CM 102
Mass Media and Society
How Media/Impact Works
The text will discuss each of the media industries and media-support industries separately.
- Pay particular attention to Impact/Audience and Impact/Business illustrations which give a snapshot of each of the media industries today.
How Media/Impact Works
After completing the text, the reader should have a better understanding of:
How each type of media business works
How they function collectively
Why certain decisions concerning the media are made
What the consequences of those decisions might be for the reader and for society
Outline of Topics
Media
- Newspapers
- Magazines
- Books
- Radio
- Recordings
- Television
- Movies
- On-line Media
Across Media
- Advertising
- Public Relations
- Social Issues
- Ownership
- Regulation
- Ethics
- Global
You in the New Information Age
According to industry estimates, the average adult in the United States spends more than half of his or her waking life with the media.
Introduction
In no other country does the media capture so much of the people’s attention and time.
In no other country do the media industries collect so much money for delivering information and entertainment ($200 billion a year)
Adult Media Usage in the U.S.
59% read a daily newspaper
read an average of 10 magazines/month
listen to radio over 3 1/2 hours per day
watches TV over 4 hours per day
25% go to movies once a month
rent 1 video per week
spends $62 on recorded music
buys 12 books per year
A Basic Model of Human Communication
Significant Transitions in Human Communication
1. The Development of Speech
and Language
Between 90,000 and 35,000 B.C.
2. The Invention of Writing
Starting about 2500 B.C.
3. The Invention of the
Printing Press
1456
4. The Beginnings of Mass Newspapers
Early 1830s
5. The Electric Telegraph
1844
6. The Introduction of Films
About 1900
7. The Beginnings of Broadcasting
Radio - 1920s
Television - late 1940s
8. The Computer Revolution
Following World War II
The Communication Process
Mass communication occurs from one person or a group of people through a transmitting device (medium) to a large audience.
The Communication Process
Mass communication is a unique form of communication, different from intrapersonal communication (within a person) and interpersonal communication (directly between people)
The Communication Process
In mass communication, the sender puts a message on a channel that carries the message to the to the receiver.
A medium is the means by which a message reaches the audience.
Feedback occurs when receivers process the message and send a response back to the sender.
The Communication Process
The Communication Process
Mass communication today shares three characteristics:
A message is sent out using a mass medium
The message is delivered rapidly
The message reaches large groups of different kinds of people simultaneously or within a short period of time.
The Information Superhighway
An interconnected communications system using broadcast, telephone, satellite, cable, and computers.
Convergence
- combining into a common technological base
- Communication
- Information Technology
- Computers
- High Speed Networks
DIGITALIZATION
Ways of Classifying Technology
Size of participants
Degree of interaction
Setting
Mass Media
Technological Basis
Print Technology
Books, Newspapers, Magazines
Electronic Technology
Records, Radio, Television,
World Wide Web
Chemical Technology
Movies
Communication Types
Intrapersonal
to one self
Interpersonal
face to face
point to point
point to multipoint
Small Group
face to face
point to point
point to multipoint
Large Group
person/medium to audience
Mass Media
source to individual receivers
two-step flow - mediated by others
Categorizing Mass Media
speed of transmission
broadcast
wire
analog vs. digital
Mass Media in Transition
Traditional vs. New Media
Traditional
mass audience programming
few channels
little feedback
analog
separate
more gatekeeping
passive receiver
New
- narrowcasting - segmented audience
- more channels
- more feedback
- digital
- integrated
- less gatekeeping
- active receiver
Computers
Computers, strictly speaking, are not by themselves mass media devices.
They may be part of a mass media system.
Computers differ from other technologies because they can store information for future use.
Access to Tools
The New Communications Network
The New Communications Network
Receiver - subscriber
Channel - wired (cable, telephone) and wireless (broadcast and satellite). Two-way.
Sender - provides program services
Message - multimedia
The New Communications Network
Principles guiding its creation
- private industry (not government) will build
- guaranteed access to providers will allow for a diversity of services
- guaranteed access to users (universal access)
The New Communications Network
Five challenges for the new network
- improved storage
- a coordinated delivery system
- a "smart" set-top box
- usable menus
- secure ordering and billing systems
Understanding the Mass Media Industries: Three Key Themes
The term mass media industries is used to describe seven types of businesses:
Newspapers
Magazines
Radio
Television
Movies
Recordings
Books
Understanding the Mass Media Industries: Three Key Themes
There are three key themes used in the textbook to organize the discussion of the mass media and their impact.
The media are profit centered business.
Communications technology changes the media industries.
Media are affected by political, social, and cultural institutions.
Relative Size of the U.S. Media Industries
The Media as Business
Most U.S. media are largely privately owned, profit oriented businesses, with information and entertainment as their profits.
Private ownership of media has become increasingly concentrated. This concentration of ownership takes five different forms:
The Media as Business
Chains
- The Gannett Newspaper chain with 92 daily newspapers, including USA Today.
Cross-media conglomerates
- Rupert Murdoch’s Corporation owns newspapers, TV stations, magazines, 20th Century Fox Film and Fox Broadcasting.
