McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights reserved. THE DYNAMICS OF MASS COMMUNCATION Joseph R. Dominick University of Georgia--Athens

McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights reserved. The Nature and History of Mass Communication

McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights reserved. Chapter 1 Communication: Mass and Other Forms Chapter Outline Case Study – 24/7 Global News Coverage? Case Study – The Communication Process Communication Settings Interpersonal Machine-Assisted Definition of Mass Communication Mass Communication Traditional Mass Media Organizations The Internet and Mass Communication Future of Mass Media Segmentation

McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights reserved. July 7, 2005 terrorist bombs exploded in London All major broadcast and cable networks reported the story within 25 minutes Technical communication breakdown warning of tsunami lead to the death of thousands Demonstrates fragility of modern communications 24/7 Global News Coverage?

McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights reserved. The Communication Process Figure 1-1: Elements of the Communication Process

McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights reserved. Eight Elements of the Communication Process Source Encoding Message Channel Decoding Receiver Feedback Noise

McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights reserved. Communication Settings Interpersonal Communication Machine-Assisted Interpersonal Communication Mass Communication

McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights reserved. Communication Settings Interpersonal Communication –Individual or groups –Physical presence required –Encoding is a one-step process –Variety of channels –Messages hard for receiver to terminate

McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights reserved. Communication Settings Interpersonal Communication (cont) –Little or no expense –Messages generally private –Message can pinpoint specific targets –Immediate feedback

McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights reserved. Communication Settings SOURCE -- machine -- RECEIVER Machine-Assisted Interpersonal Communication

McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights reserved. Communication Settings Machine-Assisted Communication –Source and receiver May be individuals or groups May be a machine such as ATM –Feedback Immediate or delayed May be impossible –Messages Customizability varies Private or public Inexpensive to send

McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights reserved. Communication Settings Machine-Assisted Communication –Encoding can be simple to complex Source: thoughts words or symbols Machines: encode message for transmission –Channel options restricted –Decoding similar to encoding Machines: electrical energy light patterns Receiver: words or symbols thoughts

McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights reserved. Mass Communication... … occurs when a complex organization, with machine aid, produces and transmits public messages to large, heterogeneous and scattered audiences. Communication Settings

McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights reserved. Communication Settings Mass Communication –Pre-Internet: Source is a structured organization –Internet: Source can be one person –Sender gets little audience information –Encoding a multi-stage process –Channel involves machines –Messages are public and impersonal –Effective feedback difficult

McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights reserved. Communication Settings Mass communication audiences –Large –Heterogeneous –Geographically diversified –Individually anonymous –Self-defined

McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights reserved. Communication Settings Table 1-1: Differences in Communication Settings

McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights reserved. Traditional Mass Media Organizations Complex, formal organizations Multiple gatekeepers Need lots of money to operate Exist to make a profit Highly competitive

McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights reserved. Traditional Mass Media Organizations Table 1-2: Global Media Giants

McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights reserved. The Internet and Mass Communication Websites –Affordable and producible by individual –Bypass gatekeepers –Creativity reigns –Low start-up and maintenance costs –May or may not exist for profit –Audience competition not always factor

McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights reserved. The Internet and Mass Communication Figure 1-2: Traditional Mass Communication Model

McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights reserved. The Internet and Mass Communication Figure 1-3: Internet Mass Communication Model

McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights reserved. Mass Media Segmentation Audience lifestyles more fragmented Individual segments can be large Emerging trends: –Convergence (coming together) Corporate Operational Device –Disintermediation (eliminating the middleman) –Increasing audience control –Media mobility