MCS .pdf

Tuesday, 3 September 2024 Milestones in communication science Lecture 1 - theories, models and concepts of communication science when did we start talking about mass communication? television was discovered in the 1960s —> new medium + ww2 propaganda led to a new...

Tuesday, 3 September 2024 Milestones in communication science Lecture 1 - theories, models and concepts of communication science when did we start talking about mass communication? television was discovered in the 1960s —> new medium + ww2 propaganda led to a new stimulus in communication science companies start to believe in the power of mass communication, marketing revenue going through the roof during this time after ww1 mass communication started taking power due to the radio etc… - McQuail dates the starting point of comm sci in 1918 19th century: the starting point of our modern media landscape, a time of industrialisation - rise of nationalism - birth of political parties - birth of socialism - rise of the media Ww1 - we see huge propaganda e orts (radio, newspapers, magazines) all these platforms clamoured for attention, we call this CAMPAIGNING: how to use communication to reach a particular goal - those campaigns were aggressive and spread patriotic messages - on the other hand those campaigns motivated the population set for war - communication had caused enthusiasm for the war 1  ff  - enormous belief in the power of mass communication, especially after the wars, this leads to funding research, writing books and understanding how all these comm processes work second answer: this is an ancient discipline, people have been studying it for more than 2000 years but the rst examples come from the greeks and romans the greeks called it “rhetorica” focused on persuasion, the romans spread it throughout the world—> earliest written models of comm sci Two schools of early comm sci DIALECTIC METHOD RHETORICA through discourse and logic you can nd comes from the greek “rethor”: public the truth of a matter speaker rational argumentation much more writings and speakings discussion focused more on persuasion socrates and plato aristotle LOGOS- use of reason ETHOS- trustworthiness & intelligence of the sender PATHOS- emotional appeals what is communication: - an organised means of openly communicating with an audience - di erent channels have di erent characteristics - channels are media Romans and Greeks had a lot of di erent channels that we still use such as the spoken word, media that are outside of ourselves like art, coins, architecture the coin is recognised as being from athens because of the owl and then athena —> this process is called CULTURAL COMMUNICATION - communication that only you understand if you are familiar with the symbols of said culture 2  ff fi ff fi ff  some scholars say that all communication ic cultural some say that there is some natural communication Cicero - De Oratore - how to make your communication be e ective - familiarity with the sender establishing likability establishing trust - Goals of communication focus on achievable goals - How are this goals achieved? methods Chapter 1. Introduction Mass communication theory - the focus is on all mass communication not only that is mediated through technology - the de nition of mass media is quite broad - communication is the transmission of meaning and it has all kind of aspects (political, social, media, etc..) 1. Transmission model 3 components: sender —> message —> receiver - all these 3 elements are variables that are linked by causal relationships - it is a linear model, meaning that it only goes in one direction - this model supposes that there is only one meaning to the message and it is the one the sender intended, it is a monosemic model - a lot of things can go wrong in the communication process 3  fi ff  Laswell model who-what-channel-whom-e ect - Noise: the element that makes the model go wrong, what disrupts the transmission - polysemic models assume that there is no wrong interpretation/ outcome - in this model the sender determines the meaning Four dimensions and types of media theory 4  ff  The pyramid of communication it shows the communication process -how communication interacts with other disciplines possible essay question: How does the virtual helpdesk of a bug organisation t into this pyramid? a situation that used to be to people is now a person and an ai that is generated to communicate with many di erent people. Week 2 (10/9/2024): Today’s agenda · Disruptive innovations in the media landscape · From beginnings to mass media: - Print media: newspaper - Other print media: pamphlet - New journalism · Communication revolution: new media vs. Old 5  ff fi  - Internet - Digital games · Continued signi cance of media Milestones of media (discussed last week) · Oral communication (Milestone 1) · Figurative media · The written word What are disruptive innovations · Societal change can occur: - Organically – an evolution - Disruptively – as revolution · Displace innovations ultimately displace old paradigm and install new ones Media timeline: · New media emerge, but old ones often do not disappear What developments made changes in media landscape possible? · Technological developments, like the printing press, the light · Social developments: people learned how to read, a growing need to information · Economical developments: the 19th century was