Ch. 1—Mass communication in our digital society: The changing media
landscape
Guidelines for in-class discussions and exercises:
• For class discussion purposes, consider supplementing the Q&A at the beginning of Ch. 1
with very recent media examples, particularly examples that involve local media or news
events.
• A discussion (or written assignment) can be created that asks students to log all of their
media use for a set amount of time (e.g., one day, one week). Discussions about
patterns of media use can be conducted in class.
• An interesting class discussion can take place by asking students to list some films they
believe have had a significant cultural impact during their lifetimes. This can be
supplemented by the instructor with a list of older movies.
CHAPTER SUMMARIES/ABSTRACTS
Chapter 1: Mass communication in our digital society: The changing media landscape
• This first chapter discusses the prevalence of media in our lives as well as the definition of mass
communication. In addition, there is a review of the history of mass communication from the