Mass Media and Everyday Life

1. Media’s effect on you socially, culturally and economically Mass Media and Everyday Life

2. A Day In The Life…… • 5am – turn on T.V. for weather report on local channel • 5:45 am – MSNBC for news • 5:50 – bring in NYTimes – read headlines while drinking coffee • 6am – turn on cell phone – check messages • 630 am – NPR and breakfast • 645 – check school email before school – scold dog for stealing off counter • 7am – drive to work – listen to new Wilco album on ipod • 8am – check statistics for powerpoint via internet search engine

3. The Information Society • In an Information Society the exchange of information is the predominant economic activity • In an Agricultural Society the predominant economic activity is resource extraction – i.e. farming, mining and fishing.

4. Stages of Economic Development

5. The act of sending ideas and attitudes from one person to another: Communication

6. Average Time Americans Spend Using Mass Media Each Year

7. USA Media Industries Annual Income - 2008

8. Mass Communication Becomes Wireless • Historically, - to be connected to media meant that you had to be near an electrical outlet • Digital communication = wireless • Electronic signals have replaced wires – freeing people to stay connected no matter where or when they want to communicate.

9. Intrapersonal Communication • Communication within one person • E.g. – standing in line at a restaurant deciding between a salad and a burger and fries

10. Interpersonal Communication • Communication between two people • Humans use sight, sound, touch, smell and taste to communicate with one another

11. Mass Communication • Communication from one person or group of persons through a transmitting device (a medium) to large audiences or markets.

12. Mass Communication shares three characteristics • A message is sent out on some form of mass communication system such as the internet, print or broadcast • The message is delivered rapidly • The message reaches large groups of different kinds of people simultaneously or within a short period of time

13. Mass Media Industries • Books • Newspapers • Magazines • Recordings • Radio • Movies • Television • The Internet

14. Media are PROFIT CENTERED businesses • All US Media are privately owned except the Public Broadcasting Service and National Public Radio • Mass Media ownership has been contracting rather than expanding – concentration of ownership • THE MAJOR GOAL OF THE AMERICAN MEDIA IS TO MAKE MONEY.

15. CONVERGENCE – the integration of mass media, computers and telecommunication. Examples: • Comcast now offers Internet connection • Apple Computers revives music industry with ipod • Microsoft invests in videogame industry • NewsCorporation (FoxNews) buys MySpace

16. You Say You Want a Revolution?3 Revolutionary Moments in Mass Media • 1000 B.C.E – Phonetic Writing • 1455 C.E. -- Movable Type • 1951 C.E. – Digital Computers that can process, store and retrieve information

17. S.M.C.R. Model • Source • Message • Channel • Receiver

18. 1. Media messages come in different formats, such as commercials or news articles or billboards.2. All media messages are created by someone for a specific purpose and target a specific audience or audiences. 3. All media messages are constructions and the way they are constructed includes words, images, and – sometimes - sounds. 4. People interpret media messages differently, based on their own experiences and even prejudices. 5. Each media message represents someone's social reality. In other words, just because something is printed and is real does not make it true. decoding advertising: making visible the communication path (brand, target, strategies, goals, etc.).1. Encourage discussion of advertising’s processes of production and reception. 2. Allow students the opportunity to connect these discussions of particular campaigns (see below) with emergent debates linked to advertising and consumer society. 3. Show insight into the relationship advertising has with other areas of contemporary culture.

19. GENERAL QUESTIONS: Are you attracted by advertising messages and why (i.e. cool images, claims and appeals, information contents, testimonials, brand confidence)? Do you feel able to fully understand an ad message? Which threshold of attention do you turn on ad messages? Do you feel overpowered by advertising? Do you feel manipulated? Do you think advertising stereotypes can affect social behaviours? Do you think it can generate over-consumption and/or false needs? When an ad message can be useful to the community? Do you think advertising can raise awareness also on social/environmental issues? Does an “Advertising Code of Conduct” exist**? Which kind of ad is the more powerful? (TV, radio, press, etc.) • MORE IN DEPTH: Is the main purpose of advertising to inform or to entertain its public? Try to assign some categories of products to a kind of advertising which privileges the emotional aspects; then assign other categories of products to advertising, which privileges rational aspects. Who is this message intended for? Who wants to reach this audience, and why? From whose perspective is this story told? Which voices are heard and which are totally absent? What kind of strategies does this message use to get your attention and make you feeling ‘included’?