a period of industrialisation · Political systems were born: political parties 6  fi  Milestone 4: the printing evolution · The introduction of early modern printing press · Woodblock Printing (250 AD) - Have to carve it into wood, not really text, mainly pictures - Handwriting was quicker · Moveable type (~1045) - Also ‘cliche’ - A small letter stamps that you can reshu e - More people could read and write, so it was worthwhile to print a book or pamphlet · Gutenberg Press 1436 - Took the other technologies together - Marked the end of the Middle Ages and the beginning of the renaissance · The printing revolution went hand in hand with increased literacy · Boom in book shops & book peddlers · Fuelled/caused the religious war · Luther tracts were printed 300.000 times · Erasmus was a best seller with 750.000 copies · Short books, or pamphlets (up to 64 pages) were most successful è They were the predominant carrier of news and entertainment · Printed rhymes & songs catered to an oral news system (easy to listen to and read out loud) Pamphlets · Very popular during the renaissance 7  ffl  · Main function was to inform and entertain · Sensational, tried to grab your attention (9 di erent fonts on the rst page) · Newspaper originally were meant for the elite, showed grain prices, etc... · Government also used them for mobilization (->religious wars) · Most printing studios were privatized, most bookstores also had a printing studio in the back Milestone 5: the newspaper · In the 19th century, the newspaper became the true mass medium · ‘New Journalism’ · The newspaper changed, it supplanted the pamphlet and boomed in production · The modern newspaper (news genres) was born The power and in uence of mass media increased in the nineteenth century · More people were able to read and write · New print technologies · New methods for making paper · Advertisers realised that most of t he time, women did the household purchases è Women (and children) were suddenly seen as a group to make content/ products for New Journalims · New topics · New genres (news report -> uses the inverted pyramid like most news formats) 8  fl ff fi  · Larger audience · New audience groups · More regional and local coverage · News industry became a pro table business Media Baron Randolph Hearst, designed books, pamphlets, drawings like the golden gate park è More than 20.000 people visited on opening day Professionalization of Journalism · More Status · Press card · Important politicians · Masters of industry · Important literary gures · Specialised education —> Exclusivity was added —> Journalists were glori ed · books and magazines on the topic · Journalistic ideals · Journalistic method · Regional and local journalists The communications revolution: new media vs. Old Milestone 6: invention of internet · Fear of atomic war · Linking computers together · 1962-1969: developments of arpanet 9  fi fi fi  · Idea behind: Military still wanted the computer to ‘retain its thoughts’ even if it was taken out by an atomic bomb -> ‘share its thoughts’ with other computers · Internet was nanced by defence department · First operational packet switching network · Social and public internet came much later as an initial side e ect of this invention Milestones 7: Digital Games · International video game revenue is estimated to be circa 100B dollars (more than double the revenue of the international lm industry) · Increasingly central to popular culture · Policies to stimulate the industry across countries (e.g. Singapore, South Korea, Ireland) · Initially were developed to test computers The continued signi cance of mass media: modern milestones · Early 90s: global system for mobile communication and the World Wide Web – predicitons about the end of mass media and communication · Nowadays: blurred boudnaries between media and communication types Lecture 3 **Chapters 3 and 4 of McQuail’s *Media and Mass Communication Theory* (7th Edition) by Denis McQuail and Mark Deuze provide an in-depth exploration of key aspects of media and communication theory. Here’s a detailed summary of both chapters:** --- 10  fi fi fi ff  ### **Chapter 3: Theories of Media and Society** This chapter addresses the broad and diverse theoretical approaches that link media and society, focusing on how media both in uences and re ects societal structures and changes. It discusses the complex relationship between media and society from various theoretical perspectives. The key elements of this chapter include: 1. **The Role of Media in Society**: - Media are essential institutions in society that in uence culture, politics, and social interaction. - Media functions as a bridge between individuals and societal structures, mediating our understanding of the world. 2. **Media as a Social Institution**: - Media is analyzed as a social institution, functioning alongside other societal institutions like education, religion, and government. - Media holds both power and responsibility in shaping public opinion, distributing knowledge, and maintaining cultural cohesion. 3. **Theories of Media Power**: - The chapter reviews theories that focus on the power dynamics between media and society. - **Marxist Theory**: Media serves as an instrument of dominant ideologies, promoting the interests of the ruling class (bourgeoisie) over the working class (proletariat). - **Pluralist Approach**: Media is a re ection of societal diversity, giving voice to a wide array of groups and interests. - **Cultural Hegemony** (Gramsci): Media helps maintain the status quo by promoting hegemonic values that marginalize alternative views. 