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Wk 1: What is mass communications?
- 1. What is media?Wk 1: Introduction to Mass CommunicationsRegent’s College, LondonDr Zoetanya SujonEmail: sujonz@regents.ac.ukOffice hours: Wednesdays 12:00 – 13:00, DB12
- 2. OverviewWelcome and introductionsHousekeeping:GuidelinesRules and regulationsCourse overviewWhat is the media?Why study the media?Homework
- 3. Hello!IntroductionsDr Zoetanya Sujonsujonz@regents.ac.ukOfficehours: Wednesdays 12:00 – 13:00, DB12 or by appointmentFor more info: http://www2.lse.ac.uk/media@lse/whosWho/AcademicStaff/ZoeSujon.aspxYou?Where are you from?How long have you been in London?Programme?Interest in media?
- 4. General rules andguidelines: housekeepingBased on mutual respect and are a safe space for exchanging ideas, examining concepts and key issuesRespect means:One person talking at a timeNo mobile phones during classBathroom breaks before or after classImportant to contribute and to listen!Come preparedThinking and readingLibraries (Tate, British Library, Senate house)
- 5. Required and recommendedreading
- 6. General rules andregulationsCourse work deadlines are firmLate penalties applyCoursework must be written in an academic format and styleIf you fail to turn in an assignment, you will get 0You must be in class on timeYou will be marked absent if you are lateRefer to Regent’s College guidelinesParticipation is formal and informalIn class (discussions, questions, small group work)Field tripsOnline (Blackboard)
- 7.
- 8. Course overviewBlock 3:Thinking through Media, Meanings and MessagesLecture 7: Meaning
- 9.
- 10. Lecture 9: Mediaeffects
- 11. Lecture 10: Content:the case of NewsBlock 4: Future directions: Globalization and mediaLecture 11: Globalization
- 12. Lecture 12: ParticipatoryCulture
- 13. Lecture 13: Futureof Mass Communications?
- 14. Lecture 14: CriticalPerspectivesBlock 1: Core conceptsLecture 1: What is media and why study it?Lecture 2: Research traditions and critical conceptsBlock 2: Media systems and historyLecture 3: Media structures: Culture industries and media systemsLecture 4: Print cultures and public interestLecture 5: Digital media from television to the internetLecture 6: Convergence
- 15. Learning goalsAssess keyfeatures of media systems and various forms of mass communicationUnderstand basic concepts and theories relevant to mass media and communicationsIdentify the major figures in the mass media as well as in communication studies and research Apply theoretical concepts to case studies and everyday lifeEngage critical thinking skills and an analytic view of the media
- 17. Why study themedia?‘Experience’, ‘mediation’, and ‘technology’Therefore, in so far as the media are … central to this process of making distinctions and judgements; in so far as they do, precisely, mediate the dialectic between the classification that shapes experience and the experience which colours classification, then we must enquire into the consequences of such mediation. We must study the media (Silverstone 1999: 12).
- 19. What is media?Wk1.2: Introduction to Mass CommunicationsRegent’s College, LondonDr Zoetanya SujonEmail: sujonz@regents.ac.ukOffice hours: Wednesdays 12:00 – 13:00, DB12
- 20. OverviewThis week’s reading:McQuail, chapter 1Assignment 1: Media diaryCase studyCore themesMass communicationsTheory and mediaWhy study the mediaHomeworkNext week: research traditionsRequired reading: McQuail, chapter 3
- 21. Assignment 1: MediadiaryDue: Monday February 7thWord length: 500 wordsWorth: 10% of final gradeFocus on your relationship with ONE kind of media. For example, you might focus on content like a TV programme or a film; or choose to focus on a media technology like your mobile phone or computer. Discuss your daily routine with this kind of media and what this means for you.You must use two academic sources and make at least two citations in your assignment.
