|
|
|
|
|
|
 Home > By Career > Media, Films, Mass Communications > Masscomm in General
|
|
|
|
|
Mass communication is the term used to describe the academic study of the
various means by which individuals and entities relay information through mass media
to large segments of the population at the same time. It is usually understood to
relate to newspaper and magazine publishing, radio, television and film, as these
are used both for disseminating news and for advertising.
Field of study
Mass communication research includes media institutions and processes such as diffusion
of information, and media effects such as persuasion or manipulation of public opinion.
In the United States, for instance, several university departments were remodeled
into schools or colleges of mass communication or "journalism and mass communication".
In addition to studying practical skills of journalism, public relations or advertising,
they offer programs on "mass communication" or "mass communication research." The
latter is often the title given to doctoral studies in such schools, whether the
focus of the student's research is journalism practice, history, law or media effects.
Departmental structures within such colleges may separate research and instruction
in professional or technical aspects of mass communication. With the increased role
of the Internet in delivering news and information, mass communication studies and
media organizations tend to focus on the convergence of publishing, broadcasting
and digital communication. The academic mass communication discipline historically
differs from media studies and communication studies programs with roots in departments
of theatre, film or speech, and with more interest in "qualitative," interpretive
theory, critical or cultural approaches to communication study. In contrast, many
mass communication programs historically lean toward empirical analysis and quantitative
research—from statistical content analysis of media messages to survey research,
public opinion polling, and experimental research. Interest in "New Media" and "Computer
Mediated Communication" is growing much faster than educational institutions can
assimilate it. So far, traditional classes and degree programs have not been able
to accommodate new shifts of the paradigm in communication technologies.[citation
needed] Although national standards for the study of interactive media have been
present in the U.K. since the mid-nineties, course work in these areas tends to
vary significantly from university to university. Graduates of Mass Communication
programs work in a variety of fields in traditional news media and publishing, advertising,
public relations and research institutes. Such programs are accredited by the Accrediting
Council on Education in Journalism and Mass CommunicationACEJMC.
The Association for Education in Journalism and Mass CommunicationAEJMC.is the major
membership organization for academics in the field, offering regional and national
conferences and refereed publications. The International Communication AssociationICA.and
National Communication Association (formerly the Speech Communication Association)
include divisions and publications that overlap with those of AEJMC, but AEJMC historically
has stronger ties to the mass communication professions in the United States.
The terms 'Mass' and 'Communication'
The term 'mass' denotes great volume, range or extent (of people or production)
and reception of messages.McQuail: McQuail's Mass Communication Theory, The important
point about 'mass' is not that a given number of individuals receives the products,
but rather that the products are available in principle to a plurality of recipients.Thompson:
The Media and Modernity,
The term 'mass' suggests that the recipients of media products constitute a vast
sea of passive, undifferentiated individuals. This is an image associated with some
earlier critiques of 'mass culture' and Mass society which generally assumed that
the development of mass communication has had a largely negative impact on modern
social life, creating a kind of bland and homogeneous culture which entertains individuals
without challenging them.Thompson: The Media and Modernity, However, with the advancement
in Media Technology, people are no longer receiving gratification without questioning
the grounds on which it is based.Thompson: The Media and Modernity, Instead, people
are engaging themselves more with media products such as computers, cell phones
and Internet.
These have gradually became vital tools for communications in society today. The
aspect of 'communication' refers to the giving and taking of meaning, the transmission
and reception of messages. The word 'communication' is really equated with 'transmission',
as viewed by the sender, rather than in the fuller meaning, which includes the notions
of response, sharing and interaction.McQuail: McQuail's Mass Communication Theory,
Messages are produced by one set of individuals and transmitted to others who are
typically situated in settings that are spatially and temporally remote from the
original context of production. Therefore, the term 'communication' in this context
masks the social and industrial nature of the media, promoting a tendency to think
of them as interpersonal communication.Hartley: "Mass communication". Furthermore,
it is known that recipients today do have some capacity to intervene in and contribute
to the course and content of the communicative process.Thompson: The Media and Modernity,
They are being both active and creative towards the messages that they are conveyed
of. With the complement of the cyberspace supported by the Internet, not only that
recipients are participants in a structured process of symbolic transmissionThompson:
The Media and Modernity, constraints such as time and space are reordered and eliminated.
'Mass communication' can be seen as institutionalized production and generalized
diffusion of symbolic goods via the fixation and transmission of information or
symbolic content. It is known that the systems of information codification has shifted
from analog to digital.Thompson: The Media and Modernity, This has indeed advanced
the communication between individuals. With the existence of Infrared, Bluetooth
and Wi-Fi, cell phones are no longer solely a tool for audio transmission. We can
transfer photos, music documents or even games and email at any time and anywhere.
The development of media technology has indeed advanced the transmission rate and
stability of information exchange.
Characteristics of Mass Communication: Five characteristics of mass communication
have been identified by Cambridge University's John Thompson.
Firstly, it "comprises both technical and institutional methods of production and
distribution"Thompson: The Media and Modernity, This is evident throughout the history
of the media, from print to the Internet, each suitable for commercial utility.
Secondly, it involves the "commodification of symbolic forms",Thompson: The Media
and Modernity, as the production of materials relies on its ability to manufacture
and sell large quantities of the work. Just as radio stations rely on its time sold
to advertisements, newspapers rely for the same reasons on its space.
Mass communication's third characteristic is the "separate contexts between the
production and reception of information",Thompson: The Media and Modernity, while
the fourth is in its "reach to those 'far removed' in time and space, in comparison
to the producers".Thompson: The Media and Modernity
Mass communication, which involves "information distribution". This is a "one to
many" form of communication, whereby products are mass produced and disseminated
to a great quantity of audiences.Thompson: The Media and Modernity,
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|