11  fl fl fl fl  - **Political Economy of Media**: Examines media as an industry controlled by capitalist structures, focusing on ownership, commodi cation, and the economic interests shaping content. 4. **Media and Public Sphere**: - The chapter discusses **Jürgen Habermas’s** concept of the public sphere, where media functions as a forum for public discourse and democratic debate. - Media has historically contributed to the formation of a public sphere, but modern mass media often distorts it by prioritizing entertainment and commercial interests over serious public debate. 5. **Media E ects on Society**: - Various models are discussed regarding the e ects of media on society, ranging from strong media e ects (hypodermic needle theory) to more moderate and negotiated e ects (uses and grati cations, active audience theory). - The chapter also touches on the **agenda-setting theory**, which suggests that while media does not dictate what people think, it signi cantly in uences what they think about by shaping the public agenda. 6. **Normative Theories of Media**: - This section outlines di erent normative theories that prescribe how media should function within society. - **Authoritarian Theory**: Media should serve the interests of the state and uphold social order. - **Libertarian Theory**: Media should operate free from government control, serving as a marketplace of ideas where truth emerges from free debate. - **Social Responsibility Theory**: Media should be free but also held accountable to the public interest, emphasizing ethics and the need for balanced, fair coverage. - **Developmental Media Theory**: In developing countries, media should play an active role in promoting national development, unity, and cultural identity. 7. **Technological Determinism and Social Shaping of Technology**: 12  ff ff ff ff fi ff fi fi fl  - **Technological Determinism**: This theory suggests that technology shapes society, and media technologies determine societal changes. - **Social Shaping of Technology**: The opposing view argues that societal forces, such as politics, culture, and economics, shape technological development and media content. --- ### **Chapter 4: Mass Communication and Culture** This chapter delves into the relationship between mass communication and culture, exploring the various cultural theories and frameworks that have emerged to explain the media's role in cultural production, representation, and consumption. 1. **Culture and Communication**: - Media not only re ects culture but also actively participates in the creation, dissemination, and interpretation of culture. - Culture is understood as a set of practices, norms, values, and symbols that bind a society together, and media plays a central role in transmitting these cultural elements. 2. **Cultural Theories of Mass Media**: - The chapter introduces key theories that explain the interaction between media and culture. - **Cultural Studies**: This approach, particularly in uenced by scholars such as **Stuart Hall** and the **Birmingham School**, emphasizes how media both re ects and shapes cultural ideologies, identities, and power relations. It looks at media as a site of struggle where dominant ideologies are both reinforced and resisted. - **Encoding/Decoding Model**: Stuart Hall’s model posits that media messages are encoded by producers with particular meanings but are decoded by audiences in various ways, depending on their social and cultural context. Audiences may accept, negotiate, or oppose the intended message. 13  fl fl fl  3. **Media Representation and Identity**: - The chapter explores how media representation in uences identity formation, addressing key areas such as race, gender, class, and sexuality. - Media is a powerful tool in constructing social identities by shaping how di erent groups are portrayed, whether stereotypically or in more nuanced ways. 4. **Media as Cultural Production**: - The chapter discusses media as an industry of cultural production, focusing on how cultural products (TV shows, movies, news, etc.) are created, distributed, and consumed. - **Cultural Industries Theory**: Based on the works of **Theodor Adorno** and **Max Horkheimer** (Frankfurt School), this theory critiques the commodi cation of culture by mass media, where cultural products become standardized and pro t- driven rather than innovative or diverse. 5. **Globalization and Media**: - The chapter discusses the impact of globalization on media and culture, emphasizing the rise of global media corporations that dominate cultural production and distribution worldwide. - It also discusses the tension between global homogenization of culture (Western cultural dominance) and local resistance, which has led to a hybridization of cultural forms. 6. **Popular Culture and Media**: - Popular culture, largely shaped by media, is examined as both a form of mass- produced entertainment and a site of meaning-making for audiences. - The chapter addresses debates about whether media-driven popular culture is a form of empowerment for the masses or a tool of social control that perpetuates dominant ideologies. 