Chapter 1
Living in a Media World
What is Communication?
Communication is how we socially interact at a
number of levels through messages.
Types of Communication
• Intrapersonal Communication:
Communication you have with yourself
• Interpersonal Communication:
Communication between two people
• Group Communication:
Communication where one person is
communicating with an audience of two or
more people
• Mass Communication
What is Mass Communication?
• When an individual or institution uses
technology:
– To send messages
– To a large, mixed audience, most of whose
members are not known to the sender.
Players in the
Mass Communication Process
• Sender
The corporation or individual responsible for
the message being sent.
• Message
The content being transmitted by the sender to
the receiver.
• Channel
The medium used to transmit the message.
• Receiver
The audience for the mass communication
message.
Mass Communication Models
– Transmission Model (SMCR)
A dated model useful for identifying players in the
mass communication process.
– Ritual Model
Media use is an interactive ritual by audience
members. Looks at how and why audiences
consume messages.
Mass Communication Models
– Publicity Model
Looks at how media attention makes a person,
concept, or thing important.
– Reception Model
Looks at how audience members derive and create
meaning out of media content.
Evolution of the Media World
• 1100-1400 AD: Pre-mass media
communication networks
• 1450s: Development of movable type, printing
• 1814: Steam-powered printing press
• 1844: First U.S. telegraph line
• 1866: First trans-Atlantic telegraph line
Evolution of the Media World
•
•
•
•
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1880s: Invention of the gramophone
Late 1800s: Development of radio
1890s: Development of motion pictures
1939: First television broadcasts
1990s: Internet becomes a channel of mass
communication
Media Literacy
Audience members’ understanding of:
• The media industry’s operation
• The messages delivered by the media
• The roles media play in society
• How audience members respond to these
media and their messages
Basic Dimensions of Media Literacy
• Cognitive Dimension
Ability to intellectually process information
communicated by the media.
• Emotional Dimension
Understanding the feelings created by media
messages.
Basic Dimensions of Media Literacy
• Aesthetic Dimension
Interpreting media content from an artistic or
critical point of view.
• Moral Dimension
Understanding the values of the medium or
the message.
Seven Truths “They” Don’t Want
You To Know About the Media
• Truth One: The media are essential
components of our lives.
• Truth Two: There are no mainstream media
(MSM).
• Truth Three: Everything from the margin
moves to the center.
• Truth Four: Nothing’s new: Everything that
happened in the past will happen again.
Seven Truths “They” Don’t Want
You To Know About the Media
• Truth Five: New media are always scary.
• Truth Six: Activism and analysis are not the
same thing.
• Truth Seven: There is no “they.”