MMC2000 exam 1
Offset lithography
- permitting printing from photographic plates rather than from heavy, fragile metal casts - Cut printing costs and time frames
The Beadle Brothers
• Began publishing novels for 10 cents • Dime novels/pulp novels were inexpensive and concentrated on frontier and adventure stories • Thought to have democratized books and turned them into a mass medium • Dime Novels were considered paperback b/c they were produced with paper covers
Zonecasting
Allows radio stations to deliver different commercials to specific neighborhoods
The VOA today
- Still active with roles of: • Dissemination of western propaganda • Providing objective information o 125 million listeners a day tune into broadcasts in 45 languages o 20 million in 23 developing countries listen to surrogate stations o Now that threats of communist domination are nonexistent, its efforts are on spreading American culture and disseminating health and social info o Used to help fight AIDS, encourage nutrition and vaccination
Narrowcasting/niche marketing/targeting
- Used by radio and magazines to find new functions - aiming to broadcast programming at smaller, more demographically homogenous audiences - ex: Ski and Internet world magazines commercials based on internet history - To attract advertisers, each channel must find a more specific group of people to make up viewership • Ex: nickelodeon
Surrogate Services
- broadcast operations established by one country to substitute for another's own domestic service • Prompted Ronald Reagan in 1985 to establish a special division of the VOA called Radio Martí to broadcast into communist Cuba
Allen Lane
- invented what we now recognize as the paperback book in London • Founded Penguin Books in 1935
Media multitasking
- simultaneously consuming many different kinds of media o Children 8-18 spend more than 10 hrs 45 mins/day with media content, are more adept at media multitasking o Ex: texting and driving
Technological determinism
- the role of technology on mass communication - It is machines and their development that drive economic and cultural change o Changes in the cultural landscape were the inevitable result of new technology • Some say the way people use technology is what gives it significance o Technology's influence is determined by how much power is given by the people
Location based mobile advertising
Lets marketers directly send ads targeted at you wherever you are in that moment
Addressable technologies
Technologies permitting the transmission of very specific content to equally specific audience members
Oligopoly
a media system whose operation is dominated (not owned; concentration of ownership) by a few large companies, a concentration of media industries into an ever smaller number of companies
Interpersonal feedback
allows one another to tailor their messages as narrowly as they wish, its biased, its often personally relevant and challenging
Noise
anything that interferes with successful communication
Exogenous stations
clandestine broadcast operations functioning from outside the regions to which they transmit
Indigenous stations
clandestine stations functioning inside the regions to which they transmit, very few
platform
means of delivering a specific piece of media content
medium
means of sending information
elements of media literacy
o A critical thinking skill enabling audience members to develop independent judgments about media content o An understanding of the process of mass communication o An awareness of the impact of media on the individual and society o Strategies for analyzing and discussing media messages o An understanding of media content as a text that provides insight into our culture and our lives o The ability to enjoy, understand, and appreciate media content o Development of effective and responsible production skills o An understanding of the ethical and moral obligations of media practitioners
The Early Book Industry
o After the war of independence, printing became much more central to political, intellectual and cultural life in the states o To survive financially, printers also operated as Booksellers, Book publishers, Pubs, Grocery Markets • Essentially, printers became a hub of intellectual exchange o By the 20th century compulsory education had come to the states, which Increased number of readers and demand for books o The spike in readers and demand for books lead to a growth in technology • Technological advancements meant cheaper, more accessible books o By 1861, the US had the highest literacy rate of any country in the world o By 1891 - 9 out of every 10 citizens could read. o Literacy plus leisure time meant the first time people could read for pleasure
The Western Concept: Great Britain
o An amalgamation of the original libertarian and social responsibility models o There is no completely free media system on earth o Even the most commercially driven systems include the expectation of public service and responsibility, and also meaningful government oversight of mass communication to ensure that media professionals meet those responsibilities o The BBC was originally built on the premise that broadcasting was a public trust (social responsibility model) o Pubic service remit: commercial operations accept limits on amount of advertising they air and agree to amounts of public affairs and documentary programming in exchange for licenses to be broadcast
Clandestine stations
o Antigovernment or anti regime radio also constituted an important segment of international broadcasting o Illegal or unlicensed broadcast operations frequently operated by revolutionary groups or intelligence agencies for political purposed o Emerged from the darkest shadows of political conflict o In WWII stations operating from Britain encouraged German soldiers to sabotage their vehicles and vessels rather than be killed in battle o Allied stations also intentionally broadcast misleading reports. Posing as stations operated by German army, they transmitted false reports to confuse the enemy o During the cold war this broadcasting flowered o Operated outside nations to which they broadcast to avoid discovery, capture, imprisonment or death
Books are an important cultural repository
o Books can be turned to for certainty and truth about the world in which we live and the ones about which we want to know.
