Mass Communications
Script
"Liberates the mind" - People have more imaginative power when they read than when they watch TV.
5 categories of needs (Limited Effects)
(1) Cognitive (informational) (2) Affective (emotional, pleasure) (3) Personal integrative (credibility, stability, status, ex: watching ceremonies on Yom Haazmeut) (4) Social integrative (family & friends) (5) Tension release (escape, diversion)
Types of media effects
(1) Cognitive: media can enhance knowledge (2) Attitudinal: can affect our attitudes towards a certain topic (3) Behavioral: can change our behavior (buy products, diet) (4) Physiological: Can cause reactions in our bodies (goosebumps, shivers etc.) (5) Emotional: Can evoke certain emotions
3 Types of Media Events
(1) Contest: A ceremonial competition between opposing forces - Dominated by rules > sends a cultural message - Live audience (We can respond to the emotion of the crowd) - Cyclical (happen every year, four years etc.) - Main focus: who will win? - Winner is always accepted b/c the rules are set *PRESENT* (2) Conquest: Heroic, bave act - Doing something tremendous (Moon landing, capture of major criminal) - Odds are against the hero (Will Obama win the affection of the Israeli people?) *FUTURE* (3) Coronation: The changing of one's status - Can even be a funeral or demotion - Always the question of "who's next?" *PAST*
Society's fear of the media
(1) Fear of change, the unknown and new technology in general (2) Better to blame the technological medium than the powerful members of society who send messages through it (3) Watering down of elite culture and diminishment of "aura" in order to appeal to and be accessible to the masses (opera on the radio) > audience becomes more shallow
Goetum and Rogues 12 values of news
(1) Frequency (time needed for story to unfold) (2) Amplitude: The bigger the story, the greater the chance it will become news (3) Ambiguity: The clearer, the better (clear problem + solution) (4) Cultural proximity: Needs to be relevant (5) Expectation of event: Easier to report on and interpret events when they are expected (6) Rare event: Reasonable, but unexpected (7) Continuity: Once it reaches the news, it will continue to surface in the news (8) Composition of balanced news: Present all spectrums (to attract and not overwhelm the public) (9) Elite nations: Western, big cities (10) Elite people: Celebrities (11) Human stories: Connection (12) Negativity: Meaning & outcome
Jazowitz's Models of the press
(1) Gatekeeper (2) Advocate
Strengths of Technological Determinism
(1) Interesting ideas: incites public discussion (2) Important implications for our electronic world (3) A unique view of technology as part of the communication process
Weaknesses of Technological Determinism
(1) Little scientific evidence (2) Ignores social context (sees society as passive, does not address what society needs) (3) Ignores the production process
3 Conditions under which propaganda will succeed
(1) Monopolization: Media only presents ONE view (2) Canalization: Media shifts mindset>behavior of viewer (placing everyone in the same canal) (3) Supplementation: Every concept heard in media is complemented by friends and family in real-life interactions *Need only 1 of 3 conditions *This is the first time media is referred to as a platform upon which to present ideas to society
4 paradigms on communication effects:
(1) Powerful Effects (1920-1940) (2) Limited Effects (1940-1960) (3) Moderate to Powerful Effects (1960-1980, still relevant today) (4) Cultural-Critical Approach (1980-Today)
3 Types of Trauma as Media Events
(1) Terror - Something symbolic about the way the media reports terror - Media coverage of terror actually helps terrorists achieve their goal > evokes panic & fear - Terrorism is not unplanned (2) Natural Disasters - Huge media events that lead to "disaster marathons" - Unlike with terrorism, media is not being manipulated, can choose what to cover (3) War - Becomes almost like a TV show - Audience does not have concrete answers as to whether the war is necessary, what the goals are, so all they can do is watch
Innis and Mcluhan's shared beliefs
(1) The medium IS the message (2) The centrality of technology
Siebert's 4 Models of Press-Gvmt relationships
(1) Totalitarian (2) Authoritarian (3) Libertarian (4) Social Responsibility
Redundancy
(a) A way to repair communication interrupted by noise (b) A type of noise (too much redundancy)
Transmission School
(a) PROCESS (b) LINEAR (c) TRANSACTIONAL - Every process of communications is designed to create an effect - Which elements are vital to creating affect? - How can we more efficiently get results? - Does NOT focus on content 2 Questions to ask: 1) What helps to deliver the message correctly? 2) What prevents the effect from occurring?
