1. CMM 201 -- Professor Glenn Walters
Mass Communication
CMM Professor Glenn Walters

2. Types of Communication
Intrapersonal
Interpersonal - dyadic
Group Communication
Mass Communication
Intrapersonal = internal, reflective, deciding on objectives and methods of communication
Interpersonal = one-on-one
See the recent movie The Wedding Crashers for a comedy about these different kinds of communication.
Group = public speaking, negotiation, conflict management, parliamentary proceedure
Mass Com. = (p. 350) “The lack of immediate feedback is a characteristic of mass communication that separates its from interpersonal and group communication.
The Mass Com producer must be able to imagine and forecast accurately how mass audiences will react to his/her message.
Good paragraph to ponder at the top of page 352 – about the nature of Mass Audiences.
CMM Professor Glenn Walters

3. Laswell’s Narrative Model
Who says what?
In which channel? (medium)
To whom?
With what effect?
p. 354
CMM Professor Glenn Walters

4. Basic Model – 5 step process
Stimulation that results in a thought
Encoding the thought into a message
Transmission of the Message
Decoding the message by a recipient
Internalization of the message by recipient
Bottom of page 352.
This model developed in 1948 by two telephone engineers.
pp discuss these basic concepts
CMM Professor Glenn Walters

5. CMM 201 -- Professor Glenn Walters
Important quote
“…the source and the receiver must have enough in common for communication to occur. This common experience … is called homophyly.
“…the encoder must know the audience well enough to shape messages that can be decoded accurately and with the intended effect.”
Global mass media audiences are challenging because of cultural (and even religious) differences.
CMM Professor Glenn Walters

6. Gatekeepers & Regulators
“Any media person who can stop or alter a message en route to the audience is a gatekeeper.”
“Nonmedia people and institutions that try to influence mass-communicated messages…are regulators.”
FCC, FTC, local cable councils.
Hybrids = NAB, SPJ
FCC = Federal Communications Commission
FTC = Federal Trade Commission
NAB = National Assoc. of Broadcasters
SPJ = Society of Professional Journalists
CMM Professor Glenn Walters

7. Noise (see examples on p.
Semantic noise – sloppy writing
Channel noise – static, smeared ink, noisy microphone, grainy pictures
Environmental noise – child crying, phone ringing, doorbell, TV in a waiting room, someone talking on a cell phone
CMM Professor Glenn Walters

8. CMM 201 -- Professor Glenn Walters
Filters
Informational – vocabulary, knowledge
Physical – fatigue, drinking, sore eyes
Psychological – personal experience, attitudes
CMM Professor Glenn Walters

9. CMM 201 -- Professor Glenn Walters
Other Issues
Status conferral (media amplification)
Boomer, Gunnar, cystic fibrosis
Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner
Clarke Gable and no undershirt
Lack of Feedback – traditional media
Internet is interaction
Multimedia CD-ROMs are interactive
CMM Professor Glenn Walters