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THE EVOLUTION OF MASS COMMUNICATION

OBJECTIVES

• Understand the origins of media and mass communication.
• The impact of mass media and communication from a global perspective.
• Theories in communication and how researchers attempt to understand media and its impact on human and societal behavior.

MASS COMMUNICATION DEFINED

• Mass Communication: The process of creating shared meaning between the mass media and their audiences.
    - It is a society-wide communication process in which an individual or institution uses technology to send messages to a large, mixed audience, most of whose members are not known to the sender.

INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATION VS. MASS COMMUNICATION

Interpersonal Communication

  - Nature: Highly flexible and alterable.
  - Message: Tailored to the individual.
  - Interpreter A: One person, in this case, you (the sender).
  - Consequences: You can change the message in midstream based on feedback.

Mass Communication

  - Nature: Identical, mechanically produced, simultaneously sent, inflexible and unalterable.
  - Message: Completed episodes (e.g., "The Walking Dead") cannot be altered after production.
  - Interpreter A: A large, hierarchically structured organization (e.g., Idiot Box Productions and AMC television network).
  - Consequences: Feedback is generally delayed and relies on ratings; communication cannot be tailored to individual audience members.

THE EVOLUTION OF MASS COMMUNICATION

1. Oral and Written Eras in Communication.
2. The Print Revolution.
3. The Electronic and Digital Eras.
4. Media Convergence in the Digital Era.

CONVERGENCE AND THE RESHAPING OF MASS COMMUNICATION

1. Traditional media industries in transition.
2. Changes:
      - Concentration of ownership and conglomeration.
      - Globalization.
      - Audience fragmentation.
      - Hyper-commercialism.
      - Erosion of distinctions among media: Convergence among various media platforms.

DEFINING THEORY

• A theory is:
    - A guess or speculation.
    - An idea or set of ideas intended to explain facts or events (not common sense or wild speculation).
    - A set of interrelated concepts, definitions, and propositions that presents a systematic view of events or situations by specifying relationships among variables to explain and predict.
    - Must be applicable to a broad variety of situations.
• A model is based on a theory and serves as a framework (guidelines) for intervention.

FIVE THEORIES IN COMMUNICATION RELATED TO MASS COMMUNICATION

1. Cultivation Theory.
2. Agenda Setting Theory.
3. Framing Theory.
4. Cognitive Dissonance Theory.
5. Uses and Gratifications Theory.

CULTIVATION THEORY BY GEORGE GERBNER & LARRY GROSS (1975)

• Definition: A theory predicting and explaining the long-term formation and shaping of perceptions, understandings, and beliefs about the world due to media consumption.
    - The more time people spend in the television world, the more likely they are to believe that social reality aligns with what is portrayed on television.
• Broader Implications:   - The portrayal of various issues (e.g., body image) can shape individual perceptions and societal standards.
• Categorization of Viewers:
     - Heavy Viewers: Watch TV for more than four hours a day;
       - They perceive the world as more dangerous.
     - Light Viewers: Watch TV for less than four hours a day.

KEY TERMS

1. Causal Argument: An assertion of cause and effect, including the direction of causality.
2. Transformation:
      - Media as senders of messages across space.
      - Media as representers of shared beliefs.
3. Violence Index: A yearly content analysis of prime-time programming assessing violence representation.

ASSUMPTIONS OF CULTIVATION THEORY

1. Television is fundamentally different from other mass media forms.
2. Television shapes societal thinking and relationships.
3. The influence of television is limited.

PROCESSES AND PRODUCTS

1. Mainstreaming: Heavy viewers perceive a similar culturally dominant reality to that pictured in the media, differing from actual reality.
2. Resonance: Occurs when a viewer’s real-world experiences coincide with media portrayals.
3. Mean World Index:
      - Asserts that people are generally self-serving and can’t be trusted.
      - Quotes:
        1. Most people are just looking out for themselves.
        2. You can’t be too careful in dealing with people.
        3. Most people would take advantage of you if given the chance.