Herzog's 3 Types of Gratifications (Limited effects)
(based on 100 soap opera fans) (1) Emotional release (2) Wishful thinking (3) Advice
Structural/Functional Theory
*A positive theory, no normative judgement Need>Structure>Role>Functions Social needs & Functions: (1) Escapism - Entertainment (2) Information - Surveillance (media provides news) (3) Interpretation - Correlation (media presents the information to us after they select, interpret, and criticize it) (4) Continuity - Cultural Transmission (media reflects our own beliefs, values, and norms) (5) Fostering national interests - Mobilization (promoting society's interest especially in times of crisis)
Types of Noise
*Anything that may interfere with receiver's decoding of the message (1) Linguistic (slang, big words) (2) Cultural/Social (Message is unclear or received incorrectly because of cultural or social differences)
Watzlawick-Beavin-Jackson
*Transactional model: Individual effects - Emphasis on the SIMULTANEOUSNESS in the process - Sender and receiver are not parallel - Ongoing effect on both sender and receiver - Once communication begins, sender & receiver move around, do not stay in the same place Flaws: - Cannot be applied to mass media - No reference to noise
Defleur and Ball-Rokeach
*Transactional model: Social effects Societal Systems <---> Media Systems Audiences | Effects - Assumes that society becomes dependent on mass media as a news source - Mass media offers unity and escape - The level of the dependency and strength of the effect hinge on (a) The stability or instability of the society (b) The degree of important the society places on mass media (c) The media's level of freedom and competence (ex: 9/11: America depends on mass media for news, comfort etc.) - When something big happens, society NEEDS media
Media-Gvmt Relationship
- Always in tension - Every society is comprised of institutions which interact amongst one another - Media-Gvmt relationship says a lot about a society - Governments try to restrict the media to preserve their status - Printed ideas can undermine a regime and can unite citizens (threatening to elite)
Social Responsibility Model
- Born out of criticism of Libertarian Model - People are much more emotional than rational - People are not actually as free as Libertarian Model suggests (freedom of press is being questioned all the time), commercial interests in the press affects its content, self interested parties have control - The gvmt is not involved, but it's leaving its citizens prey to the money-holders - SR Model involves portions of Libertarian and Totalitarian Models - Media are not neutral, must relate to society, a 2-way relationship with each affecting the other - Media have responsibility and accountability, must benefit society - WILLFUL CENSORSHIP: Media place self-imposed restrictions upon themselves in order to fulfill the needs of society - There are some gvmt regulations but also voluntary participation of the press in the social process (ex: not printing names of dead soldiers) - A story might be perfect, but if it is not ethical to print, the press restrain themselves - SR could mean printing things to raise awareness or refraining from printing things for ethical reasons - Ex: Shalit family was given privacy upon Gilad's return even though it was a hot story - Every newspaper needs a license - Restrictions on who can be editor-in-chief (no criminal record) - State can restrict media in terms of how it (a) acquires and (b) publicizes information - Follow the rules and the state will not interfere - Practices Watchdog Journalism - Shares Libertarian belief that the truth must be set free and that public debate is necessary As opposed to Libertarian thought: (1) SR Model thinks of role of gvmt as a much more practical one; Liberals like small, uninvolved gvmts/SR acknowledges practical importance of gvmt and sees its essentiality in everyday life (2) SR views freedom of speech as a MORAL right, Liberal school sees it as a NATU
The Internet