The Authoritarianism and Communism Concepts: China
o Call for the subjugation of media for the purpose of serving the government o Maintain strict control over media and audiences o Cuncun Tong: bring radio and television to locals but close down newspapers and broadcast stations so they have control over everything o Exists to propagandize the policies of the Party and to educate, organize, and mobilize masses o Very afraid of outside influence and use their control to keep people loyal
New World Information Order (NWIO)
o Called for monitoring of content and foreign journals, requiring government permission for satellite transmissions o Western nations rejected these rules as infringement of freedom of press o Goal was to protect cultural heritage
Cultural definition of communication (James W. Carey)
o Communication is a symbolic process whereby reality is produced, maintained, repaired, and transformed o Asserts that communication and reality are linked o Communication is embedded in our everyday lives and informs the way we perceive, understand, and construct our view of reality o Communication is the foundation of our culture o Communication is that sacred ceremony that draws persons together in fellowship and commonality
Hypercommercialism
o Costs involved in acquiring numerous or large media outlets of reaching an increasingly fragmented audience must be recouped somehow o These costs are offset by selling more advertising on existing and new media and identifying additional ways to combine content o Definition: increasing the amount of advertising and mixing commercial and noncommericial media content o About 25% of primetime network TV is devoted to commercials
Culture as socially constructed shared meaning
o Culture is learned o Creation and maintenance of a culture occurs through communication and meaning being shared
Books are agents of social and cultural change
o Even revolutionary ideas can reach the public o Free of the need to generate mass circulation for advertisers, offbeat, controversial
Osgood-Schramm Model of Communication
o Focused on interpersonal communication • Communication between two or a few people (interpreters) • There is no clearly identifiable source or receiver and no feedback • Message is first encoded, once received message is decoded • Communication is a reciprocal and ongoing process with all involved parties engaged in creating shared meaning. • As communication is happening, both interpreters are simultaneously source and receiver
`The development Concept: Honduras
o Government and media work to ensure the media assist in the planned, beneficial development of the country o Content is designed to meet specific cultural and societal needs
Functions and effects of culture
o Helps us categorize and classify our experiences, helps us define our world, and our place in it
Pirate broadcasting
o Illegally operated stations broadcasting to British audiences from offshore or foreign facilities o More benign than war and revolution o Were more of a commercial operation meant to expose people to new music o Powerful and well subsidized by advertisers and record companies, unlike clandestines o 24 hours a day, offered an alternative to the controlled and low-key programming of BBC, spreading rock and roll across the world o Most notable was Radio Caroline
The flowering of the Novel
o Major US book publishers such as Harper Brothers and John Wiley and Sons - both still in business today, were established in 1817 and 1807 o Books printed during this time including The Scarlett Letter, Moby Dick, and Huckleberry Finn were considered to be equal or better than books by famous European authors such as Jane Austen and Charles Dickens o The Growing Population of books was noticed by brothers Irwin and Erastus Beadle
Mass Communication and Culture
o Mass communication produces, maintains, and repairs our culture o Everyone involved has an obligation to participate responsibly
Industries in Transition
o Movie attendance is flat o Album sales decreased o Major TV networks possess only 55% of viewing audience o After years of explosive growth, sales of DVDs have leveled off as well o Video game sales declined by 8% between 2010 -2011 o Newspaper circulation has dropped every year since 1998 o American consumer magazine circulation has been flat since 2002 o Commercial radio continues to decline
The Revolutionary Concept: Poland
o No country officially embraces this concept as a normative theory, but that doesn't mean that a nations media will never serve the goals of revolution o Aims of revolutionary media: • Ending government monopoly over information • Facilitating the organization of opposition • Destroying a legitimacy of standing government • Bringing down the current standing government
Comparative Analyses
o One way to understand workings of the contemporary global media scene is to examine the individual media systems of the different countries around the world o In doing so, we can become familiar with how people in different places use media and better evaluate the workings of our own system. o Helps us understand our own because we think our own media systems are "natural", so we become so familiar with them that we don't recognize them. o A country's political system will be reflected in the nature of its media system
Rapid globalization
o Ownership of media companies by multinational corporations o It is primarily large, multinational conglomerates that are doing most of the media acquisitions o Content needs to be safe (stale) to reach all audiences (ex: due to culture, belief systems, etc.) o Critics argue globalization gives lack of diversity of expression • Will distant foreign corporations with vast holdings use their power to shape news to suit their own ends? o "Respecting" local values and customs is sometimes shorthanded for pursuing profits at all costs o Conflict between localism vs. globalization
