

What Is Culture?

Culture: the learned behavior of members of a given social group.

Culture as Socially Constructed Shared Meaning = CULTURE IS LEARNED AND MAINTAINED VIA COMMUNICATION

Functions and Effects of Culture: Limits our options and provides

guidelines Culture’s limiting effects can be negative Creates a Dominant/Mainstream

Culture and, in turn, Counter-Cultures

Mass Communication and Culture

Our stories help define our culture – a culture’s values and beliefs reside in the stories it tells – these stories help shape the ways we think, feel, and act. We use them to learn about the world around us, to understand the values, the way things work, and how the pieces fit together.

Therefore, “storytellers” may have a responsibility to tell their stories in as professional and ethical way as possible…


ETHICS = The rules of conduct recognized in respect to a particular class of human actions or a particular group or culture. “Because society says it is the right thing to do.”

MORALS = Principles or habits with respect to right or wrong conduct. While morals also prescribe dos and don'ts, morality is ultimately a personal compass of right and wrong. “Because we believe in something being right or wrong.”


At the same time, we, the audience for these stories, also have opportunities and responsibilities. We use these stories not only to be entertained but to learn about the world around us, to understand the values, the way things work, and how the pieces fit together. We have a responsibility to question the tellers and their stories, to interpret the stories in ways with larger or more important cultural values and truths, to be thoughtful, to reflect on the stories’ meanings and what they say about us and our culture. To do less is to miss an opportunity to construct our own meaning and, thereby, culture.


Imagine a giant courtroom in which we discuss and debate our culture—what it is, and what we want it to be. What do we think about welfare? Single motherhood? Labor unions? Nursing homes? What is the meaning of “successful,” “good,” “loyal,” “moral,” “honest,” “beautiful,” “patriotic”? We have cultural definitions or understandings of all these things and more. Where do they come from? How do they develop, take shape, and mature?


Mass communication has become a primary forum for the debate about our culture. Logically, then, the most powerful voices in the forum have the most power to shape our definitions and understandings. Where should that power reside—with the media industries or with their audiences? If you answer “media industries,” you will want members of these industries to act professionally and ethically. If you answer “audiences,” you will want individual audience members to be thoughtful and critical of the media messages they consume. The forum is only as good, fair, and honest as those who participate in it.

Scope and Nature of Mass Media

Mass Consumption of Media at all-time highs;TV viewing accounts for more than half of all the

leisure-time activity for Americans 15 years and older

Americans spend 159 hours a month watch video of some kind (including traditional TV, online, and mobile viewing)

97% of all U.S. homes own at least one TV set42 million have their TV directly connect to the

Internet70% of viewers say they “binge watch” and watch

three or more episodes of a series in one sitting


Mass Consumption of Media at all-time highs;On Facebook alone people watch more than 3

BILLION videos a dayIf Facebook were its own country, its 1.4 BILLION

users would make it the largest country in the worldFacebook alone accounts for 6% of all the time the

world’s Internet users spend online59% of Americans play video games, with over half

of all U.S. homes own a video game console, averaging two per home


Mass Consumption of Media at all-time highs;On average, we listen to more than four hours of music

a dayWe spend more than $10 BILLION at the movies

annuallyThree BILLION people in the world are connected to the

Internet, 35% of the global population and a 566% increase since 2000

88% of North Americans use the InternetBy 2018 nearly a MILLION minutes of video content will

cross the Internet every second and it would take you more than 5 million years to watch all the videos that cross the Net each month


The role of technology Technological determinism = machines

and their development drive economic and cultural change

The role of moneyIt shifts the balance of power; it tends to

make audiences into products rather than consumers by adding Advertisers into the communication mix and changing the primary goal of the process from “shared meaning” to making money

Mass Communication, Culture, and Media Literacy

Media Literacy = the ability to effectively and efficiently comprehend and use any form of mediated communication

Media Literacy ElementsCritical thinking that leads to

independent judgmentsUnderstanding the process of mass

communicationAwareness of impact of media on the

individual and societyStrategies for analyzing and

discussing media messagesUnderstanding of media content as

insight into our cultures/lives

Media Literacy Elements

Understanding of media content as insight into our cultures/lives

Ability to enjoy, understand, and appreciate media content Multiple points of access

Development of effective and responsible production skills

Understanding of the ethical and moral obligations of media practitioners

Media Literacy Skills

Understand contentPay attention & Filter out noiseRespect for power of messages

Third-person effectEmotion vs. reasonHeightened expectations of contentAbility to think critically

Being Media-Literate

Media-literate people develop an understanding of media content as a text that provides insight into our culture and lives and they have an awareness of the impact of media on the individual and society.

STUDY FOCUS QUESTION #2

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Who were your childhood heroes and heroines and/or

favorite characters derived from MASS MEDIA? Why did you choose them? What cultural lessons did you learn from

them?

wcc comm 101-chapter #1 focus

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