- 22. Early mass mediaInstrumentaldefinitions = “the organized means of communicating openly, at a distance, and to many” (McQuail 2010: 4)E.g. newspapers, magazines, cinema, radio, televisionDefined in early 20th centuryCapacity to reach entire populationLarge-scale, one-way flow of contentCommunication networks that connect many receivers
- 23. Defining Mass CommunicationMass= common “aggregate in which individuality is lost”Mass communication = mass behaviourTransmission of information to mass audiencesTheoretically possible but rarely found in a pure formKey characteristics: Large scaleOne-directional flowAsymmetricalImpersonal Standardized content (McQuail 2010: 56)
- 24. Case studyBarack Obama’spopular 2008 campaign posterDesigned by street artist, Shepard Fairey
- 26. Key questionsWho isconnected to whom and for what purpose?What is the pattern and direction of flow?How does communication take place? (e.g. channels, languages, codes)What types of content are observed?What are the outcomes of communication, intended or unintended?
- 27. Kinds of theorySocialScienceCultural theoryNormativeOperationalCommon-sense
- 28. TheoryInvolves developing andusing a conceptual tool kit“…most basically a theory is a general proposition… that seeks either to explain or predict the relation” between “observed phenomenon” (McQuail 2010: 5)About what media “ought to be doing” (ibid)Organizing questions, thinking, understanding, and interpretation of complex phenomenon
- 29. Multi-disciplinaryCross cutting andintersectional issues and/or concerns:Cultural (e.g. globalization, content, flow, cultural life, expression, values, identity)Social (e.g. mediation of social experience, links to deviance, social dis/order, inequality, hegemony, power, dominance)Political (e.g. government, state, national, elections, campaigns, citizens, democracy, war, terrorism, foreign policy, influence, power, resistance)Economic (e.g. degree of concentration, commercialization, dependency, wealth, power, inequality, elite)Psychological (e.g. behaviors, perception, uses and gratifications, values, ideals)(McQuail 2010: 9-10)
- 30. Few casesLevels andfocus of social communication Society-wide networks (e.g. mass communication)Institutional / organizational (political systems or firms)Intergroup or association (e.g. local community)Intragroup (e.g. family)
- 31.
- 32. Intrapersonal (e.g. individualand processing info)“Network society” (Castells 1996)Hybrids and blurring between levelsMany cases
- 33. From “mass” to“multi”?“…we have long moved from mass television (and its audiences) to a fragmented, multi-platform, multi-genre, multi-everything media environment where users are becoming produsers, as Axel Bruns puts it!” (Das 2009: 2)Mass communications = “all types and processes of communication that are extensive, public and technically mediated” (McQuail 2010: 5)
- 34. Why study themedia?MediationImagined communities (Anderson)Framing and agenda-setting (McCombs and Shaw; Graber; Gamson)Public = sphere, opinion, connection (Habermas, Couldry et al)Deep changesStructure: time-space distanciation (Giddens)E.g. print/merchant-capitalism, bourgeoisieSelf: Extensions of self (McLuhan)Power
- 35. ConclusionMass communication islarge scale forms of communicationShifting and networkedLateral connections between individuals and societiesStudy of communications is multi-disciplinaryTheory = important conceptual toolkit
- 36. Homework I: MediadeprivationSpend one day without media (television, radio, music, film, novels, newspapers, electronic games, instant messaging/texting for fun). Notice how you feel, and any changes in how you spend the day.Reflect on your experience in 100 words or less. Any interesting or surprising observations?E. Bird (2003) The audience in everyday life: Living in a media world. Routledge.
