Understanding Communication

Communication

• Process of sending and receiving messages through verbal or non-verbal means.
• Must involve both a sender and a receiver exchanging a message.
• Encoding by the sender and decoding by the receiver are essential.
• Feedback and noise can influence the process.

Mass Communication

• Communication transmitted to a large audience through media like television, radio, or social media.

Interpersonal Communication

• Direct communication between individuals, typically face-to-face.

Critique of Lasswell's 1948 Model

• Overly linear and doesn't account for the complexities of modern communication like feedback loops and multiple channels.

Key Communication Terms

• Feedback is a response to a message.
• Encoding is converting thoughts into a message.
• Decoding is interpreting the message
• Noise is the interference in the communication process.
• Inferential Feedback is indirect feedback based on inferences rather than immediate response.
• Medium is the channel through which the message is communicated, such as television or the internet.
• Culture is socially learned behavior shared by a group.
• Functions of culture include norms, values, and shared practices that guide a society.
• Technological Determinism is The idea that technology shapes and influences culture and society, potentially determining social structures.

Media Literacy

• The ability to access, analyze, evaluate, and create media content
• Media-literacy skills include critical thinking, understanding media influence, recognizing biases, and creating content.
• Multiple points of access refer to the various ways media can be accessed, like TV, online, and mobile.
• Third person effect is the belief that others are more affected by media than oneself.
• Genre refers to categories of media content like comedy or drama.
• Conventions are established methods or rules for creating media content.
• Production values are the overall quality of production in media content.

Five Key Trends in Mass Communication

• Audience Fragmentation is when media is targeted at smaller, more specific groups (niche-marketing).
• Concentration is when a few companies dominate the media industry.
• Hypercommercialism is the increase of commercial messages like product placements.
• Convergence is the merging of different media platforms and technologies.
• Globalization is the worldwide spread of media content.

Pros and Cons of Mass Communication Trends

• Audience Fragmentation leads to greater personalization but reduces shared cultural experience.
• Concentration creates efficiency and cost savings but reduces diversity and competition.
• Hypercommercialism increases funding for media but increases consumer manipulation.
• Convergence allows easier access to content but challenges traditional media outlets.
• Globalization allows greater access to diverse content but has potential cultural homogenization.

Media Concentration vs. Conglomeration

• Media Concentration involves a few companies controlling the majority of media content.
• Conglomeration involves large corporations owning a range of media outlets across industries.
• Synergy is the interaction of different media properties owned by one company, generating more revenue.
• Economies of Scale reduce costs from larger operations.
• Hypercommercialism is the presence of excessive commercial content, such as product placement and brand entertainment.
• Convergence is the integration of multiple media types like online, television, and mobile apps.
• Mass Communication vs. Interpersonal is when Media is becoming more individualized due to technologies like streaming and personalized content.

Book Industry Characteristics

• Often self-published and more direct to the consumer, slower and less corporate-driven than other media industries.
• The pandemic led to a surge in e-book consumption but also disrupted physical bookstores.
• E-Publishing is Digital publishing, including e-books and print-on-demand (POD).
• Self-publishing benefits include greater author control and direct revenue.
• Disintermediation is when Removing intermediaries like traditional publishers, allowing authors to publish directly.
• Aliteracy is Being able to read but choosing not to, differing from illiteracy where someone cannot read.

Developments in Newspapers

• Historical Developments include the rise of penny presses, freedom of the press due to the First Amendment, and the creation of newspaper chains.
• Wire Services are agencies that supply news content to newspapers (e.g., Associated Press).
• Yellow Journalism is Sensationalized, exaggerated news to attract readers.
• Impact of Advertising is that Advertisers still find value in newspapers due to their ability to target local markets.
• Media Concentration is when fewer media owners lead to reduced diversity of voices, which undermines democracy.
• Hedge Funds often cut costs, leading to a decline in quality journalism.
• Hypercommercialism is when newspapers includes sponsored content and advertorials that blur the line between editorial and advertising.
• Digital News Consumption is when Most newspapers now offer digital content, experimenting with paywalls and micropayments.
• Hard News is factual and serious.
• Soft News includes entertainment or human-interest stories.

Key Newspaper Terms

• Report for America is a nonprofit initiative aimed at filling gaps in local news coverage.
• Potential Solutions for Struggling Newspapers include nonprofit models, membership subscriptions, or alternative funding options.
• Increased concentration of ownership has led to hedge fund ownership and conglomeration, resulting in layoffs, increased news deserts, and news holes.

Class Review Terms

• Complimentary Copy is Journalist biased coverage that favors an advertiser message.
• Third person effect People downplay their exposure to influence by media, but see others clearly
• Disintermediation the book publishing industry removes gatekeepers between the audience and the authors

Additional Newspaper Terms

• Technological determinism is When Machines and their development drive social and cultural changes
• Integrated audience reach is the Total number of readers of the print edition of the newspaper plus the unduplicated online readers
• The Launch of the Penny Press was an 1830s development spurring the beginning of an "advertiser-supported” business model for the newspaper industry
• Conglomeration- a non-media parent company at the top, which starts buying smaller media companies (hedge funds)
• Paywall- charging readers to access the newspapers

Advertorial is a Within a newspaper, paid advertising that is made to look like journalistic news content

• Hedge funds are Companies that are non-media related, buying up smaller media-focused outlets
• Subsidiary rights is the Sale of a book, its contents, and characters to filmmakers, paperback publishers, and book clubs
• Convergence is the Blending or convergence of technologies and platforms (i.e., iPhone providing music, entertainment, etc.)

Concentration of ownership is When Massive companies merging with smaller media companies to grow reach and brand

• Hypercommercialism is the Increased amount of advertising in media products (product placement)
• Imprints is When Large book companies often own hundreds of smaller publishing companies
• Narrowcasting Another word for audience fragmentation
• Platform Agnostic person or community who doesn't care how they consume their media
• News Deserts are Communities lacking news coverage
• Taste Publics are When we target in curated ways, we become aligned with others who share our likes
• Aliteracy is When someone possesses the ability to read, but are unwilling to do so

Economies of scale- the bigger the company gets, the more efficient it is to run their business Synergy is When media giants use as many channels/platforms of delivery as possible for similar (or same) content