Mass Media
8 aspects to consider in our
course this semester
The eight aspects are...
• Their importance
• Demassification
• Primary Mass
Media
• Conglomeration
• Globalization
• Media Models
• Media Melding
• Economics
Their importance
• “Studying the media gives people the
tools to know whether the media are
living up to their potential as
facilitators of democracy.”
Importance of Mass Media
• 1. Pervasiveness
• 5. Persuasion
• 2. Citizenship
• 6. Binding influence
• 3. Information
source
• 4. Entertainment
source
Primary Media
• Print
– Newspapers
– Books
– Magazines
• Radio
• Television
• Computers
• WWW combines
text, audio, still and
moving visuals.
Chemical Media
• Film
– “silver halide” most
efficient as storage
medium and can be
projected effectively.
Mass Communication Models
• Marshall Mc Luhan--Canada, 1950s
• “Hot” media require thinking,
involvement
– Newspapers, books, magazines
• “Cool” media require little effort
– TV, radio
Models continued
• Entertainment -information model
• A dichotomy
• All media can entertain, inform and
persuade
Elitist Populist Model
• Elitist-Populist Model
Elitist-Populist Model
• Elitist
– media have obligation to improve,
better raise public
consciousness
– educate, uplift, refine
culture.
– Responsibility: provide cultural &
intellectual
leadership
• Populist
– marketplace decides
– give people what
they want
Push-Pull Model
• Push media
• Pull Media
• Active
• Passive
• Thrust messages at
you; beepers, ad
banners
• Receivers are on
• You steer them
• TV, Radio
Economics of Mass Media
• Two ways to sell media products:
• 1. Advertising support
– advertisers pay for access to customers
– movie makers use “product placement to
pick up advertising directly
– direct payment
• 2. Circulation revenue
– Direct audience payment--HBO, subs
– Audience donations
– Private support
– Government subsidies
– Auxiliary enterprises--A newspaper may
sell newsprint from its paper factories in
Canada.
“Economic Imperative”
• Means that you must make money
• The principle at work when TV shows
are cancelled due to low ratings.
• Promotions
Upside and downside
• Free press
• Independent press
• Hard to get certain themes on air
• Media won’t investigate their co’s
• Who owns the “free” press?
US Media Landscape
• 12, 227 radio stations
– Average is 5 per household
• 1,564 TV stations
• $40.8 billion in Adv revenues
– 70% to TV; 30% to radio
• 84% have VCR’s
• $123.4 billion total stock market value of Fox,
(News Corp) Walt Disney and CBS
Factoids about Cable
•
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•
•
•
•
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11,800 cable systems.
Time Warner cable the largest.
Telecom Inc is largest MSO.
67.4% US HH subscribe to cable.
50% of cable wired HH have >30 chs.
Cable costs average $27.43 a month
HBO first satellite channel--1975
Industry revenues about $29 billion.
Some thoughts about kids and
TV
• TV is on 7 hours 9 minutes a day.
• Children 2-17 watch TV 3 hours a day
• 1,392 crime stories on ABC/CBS/NBC eve.
news in 1998.
• From 1996-1998 in Prime Time
– 5% increase in violence
– 30% increase in foul language
– 42%increase in sexual content
The Internet
•
•
•
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35% of US population use Internet
57 % Internet users are men
71% purchasing online by men.
$1.3 billion spent by teens and kids to
buy goods online in 2002 (projection)
• $128.4 billion total stock market value of
American Online, Inc., May 1999
Media Demassification
•
•
•
•
No longer seek mass audiences
Radio began to demassify in 50s
Now target segments of market share
Use demographics, psychographics
Effects of Demassification
• Advertisers bypass mass media to
reach audiences.
• Alternative media--narrowly focused adv
–
–
–
–
–
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Direct mail
Point of purchase TV commercials
Grocery stores
Place-based media
Doctor’s offices
Telemarketing
Consequences
• Tendency
– Revenue base will change.
– Mass media will lose advertising support.
– Did you see Blair Witch.com?
Media Conglomeration
• Big advantage--stability through rough
periods
• Media ownership changing
• Business mgmt. “experts” run media
enterprise; quality of media suffers
• Mergers, acquisitions, buyouts,
corporate ownership
Top Six US Media Companies
•
•
•
•
•
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Time Warner
News Corps
Telecommunication, Inc.
GE-NBC
Disney ABC
Microsoft
Media Monopoly or Not?
• Monopolies
– Justice Dept Needs evidence of
“collusion” to fix prices
– Microsoft investigation
Dubious Effects of
Conglomeration
• Potential for self serving inherent
• Agenda is profits! Not ideology.
• Negative impact on diversity:
sameness
• Quality suffers: fewer people do more
work. People are laid off.
• Newsgathering suffers
Positive Effects of
Conglomeration
• US book industry financially stronger
• Builder-entrepreneurs committed to
media and its traditions
Media Globalization
• “Globalization”--international
conglomerate acquisition for media
holdings
• 1. Transnational ownership
• 2. “anonymous superpowers” which
threaten US cultural autonomy
• 3. Can adopt local strategy and respect
national character and cultural tradition.
Media Melding--8 primary
media in transition
• Digitization--process that compresses,
stores and transmits data:--text, sound,
video…
• Intracorporate Synergy--TV networks
that rely on one another’s productions;
joint ventures between Hollywood film
studios and TV networks. Partners, not
competitors.
Final Thoughts on Chapter
One
• Correlation between media use,
education and prosperity key to
development
The First Amendment
• “Congress shall make no law respecting
an establishment of religion or
prohibiting the free exercise thereof, or
abridging the freedom of speech, or of
the press; or the right of the people
peaceably to assemble, and to petition
the Government for a redress of
grievances.”