Mass Media Introduction

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Mass Media Introduction

• COMM 1500
• August 31, 2004
• Tim Larson

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Media Awareness Test

• 1. in the United States adults average 25 percent
  of their time every day consuming mass media
  content.
  
• 2. More homes in the United States have
  televisions than indoor plumbing.
  
• 3. By age 18 the average American will have
  viewed about 100,000 commercials and seen 5,000
  brutal acts of violence, such as murder, serious
  assault and rape, on television.
• 4. At present levels of viewing, young American
  adults who live to age 65 will have spent two
  solid years just watching television.
  
• 5. The three top television anchors, Tom Brokaw
  of NBC, Peter Jennings of ABC and Dan Rather of
  CBS each make about 2 million a year.

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Awareness Test contd

• 6. The average starting salary for a weekly
  newspaper reporter or a television broadcaster
  in the United States is 10 per hour.
  
• 7. One out of four American adutls falls asleep
  with the television on at least three nights a
  week.
  
• 8. About 40 percent of the space in the average
  newspaper in the United States is taken up by
  advertising.
  
• 9. On average, producing a 30-second television
  commercial cost about 200,00 and buying one
  30-second spot for it during the first run of a
  popular prime-time show like NBCs ER, costs
  another 100,000.

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Awareness Test Contd

• 11. About 42-percent of the 1,500 largest
  corporations in the U.S. have public relations
  departments.
  
• 12. So many magazines have failed since the
  advent of television that fewer than 3,000 are
  left in the United States.
  
• 13. Even if you arent looking for something to
  buy, you are likely to be exposed to about 500
  advertising messages a day in the U.S.
  
• 14. Newspaper are the primary source of news for
  most Americans.
  
• 15. There are about 1-million newspaper carriers
  in the United States.
  

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Awareness Test Contd

• 16. Americans average about 30 minutes a day
  listening to the radio.
  
• 17. VCRs and video cassettes have hurt the U.S.
  motion picture industry because they keep people
  home, not in the theaters where Hollywood
  companies make most of their money.
• 18. Cats are more likely to watch television than
  dogs.

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Media Awareness Test

• 1. in the United States adults average 25 percent
  of their time every day consuming mass media
  content. False (57)
  
• 2. More homes in the United States have
  televisions than indoor plumbing. True (99.2
  percent compared to 98.8)
  
• 3. By age 18 the average American will have
  viewed about 100,000 commercials and seen 5,000
  brutal acts of violence, such as murder, serious
  assault and rape, on television. False (700,000
  commercials 200,000 brutal acts, including
  18,000 murders hours of watching averages 4-1/2
  a day television on in home 7-1/2 hours a day.)
• 4. At present levels of viewing, young American
  adults who live to age 65 will have spent two
  solid years just watching television. False (nine
  years, 1-1/2 years in commercials.)
• 5. The three top television anchors, Tom Brokaw
  of NBC, Peter Jennings of ABC and Dan Rather of
  CBS each make about 2 million a year. False (7
  million plus each other big-earning media
  people Steven Spielberg 175 million Oprah
  Winfrey 125 million Leonardo DiCaprio 37
  million major market television news anchors
  like Dick Nourse, KSL Anchor, 250,000 Mark
  Eubank, KSL Weather, 300,000.

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Awareness Test contd

• 6. The average starting salary for a weekly
  newspaper reporter or a television broadcaster
  in the United States is 10 per hour. True
  
• 7. One out of four American adults falls asleep
  with the television on at least three nights a
  week. True
  
• 8. About 40 percent of the space in the average
  newspaper in the United States is taken up by
  advertising. False (60 to 70)
  
• 9. On average, producing a 30-second television
  commercial cost about 200,00 and buying one
  30-second spot for it during the first run of a
  popular prime-time show like NBCs ER, costs
  another 100,000. False (production 264,000 for
  30-second spot on ER 560,000 Survivor on CBS
  600,000 last hour NBC paying 13 million per ER
  episode six main Friends actors get 20 million
  a year each.

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Awareness Test Contd

• 11. About 42-percent of the 1,500 largest
  corporations in the U.S. have public relations
  departments. False (85)
  
• 12. So many magazines have failed since the
  advent of television that fewer than 3,000 are
  left in the United States. False ( 12,000 to
  14,000 many more online too.)
• 13. Even if you arent looking for something to
  buy, you are likely to be exposed to about 500
  advertising messages a day in the U.S. False
  (1,500 to 3,600)
• 14. Newspaper are the primary source of news for
  most Americans. False (70 percent television but
  60 percent of Americans read a newspaper each
  day.)
• 15. There are about 1-million newspaper carriers
  in the United States. True (but not for long).
  

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Awareness Test Contd

• 16. Americans average about 30 minutes a day
  listening to the radio. False (3 hours)
  
• 17. VCRs and video cassettes have hurt the U.S.
  motion picture industry because they keep people
  home, not in the theaters where Hollywood
  companies make most of their money. False (57
  percent of Hollywood profit now from video.)
• 18. Cats are more likely to watch television than
  dogs. True
  
• Questions
• Which one(s) surprised you the most?
• How do your media habits compare to those in
  questions
  
• 1, 7, 13, 16 18 ?
• What does AVERAGE mean?