- Changes Lasswell's classic model of communication because there are now many receivers and many senders - The internet reaches a HUGE audience - The nature of CONTENT is changed: no gatekeeping or censorship + online writing is different from other forms of writing (less formal and coherent, more choppy and to the point) - Internet competes with other forms of media (TV, newspapers) - Changes the field of journalism: Anyone with a computer and a camera can be a reporter - Internet = Globalization (transfers idea throughout the globe) - Demassification: people can filter their media exposure (only look at sports, read liberal news etc.) - Globalization + Demassification = Glocalization: giving a local taste to a global thing (ex: kosher McDonalds in Israel), translating global concepts into cultural concepts (ex: making an American TV series work in another country) - Most internet content is in English > Westerners taking control Hegemony on the Internet? Opinions: (1) There is no elite online, the internet is free (2) Google controls what pops up 1st when we search - News is all reproduces, people share the same news sources - In order to give everyone EQUAL access to the internet it must be affordable and user-friendly Debate: Do political (and other) discussions on the internet bring about activism in the real world? Or will people just sit on their computers because it's easier? - The internet can create a connection between politicians and the general public that other forms of media cannot *PRIVACY: pictures, purchases, health records etc. (cybernetic terrorism)
Anecdotal evidence of Powerful Media Effects
- Concerns over Gutenberg's invention of printing press (1450s) > Henry the VIII's Star Chamber (censorship committee) -Concerns over impacts of certain books: *Uncle Tom's Cabin (1852) *The Origin of Species (1859) - Newspapers can start & end wars
Role of the Journalist
- Create our culture, decide what is important and what is news - Our values, norms, ideas and morals are influences by the news, news affects how we behave - No schooling or certificate required to become a journalist, problematic profession (professionals work full time, have a basis of theoretical professional knowledge, have a union that acknowledges the profession and have certain ethics - ethics cannot be enforces in journalism)
Popular Press
- Does not encourage thought - Easily read and accepted - Encourages sense of community - Connects the people to the people (as opposed to the elite to the elite) - Balances hard and soft news
Interpersonal Communication
- Dyadic = more intimate - Driven by need (humans need to communicate) - Feedback (as opposed to mass comm.) - Initial Relations (who the senders and receivers are affects each communication process): Driven by our beliefs, values, characteristics etc. - Sender and receiver can switch roles throughout process - Communicators can control an alter the process - Environment/setting can affect process - Nonverbal communication = very important - Unscripted/spontaneous
Mass Communication
- Enabled by and requires technology - Must have POTENTIAL to reach huge, anonymous, heterogenic audience - Source: media, channels, production companies - Message is NOT tailored to receiver - Message is public, rapid and simultaneous - Feedback is slow, indirect, delayed, limited and sometimes non-existent
Libertarian Model
- Individual is most important: The state is a vessel through which he can acquire wealth and happiness - John Stuart Mill: Freedom means every individual has the right to think and act independently as long as he does not harm others - Options are good - Freedom of speech is the path to truth, which is scattered amongst the opinions of individuals - Even if an opinion is accepted as truth, it must be challenged occasionally or people will not understand the rationale behind it - The individual can distinguish between right and wrong > NO CENSORSHIP OF MEDIA (otherwise you might silence the right voices) - The truth will only emerge in a free market of opinions - Thomas Jefferson: In order for the public to be educated, the press needs to be completely free - Role of press: (a) Educate individuals (b) Critique gvmt where it is not succeeding - Good for individuals = good for society - The ONLY reasons for censorship: (a) Security/Defense (b)Slander/Privacy
Micro Effect of Media
- Individual media consumer - Experimental methodology (experiment on individuals to see impact of media)
Functional alternatives to media for need fulfillment (Limited effects)
- Interpersonal communication - Family & friends - Playing outside - Sleep (and then there's media) MEDIA CANNOT COMPLETELY FULFILL EVEN 1 NEED ON ITS OWN
Advocate Model