Vertical Integration
- Time Warner owns HBO, Warner movie studios, cable systems, and CNN
Global Media Giants
FIRST TIER
(Australia)
AOL/Time Warner
Disney
Bertelsmann (Germany)
Viacom
TCI
SECOND TIER
- PolyGram (Philips - Dutch)
- NBC (GE)
- Universal (Seagram - Canada)
- Sony (Japan)
News Corporation
132 newspapers
20th Century Fox studios
Fox network
22 U.S. TV stations
25 magazines
book publishing interests
global cable networks
U.K. Sky Radio
Fox News
Asian Star TV
British Sky Broadcasting
large stake in several digital satellite systems
India’s Zee TV
El Canal Fox (Latin America)
AOL/Time Warner
24 magazines (Time, People, Sports Illustrated)
book publishing (Time Life Books)
Warner Music Group
Warner Brothers film studio
WB network
motion picture theaters
DC comics
cable networks (HBO, Cinemax, CNN, TNT, TBS
theme parks
retail stores
cable systems
broadcasting ventures in Germany, New Zealand, Asia
Atlanta Hawks and Atlanta Braves
America On-Line
The Media as Business
Media acquisitions have skyrocketed since 1980 for two reasons.
Most conglomerates are publicly traded (stock) companies, which make acquisition relatively easy.
In 1980, the FCC gradually deregulated the broadcast media, loosening, for example, restrictions of ownership.
The Media as Business
Most of the $270 billion a year the American mass media industries collect comes directly from advertisers.
People pay indirectly for media by buying the products that advertisers sell in print and electronic media.
Consumers pay for media directly when they purchase a book, or recording, or go to a movie.
The Media as Business
Books, magazines, and newspapers were America’s only mass media for 250 years after the first American book was published in 1640.
The Media as Business
- The first half of the century brought four new media in less than 50 years.
- Movies
- Radio
- Recordings
- Going to movies
The Media as Business
There are about 1,500 daily U.S. newspapers; evening papers outnumbering morning papers 3 to 2; morning papers are growing in circulation and afternoon papers are shrinking; advertising takes up about two-thirds of the printed space in papers.
The Media as Business
About 11,000 magazines are published in the United States; the number of magazine subscriptions are rising, but newsstand sales are going down.
More than 12,000 radio stations broadcast-half are AM’s and half are FM’s; the average American household owns five radios.
The Media as Business
About 1,500 television stations operate in the United States; one of four is noncommercial; nearly 65% of U.S. homes are wired for cable; half of U.S. viewers receive 30 channels or more.
The Media as Business
Nearly 25,000 theater screens exist in the United States; major and independent studios make about 400 films a year; the industry is collecting more money because of higher ticket prices, but the number of people who goes to the movies is declining; the major increase in income in the past decade came from video sales
The Media as Business
CD’s account for 80% of recording industry income; the rest comes from cassettes, vinyls, and movie videos; most recordings are are bought by people under 30.
The Media as Business
Book publishers issue about 60,000 new title each year; retail bookstores account for one-third of all money earned from book sales. The rest comes from books sold through book clubs and college stores, and to libraries and school districts.
On-line media are the fastest growing media; on-line consumers expected to double by 2001, advertising increase 1200%
The Media as Business
Overall, the U.S. media industries are prospering, but the division of profits is shifting as more people buy videos, for example, than newspapers, magazines, and books.
Yearly Time Each Person Spends Using Media- 1997
How People Will Spend Their Media Dollars
How People Will Spend Their Media Dollars
The Media and Communications Technology
It has taken nearly 5,500 years to achieve the capability for the instant electronic communication we enjoy today.
The channels of communication have changed dramatically over the centuries with three communication revolutions.
Three Stages of Development
Agrarian stage
Industrial stage
Information stage
Preagricultural Society
hunters and gatherers
minimal division of labor
oral cultures
Agrarian Societies
most people work in farming
some specialized roles begin to develop
social stratification begins to occur
more attention to communication
Agrarian Societies
KEY TOOL = PLOW
NATURAL RESOURCES = SUN, WATER, LAND
STATUS/POWER = LAND
The Media and Communications Technology
Written communications began with pictographs carved in stone in about 3500 B.C. Eventually, messages were printed on clay tablets.
- The use of phonetic writing and the adoption of papyrus (Egypt 2500 B.C.), parchment, and then paper followed.
The Media and Communications Technology
Paper was convenient and inexpensive, and its use meant that information could eventually be shared among many kinds of people, not just the wealthy.
- The invention of writing has been called the first communications revolution.
- As societies produced more literature, the demand for manuscripts was great, but a scribe could produce only one copy at a time.
The Media and Communications Technology
In Germany in 1445, Johannes Gutenberg printed a Bible on a press that used movable type--the second information communications revolution.
The printing press:
- Brought down the cost of copies
- Allowed for quick reproduction
- Sped up the development of mass communication
The Media and Communication Technology
For the first time knowledge:
- Was portable
- Storable - could pass on to others
- More readily accessible
Today’s concept of mass communication relies on storability, portability, and accessibility of information.
Literacy Grows
increasing specialization
printing press in 1400’s
information no longer limited to elite class
information can be stored and passed on to generations more easily
Industrial Society
KEY TOOL = STEAM ENGINE
NATURAL RESOURCES = FOSSIL FUELS
STATUS/POWER = MONEY
The Industrial Age Has Profound Sociological Implications
urbanization
rising literacy
growth of democracy
increased social stratification
mass media develop - popular culture
consumerism/capitalism
Negative Impacts of Industrial Age
urbanization/crime
pollution
depletion of fossil fuels
The Media and Communications Technology
Today’s computerized age of communication has been called the third information communications revolution.
- Computer technology, which processes and transmits information much more efficiently than mechanical processes, is driving the majority of changes affecting today’s media.
Information Age
KEY TOOL = COMPUTER
NATURAL RESOURCES =
STATUS/POWER = INFORMATION
The Media and Political, Social, and Cultural Institutions
The media provides information and entertainment, but they can also affect political, social, and cultural institutions.
The Media and Political, Social, and Cultural Institutions
Complicating the study of the media’s political, social and cultural institutions effect today is:
- The recent proliferation of media outlets, which has led to fewer people sharing identical mass media environments.