7. **Media, Ritual, and Collective Memory**: 14  fl fi ff fi  - Media plays a signi cant role in collective rituals (e.g., national events, sporting events, elections) and in shaping collective memory (how societies remember and make sense of their past). - The chapter discusses how media representations of historical events contribute to the construction of collective identity and cultural memory. 8. **Cultural Globalization vs. Local Cultures**: - The concept of **cultural imperialism** is explored, which critiques the dominance of Western media (especially American) and its impact on eroding local cultures. - At the same time, the chapter addresses the phenomenon of **glocalization**, where global media forms are adapted to t local cultural contexts. chapters 3 & 4 only highlighted paragraphs in the ppts The role of media in society 2 main schools: - the Frankfurt school - the Toronto school concepts and theories a concept is a principle or idea, that is connected to a larger theory. A theory links to concepts together ion a casual relationship. for exam: 1) Either go more in depth and use more concepts that belong to theories you already discuss. This requires in depth knowledge of the book chapters. 2) You can make your argument a bit broader and discuss connected theories/ concepts. the theories in the questions are a stepping stone, link to other theories 15  fi fi  Mass communication the traditional paradigm: its large scale, one-directional, asymmetrical communication between sender and receiver (the two do not talk back and forth, thats why its asymmetrical) - the sender has much more power than the receiver the relationship is very calculative meaning that the sender has a particular goal inn mind that he sets out to achieve there are genres that are basically standards of content in a media landscape the genres are very stable (porridge e ect: genres staying somewhat the same through time by nding mechanisms that work and keep working) Herbert Blumer (1939) group communication rather than mass communication features: Smaller scale Membership is semi voluntary Long term relationship Based on emotions and sense of belonging Semi organized Hierarchy Rules and conventions More power in media relations men is designed to live in group and living in group os o than living in a live mass audience, groups are smaller scale so they make more sense. Being part of a group has something to do with feeling connected as a natural human response thats why it is mostly voluntary. It has to do with emotion and a sense of belonging a group is organised as a hierarchy that has rules and conventions. there are understood implicitly by the members of the group - there is annoyance to people breaking the group norm (ex. a student speaking too much in a lecture) groups have informal norms and rules that we sometimes are not aware of and at the same time we monitor people’s behaviour if they adapt to these norms - these rules make groups stronger in the relationship with the media 16  fi ff ff  you are not an individual but rather a member of a group and that group helps you encode the meaning of media in groups there are opinion leaders: people in a group that have authority on a topic with the group (ex. the one in the group who has a lot of knowledge ab movies to whom the others go to for opinions on that topic) Questions concerning the mass - Defenseless or not? - One group or not? - Community forming or destroying? - Is there a mass culture (=everything that binds you together as a group)? - Personal attitude versus mass emotions - Internal order: rules hierarchy or not? - is the formation of the group spontaneous or long term? Publicity model less concerned w successful transmission of meaning and more about gaining a large hearing. It has an economically driven perspective - a large audience makes a medium attractive for advertisers, the key concept is reach Ritual model also known as cultural model how we create a mutual understanding in our communication process, it sees communication as a symbolic act between parties that are equal the process is the focus here communication as a “symbolic process whereby reality is produced, maintained, repaired and transformed” - social life is more than power and trade, it also includes sharing of values, sentiments and notions - a ritual order 17   - it focuses in the ACT of communication Reception model focuses on the receiver of the message - leaves room for interpretation. focuses how we deconstruct a message and uses our background to give it meaning. our own tools are used to interpret the message Four models compared: Orientation of Sender Receiver Transmission model Transfer of meaning Cognitive processing Expressive or ritual Consummation/shared Performance model experience Attention-giving Publicity model Competitive display spectatorship 18   Di erential encoding/ Reception model Preferential encoding construction of meaning Perspective of media in metaphors metaphors to describe how media connects us with reality media as a - lter - gatekeeper: why some topics are talked about and not others - screen: media gives so much info that they screen audience from reality (some scholars say that media always function as a screen, they give us a fake version of reality all the time) - guide post: explaining the world (events) from a certain ideal, through a particular ideological lens - window: a more objective