media culture & society

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Communication definedHarold Lasswell (1948): Who? Says what? Through which channel? To whom? With what effect?

Harold Lasswell (1948): Who? (source) Says what? (message) Through which channel? (medium) To whom? (receiver) With what effect?

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Osgood and Schramm’s Model (1954)

Encoding: Transferring a message into understandable signs or symbols (speaking, writing, etc.)

Decoding: Signs or symbols are interpreted (listening, reading, watching, etc.)

Model of Interpersonal Communication (No Source!)

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Osgood and Schramm’s Model (1954)

Encoding: Transferring a message into understandable signs or symbols (speaking, writing, etc.)

Decoding: Signs or symbols are interpreted (listening, reading, watching, etc.)

Model of Interpersonal Communication (No Source!)

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Mass Medium definedThe telephone is the medium that carries my voice to

my friend across town.

When the medium is a technology that carries messages to a large number of people (e.g. newspaper, radio, television) – we call it mass medium (plural: media).

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Mass Communication definedMass Communication is the process of creating

shared meaning between the mass media and their audiences.

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Types of Communication

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Interpersonal vs. Mass Communication

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Interpersonal vs. Mass Communication

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What is Culture?“Culture is learned, socially acquired traditions and

lifestyles of the members of a society, including their patterned, repetitive ways of thinking, feeling and acting.” (Harris 1983)

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What is Culture?Shared Meanings are an important part of culture – you

see a photo and have associations.

Creation and maintenance of a more or less common culture and shared meanings occur through communication, including mass communication.

Friends, parents, religion, teachers, politicians, and media.

Culture defines our realities and thereby shapes the ways we think, feel, and act. (e.g., how you think about food, about the color of your skin, etc.)

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Culture’s Positive/Negatives SidesPositive and helpful:Provides guidelines for behavior Should I use chopsticks or a spoon to eat a soup? How far should I stand away when speaking with

somebody?Negative: Are thin or fat people beautiful? (different beauty

ideals) 81% of all 10-year-old girls in the US are afraid of being fat.

Are foreigners good or bad people? (which one?)Where did we learn this??

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Culture’s Positive/Negative SidesCulture unites people, however also divides them:

What learned perceptions do people in another country have e.g. about Koreans?

Culture also divides people – people from another culture are not a part and excluded – sometimes also discriminated, etc.

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DiscussionCan you give any examples for culture’s positive or

negative side?

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Mass Media as Cultural StorytellersA culture’s values and beliefs reside in the stories it tells.

Who are the good guys? Who are the bad guys? How many of our childhood heroines were fat? How many good guys dressed in black? How many heroines lived happily ever after without

marrying Prince Charming?

Storytellers have a remarkable opportunity to shape culture.

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Mass Media as Cultural StorytellersThe storytellers also have responsibility to do their job in

a responsible and ethical way!

BUT also the audience has responsibility.The audience should not just be entertained but learn

about the world around, understand the values, the way things work.

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Mass Media as Cultural StorytellersThe audience – YOU - have responsibility to question

the storytellers and their stories!

To ask what such stories tell about your culture and what it says about cultural values within your culture.

If you do not do – you cannot construct your own meaning!

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Mass Media as StorytellersMass media has become a primary forum for the

debate about our culture: Who is good and bad? Who is patriotic? What is the meaning of “beautiful”, “honest”,

“moral”, “successful”, etc. What food is healthy?

Who should have the power over these media:Media industries or audiences?

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