- 37. Homework II: MediaprofilesKeep track of your daily media use:What do you watch / read / surf / listen toWhen do you use mediaMake note of your surroundings and reflect upon the role of media in your daily life.Keep point form notes
Editor's Notes
- #3 A little about me:My name, my institutional affiliations, my research interests, my background as an unconventional student
- #4 Areas of specialty:- Citizenship, cultural rights and participation - Communication technologies and new media - Global and local publics - Critical, social and cultural theory - Qualitative and experimental methodologies
- #5 Coursework:On-going Presentations 10 minutes 10%On-going Participation 10%September Media diary 500 critical assessment of media form 10%October Essay 1500 words 30% December Take-home exam 2000 words 40%OTHER LIBRARIESSenate house – strongly encouraged to become a member AND to use itWikipaedia is NOT an acceptable primary academic source
- #7 Increasing pressures from the forces of academic bureaucracy to enforce deadlines
- #11 Communication * Medium (communication), any tool used to store and deliver information or data o Data storage device, any physical material that records or holds recorded information + Art medium, materials and techniques used by artists to produce art works o Transmission medium, in physics and telecommunications, any material substance which can propagate waves or energy + Optical medium, material through which electromagnetic waves propagate[edit] Economics: Medium of exchange, any monetary instrument used to pay for goods and/or services* Media (communication), tools used to store and deliver information or data o Advertising media, various media, content, buying and placement for advertising o Electronic media, communications delivered via electronic or electromechanical energy + Digital media, electronic media used to store, transmit, and receive digitized information # Electronic Business Media, digital media for electronic business + Hypermedia, media with hyperlinks + Multimedia, communications that incorporate multiple forms of information content and processing o Print media, communications delivered via paper or canvas o Published media, any media made available to the public + Mass media, all means of mass communication # Broadcast media, communications delivered over mass electronic communication networks # News media, mass media focused on communicating news * News media (United States), the news media of the United States of America o New media, media that can only be created or used with the aid of modern computer processing power o Recording media, devices used to store informationIn computing: * Computer data storage devices, material objects which hold data used in computers * Media player (application software), a piece of software designed to play audio and videoIn fine art: * Media (arts), materials and techniques used by an artist to produce a workFilmed Entertainment20th Century Fox; 20th Century Fox Espanol; 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment; 20th Century Fox International; 20th Century Fox Television; Fox Searchlight Pictures; Fox Studios Australia; Fox Studios LA; Fox Television Studios; Blue Sky Studios TelevisionFOX Broadcasting Company; FOX Sports Australia; FOX Television Stations; FOXTEL; MyNetworkTV; STARCable TVFOX Business Network; Fox Movie Channel; FOX News Channel; FOX College Sports; FOX Sports Enterprises; FOX Sports En Espanol; FOX Sports Net; FOX Soccer Channel; Fox Reality Channel; Fuel TV; FX; National Geographic Channel United States National Geographic Channel Worldwide; Speed; Stats, IDirect Broadcast Satellite TVBSkyB; Sky ItaliaMagazines and InsertsBig League; Inside Out; donna hay; ALPHA; News America Marketing; Smart Source; The Weekly Standard Books / Publishing HousesHarperCollins Publishers (Australia, Canada, US, UK); Children's Books; ZondervanOther AssetsBroadsystem; Fox Interactive Media; MySpace; IGN Entertainment; Rotten Tomatoes; AskMen; FoxSports.com; Scout; WhatIfSports; kSolo; Fox.com; AmericanIdol.com; Spring Widgets; Milkround; National Rugby League; NDS; News Digital Media; News.com.au; FoxSports.com.au; CARSguide.com.au; careerone.com.au; truelocal.com.au; News Outdoor
- #12 ‘media as a process, as a process of mediation’ (13). Mediation is a human experience, and an important one. It is also a human product. The production and reproduction of media and everyday life are in inalienably discursive and dialectical relationships and thus are ‘interdependent’ (11). Issues and discourses of the private and public shift and blur because of mediated experience. The mediated discourses of everyday life are processes ‘of classification: the making of distinctions and judgements’, and the media is again central to these processes (12):‘rhetoric’, ‘poetics’, and ‘erotics’As such, we need to keep in mind that ‘emotions are as important as intellect’ (30). Mediation seeks to ‘persuade, please and seduce’, and Silverstone chooses his analytical tools accordingly: rhetoric, poetics, and erotics.‘play’, ‘performance’, and ‘consumption’The media can no longer be considered marginal to economic activity, politics, social practice, culture, or to the most definitive aspect of human experience: meaning. Media and meaning can no longer be considered to stand in accidental or arbitrary relationship to each other, as if the media were some vulgar semiotic scrim upon which the effluvium of society’s fantasies rolled past. Mediation and meaning are inextricably interwoven moments in the production and reproduction of social consciousness. No longer can we afford to believe, as Horkheimer and Adorno did, that the media are dependent upon other more powerful institutions and industries. Today they are not merely the voice of our most powerful institutions and industries, they are our most powerful institutions and industries. The others now depend on them. In Silverstone’s final analysis, the question posed by the book is one of power.
