Mass communication involves the use of technological devices by specialized groups to disseminate symbolic content to large, heterogeneous audiences. Interpersonal communication and mass communication can both reach large numbers of people, as illustrated by a text message rallying Filipinos against a president that grew into mass protests. However, mass communication differs in that it involves complex organizations producing messages, while interpersonal communication messages are created by individuals.

1. COMMUNICATION
VIS- A -VIS
MASS COMMUNICATION

2. Let start off with the texting
phenomenon to illustrate how
communications are affected by
media and information.

3. When you send a text
message to another person,
you are using the cellphone
as a means of
communication.
Your message sent through
the cellphone is transmitted
by the signals provided by
the mobile phone company
and lands to the intended
receiver’s cellphone. It is a
form of mediated
interpersonal
communication assisted by
the technology provided by
cellphones.

4. .
However, as attested by the EDSA II phenomenon, cellphone technology was
significantly used to topple a government , as illustrated in the article of Vicente
Rafael, “The Cellphone and the Crowd: Messianic Politics in Contemporary
Philippines.”
The phenomenon started out quite easily. On January 16,2000, a text message landed
on somebody’s phone enthusiastically calling out concerned citizens to mass up at
the EDSA Shrine, after 11 senators voted to block the opening of a sealed envelope
that contained the evidence of President’s Estradas corruption and hidden wealth.
The public responded with outrage over the apparent move to block the truth.
That text message could have borne these words: “FULL MBLSN 2DAY AT EDSA” (Full
mobilization today at EDSA”) and “GO 2 EDSA WEAR BLCK BRING UR FRIENDS” (“Go
to EDSA, wear black, bring your friends”).

5. By 8:00 p.m., around 20,000 had already gathered at the EDSA Shrine, and the days
that followed saw more people, not just from Metro Manila but from the nearby
provinces as well.
Mass communication “comprise the institutions ad techniques by which specialized
groups employ technological devices (press, radio, films, etc.) to disseminate symbolic
content to large,heterogenous, and widely dispersed audiences.”
-McQuail (1969, 2)
Mcquail’s definition signals us to two basic concepts which cue us to the defining
features of mass communication:
Technological Devices
The magnitude and scope of its audiences

6. These two forms of communication are very much interrelated. Technology brings
symbolic and complex messages to large, heterogenous, and widely dispersed
audiences.
The example above illustrates that sometimes mediated interpersonal communication
resembles mass communication its ability to reach large numbers of people. The
texting phenomenon that toppled a president happened because people were
coneected through their cellphones, and the rate of connection increased
exponentially. One text message was forwarded to probably five to ten, or perhaps
even more recipients. Imagine how the numbers multiplied exponentially. It reached
such a number that translated into warm bodies in EDSA.
.

7. The similarity between interpersoal communication and mass communication is the
ability to both reach huge numbers of recipients or auidence. However the difference
also becomes apparent. The most important differences relate to three elements:
1.) The source of the message
2.) The process of transmittal, and
3.) the way feedback is generated and sent
For instance, your friend Sandy is the president of a broad coalition of advocates for
good governance. He has been relentlessly engaging in various sectors of society to
expose corruption in the government. He comes to your house to tell you that plans
of massing up at the EDSA shrine are now in place, and may like-minded organizations
are supporting this move. He visits to your house so you can have a face-to-face
communication; this is interpersonal communication.
.

8. Suppose he is unable to drop by your house and, instead, sends you a text message; this is
mediated interpersonal conversation. Since he is aleader of an organization, his associates
find it appropriate to record in video camera a short spiel where he makes an appeal to his
friends from all over the city to come and join the rally at the EDSA. The video message
lands in your e-mail. This is a fine example of mediated organizational communication.
However, it is highly possible that your friend Sandy is invited to a talk show, so he can
inform the public of his call to a rally at the EDSA Shrine. Here is where you ecounter his
appeal that is persuasive enough to get you and friends to pick up your bags and head to the
EDSA Shrine.
The three levels of communication mentioned above achieved the same purpose, albeit in
rather different ways and through different chanels.

9. The last one- the opportunity for Sandy to be guest in a talk show –uses a media
organization that is vast, complex, and highly structured. This is where difference lies.
To get Sandy as a guest entailed a series of processes. A production meeting for the
week’s episodes generated a series of actions that allowed network executives to
determine the priority issues of the day. They have probably thought that the call for
a president’s ouster is imminent, and that the coalition representing this call is broad
enough and deserves to be heard by the viewing public. Sandy is contacted by the
network executives, and is adequately oriented on the nature of the program and the
questions that may be asked by the panelists. It is also likely that Sandy was provided
some tips on how to convey his message and how to avoid certain words that may
seem politically incendiary to the Board of Censors or even the advertisers. In a way,
these intitutions that are exteral to the broadcast network have stakes in the
programs that are aired.

10. Let us try to chart the
nature of Sandy’s messages
using the 7 elements or
cycles of a message.

12. Interpersonal communication, inasmuch as it is mediated by technology, appears to
be limited in each reach; mass communication, however, is able to reach huge
audiences at the same time. Mediated interpersonal communication too appears like
messages created by individuals or perhaps teams, while mass communication is
created by huge, mostly powerful and extensive organizations.
In the example we have cited earlier, the huge number of Filipinos who gathered at
the EDSA Shrine in a mass action that showed popular sentiments against an equally
populist president, was a combination of both mediated interpersonal communication
and the reach of mass communication. While the first one involved the crafting of
messages by an individual, the second one involved a media organization that has a
capacity to command a huge viewership.

13. A telephone conversation betwee the President of the Philippines and his Chief of
Staff qualifies as interpersonal communication. But the President and his Chief of
Staff appearing before national television to communicate a call or rally the people
to action, would then constitute mass communication.
The involvement of huge and expansive organizations is central to the idea of mass
communication. Mass communication is carried out by organizations which are part
of a bigger assembly or network of institutions that form an industry. Like the
manufacture of products in a factory assembly line, they produce media in an
industrialized setting, involving a remarkable size of workers with specialized
knowledge, machinery, technology, and channels for the distribution and
dissemination of knowledge.

14. ANY QUESTIONS
AND
CLARIFICATIONS?

15. QUESTIONS:
1. What is mass communication?
2. What is the similarity between interpersonal communication and
mass communication?
3. What are the two basic concepts of McQuail which cue us to
defining features of mass communication?
4. ________ ________ too appears like messages created by
individuals or perhaps teams.
5. Created by huge, mostly powerful and extensive organizations.
(identification)