Stamp Act
o Printers revolted in 1765 o Designed by England to recoup money it spent waging the French and Indian war o Mandated that all printing, legal documents, books, magazines, and newspapers be done on paper stamped with the governments seal o Used to control and limit expression in the colonies o Printers used presses to run accounts of antitax protests, demonstrations, riots, sermons, boycotts, and other antiauthority activates o In November 1765, the authorities were so overwhelmed by the reaction of the colonies that they were unwilling to enforce it
Global Village
o See world community coming closer together will make us more interconnected o The world's great diversity will ensure culture-specific fare remains in demand o Against Global Village: • Fear for world wide democracy • Want to protect the integrity of local cultures
The printing press
o The Gutenberg Printing Press was invented in 1440 o He used metal crafted from lead molds in place of wood/clay o The moveable metal type allowed for this, although printing existed before this, the strength of the metal allowed for many, many, identical copies, essentially allowing for mass communication to exist o Was able to now produce identical copies
Media Literacy Skills
o The ability to make an effort to understand content, to pay attention, and to filter out noise o An understanding of and respect for the power of media messages o The ability to distinguish emotional from reasoned reactions when responding to content and act accordingly o Development of heightened expectations of media content o A knowledge of genre conventions and the ability to recognize when they are being mixed o The ability to think critically about media messages, no matter how credible their sources o A knowledge of the internal language of various media and the ability to understand its effects, no matter how complex
Harold Laswell's (1948) One Way Model of Communication
o There is no feedback- response or message o Answer questions: who, says what, through which channel, to whom, with what effect o Limitations: • A sharing of meaning must be needed for communication to take place. (i.e., different language). • Does not account for any interferences with the communication process (noise). • It suggests that the receiver passively accepts the source's message. • It does not include and explain non-verbal communication (head nods).
Books are mirrors of culture
o They allow us to see life through the lenses and cultural backgrounds of other people
US as an international broadcaster
o WWII brought the US into the business of international broadcasting o In 1940 established the Voice of America (VOA) to counter enemy propaganda o It was the Cold War (1947) with the Soviets that brought the US into the forefront of international broadcasting o Communists targeted by these services attempted to jam signals by broadcasting on the same frequencies
5 concepts that guide media systems
o William Hachten • Western • Development • Revolutionary • Authoritarianism • Communism
Shortwave radio and the war
o World leaders said that shortwave radio is an incredible way to reach the illiterate and persuade them of the messages the world leaders were preaching. o Early motivation for the US with shortwave radio was money. Only at the beginning of WWII did they see how effective it was for the Japanese, and then the US used it to broadcast things to make soldiers homesick and want to end the war faster so they could go home. o "Tokyo Rose"- Sexy female voice used to make the US soldiers miss their wives back home
The impact of print
o Written communication was now available and the need for literacy among the lower and middle classes grew o Before the press intellectual thought and debate was reserved for the elite; it was a luxury. Only the elite had access to knowledge, which limited their abilities. o The ability to read was less of a luxury and more of a necessity o Eventually literacy and education spread o With prose being distributed to the masses, the ability to read and write was no longer reserved for the upper class, but now a requirement of the middle class. o People had their businesses at printer shops, they talked and learned new things causing new ideas and cross-pollination o This allowed for a "group consciousness" what we as people believe to be true today was all influenced by the press o Press gave anybody and everybody an opportunity to be a powerful voice o Use of printing press helped fuel the establishment and growth of a large middle class
Books are our windows to the past
o Written in the times they reflect, books are more accurate representation that are available in the modern electronic media o They are first hand accounts of the times that they are talking about. o Why watch a movie that is an interpretation of someone else's experience when you could directly read someone's experience that was living during that time?
Shortwave radio
o high frequencies reflect, or skip, off the ionosphere, producing sky waves that can travel vast distances • Almost from the very start, radio signals were broadcasted internationally. • Mid-1920's shortwave radio was used by the Netherlands, Great Britain, and Germany to connect with their various colonies including Africa, Asia, and the middle east. o You can speak to people all around the world with shortwave radio by using walkie-talkie device • Radio is just as powerful and revolutionary as the internet and other media, because it reaches worldwide with the same message. • The power of shortwave radio was not realized at the time, only during times of psychological warfare did world leaders realize its power and greatness.
