Mass media refers to the forms of media that reach large audiences via mass communication. It includes Broadcasting, digital media, Publishing, social media, streaming media, advertising, and Event marketing.[Riesman et al. (1950) ch. 2 p. 50]
Mass media encompasses news, advocacy, entertainment, and public service announcements, and intersects with the study of marketing, propaganda, public relations, political communication, journalism, art, drama, computing, and technology. The influence of mass media on individuals and groups has also been analysed from the standpoint of anthropology, economics, history, law, philosophy, psychology, and sociology.
Mass media is often controlled by media conglomerates, which may include mass media organisations, companies, and networks.
Definition
In the late 20th century, mass media could be classified into eight mass media industries: books, the Internet, magazines, movies, newspapers, radio, recordings, and television. The explosion of digital communication technology in the late 20th and early 21st centuries challenged this classification. By the early 2000s, a classification called the "seven mass media" came into use, comprising:
[Sashwat Yogi "Role Of Media In Social Awareness (A Review Study)." Humanities & Social Sciences Reviews 1.1 (2013): 71–73, online. ]
-
Printing (books, pamphlets, newspapers, magazines, posters, etc.) - late 15th century
-
Recordings (gramophone records, , Cassette tape, Stereo-Pak, CDs , and ) - late 19th century
-
Film - c. 1900
-
Radio - c. 1910
-
Television - c. 1950
-
The Internet - c. 1990
-
- c. 2000
The sixth and seventh media, Internet and mobile phones, are often referred to collectively as digital media, and the fourth and fifth, radio and TV, as broadcast media.
Characteristics
Five characteristics of mass communication have been identified by sociologist John Thompson of Cambridge University:
-
"Comprises both technical and institutional methods of production and distribution".
-
Involves the "commodification of symbolic forms"
-
"Separate contexts between the production and reception of information"
-
Its "reach to those 'far removed' in time and space, in comparison to the producers"
-
"Information distribution" – a "one-to-many" form of communication, whereby products are mass production and disseminated to large audiences
Mainstream media
In common usage, the term "mass" denotes not that a given number of individuals receives the products, but rather that the products are available in principle to a plurality of recipients.
The term "mass media" is sometimes used as a synonym for "
mainstream media". However, mass media may include alternative media outlets that employ mass communication technology, even if their audience is smaller than mainstream media. In contrast, mainstream media are distinguished from alternative media by their content and point of view.
History
The first dated printed book known is the "
Diamond Sutra", printed in China in 868 AD, although it is clear that books were printed earlier. Movable clay type was invented in 1041 in China. However, due to the slow spread of literacy to the masses in China, and the relatively high cost of paper there, the earliest printed mass medium was probably European
popular prints from about 1400. Although these were produced in huge numbers, very few early examples survive, and even most known to be printed before about 1600 have not survived. The term "mass media" was coined with the creation of print media, which is notable for being the first example of mass media, as we use the term today. This form of media started in Europe in the Middle Ages.
Johannes Gutenberg's invention of the printing press allowed the mass production of books to sweep the nation. He printed the first book, a Latin Bible, on a printing press with movable type in 1453. The invention of the printing press gave rise to some of the first forms of mass communication by enabling the publication of books and newspapers on a scale much larger than was previously possible.[Corey Ross, Mass Communications, Society, and Politics from the Empire to the Third Reich (Oxford University Press 2010) on Germany]
The phrase "the media" began to be used in the 1920s.
During the 20th century, the growth of mass media was driven by technology, including that which allowed much duplication of material. Physical duplication technologies such as printing, record pressing and film duplication allowed the duplication of books, newspapers and movies at low prices to huge audiences. Radio and television allowed the electronic duplication of information for the first time. Mass media had the economics of linear replication: a single work could make money. Proportional to the number of copies sold, and as volumes went up, unit costs went down, increasing profit margins further. Vast fortunes were made in mass media. In a democratic society, the media can serve the Constituency about issues regarding government and corporate entities. Some consider the concentration of media ownership to be a threat to democracy.
In recent times, the Internet has become the latest and most popular mass medium. Information has become readily available through websites, and easily accessible through Search engine. Modern-day mass media includes the internet, mobile phones, blogs, podcasts and RSS feeds.