metaphor, where we can see the world through the lens of media landscape (ex. seeing a country through a screen) - mirror: media re ect and image of society back to us (some scholars say that this mirror gives of a distorted reception of reality) - tainted mirror - opium for the people: something that distracts us from what us truly important (ex. In roman times games were used to distract the masses for the fact that there was a famine) - arena: place where people ght out their battles - hypodermic needle: certain ideas are injected into society 19  fi ff fl fi  - lap dog: media neatly follows the instruction of governments etc - sheep dog: guides us towards safety and informs us of important things - watchdog: the critical role of the media to shed light on issues of power and corruption - scapegoat: ex. for parents to explain as to why their children come up spoiled - network: something where u connect w people - platform: a space to connect nd amplify vioice - forum: - market place: where u buy and sell things - teacher: teaches u things How are they used in theoretical perspectives? Three main schools: Frankfurt school, Toronto school, Birmingham school 1. The Frankfurt school Founded in 1930 to explain why the marxist revolution of workers in the world did not happen. its a neo-marxist school of thought. the people that belong to this approach start w the premise e that the world is a very unfair placer and wealth and goods and living spaces are distributed unequally and ,most these goods are in the hand sof the powerful elite that has power on economy, politics, military but also the media landscape This school explores the most important technique in their opinion that keeps us from rising up. Why are we not rising up to this condition? the answer is that our media landscape is used as a tool to programme us that it does not make sense for us to rise up and distracts us w entertainment from the unfairness of the world 20   Challenges the assumption that mind-numbing, distracting, dumb, vulgar elements of pop culture are a re ection of the low-brow tastes of the masses —> we see this stupid content bc its designed to be that way not because the masses are stupid They are interested in the hidden meaning within pop culture and how it programs us not to rise up Culture industry - its seen as a powerful mechanism for sharing cultural norms and values - mass production of standardised cultural goods contributes to societal passivity - manipulation of mass society: discussion on how the uniformity of cultural products leads to the passive consumer reception - discourages critical thinking Our choices in life re based on rationality however if u look at the main issue here at hand, we are shown anything but rational behaviour bc people in the masses are very poor. it would make sense to demand for a distribution of goods but thats bot what happening. Instrumental reason is reason being used to reshape our way of thinking and dissuade us from revolting another concept is commodi cation the idea that we make anything into product - the idea of happiness is being commodi ed as well through consumer behaviour - it seems that its completely catered for you but it is actually not - pseudo- individualisation: idea that something is ours or ours alone but is not Hegemonic theory (Gramsci): there are secret tools hidden in pop cultural messages that tells us where power lies 21  fi fl fi  2. Toronto School Main exponents: Marshall McLuhan and Harold Innis - focuses mainly on the form and function of media communication rather than content - culture is in uenced more by the characteristics of the medium rather than by the actual content - we, as a civilisation are using communication methods and we are changing as well, we are fundamentally di erent from people 100 years ago because we used di erent technologies - technology plays a tole in how we think and perceive messages “the medium is the message” - McLuhan - concept of time-biased and space-biased media there are some media that are more durable and long lasting (time-biased) and other that are portable and easy to move around (space-biased) The bias of communication is a theory developed by Harold Innis Every medium is biased with respect to space and time Time-Biased media are long lasting and durable like stones or statues and are used to pass down knowledge and traditions over long periods of time Time-Biased media are usually heavy and hard to move around making it slower and harder to reach wider audiences Space-Biased media are immediate, portable and easy to move around but have a short lifespan like paper, television and radio Space-Biased media can move around information quickly but lacks the long-lasting e ect of Time-Biased media - Hot vs cool media (McLuhan) Hot Media are high de nition and rich in information requiring little participation from the audience 22  fl ff fi ff ff  Cool Media are lower in sensory data McLuhan: as more of our senses are engaged in the process of taking meaning the more involving and participatory the experience is (like television and phone conversations) Possible questions: Egypt shuts down the internet in January 2011 in order to avoid protests being organised online. A possible essay question could be: Discuss what happened from the Toronto and Frankfurter perspectives. Show the di erence between these approaches. 23  ff