Concentration of ownership
o huge media companies are buying each other up/merging together) o Ownership of media companies is increasingly concentrated in fewer and fewer hands o Media mergers have narrowed the range of information available to people • Without a diverse, independent media, citizen access to information crumbles, along with political and social participation o Through mergers, acquisitions, buyouts, and hostile takeovers, a very small number of large conglomerates that are coming to own more and more of the world's media outlet
Robert Graff
o introduced the idea of paperbacks to the US • DeGraff's "Pocket Books" were small, inexpensive (25 cents) reissues of books that had already become successful as hardcovers • Paperback printing aided in the accessibility of books because they were lighter and cheaper • Eventually, Paperback books became the norm. Today more than 60% of books sold are paperbacks
decoding
signs and symbols are interpreted (listening, reading, watching film)
literacy
the ability to effectively and efficiently comprehend and use written symbols
conglomeration
the increase in the ownership of media outlets by larger, nonmedia companies
Product placement
the integration, for a fee, of specific branded products into media content
encoding
transformed into an understandable sign and symbol system (ex. Speaking, writing, printing, filming)
Linotype machine
typewriter-like keyboard allowing printers to set type mechanically rather than manually
synergy
using as many channels of deliver as possible
Brand entertainment
when brands are part of and essential to the program (producer's view)
mass medium
when the medium is a technology that carries messages to large number of people
Mass media as cultural storytellers
• A cultures values and beliefs reside in the stories it tells • Our stores help define our realities, shaping the way we think, feel, and act • Storytellers have responsibility to tell their stories in as professional and ethical way as possible • Ex: sitcoms communicate our culture to us through humor via the expectations of everyday life • Ex: the current clashing of police culture with African American culture • As consumers of constant media, it is our responsibility to question and interpret stories, and receive and react
concerns with conglomeration
• " the larger the entities that own and control news operations, the more distant they become" • critics have accused the larger companies of dominating media, especially news and refusing to publicize or deem "newsworthy" information that would be harmful to their own interests • Sender of messages controls the content that receivers listen to, read and watch. It also controls media channels from which receivers get the information and entertainment. • Ex: control of content to appeal to an audience
Books and their audiences
• Books are the LEAST "Mass" of our Mass media in terms of Audience reach o This is because they are highly individual and a very personal experience with the reader. • Produce narrow or broad aimed titles • Direct relationship with publishers and readers • The power of shared meaning is most powerful for the audience in the reading of books. • Least dependent on advertiser support • Books are able to incubate new, challenging, unpopular ideas because they aren't as dependent on attracting an audience • More voices can enter the industry
History of Books in america
• Books came to America with the colonists in the 17th century (The Gutenberg Press spread in Europe in the 15th century, didn't come to America because of the social, cultural, economic conditions at the time) • Earliest colonists came to America to escape religious persecution and to find economic opportunities • Most of the books early colonists brought with them were religiously oriented • Reading was considered a luxury where they came from and was regarded as a symbol of wealth o Didn't have time to read them because they were always working o Many colonists were poor, uneducated and illiterate o The spread of books was not of great importance to them, they also were not very portable • As colonies grew in wealth and sophistication, leisure time increased, as did affluence and education • Printing lacked variety because it had to be done with permission of the colonial governors who were all loyal to King George II
The ability to distinguish emotional from reasoned reactions when responding to content and act accordingly
• But because we react emotionally to these messages does not mean they don't have serious meanings and implications for our lives • Reacting emotionally is appropriate and proper. But then what? What do these pictures tell us about the larger issue at hand? We can use our feelings as a point of departure for making meaning. • We vote because an emotional attachment to a political issue; even if not important to the national scene
An awareness of the impact of media on the individual and society
• Change is slow and constant, almost imperceptibly. This raises the concern of what is capable if we are not staying vigilant
defense of conglomeration
• Companies must maximize their number of outlets to reach as much of the divided audience as possible • Economies of scale: bigger can be better because the cost declines as size grows - Additional revenue can be put into even better news a programming
Limiting and Liberating effects of culture
• Culture has the power to liberate and unite us as well as pit us against one another • Culture limits our options and provides useful guidelines for behavior • Provides information to help make distinctions of right and wrong • Through communication we learn what our culture expects of us • Dominant culture: the one that seems to sway majority of people, openly challenged (ex. Beauty standards) • Liberation from the limitations reside in our ability and willingness to learn and use new patterned, repetitive ways of thinking, challenge existing patterns, and to create our own
A knowledge of the internal language of various media and the ability to understand its effects, no matter how complex
• Each medium has its own internal language • Production values: choice of lighting, editing, music, camera angle
first printing press in America
• First printing press arrived in 1638 o Operated by Cambridge Press o Printing was limited to religious and government documents • First printing: 1644- Book of Psalms o Ben Franklin's "Poor Richards Almanac" (First secular book to be printed in the US)
A knowledge of genre conventions and the ability to recognize when they are being mixed