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COMMUNICATION MODEL
Communication Source Encoder Medium Mess
age Decoder Receiver Feedback Frame of

Reference
Frame of Reference
R E C E I V E R
S O U R C E
Message
Encoder
Decoder
Medium
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(Mass) Communication Model

• SOURCE
• People who produce the messages
• Journalists
• Scriptwriters
• Lyricists
• TV anchors
• Radio djs
• PR practitioners
• Ad copywriters
• Etc.

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ENCODER

• Mass Media The vehicle that translates the
  message to be communicated.
  
• Encoded into words on paper
• Books
• Magazines
• Newspapers
• Encoded into analog or digital electronic signal
• Television
• Radio
• Sound recordings
• Movies
• Web

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MEDIUM

• Air and light when speaking
• Chalk board
• Mass Media
• TV airwaves
• Cable TV
• Internet
• Lasers
• McLuhan The Medium is the Message
• The medium creates the form. We react differently
  toward different media.
  
• We program print by scanning and deciding if we
  want to read on or not.
  
• Electronic media program us, hence the popular
  concern with censorship less with print than
  electronic media.
  

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MESSAGE

• Translation of ideas, purposes and intentions
  into a code.
  
• A systematic set of symbols both aural and visual.

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DECODER

• Retranslates the message into a form the receiver
  can use.
  
• Words on a page
• TV and radio electronic signal back to words and
  pictures
  
• Digital signal (Ones and Zeros) back to words and
  pictures.

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RECEIVER

• Person or group who gets the message.

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Feedback

• Message from the receiver to the source which in
  some way modifies the message.
  
• Face to face immediate feedback
• Lecture provides immediate feedback
• Mass Media
• Delayed feedback
• Letters to the editor
• Neilsen ratings
• Phone calls to the station
• Email
• Internet often less delayed
• Sometimes can cause problems
• War of the Worlds 1938
• Civil disorder mass media glamorizing a
  situation, thus more people get into the
  activity
  
• Media in many instances unaware of the problems
  of instantaneously relaying of information.
  

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FRAME OF REFERENCE

• Backgrounds of the individuals involved (source
  and receiver)
  
• There must be some commonality in this, otherwise
  it would just be noise.
  
• The larger the frame of reference, the lesser the
  quality of the mass media
  
• Mass media tried to reach too large an audience
• Films, magazines, radio, cable TV, Internet now
  segmenting (targeting) their audiences, going for
  a smaller but specific frame of reference.
  
• Network TV is the last mass medium, although its
  being challenged by the Internet
  
• Societal frame of reference
• Not fixed
• X and R rated film ratings change
• Whats obscene or indecent is not fixed
• TV in the 1950s Nat King Cole was the first
  black to have a national tV show
  
• Was on the air for 26 weeks but got no sponsor
• Was blacked out in the south on all stations
• Product acceptance is loosening
• Contraceptives
• Alcohol
• Prescription drugs

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Definition of Mass Communication

• Charles Wright
• Mass communication is a special kind of
  communication involving distinctive operating
  conditions, primary among which are
  
• 1. The nature of the audience
• 2. The nature of the communicator
• 3. The nature of the communication
  experience.

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Nature of the Audience

• Mass communication is directed toward a
  relatively large, heterogeneous, and anonymous
  audience.
  
• Relatively large
• Reached within a short span of time
• Impossible to deal with on a face to face level
• Worldwide audiences for film, TV, Internet
• Heterogeneous
• All socioeconomic groups
• Anonymous
• To whom it may concern
• Large numbers important
• With new technologies, however, large size not as
  important
  

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Nature of the Communicator

• Organized communicator coupled with some recent
  technological development which works through an
  extensive division of labor and has an
  accompanying degree of cost.
• Cost is most important
• Affects who has control
• Ownership determines access and content
• 350-million to buy the Salt Lake Tribune
• 800-million to buy KSL TV

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Nature of the Communication Experience

• Mass Communication can be characterized as
  public, rapid and transient.
  
• Public
• Open to everyone, thus is subject to community
  censorship and control.
  
• Less concern with print, more with TV, film and
  Internet, especially with small children.
  
• Rapid
• Able to reach the audience in a short period of
  time.
  
• Transient
• Not meant to enter into the public record
• Dissipates quickly (exception New York Times,
  the newspaper of record)
  

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Effect of the Mass Media

• Affects self image and value system
• Drip effect
• Influences our internal values over time
• Ads, for instance, play on existing values
• Flashlight on a sunny day

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Sender Receiver May Converse

• 1.

OKAY
?
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Only Sender TalksReceiver can give non-verbal
feedbackSender may look at receivers drawing

• 2.

Ugh!
Bills
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Only sender talksSender cannot see receivers
drawingReceiver can give non-verbal feedback

• 3.

Start
Turn it off!
R Rated
End
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Sender cannot see receiver or the drawingSender
can make only one statement for each
figureReceiver may give NO verbal or non-verbal
feedback

• 4.

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Questions

• Which one was the easiest?
• Which one was the hardest?
• Did you discover a frame of reference?
• Did you develop a nomenclature?
• Which one is most like communicating using the
  mass media?