Mergers and acquisitions
Between 1985 and 2018, about 76,720 deals have been announced in the media industry. This sums up to an overall value of around US$5,634 billion.
There have been three major waves of M&A in the mass media sector (2000, 2007 and 2015), while the most active year in terms of numbers was 2007 with around 3,808 deals. The United States is the most prominent country in media M&A with 41 of the top 50 deals having an acquirer from the United States.
The largest deal in history was the acquisition of WarnerMedia by AOL Inc. for US$164,746.86 million.
Influence and sociology
In 1997, J. R. Finnegan Jr. and K. Viswanath identified three main effects or functions of mass media.
First, The Knowledge Gap: the mass media influences knowledge gaps due to factors including "the extent to which the content is appealing, the degree to which information channels are accessible and desirable, and the amount of social conflict and diversity there is in a community".
Second, Agenda Setting: people are influenced in how they think about issues due to the selective nature of what media groups choose for public consumption. J. J. Davis states that "when risks are highlighted in the media, particularly in great detail, the extent of agenda setting is likely to be based on the degree to which a public sense of outrage and threat is provoked". When wanting to set an agenda, framing can be invaluably useful to a mass media organisation. Framing involves "taking a leadership role in the organisation of public discourse about an issue". The media is influenced by the desire for balance in coverage, and the resulting pressures can come from groups with particular political action and advocacy positions. Finnegan and Viswanath say, "groups, institutions and advocates compete to identify problems, to move them onto the public agenda, and to define the issues symbolically" (1997, p. 324).
Third, Cultivation of Perceptions: the extent to which media exposure shapes audience perceptions over time is known as cultivation. Television is a common experience, especially in places like the United States, to the point where it can be described as a "homogenising agent" (S. W. Littlejohn). However, instead of being merely a result of the TV, the effect is often based on socioeconomic factors. Having a prolonged exposure to TV or movie violence might affect a viewer to the extent where they actively think community violence is a problem, or alternatively find it justifiable. The resulting belief is likely to be different depending on where people live, however.
Since the 1950s, when cinema, radio and TV began to be the primary or only source of information for most of the population, these media became the central instruments of mass control.
Mass media play a significant role in shaping public perceptions on a variety of important issues, both through the information that is dispensed through them, and through the interpretations they place upon this information.
Media artist Joey Skaggs has demonstrated the ease with which mass media can be manipulated using fabricated press releases, staged events, and fictitious experts. His long-running series of media hoaxes reveal how news outlets can be drawn to sensational narratives, often publishing stories with minimal fact-checking. Skaggs' work has been cited as a critique of journalistic practices and a case study in the vulnerabilities of modern media systems.
Limited-effects theory theorizes that because people usually choose what media to interact with based on what they already believe, media exerts a negligible influence. Class-dominant theory argues that the media reflects and projects the view of a minority elite, which controls it. Culturalist theory combines the other two theories and claims people interact with media to create their own meanings out of the images and messages they receive. In 2012, an article asserted that 90 percent of US mass media—including radio, video news, sports entertainment, and other—were owned by six major companies (GE, News-Corp, Disney, Viacom, Time Warner and CBS).
Racism and stereotyping
'', 1871.]]Mass media sources, through framing and agenda-setting, can affect the impact of a story, as particular facts and information can be highlighted (
media influence). This can correlate with how individuals perceive certain groups of people, as the media coverage a person receives can be limited and may not reflect the whole story or situation. Stories are often covered to reflect a particular perspective, sometimes to target a specific demographic.
Mass media, as well as
propaganda, can reinforce or introduce
to the general public.
One example is how mass media has played a large role in the way white Americans perceive African Americans. Historical media focus on African Americans in the contexts of crime, drug use, gang violence and other forms of anti-social behavior has resulted in a distorted and harmful public perception of African Americans.
Ethical issues and criticism
Lack of local or specific topic focus is a common criticism of mass media. A mass
news media outlet often chooses to cover national and international news due to it having to cater for and be relevant for a wide demographic. As such, it can skip over many interesting or important local stories because they simply do not interest the large majority of their viewers.
