1. Chapter 1:
Communication, Mass and Other Forms

2. The communication process

3. The communication process
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
a source
a process of encoding
a message
a channel
a process of decoding
a receiver
potential for feedback
the chance for noise

4. Source
• starts with a thought
• wants to share that
thought with some
other entity
• can be anyone: an
individual, group, or
organization

5. Encoding
• what a source goes
through to take that
idea, and express it in
a way that can be
perceived
• speech, words, image
-- any form of
expression

6. Message
• the actual
physical product
encoded by the
source
• Article, TV show,
speech

7. Channels
• the ways the
message travels
to the receiver
• our senses:
vision, hearing,
smell

8. Receiving the message: decoding
• opposite of
encoding, this means
how you translate
and interpret the
message
• examples of
decoders: tv set,
radio, phone, YOU

9. The receiver
• the target for the message, the ultimate goal
• the audience

10. Feedback
• responses from
the receiver,
expressing their
interpretation
of the message
• positive &
negative

11. Noise
• anything that interferes with the delivery of the
message
• Semantic, Mechanical & Environmental
• Semantic: Soda vs. pop Words & phrases can
have different meanings to different people
• Mechanical: decoder malfunction TV broken,
phone drops a call, pen runs out of ink
• Environmental: “noise” that’s external to the
communication process, e.g noisy restaurant,
distracted receiver

13. Interpersonal communication
• when a person, or
group, is interacting
with another person
or group
• w/o the aid of a
mechanical device
• having a conversation,
participating in class

14. Machine assisted Interpersonal Communication
• Combines characteristics of both the
interpersonal and mass communication
situations.
• email
• ATM
• Power point

15. Mass Communication
• complex organization with the aid of one or
more machines produces and transmits
public messages that are directed at large
groups, and scattered audiences
• TV, Radio, Advertising, Print Media <--- media
vehicles
• Media vehicle: single component of the mass
media

16. Gatekeepers
• a person or group who has control over what
material eventually reaches the public
• Movies: Motion Picture Association of
America, directors, producers
• Radio & TV: FCC, program directors
• Print: Editors

17. The internet and mass
communication
• Mass communication
or machine assisted
interpersonal
communication?
• offers the potential to
reach ....EVERYBODY
• new type of mass
communicator....YOU

18. Publishing on the web
• really, anyone with the knowledge & access
can publish on the web
• blogs, personal websites, Facebook, Twitter,
YouTube
• Just because the potential for mass
communication is there -- doesn’t mean
you’re actually reaching anyone!
• i.e. if no one visits your website, no mass
communication has taken place

21. Segmenting the mass audience
• 1930’s, everyone listened to Amos & Andy, today
the top rated radio stations only represents about
3% of the total audience (How many choices were
there?)
• Demographics: breakdowns based on age/gender
• Many choices for the audience, leads to increased
audience control. Example: radio/satellite/iPod;
TV/Tivo/Hulu.com/Streaming video; Movies in the
theater/Netflix

22. Convergence
• Convergence: the process of coming together or
uniting in a common interest or focus
• Corporate convergence: This trend started in the
1980s with synergy. Companies that were content
providers, such as movie studios and record
labels, acquired distribution channels such as
cable TV. As digital technologies emerged,
synergy turned into convergence, a vision of one
company delivering every service imaginable.
Example: Microsoft purchased Skype, will package
with Xbox

23. Convergence
• Operational Convergence: This occurs when owners
of several media properties in one market combine
their separate operations into a single effort.
Example: in Florida, TV station WFLA, the Tampa
Tribune, and TBO.com operate a converged news
department. In the end it saves money by co-opping
resources. What does it do to jobs?
• Device Convergence: combining the functions of two
or three devices into one mechanism. Example:
iPhone -- is a phone, an MP3 player, and a camera,
and it can connect to the Internet.

24. Important Trends
• Multiple platforms:
“everything, everywhere”
Newspapers with a print
edition, website, app, social
media.
• User-generated content:
YouTube, Flickr, Facebook – the
users create the content. News
stations asking for and airing
cell phone pics, video.
Article:
NBC makes a bet on getting user-generated content from citizen

25. Important Trends
• Mobile media: 91% of adults own a
cell phone, the cell phone is the most
quickly adopted consumer
technology in the history of the
world, 56% of American adults own a
smartphone
• Social media: online communications
that use special techniques that
involve participation, conversation,
sharing, collaboration, and linkage.
 73% of online adults now use a social
networking site of some kind.
 Facebook is the dominant social networking
platform in the number of users
 42% of online adults now use multiple social
networking sites
(Pew Research Center, June 2013)