- Journalists do not need to differentiate between jnews and views - Should think of themselves as representing society and pursuing truth - Elite in society decides what is objective/journalists should add personal opinions and interpretations of news, should go to places not reported by elite - Should expose truth that is not shown by elite - Confidentiality: Will publish things that may be controversial in order to change and serve society - More human
Uses & Gratifications Theory (Limited effects)
- Limited Media Effect (media are not the only gratifying things in our lives) - Selective Exposure (based on considerations, desires and personal needs) - Emphasis on Individual Social + Psychological Sources>Needs>Expectations from Media> Thinking Patterns towards Media (which medium/content etc.)> Needs fulfillment/Other implications Basic Assumptions of Theory: - Receivers are aware of their own needs - Use media rationally - Media are like a menu (choose what you want) Context matters! - Social interaction - Perceptions of media realism - Affinity for the medium/genre - Dependency for need fulfillment Gratification comes from CONTENT, CONTEXT and ACTIVE PARTICIPATION before & after exposure
Katz, Gurevich & Haas (Limited Effects)
- Media are means for individuals to connect/disconnect themselves to/from others - Identified 35 needs (based on social & psychological functions of mass media) - People bend the media to their needs - Media best fulfills our social and political needs (but not 100%)
Macro Effect of Media
- Media impact on mass communicities
Magic Bullet/Hypodermic Needle Theory
- Media penetrates and you can't resist it - Media = negative
Possible outcomes of exposure to media events
- Minimizing individual differences - Turning the home into a public space - Evoking emotion - ACTIVE, engaged viewing - Connection to society, something bigger than ourselves - Agenda setting - Social integration - A commemorative function - Status conferral (ex: creation of heroes)
Major changes upstaging ceremonies
- Multiple channels compete for ratings - TV became mobile and ubiquitous - Audience became scattered - Audience prefers action over ceremony - Increased cynicism: disillusionment with gvmt + media is seen as collaborator of gvmt - Audience knows ceremonies are fake and rehearsed - The loss of the AURA (unique feeling that cannot be manufactured through TV)
Examples of propaganda
- Nazi propaganda ("The Eternal Jew") - US military propaganda ("Why We Fight")
Primary components of models
- People (sender & receiver) - Message (content not addressed) - Channel/Medium - Noise - Feedback - Context/Setting The different kinds of models demonstrate different processes of communication, explain theories, explain media effects, give us a deeper look into obvious daily communication
Examples of media affecting our opinions
- People became more opposed to the war in Iraq because of the images that the media made available to the masses - The shooting of Kennedy had such a huge effect b/c it was on TV - The Nixon/Kennedy debate was perceived very differently when watched on TV and heard through radio
Propaganda Theory
- People hijack the media to spread ideology (nazism)
Nonverbal Communication
- Plays an extremely important role in communications - Universal and arguably natural (blind people use it) - Can be seen in stance, body language, clothing choices, vehicle, hair, make up, eye contact, posture, uniforms, showing up late/early, touch, smell, expressions etc. - As long as something sends a message, it is communicating - More integral to interpersonal communication but also to mass communication (Obama during debate) - The way the media portrays politicians is vital (Nixon vs. Kennedy) - You can support or undermine a message without saying a word
Gatekeeper Model
- Scientific method for effective performance of the press: It is possible to measure the results of a journalist (just like those of a dr.) - Journalists must be able to separate between fact and opinion: OBJECTIVITY - Journalists are the gatekeepers of relevancy, must be able to distinguish and decide for society what is important -Confidentiality: Gatekeepers will not publish things that will hurt the public - More elite
Components of Communications Process
- Sender - Receiver - Message/content - Channel - Context - Effect
Mcluhan's Focusses
- Sensory organization - The media are extensions of our senses - The media are affecting our perceptions of reality - Social implication of electronic media: (a) Global village (b) Modern media's multi-sensory experience - Generation Gap: (a) Different sensory experience (b) The generations think in different ways (ex: use FB differently)
