whoever CONTROLS THE MEDIA – THE IMAGES – CONTROL THE CULTURE ! MASS MEDIA whoever CONTROLS THE MEDIA – THE IMAGES – CONTROL THE CULTURE !

What is Mass Media? Mass Media are forms of communication that address large audiences or publics: books, films, television, radio, newspapers, advertising, magazines, and other forms of visual, audio and print communication that reach multitudes of people. It does not include e-mail messages, IMs, tweets, and texting, which are not directed to large publics.

Marshall McLuhan and “The medium is the message”. Marshall McLuhan is best known for his statement, “The medium is the message”. It implied, first, that the medium of communication is important in its own right. – He argued that watching television shapes how we think , regardless of what we watch on television. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ko6J9v1C9zE

CHANGES IN MASS MEDIA CHANGE HUMAN LIFE

To explain how media shape our lives, McLuhan identified the media that dominated in four distinct eras in human history Tribal Epoch – Oral Culture talking (hearing)(speech) Literate Epoch – alphabet (sight)- More emphasis on writing. Invention of the phonetic alphabet ushered in what McLuhan called literate epoch in human history. Writing allowed people to communicate without face to face interaction Print Epoch – book (sight) Print did not immediately gain prominence as the medium the reached masses, because there was as yet no way to mass-produce the written word, only the elite class had access to written media. However, when Gutenberg invented the printing press in the 15th centaury, written no longer just limited to elite members of society. Electronic Epoch – telegraph The increased access to information made possible by electronic communication led McLuhan to claim that electronic media created a global village that resembles the tribal village. .

Global Village Global Village- The modern day, worldwide community made possible by electronic communication that instantaneously links people all over the world. When McLuhan died in 1980, he left a partial manuscript that described the computer as a new medium that would change human beings and culture once again. Computer- mediated communication has greatly influenced our lives.

MASS MEDIA SERVE INDIVIDUAL NEEDS AND DESIRES Uses and gratification theory- Claims people use mass communication to gratify their interest and desires. Uses and gratification theory assumes that we select media that we think will give us something we value or want. We use media for pleasure. If you are bored and want excitement, you might want to watch an action film or read an action novel. If you are going through a break up, depending on how it ended, you might want to listen to music that disses your ex or music that makes you miss him.

Uses and Gratification Theory https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WygKLCyuBu0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7FWcnx6W0E https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g3KvO2xyPbo

Agenda Setting An agenda is a list of information for the media to cover certain issues and events to cover, how to present them, the time limit of each one, mass communication tells us what we should think about. Furthermore, an agenda relates to an agenda setting. Agenda Setting directs our attention. For an example, the media’s main agenda was to discuss ebola.

Media Mass media can also convince us to avoid or pay less attention to small topics because people barely discuss it. Media sometimes tell us that some topics are irrelevant in general.

Gatekeeping A gatekeeper is a person or group that decides which messages pass through the gates that control information flow to reach consumers. They also screen messages, stories, and perspectives to create messages that shape our perceptions of events and people. Mass media contains a lot of gatekeeping. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_dwK5hC4ZI

Cultivation and Mainstreaming Mass media use gatekeeping cumulatively to promote particular understandings about the world and how it operates. Cumulative is important because it reflects on the process of cultivation world views. If a viewer watched television over a period of time it can affect a viewer’s basic view of the world. Mainstreaming is the effect of television stabilizing and homogenizing views within a society. The mean world syndrome is a dangerous place, full of mean people who cannot be trusted and who are likely to harm us. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKwYZ4QWxRI

Mainstreaming and Cultivation https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKwYZ4QWxRI Mainstreaming example

Mass Media Advance the Dominant Ideology Mass Media viewpoint on: Issues, people, events Terms: Product Placement: Paid for by advertisers/program sponsors…practice of featuring products in media and ensuring that viewers recognize products Immersive Advertising: incorporates a product or brand into actual storylines in books, television programs, films

Realistically Assess Mass Media’s Influence Different views: Claims that mass media determine individual attitudes and social perspective Mass media don’t affect us at all… claims that mass media is one of the many influences on individual attitudes and social perspectives. Represents a thoughtful assessment of qualified influence of mass media and our ability to exercise control over their effects

Become Aware of Patterns in Media If you don’t understand patterns in media, you can’t understand fully the workings of music, advertising, programming, etc.. Learning to recognize patterns in media empowers you to engage media in critical and sophisticated ways.

Actively Interrogate Media Messages Why is this story getting so much attention? Whose interests are served, and whose are muted? What’s the frame for the story, and what alternative frames might have been used? How are different people and viewpoints framed by gatekeepers? Pg.290

Expose Yourself & Focus on Your Motivations for Engaging Media “Mindful Exposures” People choose to view/listen to what they particularly like Exposing yourself to multiple media also means attending to more than entertainment. (pg. 291) Media serves many purposes…they make deliberate choices that serve their goals at a certain time (pg. 291) Term: Puffery: claims for a product that seem factual but are actually meaningless. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ttde _4Eu6gU

Family Feud “MASS MEDIA”

________, Claims people use mass communication to gratify their interests and desires.

Answer: Uses and Gratification Theory

True/False Immersive Advertising is paid for by advertisers and program sponsors, it is the practice of featuring products in media and ensuring that viewers recognize the product.

ANSWER: False (Product Placement)

What is Puffery? Explain

Exaggerated, superlative claims about a product that appear to be factual, but are meaningless and unverifiable.

The primary way that television and other forms of mass communication cultivate particular worldview is __________

Answer: Mainstreaming

Name 3 forms of mass media that is not directed to a large public

Email messages, tweets, texting

Tie-Breaker: What is the difference between Intrapersonal and Interpersonal Communication?