- #13 Press Freedom, related to freedom of expression and acts as an index of democratic health1. Denmark 0,50 – 2. Finland 0,50 – 3. Iceland 0,50 – 4. Ireland 0,50 – 5. Netherlands 0,50 – 6. Norway 0,50 – 7. Slovakia 0,50 – 8. Switzerland 0,50 9. New Zealand 0,67 10. Latvia 1,00 11. Estonia 2,018 Canada 3,33. 23. United States of America (American territory) 4,00. 30. United Kingdom, 6,00 Third Annual Worldwide Press Freedom IndexEast Asia and Middle East have worst press freedom recordsReporters Without Borders announces its third annual worldwide index of press freedom. Such freedom is threatened most in East Asia (with North Korea at the bottom of the entire list at 167th place, followed by Burma 165th, China 162nd, Vietnam 161st and Laos 153rd) and the Middle East (Saudi Arabia 159th, Iran 158th, Syria 155th, Iraq 148th).In these countries, an independent media either does not exist or journalists are persecuted and censored on a daily basis. Freedom of information and the safety of journalists are not guaranteed there. Continuing war has made Iraq the most deadly place on earth for journalists in recent years, with 44 killed there since fighting began in March last year.But there are plenty of other black spots around the world for press freedom. Cuba (in 166th place) is second only to China as the biggest prison for journalists, with 26 in jail (China has 27). Since spring last year, these 26 independent journalists have languished in prison after being given sentences of between 14 and 27 years.Rupert Murdoch: Whose paper account for 32% of total British newspaper circulation; Sunday newspaper account for 39%Australasia Daily TelegraphFiji TimesGold Coast BulletinHerald SunNewsphotosNewspixNewstextNT NewsPost-CourierSunday Herald SunSunday MailSunday TasmanianSunday TerritorianSunday TimesThe AdvertiserThe AustralianThe Courier-MailThe MercuryThe Sunday MailThe Sunday TelegraphWeekly TimesUnited Kingdom News InternationalNews of the WorldThe SunThe Sunday TimesThe TimesTimes Literary SupplementUnited States New York PostINTERNATIONAL The Wall Street JournalDow Jones
- #17 - Term coincides with industrialization, migration into cities and urbanization
- #18 Mass historically had a negative implication referring to undifferentiated mob of people.“mass” is problematic because it presupposes a one way relationship outside of overlapping contexts of use (e.g. newspapers can also be community based, local, internal or for personal use) and pure media forms (e.g. without convergence of internet, television, print etc.)Key characteristics:1Large scale distribution and reception of contentLarge numbers of readers, viewers, etc.2One directional flow of informationWidely dispersed3Asymmetrical relation between sender and receiverNon-interactive and anonymous relation to each other4Impersonal and anonymous relationship with audienceHeterogeneous composition5Calculative or market relationship with audienceNot organized or self acting6Standardization and commodification of contentAn object of management or manipulation by the media
- #19 Robert L. Pincus says Fairey's work "is political art with a strong sense of visual style and emotional authenticity. Even in times when political art has ebbed, Fairey's has just the right balance of seriousness, irony and wit to fit the mood of the moment."[Frank Shepard Fairey (born February 15, 1970) is an American contemporary artist, graphic designer, and illustrator who emerged from the skateboarding[1] scene. He first became known for his "André the Giant Has a Posse" (…OBEY…) sticker campaign, in which he appropriated images from the comedic supermarket tabloid Weekly World News. His work became more widely known in the 2008 U.S. presidential election, specifically his Barack Obama "Hope" posterFairey created a series of posters supporting Barack Obama's 2008 candidacy for President of the United States, including the iconic "HOPE" portrait.[27][28]The New Yorker art critic Peter Schjeldahl called the poster "the most efficacious American political illustration since 'Uncle Sam Wants You'".