Innis' Focusses
- Social (cultural organization) - Media are biased through time and space - Determining the types of knowledge in society - Social implications of electronic media: (a) Worldwide, secular, urban culture (b) Space-binding; modern media - Generation gap: (a) Loss of respect for the elderly (b) Elderly are no longer society's repository of knowledge
Linear Thinking (the printing age)
- Society became more individualistic - Human thinking became less associative and more rational - Science flourished - Created distance between sender & receiver b/c you could not control how your writing would be interpreted - Demanded structure and order (as people learned how to form letters) - Divided society into classes (literate vs. illiterate)
Authoritarian Model
- State is more important than individual (individual NEEDS state to fulfill his ambitions & potential) - Classes, inequality - Citizens must obey regime - Fascist - Everything is for interest of the State - comes first - The amount of information an individual is permitted to receive is dependent upon his class (Maceoveli, Hobs, Hagel) - Negative freedom: people's freedom is WITHIN the state, not FROM the state - Government has strict control over ideas, information, freedom of speech - State can limit # of media sources > eliminate wide debate (which can undermine solidarity, peace and the regime) - Unlike totalitarian regimes, media are privately owned, not owned by Gvmt - Gvmt will allow some controversial discussion within media as long as it does not undermine authority of gvmt (gvmt policy cannot be criticized) - Gvmt practices censorship: "edits" the press (Israeli military censorship) Internet made it much harder to regulate information, but people do not go out and get it. They are passive and read the news that they receive. However, internet still threatens authoritarian model.
Media Events
- TV is an important channel that delivers major media events to the masses (Katz and Dayan) (1) Live broadcasts of great events that transform stratified masses into communities of whole societies, all watching the very same broadcast and being transferred to the *center* (2) Live broadcasts of ceremonial occasions that are pre-planned and well advertised - TV allows us to experience events as if we were there *and then some* (commentary, replay, angles) Live broadcast: - Must be a kind of ceremony - Very symbolic and dramatic - Pre-planned with an opening and closing - Media coverage is prepared, pre-organized, advertised Characteristics of Media Events: - Limited in time and space (so, not wars) - Interrupt ordinary programming (have priority) - Of great national/international importance - Represented dramatically (commenter) - Pre-organized, remote, live broadcast - Focus on reconciliation and restoring order to society (rules and unity emphasized) - Unite people all over the world - Personification: media events are characterized by a human spirit (athlete, president, deceased etc.) - Integrative events: different parts of the even attract different kinds of people and form a culture with a collective memory (superbowl commercials) - Audiences around the world are given an invitation to pause their lives and watch the event TV: *Even with the internet, TV is not dead b/c people need the commentary and are drawn to watching something AS IT IS HAPPENING *TV allows access for EVERYONE (don't need to be rich) *TV is somewhat festive (Shalit's return) *TV is a tool of integration *Delivery of an even on TV will not change the focus of the event, just enhance it
Social Constructivism
- Technology is embedded in a social context: society produces technology because it needs/wants it. Society is active in creation of technology - Interpretive Flexibility (based on market conditions, human needs and demands, cultural factors) - New conceptions of audiences: users
Mcluhan's GLOBAL VILLAGE
- The 3rd era of television - Everyone is consuming the same culture by watching the same TV programs
Themes & Issues in Mass Communication
- Time - Place - Power - Social reality - Meaning
Powerful Effects