• Genre: refers to the categories of expression within the different media, such as "evening news" or "documentary" • Each genre is characterized by certain distinctive, standardized style elements, or conventions. • The conventions of the evening news are an upbeat introductory theme and good looking people sitting at a desk. • Knowledge of these conventions direct our meaning making We find a documentary more credible than a Hollywood movie
Global Media Today
• Global flow of information not welcomed by everyone o 40% of all music broadcast in France must be in French o Iran bans western music o Turkey forbids letters Q and W o Jamaica bans hip-hop music o 15% Canadian made content o Chinese government requires all internet accounts to be registered with police
convergence
• How the industry gives information that we ask for • The erosion of traditional distinctions among media • When multiple technologies come together to communicate the same message • Fueled by: o Digitization of all information, provides common means to represent all forms of communication o High-speed connectivity, networks are faster and more pervasive o Advances in technology in which speed, memory, and power improvements allow a device to do more o This redefines the limits of what is possible • Examples: online TV episode watching, Radio or recorded music on phone, Blockbuster, Newspaper or news online
Strategies for analyzing and discussing media messages
• If we make meaning, we need the tools in which to make it • Otherwise, meaning is made for us; the interpretation of media content will rest with its creator and not with us • When producing media, you must understand what is needed in order to produce the most effective result. • Ex: . A woman must appear strong, stable, and sturdy, so she might stand in front a of large marble building with straight lines, like a courthouse or a brick wall
Scope and Nature of Mass Media
• In 2011 it was projected in 2015 adults would be engaged with media 9 hours and 40 minutes a day • More than 60% of the waking time would be spent on media • More money is spent on media and entertainment than on clothes and healthcare • Adults consume around 35.6 hours of television per week (from ages 2-11, around 25.8 hours per week)
Inferential Feedback
• Indirect rather than direct • Ex. Tv executives must wait for ratings for new programs, they must infer what they must do to improve programming
The industrial revolution
• Industrialization reduced the time necessary to complete work which created leisure time • People had more money to spend on leisure • Combine these two factors and the spread of literacy and the result is a large and growing audience for printed information and entertainment
An understanding of and respect for the power of media messages
• It is easy to dismiss media content as beneath serious consideration or too simple to have any influence • We disregard media's power through the "third-person effect" the common attitude that others are influenced by media messages but that we are not. • We all believe we are above manipulation, yet we fail to see movement within ourselves. Don't dismiss the influence of media content. The "its everybody else around me" phenomenon.
The cultural value of books
• It is their difference from other mass media that makes them unique • Books are agents of social and cultural change • Books are an important cultural repository • Books are our windows to the past • Important sources of personal development • Books are wonderful sources of entertainment, escape, and personal reflection • The purchase and reading of a book is a much more individual, personal activity than consuming advertiser-supported media • Books are mirrors of culture
The ability to enjoy, understand, and appreciate media content
• Literacy can mean enjoying something you may not necessarily agree with. • We control meaning making for our own enjoyment or appreciation. Enjoy it from your perspective. • Ex. A kid's movie will contain different level of humor, there are parts that adults will find funny that the kids watching will not even notice. • Includes the ability to use multiple points of access: to approach media content from a variety of directions
Mass Communication as Cultural Forum
• Media plays a role in determining what is important or what we should be thinking about • Mass communication is a primary forum for the debate about our culture • Cultural forum to establish topics and provide a platform to debate these topics • We assume people with the most political power possess the greatest "weight"
The role of money on mass communication
• Money also alters communication, shifts the balance of power, makes audiences products rather than consumers • Publishers can sell advertising space based on their readership, not selling the space on the page but the readers • How much they charge advertisers was related to how much product (readers) they could produce for them • Selling readers to advertisers • "audience as consumer or audience as product"
Fragmented Audiences
• Nature of audience in mass communication process is changing: since media is no longer able to compete on a mass scale, media targets smaller audiences that are alike in some important characteristics. Individual segments of the audience are becoming more narrowly defined • Large amount of sources, audience is allowed to choose what content is most fitting to them, consumers look for personalized content • Alternative view: the interactivity encouraged by digital media will reconnect us into more varied communities
Media Literacy
• Not just the ability to understand, but also produce and participate in it • The skill and the ability to effectively comprehend and use any form of meditated communication • Culture and communication are inseparable and therefore, our level of skill in the mass communication process is of utmost importance. • When you don't participate (have the skills) to "reverse engineer" mass media and its subtle effects, things such as the holocaust have the ability to occur. It has been said that if the German people possessed a deeper understanding of the effects of mass communication and its influence, the holocaust could have been avoided. • We have obtained media literacy that we likely take for granted. If we were more critical of the messages we receive we, will be more successful. o All headlines are rich with bias, next time you see one, closely read and determine the bias of the entire article and what it is trying to get you believe.