[29][30] Fairey also created an exclusive design for Rock the Vote. Because the Hope poster had been "perpetuated illegally" and independently by the street artist, the Obama campaign declined to have any direct affiliation with it.[31] Although the campaign officially disavowed any involvement in the creation or popularization of the poster, Fairey has commented in interviews that he was in communication with campaign officials during the period immediately following the poster's release. Fairey has stated that the original version featured the word "PROGRESS" instead of the word "HOPE," and that within weeks of its release, the campaign requested that he issue (and legally disseminate) a new version, keeping the powerful image of Obama's face but captioning it with the word "HOPE".[32] The campaign openly embraced the revised poster along with two additional Fairey posters that featured the words "CHANGE" and "VOTE".Fairey distributed 300,000 stickers and 500,000 posters during the campaign,[32] funding his grassroots electioneering through poster and fine art sales. "I just put all that money back into making more stuff, so I didn't keep any of the Obama money," said Fairey in December 2008.[33] In February 2008, Fairey received a letter of thanks from Obama for his contribution to the campaign. The letter stated:“I would like to thank you for using your talent in support of my campaign. The political messages involved in your work have encouraged Americans to believe they can change the status-quo. Your images have a profound effect on people, whether seen in a gallery or on a stop sign. I am privileged to be a part of your artwork and proud to have your support. – Barack Obama, February 22, 2008
- #20 Fairey created a similar but new image of Barack Obama for Time magazine, which was used as the cover art for the 2008 Person of the Year issue.[35] The original iconic "HOPE" portrait was featured on the cover of Esquire Magazine's February 2009 issue, this time with a caption reading, "WHAT NOW?" Shepard Fairey's influence throughout the presidential election was a factor in the artist himself having been named a Person of the Year for 2008 by GQ.[9]In January 2009, the "HOPE" portrait was acquired by the US National Portrait Gallery and made part of its permanent collection.[36] It was unveiled and put on display on January 17, 2009.[37]During his December 8, 2010 appearance on The Colbert Report, Stephen Colbert asked Fairey how he felt about having done the "HOPE" portrait of Obama and how "that hope was working out for him now?" to which Fairey replied: "You know, I'm proud of it as a piece of grassroots activism, but I'll just leave it at that"CRITIQUESturning graffiti culture into a self-promoting ad campaignBloggers have criticized Fairey for accepting commissions from corporations such as Saks Fifth Avenue
- #24 Cultural: anthropology, linguistics, cultural studies - “mass media are main channel of cultural representation and expression”Social: sociology - “strongly patterned by the routines of media use and infused by its contents” – leisure time, lifestyle, topics of discussion, models of behaviourPolitical: political science, government, policy - “mass media provide an arena of debate and a set of channels for making policies, candidates, relevant facts” = publicity, influence, knowledge, framingEconomic: economics - economic power of media growing in scope and scale
- #25 Intrapersonal /Individual (e.g. self-identity, perception, media use, identity, efficacy, attention, attitude formation, comprehension, learning) Network societyHybrid between public and privateSpace of flowsFrom a pyramid to a spectrumVan Dijk defines the network society as a society in which a combination of social and media networks shapes its prime mode of organization and most important structures at all levels (individual, organizational and societal). He compares this type of society to a mass society that is shaped by groups, organizations and communities ('masses') organized in physical co-presence.