- Time of urbanization, factories, industrialization, break from community and tradition - Alienation & isolation > "Lonely crowd" - Radio enters the private living room and becomes a source of comfort and connection - No control over what you hear, no filter; eat what you are fed PARADIGM: *Media = evil, powerful, dangerous, manipulative *People = weak, vulnerable, desperate; sponges *Science recommended cutting media exposure down *Not only content is bad, mere presence of radio is bad *Media effects = HUGE, IMMEDIATE, LINEAR, UNIVERSAL, UNIFORM, LONG-TERM *Cause>Effect, Sender>Receiver: no noise, no feedback Support for this paradigm: Payne Fund Studies - Impact of cinema on children (contributed to portrayal of media as evil) Results: - High levels of fact recall - Change in attitudes towards other cultures - More stimulated by danger & tragedy than sex/romance - Movies capable of interrupting sleep patterns (unprovable b/c there can be alt. explanations) - Kids exposed to too many movies get worse grades (also, can be other factors) Paradigm begins to be undermined: Researchers find that values and ideas can be shaped by media in the LONG TERM, but the effects are NOT IMMEDIATE, NOT UNIFORM and NOT DIRECT (Orson Welles' "War of the Worlds" broadcast)
Small Group Communication
- Up to 25 people - Slower response - Likely to have 1 prominent sender - Involves jealousy, networking
Fiske's 4 assumptions
1) Communication is the foundation of society 2) Communication is vital 3) Communication is a tool for academic research 4) Communication uses signs and symbols
5 Types of Communication
1) Intrapersonal 2) Interpersonal 3) Small Group 4) Organizational Settings 5) Mass Communication *All can occur simultaneously
5 Ways to Communicate
1) Sounds & Speech 2) Signs & Symbols 3) Script 4) Visual images 5) Body language
Polysemic
A symbol with many interpretations in different cultures - In order to a message to be global, it must be polysemic, ambiguous)
Form of Effect
ALTERATION: media aims to CHANGE behavior STABILIZATION: media aims to MAINTAIN certain norms
Entropy
Abbreviations, one word answers, least possible amount of communication possible (type of noise)
Model
An abstract presentation of a process meant to structure and facilitate the understanding of a process, an abstract demonstration of reality A good model: - Organizes concepts - Explains processes - Predicts outcomes
Direction of Effect
CONSTRUCTIVE: positively impact (educational, developmental) - Ex: Sesame St. DESTRUCTIVE: negatively impact (self-perception, health) -EX: skinny ideal, violence
Content & Effects
CONTENT DEPENDENT: watching violence > change in attitude toward violence CONTENT INDEPENDENT: watching TV > learning lag/weight gain/ ADHD
Technological Determinism (Innis and McLuhan)
Central events in development of communication: (1) Oral communication (2) Writing (3) Print (4) Telecommunication (5) Digital Technology (or mass media) will ALWAYS affect society; It's a one way process Technology: - affects us as individuals and as a society - affects the way we relate to others and to the world - changes the way we look, our culture, skills, priorities etc. (ex: now that we can store numbers in our cell phones, we no longer remember phone numbers) - Technological determinism does not care about content - Technological change determines societal change - In every era, a dominant medium changed human behavior - Communication media are not neutral - The medium IS the message; the medium through which the message is sent can speak louder than the content of the message (email vs. letter)
Why communicate?
Communication is vital: - to the survival of society - for development - for entertainment/pleasure - to the formation of new ideas
Intrapersonal Communication
Diary, thoughts, dreams
Mcluhan's HOT mediums
EXCLUSIVE: All senses - Print - Radio - Sharp photos - Lectures
Linearity of effect
Effect can continue or diminish if exposure stops or decreases
Shannon & Weaver's Model
Focusses on concept that every process of communication starts with an idea of the sender: IDEA: Sender >signals>receiver*>Recipient *The receiver is the process of the decoding of the message The recipient does not always receive the same message that the sender intended. There can be interferences = technical "noise" (EX: unclear handwriting, bad cell phone reception, language barrier) The "noise" occurs within the channel Info Source>(signal transmitted)>Transmitter>Channel (noise)>(signal received)>Receiver>Destination
Visual Images
Frame the way we understand reality. Very different from Script.
