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188
Appendix B
Understanding Mass and Mediated Communication
OUTCOMES
• Define mass and mediated communication
• Describe how the business of media and the principle of free speech shape the kinds of
media content you encounter
LECTURE NOTES
• The Nature of Media examines the different forms, uses, and effects of media and the
common qualities that distinguish them from face-to-face contexts of communication.
ƒ Defining Mass Media and Mediated Communication
ż Mediated communication occurs when there is some technology used to deliver
messages between sources and receivers.
ż Mass communication occurs when mediated communication occurs on a very broad
ƒ The Pervasiveness of Media
ż Many people have constant access to mass media content via the Internet, television,
cell phones, and so on.
ż Media multitasking refers to using more than one media type at the same time.
ż People are finding it almost impossible to escape media.
• Understanding Mass Media Messages discusses the key influences that shape the kinds of
mass media messages that are made and delivered.
ƒ The Business of Media is based on the following requirements:
ż Sources of Revenue come from two main sources: consumer purchases and advertising.
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ż Broad Versus Narrow Appeal
Ɠ Broad appeal (low culture) attracts viewers by appealing to people’s baser instincts,
ż Minimizing Risk
Ɠ TV networks do extensive audience research and engage in self-censorship, which
ƒ Free Speech and Media Bias involves a debate over whether the government has the
right to fine networks or censor objectionable messages, a right that is rooted in
competing interpretations of constitutional law.
ż The First Amendment
Ɠ This amendment is based on the principle that the news media and the individual
ż Electronic Media Regulation
Ɠ Broadcasting (signals carried over the airwaves from a station transmitter to a
receiver) can be regulated by the Federal Communications Commission.
ż There are some speech restrictions on broadcast television networks and radio stations,
such as restrictions against indecency, particularly in relation to protecting children.
ż Media Bias
• Effects of Mass Media explores the ways in which mass media may shape us.
ƒ Selectivity and the Active Audience suggests that media effects are much more limited
than we would otherwise believe.
ż Uses and Gratifications
Ɠ Uses and gratifications perspective suggests that we make media choices (uses) in
order to satisfy our needs and goals (gratifications).
ż Reinforcing Existing Attitudes
ż Third-Person Effect
Ɠ This applies to a tendency to assume that negative media messages and bias have a
much greater influence on other people than on ourselves or people we think are
ƒ Influences on Attitudes and Behaviors
ż Social cognitive theory argues that we learn behaviors by watching the behaviors of
those we have identified as models. Reward and punishment increase imitating
• Converging Media Technologies explores the benefits and challenges for society of the
increased interactivity and selectivity that media convergence allows.
ƒ Democratic and Social Participation
ż In professional media, gatekeepers control the creation and distribution of
ƒ Barriers to Participation
ż Digital divide: This refers to the fact that not everyone has regular, easy access to the
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• Becoming a More Mindful Media Consumer discusses ways media scholars argue that
people need to become media literate, or to critically evaluate media habits. This can be
done through the following habits:
ƒ Monitor Your Media Use and Exposure by being aware of what you consume and
making wiser choices.
ƒ Consider the Source of Media Messages by questioning the source’s credibility,
understanding its biases and goals, and being critical of sources that both support and
oppose your own views.
ƒ Be Aware of Media Effects in regards to understanding how the messages you choose to
attend to influence or reinforce your beliefs or opinions on topics.
CLASS DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. How does your media usage affect your everyday life? What about your everyday learning?
2. Do you know people who download music illegally? Does the likelihood of getting
caught matter in their decision to download? Do you think illegal downloading is
widespread? Do you think that affects people’s decisions about whether to download?
3. Do you perceive certain media outlets as biased? If so, which ones? How are they biased?
What leads you to this belief?
• Students should be asked to think critically about what led them to believe an outlet is
biased or not. Is it personalities? Is it their own biases? For example, if a student likes a
4. Do you feel you are media dependent in some ways? In what ways? Do you feel this is a
good thing or a bad thing?
5. Do you think that your communication behavior is influenced by media messages? What
about the clothes you wear? Your use of slang? Do you model behaviors based on media
messages without even realizing it?
PERSONAL WRITING ASSIGNMENTS
1. Media Journal
For one day, keep track of all the media to which you are exposed. Are you surprised by
the amount of media you see every day? Were you expecting to have more or less
exposure to these different kinds of media? What effects do you think this media exposure
has on you? Explain your ideas in a one- to two-page paper.
2. Do Your Thumbs Hurt, Too?
Using a camera phone or other recording device, interview other students about how
much they “media multitask.” Do their answers make sense to you? Make a video
3. Family Tree of a Magazine
Take a magazine, newspaper, or your favorite TV show and trace its origins. For example,
find out who owns the company that publishes/produces the content. Who owns the
company that owns that company? What advertisements do you see while watching this
show? Who owns those companies? Take the information you gather and create a “family
tree” of sorts for the publication/production you chose. What overlaps do you see? Present
4. Who’s Really Watching?
Do some “audience research.” Watch a television show and discern, from that television
5. Is Free Speech for Everyone?
Is free speech an absolute right? Are there times when free speech is not appropriate?
CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES
1. Media Learners
Goal: To critically reflect on how the student’s use of media affects their learning
Time Required: 1–2 class periods
Materials: Access to the Internet and projector (Note: All students will need access to the
Internet to complete the homework.)
Directions:
2. Ask students how this video aligns with their own experiences as college students.
3. Ask students what they would add/subtract from this video to reflect the unique ways
4. If you wish, create your own Google Docs page (as shown in the video) and have
students create their own document/video illustrating their own Vision of Students
today.
Debriefing: When the project is done (with or without the document/video), have students
2. What
⎯
or Who?
⎯
Is Popular?
Goal: To examine broad versus narrow appeal
Time Required: 20 minutes
Materials: List of the latest top ten weekly TV shows as ranked by the Nielsen Company
(available online at: usatoday30.usatoday.com/life/television/news/nielsens-charts.htm)
Directions:
2. Guide students toward a discussion on broad versus narrow appeal. Then ask
students if these shows are of narrow or broad appeal.
3. Depending on their answers, ask what they think the implications of their findings
are.
3. Our Own Little Niche
Goal: To understand how lack of diversity in media reinforces beliefs as well as cultural
attitudes
Time Required: 30–40 minutes over two class periods
Materials: Blank paper and writing implements for students
Directions:
2. Ask them to compare with each other how alike those media outlets are. (Likely they
will be very similar.)
3. Ask students to search out as many examples of media as they can over the next
24 hours (or 48 hours, or even a week) that they don’t normally access. For example,
4. The following day, ask student to discuss differences they found and why (or if) they
felt looking at various kinds of media was important.
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4. Super Fan
Goal: To understand how fan sites persuade fans to interact even more strongly with the
media product
Time Required: 20–30 minutes
Materials:
2. Access to the following “fan” Web sites:
• www.mugglenet.com
• pirates.ugo.com/?cur=pirates-map
• disney.go.com/princess/#/home/
Directions: Go to each Web site (or others that you know of that you find interesting) and
ask students about the purpose of each Web site. Why would someone want to have a Star
Wars wedding or learn how to make Pumpkin Pasties and Butter Beer? What makes a site
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
REVIEW QUESTIONS
1. What are some ways that media can be distinguished from face-to-face contexts of
communication, such as interpersonal or small group interaction?
2. What is media convergence?
MEDIA
This Film Is Not Yet Rated (Independent Film Channel, 2006)
The Social Network (Columbia Pictures, 2010)
This film traces the history of Mark Zuckerberg who cofounded the social networking site