The term "mass" suggests that the recipients of media products constitute a vast sea of passive, undifferentiated individuals. This is an image associated with some earlier critiques of "mass culture" and mass society , which generally assumed that the development of mass communication has had a largely negative impact on modern social life, creating a kind of bland and homogeneous culture which entertains individuals without challenging them.
Since the 1950s, in the countries that have reached a high level of industrialisation, the mass media of cinema, radio and TV have a key role in political power.
Contemporary research demonstrates an increasing level of concentration of media ownership, with many media industries already highly concentrated and dominated by a small number of firms.
Criticism
When the study of mass media began the media was compiled of only mass media which is a very different media system than the social media empire of the 21st-century experiences.
With this in mind, there are critiques that mass media no longer exists, or at least that it does not exist in the same form as it once did. This original form of mass media put filters on what the general public would be exposed to in regards to "news" something that is harder to do in a society of social media.
Theorist Lance Bennett explains that excluding a few major events in recent history, it is uncommon for a group big enough to be labeled a mass, to be watching the same news via the same medium of mass production.
Social media is a large contributor to the change from mass media to a new paradigm because through social media what is mass communication and what is interpersonal communication is confused.
Forms
Broadcast media
Broadcast media includes radio and
radio and
television programs. Television includes
cable television, which may require a cable converter box, and generally includes
subscription-based channels and
pay-per-view services.
Digital radio and digital television may also transmit
multiplexing programming, with several channels
data compression into one
DAB ensemble.
Broadcast law,
programming, and terminology have emerged as independent fields of inquiry. When broadcasting is done via the Internet, the term
is often used. In 2004, a new phenomenon occurred when a number of technologies combined to produce
.
Film
The term 'film' encompasses motion pictures as individual projects, as well as the field in general. The name comes from the photographic film (also called
film stock), historically the primary
recording medium for recording and displaying motion pictures. Many other terms for film exist, such as
motion pictures (or just
pictures and "picture"),
the silver screen,
photoplays,
the cinema,
picture shows,
flicks and, most commonly,
movies.
[David Bordwell, Kristin Thompson, and Jeff Smith, Film art: An introduction (McGraw-Hill, 1993.]
Films are produced by Video recording people and objects with , or by creating them using animation techniques or . Films comprise a series of individual frames, but when these images are shown in rapid succession, an illusion of motion is created. Flickering between frames is not seen because of an effect known as persistence of vision, whereby the eye retains a visual image for a fraction of a second after the source has been removed. Also of relevance is what causes the perception of motion: a psychological effect identified as beta movement.
Video games
A video game is a computer-controlled game in which a video display, such as a monitor or television set, is the primary feedback device. There must also be some sort of
input device, usually in the form of button/joystick combinations, a keyboard and mouse combination, a
Game controller, or a player's motion.
Audio recording and reproduction
Sound recording and reproduction is the
or mechanical re-creation or amplification of
sound, often as
music. This involves the use of
audio equipment such as microphones, recording devices and loudspeakers. From early beginnings, with the invention of the
phonograph using purely mechanical techniques, the field has advanced with the invention of electrical recording, the mass production of the 78 record, the magnetic
wire recorder followed by the
tape recorder, and the vinyl LP record. The invention of the
compact cassette in the 1960s, followed by Sony's
Walkman, gave a major boost to the mass distribution of music recordings, and the invention of digital recording and the
compact disc in 1983 brought massive improvements in ruggedness and quality.
Internet media
The
Internet is a more interactive medium of mass media, and can be briefly described as "a network of networks". Specifically, it is the worldwide, publicly accessible network of interconnected
that transmit data by
packet switching using the standard Internet Protocol (IP). It consists of millions of smaller domestic, academic, business and governmental networks, which together carry various
information and services, such as
email,
online chat,
Computer file transfer, and the interlinked
and other documents of the World Wide Web.
The Internet is the system of interconnected computer networks, linked by copper wires, fibre-optic cables, and wireless connections, while the Web is the contents of the internet linked by and . The World Wide Web is accessible through the Internet, along with many other services including e-mail, file sharing and others described below.