- #27 Following Benedict Anderson’s ‘imagined communities,’ media (particularly daily newspapers) contribute to the conceptual apparati and symbols with which people think about their daily experiences, understand each other and develop senses of the world out there (Anderson 2006). The organization of conceptual and symbolic resources arguably affects how people can or might define their social and political boundaries. Boundaries which relate to the role of technologies and media for inspiring and constructing social imaginaries (Bogard 1996), - Setting public agendas or informing ‘public opinion’ (e.g. Entman & Herbst 2001; Graber 2007; McCombs & Shaw 1972); “framing” public issues (Gamson 2001; Norris, Kern, & Just 2003) the “fourth estate” and government watchdog (e.g. Curran 2001; Sparks 1988). Further, ‘freedom of the press’ is often situated as an index of democratic health by acting as a measure of ‘freedom of expression’ and ‘freedom of thought (e.g. Splichal 2002; Habermas 1989 [1962]; Keane 1989).…that [public connection] is an orientation to a world of public issues requiring public resolution (Couldry, Livingstone, & Markham, 2007). Satisfyingly, perhaps, our research confirmed that most people in the UK do have public connection, and this connection is mediated (Couldry 2008: 14-15).Anthony Giddens offers an alternative explanation of how technologies transform deep social structures via mediated interactions with time and space. Giddens argues that “information storage… is a fundamental phenomenon permitting time-space distanciation” which is “the stretching of social systems across time and space ( 1984: 181, 262). This concept of time-space distanciation provides a useful conceptual aid, regarding the relationships between technologies, politics, cultural politics and ideology. For Giddens, time-space distanciation involves the expression and coordination of power through the assembly and distribution of allocative and authoritative resources. Although Giddens makes a clear distinction between the material resources and what could also be classed as abstract cultural principles, social conventions and social and cultural capital, both kinds of resources are directly infrastructural and mutually constitutive. Giddens explains further: the augmenting of material resources is fundamental to the expansion of power, but allocative resources cannot be developed without the transmutation of authoritative resources, and the latter are undoubtedly at least as important in providing ‘levers’ of social change as the former ( 1984: 260). Giddens is thus arguing that the principal ‘levers’ organizing social systems include “media of information representation, modes of information retrieval or recall and, as with all power resources, modes of its dissemination” ( 1984: 261; c.f. Stevenson 2003: 12). Using the example of literacy, Giddens argues that texts encapsulate allocative and authoritative modes and claims that “a literate population can be mobilized and can mobilize itself, across time-space” ( 1984: 261; c.f. Callon 1988; Latour 1988). In this sense, a literate population can reproduce social structures and systems across generations and localities. The implications of Giddens’ argument suggest that despite situational or temporal differences, practices involving ‘informational storage’ promote, replenish and perpetuate dominant social systems and political ideologies. Anderson provides a clear illustration of Giddens’ point when he argues that “print-capitalism” provoked a consciousness of the nation by establishing “unified fields of exchange and communication,” condensed language into the fixed form of the printed word and finally, “created languages-of-power” effectively further marginalizing dialects outside of centres of communicative exchange (Anderson 2006: 44-45; c.f. Eisenstein 1979). Print-capitalism established avenues for information storage and dissemination, bringing with it a particular social system. However, according to Anderson, print-capitalism didn’t just ‘stretch’ social systems but also strengthened capitalism, increased existing divisions between speakers of ‘elite’ languages and dialects, and ‘fixed’ ideas onto the printed page. Allocative resources refer to “material features,” “the means of material production / reproduction” and the “artefacts” of production. Authoritative resources include the “organization of social time-space,” the “organization and relation of human beings [and the body] in mutual association” and “life chances [or the] constitution of chances of self-development and self-expression” ( 1984: 258). John Thompson suggests that the media are central in organizing ‘symbolic resources’ which has serious implications on the individual. For example, he argues that “the self is a project the individual constructs out of the symbolic materials which are available to him or her, materials which the individual weaves into a coherent account of who he or she is, a narration of self-identity” (as cited in Garnham 2000: 110). Adorno and Horkheimer further support this claim when they argue that the culture industries are responsible for creating a homogenizing system capable of reproducing itself through the creation of generic, whitewashed heroes, narratives and symbol systems – precipitating a simulated and commodified public sphere – where identity and sociality are merely items to be bought (Adorno & Horkheimer 1972). Adorno and Horkheimer clearly portray the media and its cohorts as solely responsible for creating and monitoring the boundaries of public consciousness and behaviour. Although it may be easy to generally criticize the Frankfurt school for strong technological (or mediated) determinism, Adorno and Horkeheimer raise the issue of a public sphere that is defined by capitalism and reduces its citizenry to consumers who must buy into their role as citizens.
- #29 Bird(Chapter 1). Discussion:- Hard to anticipate effects becausemedia in everyday life goes unnoticed- Loss of valuable shared experiences- Gain of valuable individual experiences- Diversity of relations with media – dependency, fandom, other?