Timing of Effect
IMMEDIATE EFFECT: - "Good feeling" caused by communication campaign - Buying a chocolate bar after seeing a commercial DELAYED/SLEEPER EFFECT: - A decision made a longtime after exposure to advertisement (changing social values - don't text and drive) - More permanent effcts
Mcluhan's COLD mediums
INCLUSIVE: One sense - Television - Telephone - Comics - Seminars
Intentionality of Effect
INTENTIONAL: - Commercials, educational shows UNINTENTIONAL: - Violent shows causing violence, media causing anorexia
Lazarsfeld's "People's Choice" Study
Is propaganda effective on voters' decisions? (1940: Roosevelt vs. Wilkie) *Until this time, it was thought that people vote based on their own rationality *Used method of self-report for the first time *Study included 3 options: (1) Media ENFORCES previous decision (2) Media CHANGES your vote (3) Media makes you ACT UPON your inclination *4 types of voters: (1) Early deciders (majority) (2) Waverers: Candidate A>B>A (20%) (3) Converters: A>B (8%) (4) Crystalizers: Began unsure & then selected (30%) *Research found that groups 2,3,4 were not exposed to election-related media, but discussed their decisions with friends & family CONCLUSION: Media may ENFORCE your decision, but rarely CHANGES it. Interpersonal relationships are much more important. -SELECTIVE MEDIA CONTENT: people only expose themselves to content with which they agree or in which they are interested MAN DOES NOT STAND ALONE & VULNERABLE BEFORE THE SCARY MEDIA > LIMITED MEDIA EFFECTS
Examples of Communication Effects
Joke > Laugh Sad movie > Cry Commercial > Purchase product
Disaster Marathons
Keep repeating the same horrible scenes over and over and don't add anything new
The Chapel Hill Study (Moderate to Powerful)
McCbombs & Shaw, 1972 Method: Combination of content analysis and surveys Findings: Strong correlation between the 2 agendas will lead to transfer of salience (prominence, rising above rest of topics in the news) Asked if media determines the subjects of elections and if the media can sway the voters' choices. Found that topics discussed by media become more prominent and important to the public than topics the media doesn't cover. The scope and quality of coverage = the more intensely the issue is covered, the more important it will seem.
2 Step Flow (Limited effects)
Media > Opinion Leaders > Opinion Followers - Our social networks play a huge role in our media intake, interpersonal communication has huge impact - Homogeneity of opinions among networks (often, all members of small network share same views and can bring you back to that view if you abandoned it) - Opinion Leader: Someone like "us" with whom we have an interpersonal relationship, has knowledge in a certain field (NOT commercials, NOT celebrities) - Role of the media: (1) Gives you justification to support your opinion (2) Gives you more information - Questions to determine who the opinion leaders are: (1) Who are you? (Background, values, marital status...) (2) What do you know? (Experience) (3) Who do you know? (Who's in your circles?)
