1. Mass Media and Culture: A Critical Approach
Chapter 1
Mass Media
and Culture:
A Critical Approach

2. What is CULTURE?
defined as “the symbols that individuals, groups and societies use to make sense of daily life and to articulate their values”
includes both products and processes
communicates the values of a society through products or meaning-making forms

3. What are MASS MEDIA?
Mass Media are the culture industries that mass-produce and distribute cultural products, which can include songs, novels, newspapers, movies, online services, magazines, comic books, DVDs, video games, textbooks, radio programs, cable TV, advertising, sports events, and so on
Mass Communication is the process of designing and delivering cultural messages and stories to large and diverse audiences through media channels

4. FIVE HISTORICAL ERAS of media and communication:
Oral
Written
Print
Electronic
Digital

5. Pre-Industrial Cultures
Oral
Meanings are specific and local
Knowledge is passed by showing and telling
Memory is crucial
Elders are repositories of knowledge, as are storytellers
Myth and history are intertwined

6. Pre-Industrial Cultures
Written (c BC)
Ideogrammatic alphabets (Egyptian, Sumerian, Chinese) give way to syllabic [sound based] alphabets (originally from Sumerian cuneiform)
Developed to enhance business record keeping
Effects of Literacy
Meaning and language became more uniform
Communication could occur over great distances and long periods of time
Memories, history and mythology could be recorded on first papyrus, then parchment,

7. Industrial and Post-Industrial Cultures
Print
Invention of the Printing Press in China
Block presses invented in 600 AD, with movable clay type by 1000 AD
Invention of the Printing Press in Europe
Johannes Gutenberg ( , Germany)
studied metallurgy, sold trinkets to religious pilgrims
invented movable metal type printing
first printed “Indulgences” for Catholic Church
printed 200 copies of two-volume Gutenberg Bible

8. Impact of Print
Wider availability of written material led to higher need for literacy among middle and working classes
Increased interest in education to empower the middle classes to compete with heredity aristocracies
Broader distribution of ideas and information led to increased technological progress
Printing served as model for industrial mass production
Increased literacy led to both democratic self-expression as well as interest in censorship
Reading also triggered emphasis on nationalism and individualism
After industrialization, more need for books both to entertain and to inform

9. Industrial and Post-Industrial Cultures
Development of Telegraph (1840s)
separated communication from transportation
transformed information into a commodity
coordinated commercial and military operations
Forerunner of electronic communication
Electronic and Digital Communication create mass market for information and entertainment

10. Social and cultural changes with advent of mass media
democratization of knowledge and literacy
nourishing ideal of individualism
facilitation of large social movements

11. LINEAR MODEL OF COMMUNICATION
sender
message
channel
receivers
gatekeepers
feedback
senders-->messages-->receivers

12. Alternative model
based on belief that audiences are NOT merely passive receptacles of message
audience members can can interpret the meanings of media messages differently based on their own values and viewpoints

13. Mass media and public perception
mass media can alter a society’s perception of events and attitudes
For instance:
news coverage of civil rights movement (example: the murder of Emmett Till)
Hill-Thomas hearings & sexual harassment
News coverage of Bush-Gore in Florida and doubts about voting systems in US

14. Public debates about media
Ancient Greece: art and drama
early 20th century America: working class popular culture
ongoing concerns about children’s exposure to sex and violence in media

15. Concerns about media today
fragmentation of media audience
perceived lack of quality, “family values”
overabundance of information
dangers of cyberspace for youth
sex and violence in media
loss of face-to-face community

16. Developing a CRITICAL PERSPECTIVE
DESCRIPTION
Outline content
Note structure
Identify characters, conflicts, themes,ideas
Research
ANALYSIS
Focus
Isolate and analyze patterns
Define area of analysis

17. Developing a CRITICAL PERSPECTIVE
INTERPRETATION
Determine meanings of patterns
Answer “so what?” (significance)
EVALUATION
Make an informed judgment based on previous steps, not on personal reaction
Conclude, perhaps with a recommendation