Media vs Communication:
● Communication: the action of making a message or idea common to more people
○ The ways and methods to communicating a message
○ Many ways
○ We are not always successful in making a common message
● Mass communication: the transmission and transformation of information on a large
scale.
○ Broadcasting, social media, websites
○ Well debated topic
○ People tend to believe opinions based on media that is often tailored, and
different realities based on media consumed
○ Less and fewer people are consuming media together, ie everyone watches a
TV show
● A medium is any vehicle that conveys meaning or information
● New media is “technologies, practices and institutions designed to facilitate broad
participation or interactivity in information production and exchange”
○ Mass communication still exists but the user is much more engaged, more
interactive
○ Bind us together with common ideas and understandings of our culture
○ Help create an imaginative community
○ Governments use media to communicate to citizens
● “Everything old is new again” Are we living through a time of fundamental change?
○ The Internet was seen as utopian and a great way to communicate
● Recurring ideas:
○ How to the past media of today differ from those of the past
○ What is the impact of these media on our society
○ How does social context affect the development of new ideas
Canadian Culture:
● The question of what constitutes a culture is complicated
○ Canada is both colonized and colonizer
■ We have a king as a leader
○ Overshadowed by our powerful neighbour
■ Dependent on the US
○ The idea that Canada needs to be a connected society
■ Nationwide railroad
■ Not very united
History of media
● 1454: development of the first printing press
○ Lead from the Middle Ages → renaissance
○ Paved way for modern mass media
○ More access to information
Basic Principles of Marxism
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Capitalism is responsible for the misery of the working class
Capitalism would eventually collapse on itself
Relies on the exploitation of labour
The goal of capitalism is to produce profits to reinvest in more means of production
Meaning of Capital
● Means of production are capital
○ When they are the private property of some members of society
○ While all the others own no means of production
○ The others own little beyond the ability to work
● Capitalism and exploitation
○ Aspects to exploitation
○ Workers produce more than they do in wages
○ Surplus is appropriate for someone else
○ Arrangement is imposed on by workers of force
○ This leads to privilege for some and constraints for others
● Poltical economy of communication
○ Media support for the powerful
○ Advertising is key in this partnership
○ Validates current political and social order
○ Media often owned by rich people/families
● Canadian model
○ 19th century → transportation connected us
○ 20th century → communications from the masses
○ Cultural industries
○ Government often needs to intervene in culture
■ Take social responsibility to say its important for canadian
communication
■ Dont allow for economies of scale
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