Agenda setting (Moderate to Powerful)
Media Agenda > Public Agenda Patterns of news coverage > Concerns of the public Most prominent issue > Most important issue Who/What sets the agenda? - Individual reporter differences - Routines & norms of media work - News organizations - Ideological factors - The president/prime minister - The public Contingent Factors in the Agenda Setting Effect: - Demographics - Frequency of media exposure - Trust in media - Existence of conflicting evidence - Obtrusiveness of an issue - Need for orientation - Placement of the story within the news edition
Totalitarian Model
Media are completely part of government
Merton & Lazarsfeld's responses to society's fears of media
Media's positive role (1) Social role: - Media gives people status and empowers people, companies etc. - Gives society role models, cultural heroes (2) Enforces social norms: - Everyone must answer to the media - Media exposes wrongdoings and deviations from the culturally accepted norms - Watchdog (slams politicians who commit scandals) Media's Negative Role (3) Media is a drug - Creates illusion that viewers are highly involved in social processes
Ritualistic/Instrumental viewers
RITUALISTIC: - Watch out of habit - Non-selective, uninvolved, less active INSTRUMENTAL: - Selective & purposive exposure to specific content - Active in viewing experience *The amount of power the media has is up to US: The more we use media to fulfill our needs > The more powerful become becomes
Symbols
Represent ideas or physical entities: - There is no symbol with a universal meaning - Meaning is based on cultural experience, background, beliefs - Every symbol has many meanings (producers must be aware of this before launching global projects such as TV shows)
Cultural School
SEMIOTIC SCHOOL - Much more focussed on content and the way that audiences understand and receive it - Someone's cultural background will heavily influence the way he understands a message (2 people can understand the same message completely differently) - Media contains cultural signs and symbols - The process means nothing, all that matters is what the recipient takes from it
Duration of Effect
SHORT TERM: entertainment, aesthetic, pleasure LONG TERM: socialization to roles and values
Moderate to Powerful Effects
SOME media content affects SOME people, SOME of the time, in SOME ways, under SOME conditions Walter Lippmann: The news media create a pseudo-environment and that is how they impact people Cohen (1963) The press "may not be successful much of the time in telling people what to think, but it's stunningly successful in telling its readers what to think ABOUT" > AGENDA SETTING: The media decides which topics are important
Schramm's Model (Process)
Sender + Receiver = equal Encoder, Interpreter, Decoder (noise) >Message> Decoder Interpeter, Encoder (noise) >Message> (It's a circle) Acknowledges the gap between the message that was sent and the message that was received This gap is the basis for Schramm's model *Still no interest in the CONTENT, only the PROCESS Flaws: - How can this be applied to mass media? - No reference to a channel - No reference to the context
Merton and Lazarsfeld (1948)
Shifted focus: 1st look at and understand the society and THEN see how media affects it - Introduced concept of "Social Constructivism" (society uses the media) - Identified powerful groups who actively use the media to their advantage - Attempted to keep their studies 100% rational (eliminating emotion & fear from their analysis of media) - Examined the political, social and cultural circumstances in which propaganda is effective and found that it is mostly only TOTALITARIAN
Communications (Fiske)
The act of exchanging meaning through signs
Denotation
The literal meaning of an entity (You are gay)
Mcluhan's predicted outcomes for growing up with TV
The loss of linear thinking: Because of print, we only thought in a linear direction, not circular. We learned to interpret the world in the same way that we would write. McLuhan thought television would bring us back to circular thinking (and it did, in the 80s, but we are still in a linear society today)
Semiotics
The study of signs and symbols
Semantics
The study of the relationship between signs and their meanings. *The accurate understanding of a phrase (Seinfeld + "gay")
Communications
The transfer of ideas; The process by which information is exchanged between individuals using a common system of symbols, signs and behavior (Requires a receiver and some say requires a goal and a response)
Signs
There is a connection between a sign and what is represents
Strength of Effect
WEAK EFFECT: - Momentary, passing (emotional) - Ex: laughing at a comedy, crying during a romance STRONG EFFECT: - Continuous, lasting - Ex: violence in real life b/c of exposure to violence on TV
Connotation
What the denotation implies to different people (negative/positive/neutral) Non-objective
Linear (Transmission School)
Will always be one way; NO FEEDBACK (receives criticism) Lasswell's model: "WHO uses WHICH CHANNEL to say WHAT to WHOM with WHAT EFFECT?" Sender > Channel (content) > Receiver = Effect *Assumes effect ALWAYS occurs (receives criticism) *Sender and receiver are not equal; sender is active & receiver is passive Criticisms on Lasswell's model: (1) Is effect really always intended, premeditated? (2) Is effect always what sender planned it to be? - Lasswell's model does not address the issue of interferences such as noise - Model ignores the context of reality; does not look at cultural, rational, emotional context of all human behavior
