Chapter 7
Mass and Mediated Communication
C
CHAPTER OBJECTIVES
• Understand mass media, including its different forms, emerging technologies, and critical
theories.
CHAPTER OUTLINE
CHAPTER INTRODUCTION
• In 1989, students in Beijing, China, led protest demonstrations against a communist government
and for more freedom. When soldiers with rifles and tanks fired on thousands of civilians in
Tiananmen Square, hundreds of people died. The government’s careful control of the news
media made coverage from inside China difficult, but one individual smuggled out photos and
video of the confrontation. Today, activists in China find ways to commemorate the protests,
but they need to avoid government control by doing things like putting notices on social media
UNDERSTANDING MASS MEDIA
• Mass media can be defined as mediated communication on a very large scale.
Communication scholar Richard Campbell describes it as “the cultural industries—the
channels of communication—that produce and distribute songs, novels, newspapers,
movies, Internet services, and other cultural products to large numbers of people.”
Mass media is pervasive, meaning that it is everywhere and available at all times.
• Entertainment and News Media
Mass media has two main purposes—to entertain and to inform.
Entertainment media include novels and short stories, movies, and TV shows.
News media include newspapers and magazines, journals, news-oriented websites, and
o Has changed how news is formatted.
o Has led to more events being covered as they unfold in real time.
o Has increased interactivity.
• Free Media and Paid Media
Free media are messages that are communicated by the news media in a manner that is
practically free for the original messenger.
• To generate content, news and entertainment outlets often promote certain
UNDERSTANDING SOCIAL MEDIA
• Social media consists of “forms of electronic communication … through which users create
online communities to share information … and other content.”
• Social networking occurs when people interact through social media.
The general goals and characteristics of social media and social networking are what
scholars Donna L. Hoffman and Thomas P. Novak (2012) have called the four Cs:
• Effects of Social Media
The effects of social media include
• A new way to affect change and raise consciousness
• Access to more information
• Easy and constant connections to people
Some argue that computer-mediated communication (CMC) has advantages over
traditional face-to-face (F2F) exchanges.
• The hyperpersonal model suggests that CMC exchanges between participants
allow hyperpersonal communicators to develop and edit the sense of themselves
they present to one another, all in a way that optimizes how they are received
and perceived.
• Anonymity, Free Speech, and Privacy Issues
Anonymity is the state of being unknown.
• Some feel that anonymity protects freedom of speech because people can post
without access.
• Access to the Internet facilitates communication and is essential for education,
housing, access to social services, and looking for and applying for jobs.
• Closing the digital divide is one way to fight poverty and unemployment.
MEDIA-CENTRIC CRITICISM
• Critical Media Theory
Critical media theory suggests that those who own mass media outlets (such as
newspaper chains, movie studios, and television networks) purposely influence the
content of mass media messages.
Critical media theory has its origins in several different schools of thought, including
cultural criticism, which examines mass media for potential bias and discrimination.
• Related to cultural criticism theory, concepts of the Other suggest that people
create intergroup identities by focusing on how they’re different from other
people or outside groups.
• This builds group cohesion and a sense of group identity.
• Agenda-Setting Theory
Agenda-setting refers to the idea that mass media as news media has to prioritize the
issues of the day for the public because there is too much competing information for the
average person to know all of the details.
• Mass media selects the issues that will make compelling news stories for us to
read, listen to, observe, and discuss.
Agenda-setting occurs because of the unique constraints of mass media.
• First, public consumption requires a constant refilling of news content.
• Second, formats are limited by time and space (such as the number of minutes
SUGGESTIONS FOR MEDIATED COMMUNICATION
• Become a Critical Consumer of Mass Communication.
Consuming mass media is like consuming food—meaning that a healthy diet is a well-
balanced diet. Instead of limiting yourself to a certain news program or newspaper,
diversify and try multiple forms of media.
Be willing to look at positions from all portions of an ideological spectrum. Different
• Don’t Say Anything Online You Wouldn’t Say in Person.
Remember that after you post your thoughts online (on Facebook, Twitter, or other
platforms), you can’t take those thoughts back.
• Consider Taking a Break to Avoid Technology Burnout.
We feel connected to others through media and technology, but these connections are
LIST OF KEY TERMS
mediated communication
mass media
pervasive
entertainment media
news media
convergence old media
new media
free media
paid media
cultural criticism
the Other
conglomeration
agenda-setting
framing
CLASS DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. Mass media has two purposes. What are they? What type of media is used to accomplish those
purposes?
