Take Notes 1 J200 - Week © J.T.Johnson _____________________________Fall 2003 Notes Return to slide

Take Notes 2 J200 - Week © J.T.Johnson _____________________________Fall 2003 J200: Journalism and Mass Communications - Week II & III  Continuation of 1 st Amendment Discussion  Process of Mass Communication  Functions of the Media  General Systems Theory  Production / Distribution  Controlling Influences  Ethical Considerations

Take Notes 3 J200 - Week © J.T.Johnson _____________________________Fall 2003 News of the day  Problems with quiz availability. Apologies extended  You won’t be reminded of assignments that are due. Maintain YOUR calendar  What’s the media/journalism news in today’s NYT?

Take Notes 4 J200 - Week © J.T.Johnson _____________________________Fall 2003 Focus & Function of 1 st Amend.  Given the 5 factors in the 1 st Amend, what might we assume are the functions of the 1 st Amend.?  Protect religion  Protect political and other speech  Recent research concludes that freedom of speech is a key factor in economic development. See World Bank study

Take Notes 5 J200 - Week © J.T.Johnson _____________________________Fall 2003 World Bank Study  A free press can…  reduce poverty and boost economic development in poor countries, but …  success of newspapers, radio and TV stations in spurring development depends on…  their independence, quality, and their ability to reach a wide audience.

Take Notes 6 J200 - Week © J.T.Johnson _____________________________Fall 2003 World Bank Study  Free and independent media can  expose corruption in government and the corporate sector,  provide a voice for the people/citizens to be heard, and  help build public consensus to bring about change

Take Notes 7 J200 - Week © J.T.Johnson _____________________________Fall 2003 Process of MassComm Source “Encodes” Message Channel Receiver “decodes” message Feedback

Take Notes 8 J200 - Week © J.T.Johnson _____________________________Fall 2003 In all mass media industries, organizations carry out four primary activities:  Production  Distribution  Exhibition  Finance

Take Notes 9 J200 - Week © J.T.Johnson _____________________________Fall 2003 An analysis matrix:

Take Notes 10 J200 - Week © J.T.Johnson _____________________________Fall 2003 An analysis matrix:

Take Notes 11 J200 - Week © J.T.Johnson _____________________________Fall 2003 Brief introduction to General Systems Theory  Attributes of a system…. 1. Composed of variables, i.e. elements that can be defined, or described, separately.  Sub-variables. Tree-to-branch-to-leaf-to- cell 2. There are relationships between variables  Horizontal relationships  Vertical (i.e. hierarchical) relationships

Take Notes 12 J200 - Week © J.T.Johnson _____________________________Fall 2003 Brief introduction to General Systems Theory 3. A system has boundaries  Conceptual  Legal: corporate, jurisdiction  Geographic  Cultural 4. A system has goals, self-defined or with a definition imposed by an observer/researcher  Make money  Provide for group security, happiness, procreation 5. System is capable of learning

Take Notes 13 J200 - Week © J.T.Johnson _____________________________Fall 2003 Applying theory: a teaching moment Gen. Systems Theory 1. Boundaries 2. Variables a) Sub-variables b) Sub-sub-variables 3. Relationships 4. Goals 5. Capable of learning Theory of Communication 1. Source  2. Encodes message  3. Message on channel  4. Recipient decodes message  5. Feedback

Take Notes 14 J200 - Week © J.T.Johnson _____________________________Fall 2003 A newspaper as a system Editorial Production Circulation Advertising “Backoffice”

Take Notes 15 J200 - Week © J.T.Johnson _____________________________Fall 2003 A newspaper as a system Editorial  Local News  Int’l News  Business  Sports

Take Notes 16 J200 - Week © J.T.Johnson _____________________________Fall 2003 A newspaper variables and sub-systems Editorial  Local News  Int’l News  Business  Sports zHigh School zCollege zProfessional

Take Notes 17 J200 - Week © J.T.Johnson _____________________________Fall 2003 Online enterprise Dynamic system model

Take Notes 18 J200 - Week © J.T.Johnson _____________________________Fall 2003 These activities involve resources and power  Resources: The symbolic and material components a system needs to carry out its tasks.  Power: The use of resources by one system in order to gain compliance by another system.

Take Notes 19 J200 - Week © J.T.Johnson _____________________________Fall 2003 Power role  Power roles  Resource-controlling relationships  Taken on mostly by systems  Producer Power Role  Creates material for release to public  Competition over niches

Take Notes 20 J200 - Week © J.T.Johnson _____________________________Fall 2003 Power Role  Exhibitor Power Role  Exhibition is the activity of presenting mass media materials to audiences for viewing or purchase  Finance can involve two power roles  Investor  Client

Take Notes 21 J200 - Week © J.T.Johnson _____________________________Fall 2003 The Client Power Role  Organizations pay for product that exists  Advertisers -- the main support system  But others exist as well

Take Notes 22 J200 - Week © J.T.Johnson _____________________________Fall 2003 Investor Power Role  Broadly speaking, a company has two ways to get money in anticipation of production  Take out loans, and…  Encourage investments in the company  Many media firms are public companies -- that is, their stocks are available on the open market.

Take Notes 23 J200 - Week © J.T.Johnson _____________________________Fall 2003 Other ways to get financing  Venture capitalists  Stock offerings  IPO -- Initial Public Offerings

Take Notes 24 J200 - Week © J.T.Johnson _____________________________Fall 2003 Media financing  Large majority of U.S. media are in commercial hands  Q: Does that make for better or worse media content?  That doesn’t mean government is out of the picture

Take Notes 25 J200 - Week © J.T.Johnson _____________________________Fall 2003 Government regulation  Government regulations influence the kinds of businesses firms can enter  Government regulations also influence kinds of materials producers can create and show to audiences.

Take Notes 26 J200 - Week © J.T.Johnson _____________________________Fall 2003 Controlling Influences: Government  Authority Power Role  Certain businesses, such as radio broadcasting, television broadcasting and cable TV, have government (all levels) regulations directed just at them.  Licensing  Copyright  FCC and Powell Jan2?language=printer Jan2?language=printer

Take Notes 27 J200 - Week © J.T.Johnson _____________________________Fall 2003 Controlling Influences: Government  Obscenity  Q: Can the police come to your home and take out an obscene video that you have rented?  The Tin Drum case /tindrum.htmlTin Drum /tindrum.html

Take Notes 28 J200 - Week © J.T.Johnson _____________________________Fall 2003 Controlling Influences: Government  Libel  Is an Internet Service Provider libel for libelous notes that it sends?  The case of Lunney v. Prodigy efam/lunney.htmlLunney v. Prodigy efam/lunney.html

Take Notes 29 J200 - Week © J.T.Johnson _____________________________Fall 2003 Free speech protections

Take Notes 30 J200 - Week © J.T.Johnson _____________________________Fall 2003 Controlling Influences: Ethics  What determines media ethics?  Individuals  Corporate culture  Corporate “standards”  Audience pressures  Professional organizations