Toward the end of the 20th century, the advent of the World Wide Web marked the first era in which most individuals could have a means of exposure on a scale comparable to that of mass media. Forms of internet media include Blog, Microblogging, RSS feeds, and podcast.
Mobile
were introduced in
Japan in 1979 but became a mass media only in 1998 when the first downloadable ringing tones were introduced in Finland. Soon most forms of media content were introduced on mobile phones,
tablet computer and other portable device. Similar to the internet, mobile is also an interactive media.
Print media
Magazine
A
magazine is a periodical
publication containing a variety of articles, generally financed by
advertising or purchase by readers. Magazines are typically published
,
biweekly,
,
bimonthly or
quarterly, with a date on the cover that is in advance of the date it is actually published. They are often printed in colour on
coated paper, and are bound with a
bookbinding.
Newspaper
A
newspaper is a
publication containing news, information, and advertising, usually printed on low-cost paper called
newsprint. It may be general or special interest, and is usually published serially, most often daily or weekly. The dominant function of newspapers is to inform the public of significant events.
Newspapers originated after the invention and spread of the
printing press by Johann Gutenberg around 1450, with the first newspaper being the German-language
Relation aller Fürnemmen und gedenckwürdigen Historien, first published in 1605. The increasing prevalence of internet-based news media has, while challenging newspapers as an alternative source of information and opinion, has also provided a new platform for mass media organisations to reach new audiences.
As such, in the twenty-first century, newspaper circulation has fallen in almost all regions.
[Campbell, Cecilia. 2017. "World Press Trends 2017". Frankfurt: WAN-IFRA.]
Outdoor media
Outdoor media is a form of mass media which comprises billboards, signs, placards, flying billboards, blimps, skywriting, and augmented reality advertising. Many commercial advertisers use this form of mass media when advertising in sports stadiums.
Professions
Journalism
Journalism is the discipline of collecting, analyzing, verifying and presenting
information regarding
News, trends, issues and people. (
El Universo), an example of mass media]]
Public relations
Public relations is management of communication between an organisation and its key publics to build, manage and sustain its positive image.
Publishing
demonstrates printing with a 19th-century, hand-operated
Columbian press.]]
Publishing is the industry concerned with the production of
literature or
information – the activity of making information available for public view. In some cases, authors may be their own publishers. Traditionally, the term refers to the distribution of printed works such as
and
. With the advent of digital information systems and the
Internet, the scope of publishing has expanded to include
,
and the like.
Software publishing
A software publisher is a
publishing company in the software industry between the developer and the distributor. In some companies, two or all three of these roles may be combined (and indeed, may reside in a single person, especially in the case of
shareware).
Internet celebrity
An internet celebrity is anyone who gained fame on the Internet.
See also
-
History of newspaper publishing
-
Media echo chamber
-
Media regulation
-
Media-system dependency
Notes
Works cited
Sources
Further reading
-
-
Bösch, Frank. Mass Media and Historical Change: Germany in International Perspective, 1400 to the Present (Berghahn, 2015). 212 pp. online review
-
Cull, Nicholas John, David Culbert and David Welch, eds. Mass Persuasion: A Historical Encyclopedia, 1500 to the Present (2003) 479 pp; worldwide coverage
-
Dauber, Cori Elizabeth. " The shots seen 'round the world: The impact of the images of Mogadishu on American military operations." Rhetoric & Public Affairs 4.4 (2001): 653–687
-
Folkerts, Jean and Dwight Teeter, eds. Voices of a Nation: A History of Mass Media in the United States (5th Edition, 2008)
-
Fourie, Pieter J. Media Studies: Media History, Media and Society (2008)
-
Graber, Doris A., and Johanna Dunaway. Mass media and American politics (CQ Press, 2017)
-
-
Paneth, Donald, ed. The Encyclopedia of American journalism (1983) online
-
Ross, Corey. Mass Communications, Society, and Politics from the Empire to the Third Reich (Oxford University press 2010) 448 pp, on Germany
-
Vaughn, Stephen L., ed. Encyclopedia of American Journalism (2007) online
External links