• Mass media has two main purposes—to entertain and to inform. Entertainment media
include novels and short stories, movies, and TV shows. News media include newspapers
2. How would you define the phrase freedom of speech? Do you think people speak more freely in an
online environment where there is anonymity? What are some advantages of having online
anonymity, and what are some disadvantages?
• Students will likely have a similar understanding of what freedom of speech means.
Typically, people agree that although Americans’ freedom of speech and freedom of the
press are protected by the First Amendment, some things are inappropriate or offensive to
3. What is agenda-setting theory, and what are the two levels at which it occurs?
• Agenda-setting theory helps us understand how news media tells the public “what to think
about.”
4. Critical consumers of mass communication cannot accept everything that they see or hear. What
is meant by the phrase, “Remember that consuming mass media is like consuming food”?
• A healthy diet is a well-balanced diet. Students should not limit themselves to certain news
programs or newspapers. They should diversify and try multiple forms of media.
5. In what ways are most of us are very connected and yet disconnected at the same time?
• The authors mention that we feel connected to others through media and technology but
APPLY YOUR SKILLS
APPLY YOUR SKILLS FROM CHAPTER 7
1. Look at the “Apply Your Skills” activity on page 217 in the text. After students complete the
activity, have them answer the following questions, either in a small group, in a class discussion, or
in writing:
• Go to the illustration on framing with the example of Trayvon Martin on page 210 in the
text. Now imagine that the news story was broader than the one shown in this example and
was now about the Black Lives Matter movement. How might this illustration look different
MORE “APPLY YOUR SKILLS” IDEAS
1. Review the illustration “Mass Media Is Pervasive” on page 193 in the text. What does pervasive
mean, and as a consumer of mass media, how do you decide what to pay attention to?
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PERSONAL WRITING ASSIGNMENTS
1. Have students reflect on their own use of social media. Do they find that they divulge more
information about themselves online than they do in a face-to-face environment? Why or why not?
Do they find that it is easier to have conversations in a computer-mediated environment than in a
face-to-face environment? Why or why not?
CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES
1. Give students five minutes to make a list of all the channels of mass media they use. Then have
2. Have students visit the tweets aggregator Twubs.com at www.twubs.com and either join an
upcoming Twitter chat (there is a Twitter directory for chats on the site) or host one. (Students who
do not have a Twitter account can partner with other students for this activity.) They can join or
3. Give students five to 10 minutes to participate in this agenda-setting activity in which students
become part of the media. Give them this hypothetical scenario: The class is participating in a one-
month-long study-abroad trip on a cruise ship. A week into the expedition, a faulty engine causes the
4. Give students 20 minutes to do this framing activity. Have each student find a recent major
political story as it was reported by two different media outlets (perhaps the Fox News Channel and
the MSNBC cable network). After students have collected their thoughts, facilitate a discussion on
how each media outlet framed the story. Did the news sources remain objective, or did students
perceive a bias with either one? What led them to their conclusions?
5. Before assigning this activity to your students, download the app called Periscope (a live video-
streaming app) to your smartphone and create an account. After you become familiar with how it
works, have your students also download it, and give them your user name. Then hold a class via
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ADDITIONAL MEDIA RESOURCES AND ACTIVITIES
1. The chapter opens with the story of the Tiananmen Square protests in China. Search for the news
story titled “Tiananmen Square Tank Man: 25 Years Later, His Memory Lives On” by Paul H. B.
Shin (June 3, 2014), and watch the four-and-one-half-minute video embedded in the story. If this
type of event took place in the United States at this time, what forms of media would be used to
provide information about the crisis as it unfolds? Could community members use their cell phones
to become reporters? If so, how?
2. Watch the 19-minute TED (Technology, Entertainment, and Design) Talk by Sherry Turkle titled
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HANDOUTS AND READY–TO–PRINT ACTIVITIES
Paid Media: Changes through the Years
Find a product that has been sold in the United States since the 1950s. (Options
include products like Budweiser beer, Marlboro cigarettes, McDonald’s fast food,
Suave shampoo, Tylenol, and Wrigley’s gum.) After you have selected a product,
research its advertising slogan for each decade listed below. Also research the types of
media that were used to deliver the product’s advertising messages in each decade.
Discuss in class how advertising messages and media have changed over the years.
Product name: ___________________________________________________
Year Advertising Slogan Medium Used
1950
1960
1970
1980
1990
2000
2010