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

2. Some guiding questions
What is the role of media in our lives?
How do media shape our culture, both positively and negatively?
How do media reflect and sustain a vital democracy?
How do we take a “critical perspective” about media?

3. Our goal is to BE INFORMED and to THINK CRITICALLY about
the powerful dynamics of media (their structure and function)
their impact on community and global life
their impact on our personal desires as consumers
our roles as citizens who can shape media culture

4. Culture and the Evolution of Mass Communication

5. What is CULTURE?
defined as “the symbols of expressions that individuals, groups and societies use to make sense of daily life and to articulate their values”
includes both products and processes
a process that delivers the values of a society through products or meaning-making forms

6. What are MASS MEDIA?
the culture industries that mass-produce and distribute cultural products
examples of cultural products: songs, mystery novels, newspapers, movies, online services, magazines, comic books, CD-Roms, video games, textbooks, and so on

7. FIVE HISTORICAL ERAS of media and communication:
Oral
Written
Print
Electronic
Digital

8. Characteristic communication of Pre-Industrial Cultures
Oral
Written
Characteristic communication of Pre-Industrial Cultures

9. Characteristic media of Industrial and Post-Industrial Cultures
Print
Electronic
Digital
Characteristic media of Industrial and Post-Industrial Cultures

10. Mass communication:
the process of designing and delivering cultural messages and stories to large and diverse audiences through media channels

11. Invention of the Printing Press
Johannes Gutenberg ( , Germany)
studied metallurgy, sold trinkets to religious pilgrims
invented movable type printing
first printed “Indulgences” for Catholic Church
printed 200 copies of two-volume Gutenberg Bible

12. Printing innovated MASS PRODUCTION and MASS MARKETING:
mechanical duplication replaced tedious hand copying
rapid duplication produced multiple copies
copies were less expensive and thus affordable to more people

13. Social and cultural changes with advent of mass media:
transmission of knowledge beyond local communities
rise of nationalism
rise of elite class

14. Social and cultural changes with advent of mass media
democratization of knowledge and literacy
nourishing ideal of individualism
facilitation of large social movements

15. Development of Telegraph (1840s)
separated communication from transportation
transformed information into a commodity
coordinated commercial and military operations
forerunner of electronic communication

16. Industrial Revolution
shift from agrarian to industrial society
transformations in production and spread of information
changed perceptions of time and space
changed demographics (urbanization)
development of working class
need for leisure time activities

17. From Electronic to Digital
images, texts and sounds converted (encoded) into electronic binary signals
transmitted through satellite and digital technology, then decoded

18. LINEAR MODEL OF COMMUNICATION
process of producing and delivering messages to large audience
sees mass communication as component system:
senders-->messages-->receivers

19. Components of linear model
sender
message
channel
receivers
gatekeepers
feedback

20. Alternative model
based on belief that audiences are NOT merely passive receptacles of message
audience members can can interpret the meanings of media messages differently based on their own values and viewpoints

21. Mass media and public perception
mass media can alter a society’s perception of events and attitudes
e. g.:
news coverage of civil rights movement
Hill-Thomas hearings & sexual harassment
O.J. Simpson trial and domestic violence

22. Public debates about media
Ancient Greece: art and drama
early 20th century America: working class popular culture
ongoing concerns about children’s exposure to sex and violence in media

23. Concerns about media today
fragmentation of media audience
perceived lack of quality, “family values”
overabundance of information
dangers of cyberspace for youth
sex and violence in media
loss of face-to-face community

24. What do you think?

25. CULTURE AS HIERARCHY broad appeal vs. narrow appeal
high culture vs. low/popular culture
artistic merit vs. consumer culture
forms with short life span vs. “classics”

26. Concerns about popular culture
inundates our cultural environment and fills our lives with cheap, low-quality forms
makes “genuine” culture less accessible
undermines democratic reasoning and inhibits social progress
multinational media conglomerates control what we see, hear, read, and know

27. Do you agree or disagree? Why or why not?
What do you think?
Do you agree or disagree?
Why or why not?

28. Culture as a MAP
a metaphor that challenges the “culture as hierarchy” metaphor
on one hand, cultural phenomena are conventional, recognizable, stable and comforting
on other hand, cultural forms may be innovative, unfamiliar, destabilizing and challenging

29. Culture as a MAP
people have complex cultural tastes, needs and interests
cultural forms contain a variety of messages, “all over the map”--not just vertical as in hierarchy

30. Media Convergence
Characteristic of digital era and development of Internet
Blurring of boundaries between media forms and channels
TV, computers, stereo systems, VCR’s, newspapers--all functions merging into online information/entertainment sources

31. Shift from MODERN to POSTMODERN
Social and cultural responses to changing economies and technologies
reflected in mass media and other forms of popular culture

32. Values of MODERN period
Celebrating the individual
Believing in rational order
Working efficiently
Rejecting tradition

33. Values of POSTMODERN period
Opposing hierarchy
Diversifying and recycling culture
Questioning scientific reasoning
Embracing paradox

34. Developing a CRITICAL PERSPECTIVE
DESCRIPTION
ANALYSIS
INTERPRETATION
EVALUATION

35. Our goal is to BE INFORMED and to THINK CRITICALLY about
the powerful dynamics of media (their structure and function)
their impact on community and global life
their impact on our personal desires as consumers
our roles as citizens who can shape media culture