1. Understanding Mass Media, Convergence, and the Importance of Media Literacy
Week One

2. Media convergence
Media – platforms or vehicles that industries have developed for the purposes of creating and sending messages - telephones - movies - television Convergence – takes place when products are typically linked to one medium show up on many media - music that you can share across multiple devices - tweeting about the game during the Super Bowl

3. Figure 1.1 Audience Fragmentation
Mass communication
Related to a technology and the size of its audience
AUDIENCE FRAGMENTATION– the process of dividing audience members into segments based on background and lifestyle in order to send them messages targeted to their specific characteristics
Figure 1.1 Audience Fragmentation

4. Mass communication Elements of production
Thinking about the way communications content is created
MASS PRODUCTION PROCESS
Creates the potential for reaching a large number of diverse, anonymous people at around the same time
INDUSTRIAL NATURE
Considering the various companies that work together to create content

5. Mass communication Elements OF COMMUNICATION COMMUNICATION MESSAGES
INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATION
MEDIATED INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATION
MEDIUM

6. Figure 1.2 Interpersonal Communication
SOURCE - ENCODES the MESSAGE
RECEIVER – DECODES the MESSAGE
The MESSAGE travels through a CHANNEL from the SOURCE to the RECIEVER.
- ex. Voice/sounds waves
Figure 1.2 Interpersonal Communication

7. Table 1.1 Comparing Elements Across Different Forms of Communication

8. Figure 1.3 Mass Communication
Elements of Mass Communication on an industrial scale
Figure 1.3 Mass Communication

9. Mass media and convergence
THE THREE C’S OF MASS MEDIA CONVERGENCE
CONTENT – messages
CORPORATIONS – The companies that interact to create and distribute the content
COMPUTERS – The tool corporations use to disseminate content

10. Mass media and convergence
ANALOG – electronic transmission accomplished by adding signals of varying frequency of amplitude to carrier waves of a given frequency of alternating electromagnetic current.
DIGITAL – electronic technology that generates, stores, processes and transmits data in the form of strings of 0s and 1s; each of these digits is referred to as a bit
- Allows for convergence

11. How do we use the mass media in our daily lives?
Enjoyment
Social currency
Companionship
Parasocial interaction
Surveillance
Interpretation

12. How do the mass media influence culture?
CULTURE – ways of life that are passed on to members of a society through time and that keep the society together  SUBCULTURES SOCIETY – large numbers of individuals, groups, and organizations that live in the same general area and consider themselves connected to one another through the sharing of a culture The Mass media present ideas of the culture…

13. How do the mass media influence culture?
Identifying and discussing codes of acceptable behavior Learning what and who counts in our world – and why Determining what others think of us – and what people “like us” think of others

14. Criticisms of Mass Media’s Influence on Culture
STEREOTYPES – predictable depictions that reflect (and sometimes create) cultural prejudices POLITICAL IDEOLOGIES – beliefs about who should hold the greatest power within a culture

15. Media literacy A MEDIA-LITERATE PERSON IS
Knowledgeable about the influences that guide media organizations
Up-to-date on political issues relating to the media
Sensitive to ways of seeing media content as a means of learning about culture
Sensitive to the ethical dimensions of media activities
Knowledgeable about scholarship regarding media effects
Able to enjoy media materials in a sophisticated manner

16. Figure 1.4 Principles of Media Literacy
Media literacy tools and principles
How to become a more Media Literate individual
Figure 1.4 Principles of Media Literacy