richard e. caplan the university of akron 1. mass media & everyday life christopher burnett...
TRANSCRIPT
Richard E. CaplanThe University of Akron
1. Mass Media & Everyday Life
Christopher BurnettCalifornia State, Long Beach
Mass Media in Our Lives
• Average time spent using media each year– More than half of our waking
lives
– More time than we sleep
– Impacts every area of life
• Mass media and American life– Greater influence
– Bigger business
Sha
nnon
Sta
plet
on/T
he N
ew Y
ork
Tim
es
Mass Media Today
• The Past: Wired– Needed an electrical outlet
– Limited mobility
• Today: Wireless– WiFi: Wireless Fidelity
– Total mobility
– More choices
• Converged Media– Complex network of media
– Global system
JMM
elton/motleyim
age
The Communication Process
• Intrapersonal– Communication within one person
• Interpersonal– Direct sharing of experience between two people
• Mass Communication– Communication from one person or group of persons
through a transmitting device (a medium) to large audiences or markets
Mass Media Industries
• Book Publishing– 40,000 titles a year
– Audio books & e-books
• Newspaper– 1500 dailies
• Magazine– 15,000 published a year
– Declining
• Recordings– People over 25 buy CDs
– People under 25 download
• Radio– 13,000 radio stations– Satellite and Internet radio
• Movies– 30,000 theaters, 400 films a
year– DVDs, downloads, overseas
• Television– 1600 TV stations– Subscription TV (cable and
satellite)
• Internet– Newest media– Ad earnings growing
Media are Profit-Centered
• Who Owns the Media?• Concentration of Ownership
– Chains, Broadcast Networks
• Cross-Media Ownership– News Corporation– Owns multiple media formats
• Conglomerates– Corp. that owns more than just media
– General Electric
• Vertical Integration– Controlling related media– Time Warner
AP
/Wid
e W
orld
Pho
tos
Concentrated Media Ownership
• Media Industry and Acquisitions• Public ownership of media companies: stockholders• Convergence
– Melding of communication, computer and electronics industries
• Deregulation– Since 1980, ownership limitations have been decreasing
Newspaper & Broadcast Properties
• Attractive Investments– 10% profits a year, double the average for manufacturing
company
• Scarce Commodities– Limited number makes them more valuable
• Family Ownership– Selling off inherited media companies
• Easier to buy than to create– Expensive to start up
Pros & Cons of Concentrated Ownership
• Advantages– Employee training
– Higher wages
– Better working conditions
– Greater resources
• Disadvantages– Limits diversity of opinion
– Loss of message pluralism
– Authoritarian corporate culture
Paying the Bills
• Advertising & Consumers– Ads are primary income
for newspapers, radio and television
– Consumers pay indirectly– Magazines receive over
half of income from ads, the rest from subscribers
– Movies, recordings and books profit from direct consumer sales
JMM
elton/motleyim
age
The Changing Technologies
• 1st Information Revolution– Pictographs, 3500 B.C.– Phonetic writing, 1000 B.C– Parchment, 200 B.C.
• 2nd Information Revolution – Printing, 1455– Spread of knowledge
• Storability, portability, accessibility
• 3rd Information Revolution– Computer technology– Satellite broadcasts, digital
recordings, global network
• Media History Link
Uni
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bibl
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Got
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erm
any/
Bild
arch
iv
Ste
ffen
s/T
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ridge
man
Art
Lib
rary
Gutenberg Bible, 1455
Arc
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fico,
S.A
./Cor
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Digital Delivery
• One-Way vs. Two-Way– Classic model of mass communication
• One-way
– New model of mass communication • Instantaneous feedback
• Interactive
• “Dumb” vs. “Smart”– TVs, VCRS = “dumb”– Telephone = “smart”
• Digital communication– Information Bits– Storable information
Mass Media Audiences & Effects
• Mass Media influence– Political institutions
– Social institutions
– Cultural institutions
– Selective Perception• Different people perceive
messages differently
• Few people share identical mass media environments
AB
C N
ews
Click image to play video
TWPS #1- Why don’t people share identical Mass Media environments?