COMM101 Lecture 2

COMM101
WEEK 2 LECTURE
Introduction to Communication:
What is Mass Communication? What is Media Convergence

and Media Literacy?
MEDIA CONVERGENCE
 Media = platforms or vehicles that industries have
developed for the purpose  creating and sending
messages
 Telephones, television, movies, music recordings,
magazines, newspapers
 Convergence = products typically linked to one medium
show up on many media
 E.g. You can transfer a Taylor Swift music album from
your laptop, to your iPhone, iPad, or desktop computer
 Until recently, media convergence was not a common
activity
MEDIA CONVERGENCE
 In the past, one medium = one product. For example:

 Television = audiovisual programs on a set-top box with
glass screen
 Telephone = conversations via a special device between two
people not in the same place
 Newspapers = printed stories on large sheets of paper
circulated daily/weekly
 Music recordings = plastic discs/tape cartridges played on
phonographs/tape decks
 Occasionally, you will get a mix of media: films broadcast
on TV, for example
 But moving the products from one medium to another meant
a lot of work – not seamless and ‘in the cloud’ like today
MEDIA CONVERGENCE
 Why is media convergence happening now?
 Why do companies carry out media convergence?
 When do they do it? How?
 When are companies – and workers and industries as a

whole – winners because of convergence, and when are
they losers?
 How are you, and society at large, affected by the new
developments in media today?
 How might you be affected in the future?
 Are there government policies, laws, initiatives, etc that

try to ensure the best possible outcomes for all involved?
INTRODUCING MASS COMMUNICATION
 Why the word ‘mass’?
 Over the past century or so (think printing
presses, film, etc), the people writing about
and thinking about ‘communication’, tended
to relate it to the size of the audience
 That made a lot of sense at one point
 The ‘new’ technologies, then, e.g. newspaper
presses, television, radio, and film
 Provided access to the huge ‘masses’ of
people
 Large, anonymous audiences
 Dispersed geographically
 Diverse: made up of different types of people
INTRODUCING MASS COMMUNICATION
 That definition worked fine, until today
 The arrival of many channels – the growing number of radio
and TV stations, the rise of video recorders, the multiplication
of cable networks, content platforms such as Hulu, Amazon,
Netflix, the Internet, smartphones, and numerous devices on
which to consume media (tablet, e-book reader, smart TVs)
 All of the above led to 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, e.g. gender,
age, ethnicity
 The arrival of a diverse array of media channels =
fragmenting effect on audiences
 Fewer people use any single channel
THE DEFINITION OF MASS COMMUNICATION
 Mass communication, is, therefore:

 The industrialized production and multiple distribution of
messages through technological devices
 The industrial nature of the process is central to this definition
of mass communication
 Mass communication is carried out by mass media industries
 E.g. Movie industry – different companies work together to

make and circulate movies
 Mass media are the technological instruments through which
mass communication takes place – e.g. newspaper industry,
the Internet, radio, TV
 Mass media outlets are companies that send out messages
via mass media – NBC, Time magazine
WHY DO WE USE THE MASS MEDIA?
 Enjoyment – cultivate our interests, hobbies
 Social currency – to show we’re up-to-date when conversing
with friends, peers
 Social reasons: watching football games together, reality TV
shows, broadcasts of award shows, etc.
 Companionship – feeling like part of a community, e.g.
Facebook groups, fandoms
 Parasocial interaction – the psychological connections that
some media users establish with celebrities whom they learn
about through the mass media: film stars, influencers, etc.
 Surveillance: check weather, stock listings, read news
 This brings us to media literacy

MEDIA LITERACY
 What is this module COMM101 all about?
 Trying to make you a media-literate person
 Not that you don’t know how to consume media already
 But, to train you to view media with a critical eye
 Not disparaging or cynical
 But to help you think about how media has evolved, and
how that’ll implicate your life, and society at large
 You will then become better able to evaluate what you
see, hear, read, and watch
 As well as try to predict, or simply think about, how
media will evolve in the future
WHAT IS A MEDIA-LITERATE PERSON?
 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
 Knowledgable about scholarship regarding media effects
 Able to enjoy media materials in a sophisticated manner
 E.g. knowing film history can make things fun, because now
you’ll recognize historical and technical features of the films
(e.g. silent films)
PRINCIPLES OF MEDIA LITERACY
 Media literacy, is, therefore, “the ability to access, analyze,
evaluate and communicate messages in a variety of forms.”
 Much of what we know about the world comes from what we
see and hear in the media
 The media, hence, interpret, alter, and modify our reality (as
much as we don’t like to admit this)
 There are 6 basic principles about mass media materials:

principles that help us engage in, and understand the media’s
role in our daily lives
PRINCIPLES OF MEDIA LITERACY
1. The Media Construct our Individual Realities

2. The Media are Influenced by Industrial Pressures
3. The Media are Influenced by Political Pressures
4. The Media are Influenced by Format
5. Audiences are Active Recipients of the Media
6. The Media Tell Us about Who We Are as a Society

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COMM101

What is Mass Communication? What is Media Convergence

 In the past, one medium = one product. For example:

 When do they do it? How?

 When are companies – and workers and industries as a

 Are there government policies, laws, initiatives, etc that

 The process of dividing audience members into segments

 Mass communication, is, therefore:

 E.g. Movie industry – different companies work together to

 This brings us to media literacy

 Not that you don’t know how to consume media already

 But, to train you to view media with a critical eye

 Not disparaging or cynical

 Sensitive to ways of seeing media content as a means of

 Knowledgable about scholarship regarding media effects

 Able to enjoy media materials in a sophisticated manner

 There are 6 basic principles about mass media materials:

1. The Media Construct our Individual Realities

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