What
was the last media (a TV
show or movie for example)
that bothered you (offended,
did not impress you etc.)?
Why?
Lesson 1: Introductions and
What is Mass Communication?
Dr. Christopher M. Toula
Goals
Outline
of media terrain and
history
Learn what is involved in being
media literate
Explore what it means to be a
critical media consumer
Media ethics activity
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Let’s Explore History: Media
Through Time
The history of media can be
divided into five periods:
Oral – no writing, knowledge
transmitted through stories
Written – writing developed
around 3000bc in Mesopotamia;
allows words and ideas to be
fixed and transmitted through
time and space
Print – 1500s development of
printing allows mass
transmission of knowledge;
creates the political masses
Electronic – 19th century sees
development of telegraph,
telephone, radio television
Digital – use of computer
technology and internet to
encode information
High Culture and Popular
Culture
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Historically culture has been
divided
between high and low (popul
ar) types
High culture – Culture of
elites, gatekept, high cost of
entry
Low/Popular culture –
Culture of everyone else,
disposable, vulgar unrefined
(allegedly)
Critics analyzed the former
and dismissed the latter
The distinction between the
two often has
class and status dimensions
Media Studies Through
Time
Time Period
1.
2.
3.
Pre-history
history, no
writing only visual
media writing
Printing (1500s)
electronic (1800s)
Digital era (1970s
on)
Media Theories
1.
2.
3.
Most known art meant
for elites; but
some objects remain
Development of political
masses; linear model of
communication;
modernism
Cultural studies;
postmodernism
Components of Media Literacy
Economics
History
Ethics
Law
Culture
What does “being critical”
Mean?
 Being
critical ≠ criticizing or being
negative
 Criticism involves the following actions:
 Immersion
in the material
 Open-mindedness
 Diligent research into media’s context
 Self-awareness
 Critical
process = description, analysis,
interpretation, evaluation, engagement
Let’s Explore Ethics:
Photographs in the News
The US Military
forbids photos of
returning coffins
(Obama reconsidered
this policy)
 You are a news editor;
do you air/post the
image?
 Use the ethics
handout and
NPPA Code to inform
your answer
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Next Class
We
cover the
development of
printing