The Dynamics of
Mass Communication
Seventh Edition
Joseph R. Dominick
Part 1
The Nature and History
of Mass Communications
Chapter 1
Communication:
Mass and Other Forms
8 Elements of the
Communication Process
•
•
•
•
Encoding
Source
Message
Channel
•
•
•
•
Receiver
Feedback
Noise
Decoding
The Communication Process
Communication Settings

Interpersonal Communication

Machine-Assisted Communication

Mass Communication
Interpersonal Communication

Source can be an individual or group

Receiver can be an individual or group

Encoding is usually a one-step process

Variety of channels usually available

Messages hard for receiver to terminate
Interpersonal
(Continued)

Produced at little or no expense

Messages are generally private

Message can pinpoint specific targets

Feedback is immediate
Machine-Assisted Communication

Source may be an individual or group

May or may not be easy to identify

Source may or may not have first-hand
knowledge of the receiver

Encoding can be simple to complex

Two encoding stages:

1. source translates thoughts into symbols

2. encodes message for transmission/storage
Machine-Assisted (Continued)

Encoding may require several stages

Two encoding stages:


1. source translates thoughts into symbols

2. encodes message for transmission/storage
Channel options more restricted than
interpersonal communication

Variety of channels usually available
Machine-Assisted (Continued)

Machine-assisted messages have at least
one machine between source and receiver

Message customizability varies

Messages can be both private or public

Messages relatively inexpensive to send

Ease of ending communication varies due
to “psychological distance”
Machine-Assisted (Continued)

Decoding may require one or more stages

Receiver may be an individual or group;
may or may not be easy to identify

Receivers can be selected for a message or
they can self-select themselves

Feedback can be immediate or delayed (but
never as abundant as interpersonal)
Machine-Assisted (Continued)


Noise can be

Semantic

Environmental

and/or mechanical
Use of mechanical-assisted interpersonal
communication will continue to grow
Mass Communication . . .
is the process by which a complex
agency produces and transmits
public messages directed at large,
heterogeneous and scattered
audiences with the aid of machines.
Mass Communication

Source acts within organizational roles

Internet: one person can be a mass source

Sender: little details about audiences

Encoding always a multi-stage process

Channel options more restricted

More than one machine in sending process
Mass Communication
(Continued)

Messages public; same sent to everyone

Message termination easiest here

Messages expensive to produce

Typically requires multiple decoding

Flow usually one-way--source to receiver

Feedback difficult to initiate
A prime distinction between . . .
mass communication and interpersonal or
mechanical communication is that
audiences members are:

large

heterogeneous

geographically diversified

largely anonymous to one another

almost always self-defined
Mass Communication (traditional media)
Defining Characteristics
• complex, formal organizations
• multiple gatekeepers
• need lots of money to operate
• exist to make a profit
• highly competitive
Schramm-adapted Model for
Studying Mass Communication
The Internet
as Mass Communication
• Brings publishing costs down to individual affordability
• Web sites can be produced by individuals
• Bypasses gatekeepers, editors; creativity reigns
• Sites can have low start up and maintenance costs
• Web sites may or may not exist for profit
• Competition for audiences doesn’t play vital role here
An Internet Model
of Mass Communication
Mass Communication Media
• Defining Mass Media
• medium is singular
• media is plural
• Media fragmentation or segmentation
• Mass Media Symbiosis
• Disintermediation
End of Chapter 1
Communication:
Mass and Other Forms