An understanding of media content as a text that provides insight into our culture and our lives
• Our culture, being modern, media messages dominate the communication, shaping our understanding of culture. • Cultures you don't know: (ex. The Mafia) can be sensationalized by basing our real world understanding of them through media without experiencing anything real.
Mass Communication
• Process of creating shared meaning between the mass media and their audiences. • The media saturates our daily life so much that we are unconscious of their presence/influence • The central cultural force in our society • Because of the amount of people involved in mass communication, it makes personalization difficult • Mass communication tends to be more constrained
Simple definition of Communication
• Simply: The transmission of a message from a source to a receiver • Source->Message->Receiver->Channel • Communication occurs when a source sends a message through a medium to a receiver producing some effect • But, Better defined as the process of creating shared meaning
Comparative Analysis of Foreign Media Systems that differ from our own
• Spanish gov bans airing commercials for beauty products and services before 10PM • Spanish gov bans advertising on its noncommercial channels. • Sweden's supreme court ruled that inserting commercial breaks into TV movies during dramatic moments "violates the integrity and value of the film" o Some argue that those films are written to build anticipation so breaking it up before dramatic moments is okay. • British gov is considering a ban on photoshopped models in publications aimed at people younger than 16. • British law, which only began permitting product placement recently, still bans it from all kid's programs. • Brazil places a total ban on outdoor business signage of any kind. No billboards, no logos, no posters on bus stops.
Programming
• Systems that produce and distribute content • Programming throughout the world looks much like that found in US
The Gutenberg Revolution
• The advent of print is the key to our modern consciousness, because previously literacy had been reserved for the elite • Gutenberg's invention was world-changing because it opened literacy to all and allowed for mass communication - the gutenberg printing press
Cultural Imperialism
• The invasion of and indigenous people's culture by powerful foreign countries through mass media • Fear that cultural values of the US would overshadow those of other countries - NWIO
Culture
• The learned behavior of members of a given social group • The lenses through which we view the world • Beliefs or habits of a particular group o The learned, socially acquired traditions and lifestyles of members of a society o It is a historically transmitted pattern of meanings embodied in symbolic forms by which people develop their knowledge about attitudes toward life - nothing is free from cultural influences
Changes in media
• There is a seismic shift going on in the mass media, therefore in mass communication • Digitization is what changed everything (i.e. Internet) • Encouraged by the internet, digitization and mobility, new producers are having to find new ways to deliver new content to increasingly fragmented audiences • Producers have to take advantage of digitization or respond to demands regarding digitization o A problem faced is the fragmentation of an audience due to digitization • Since media consumer behavior is shifting - media industries have to do business differently (new ways to deliver media) • The rules of media consumption may have changed, but media consumption is at an all time high
media industry changes
• Three forces that that alter the nature of media industries as well as the relationship between those industries and the people with whom they interact • Concentration of ownership and conglomeration • Rapid globalization • Hypercommercialism
An understanding of the ethical and moral obligations of media practitioners
• To make informed judgments about the performance of the media we also must be aware of the competing pressures on practitioners as they do their jobs
An understanding of the process of mass communication
• We can form expectations of how they can serve us • What are their obligations to us? • How do different media enhance or limit messages? ex: Political advertisements
Bounded cultures/co-cultures
• We have subcultures which further segment us as well as group cultures which unite us • When we are labeled "American" is conjures up stereotypes - Ex: Italian neighborhoods, fraternity row - We have an idea of what we will find/see there - These cultures enable people to unite and see themselves as different from others
Development of heightened expectations of media content
• When we expect little from the content, we give meaning making little effort