AGENDA SETTING THEORY BY MAXWELL MCCOMBS & DONALD SHAW (1968)

History

1. Pre-theoretical Conceptualization:
      - Robert E. Park focused on public issues vs. those that remain unnoticed.
      - Walter Lippman described how events in the world reach the audience through mass media shaping public images.
2. Important Functions of Mass Media (Harold Lasswell, 1948):
      - Surveillance: Scanning the information environment to decide what deserves attention.
      - Correlation: Directing public attention to issues through communication.

Theory Establishment

• McCombs and Shaw (1972): Examined public and media agendas during the 1968 presidential elections.
    - They hypothesized a causal relationship where the media agenda influences public agenda over time by measuring news articles and broadcasts.

Media’s Role in Agenda Setting

• Editors, staff, and news anchors shape social and political reality by establishing importance based on the presentation of news.

Two Levels of Agenda Setting

1. Agenda: A list of the most important issues as determined by the media.
2. Media Framing: Influences how the audience interprets events based on media depictions.

Three-Part Process

1. Media Agenda: Priority of issues in mediated sources.
2. Public Agenda: Result of media agenda interacting with public opinion.
3. Policy Agenda: Result of public agenda interacting with policymakers.

Related Factors

1. Salience: Perceived importance of an agenda issue.
2. Relevance: Motivation to seek orientation on issues due to personal importance.
3. Uncertainty: Perception of knowledge about an issue.

FRAMING THEORY BY ERVING GOFFMAN (1974)

Definition

• Refers to how media packages and presents information.
    - Influences public understanding of issues based on characterization in news reports.

Concepts in Framing Theory (Fairhurst & Sarr, 1996)

1. Metaphor: Framing concepts through comparison.
2. Stories: Use narratives to memorable effect.
3. Tradition: Significance imbued through rituals and artifacts.
4. Catchphrase: Use catchy phrases for relatability.
5. Artifacts: Objects with intrinsic symbolic value.
6. Contrast: Describe an object in its non-attributes.
7. Spin: Convey a value judgment in a biased manner.

Five Ways for Framing News Stories

1. Conflict.
2. Human Interest/Personalization.
3. Consequence.
4. Morality.
5. Responsibility.

COGNITIVE DISSONANCE THEORY BY LEON FESTINGER (1957)

Definitions

1. Cognitions: Ways of knowing, beliefs, judgments, and thoughts.
2. Cognitive Dissonance: Feelings of discomfort from inconsistent attitudes, thoughts, or behaviors.
     - Motivates efforts to achieve consonance among beliefs and actions.
3. Types of Relationships:
      a. Consonant
      b. Dissonant
      c. Irrelevant

Experience of Dissonance

• Feelings of discomfort lead to ignoring opposing views, changing beliefs to align with actions, or seeking reassurances post-decision.

Magnitude of Dissonance Influenced By

1. Degree of importance.
2. Dissonance ratio.
3. Rationale.

Coping with Dissonance

1. Change behavior or cognition.
2. Justify behavior by changing conflicting cognition.
3. Justify behavior by adding cognitions.
4. Ignore conflicting information.

Cognitive Dissonance and Perception

• Involves selective exposure, attention, interpretation, and retention leading to confirmatory bias.

USES AND GRATIFICATIONS THEORY BY ELIHU KATZ & JAY BLUMLER (1974)

Overview

• Emphasizes active selection and usage of media to satisfy specific needs; media effects are seen as limited due to user control.

Development Stages

1. Stage 1: Acknowledging active participation in mass communication.
2. Stage 2: Categorizing media usage reasons:
      - Diversion.
      - Personal relationships.
      - Personal identity.
      - Surveillance.
3. Stage 3: Linking media use to motivations like goals and consequences—includes parasocial interactions.

Audience as Active

• Media consumers engage voluntarily, driven by needs and goals;
    - Activity vs. activeness defined by the degree of freedom versus action taken by the audience.
     - Activity: What media consumers do.
     - Activeness: Freedom of choice in media consumption.

SUMMARY

1. Mass Communication.
2. Evolution of Mass Communication.
3. Convergence and the Reshaping of Mass Communication.
4. Theory vs. Model.
5. Cultivation Theory.
6. Agenda Setting Theory.
7. Framing Theory.
8. Cognitive Dissonance Theory.
9. Uses and Gratifications Theory.

END OF LESSON