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Amanda  McMahon  
Communications  
9/2/13  

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Chapter  1:  Mass  Communication,  Culture,  and  Media  Literacy  
 
How  communication  works,  how  it  changes  when  technology  is  introduced  
into  the  process,  and  how  different  view  of  communication  and  mass  
communication  can  lead  to  different  interpretations  of  their  power  

 
What  Is  Mass  Communication?  
• Fundamental  theme  of  this  book  is  that  media  do  none  of  this  alone  
• They  do  it  with  us  as  well  at  to  us  through  mass  communication,  and  they  do  
it  as  central-­‐  many  critics  and  scholars  say  the  central-­‐  cultural  force  in  our  
society  
Communication  Defined  
• Communication  is  the  transmission  of  a  message  from  a  source  to  a  receiver  
• There  must  be  a  sharing  (or  correspondence)  of  meaning  for  communication  
to  take  place  
• Feedbackà  message  
• Communication  is  a  reciprocal  and  ongoing  process  with  all  involved  parties  
more  or  less  enough  in  creating  shared  meaningà  defined  as  the  process  of  
creating  shared  meaning  
• Communication  researcher  Wilbur  Schrammà  interpersonal  
communicationà  communication  between  two  or  a  few  people  (shows  that  
there  is  no  clearly  identifiable  source  or  receiver
...
 Are  also  subject  to  additional  feedback,  usually  in  the  form  of  
criticism  in  other  media,  such  as  TV  critic  writing  a  column  in  a  newspaper  
• The  immediacy  and  directness  of  feedback  in  interpersonal  communication  
free  communicators  to  gamble,  to  experiment  with  different  approaches  
• Knowledge  of  one  another  enables  to  tailor  their  messages  as  narrowly  
• Interpersonal  communication  is  often  personally  relevant  and  possibly  even  
adventurous  and  challenging  
• Mass  comm
...
 Carey  (1975)  offered  a  cultural  definition  of  
communication  that  had  a  profound  impact  on  the  way  communication  
scientists  and  other  have  viewed  the  relationship  between  communication  
and  culture  
What  Is  Culture?  
• Culture  is  the  learned  behavior  of  members  of  a  given  social  group  
1
...
Lends  significance  to  human  experience  by  selecting  from  and  organizing  it  
3
...
Historically  transmitted  pattern  of  meanings  embodied  in  symbolic  forms  by  
means  of  which  people  communication,  perpetuate,  and  develop  their  
knowledge  about  attitudes  toward  life  
Culture  as  Socially  Constructed  Shared  Meaning  
• Creation  and  maintenance  of  a  more  or  less  common  culture  occurs  through  
communication,  including  mass  communication  
• When  media  professionals  produce  content  that  we  read,  listen  to,  or  watch,  
meaning  is  being  shared  and  culture  is  being  constructed  and  maintained    
Functions  and  Effect  of  Culture  
• Helps  categorize  and  classify  our  experiencesà  defines  us,  our  world,  and  
our  place  in  it  
• Can  have  a  number  of  sometimes  conflicting  effects  
• Culture  provides  information  that  helps  us  make  meaningful  distinctions  
about  right  and  wrong,  appropriate  and  inappropriate,  good  and  bad,  
attractive  and  unattractive,  and  so  on  
• Culture’s  limiting  effects  can  be  negativeà  when  we  are  unwilling  or  unable  
to  move  past  patterned,  repetitive  ways  of  thinking,  feeling,  and  acting  or  
when  we  entrust  our  “learning”  to  teachers  whose  interest  selfish,  narrow,  or  
otherwise  not  consistent  with  out  own  
• Dominate  culture  (or  mainstream  culture)  the  one  that  seems  to  hold  sway  
with  the  majority  of  people  is  often  openly  challenged  
• Sofia  Vergara,  Queen  Latifah,  J-­‐Lo,  and  Jennifer  Hudson  all  represent  
alternatives  to  our  culture’s  idealized  standards  of  beauty  and  all  have  major  
power  
• Liberation  from  the  limitation  imposed  by  culture  resides  in  our  ability  and  
willingness  to  learn  and  use  new  patterned,  repetitive  ways  of  thinking,  
feeling  and  acting  
•

Bounded  cultures  (or  co-­‐cultures)à  these  smaller  cultures  unite  groups  of  
people  and  enable  them  to  see  themselves  as  different  from  other  groups  
around  them  
• Culture  is  constructed  and  maintained  through  communicationà  also  
communication  (or  miscommunication)  that  turns  differentiation  into  
division  
• Culture  can  divide  us,  but  culture  also  unites  usà  represents  our  collective  
experience  
• Through  communication  with  people  in  our  culture,  we  internalize  cultural  
norms  and  values,  those  things  that  bind  our  many  diverse  bounded  cultures  
into  a  functioning,  cohesive  society  
Mass  Communication  and  Culture  
Mass  Media  as  Cultural  Storytellers  
• Have  responsibility  to  question  the  tellers  and  their  stories  to  interpret  
stories  in  ways  consistent  with  larger  or  more  important  cultural  values  and  
truths  
• To  do  less  is  to  miss  an  opportunity  to  construct  our  own  meaning  and  
thereby  culture  
Mass  Communication  as  Cultural  Forum  
• Mass  comm
...
 It  interrupts  our  own  story,  
interrupts  our  ability  to  have  a  thought  or  daydream,  to  imagine  something  
wonderful  because  we’re  too  busy  bridging  the  walk  from  the  cafeteria  back  
to  the  office  on  the  cell  phone
...
 It’s  a  business
...
 We  exist  to  put  commercials  on  the  air
...
”    
•

Keep  in  mind  that  our  is  a  capitalist  economic  system  and  that  media  
industries  are  businesses  
• Our  task  is  to  understand  the  constraints  places  on  these  industries  by  their  
economics  and  then  demand  that,  within  those  limits,  they  perform  ethically  
and  responsibly  
Mass  Communication,  Culture,  and  Media  Literacy  
• Our  level  of  skill  in  the  mass  communication  process  is  therefore  of  utmost  
importance  
• The  skill  is  media  literacy  the  ability  to  effectively  and  efficiently  
comprehend  and  use  any  form  of  mediated  communication  
The  Gutenberg  Revolution  
• Literacy-­‐  the  ability  to  effectively  and  efficiently  comprehend  and  use  
written  symbols  
• Guttenberg’s  invention  was  world-­‐changing  because  it  opened  literacy  to  all,  
that  is,  it  allowed  mass  communication    
• Printed  materials  were  the  first  mass-­‐produced  product,  speeding  the  
development  and  entrenchment  of  capitalism  
Media  Literacy  
• “If  it  bleeds,  it  leads”  has  become  the  mottoes  for  much  of  local  TV  newsà  it  
leads  because  people  watch  
• We  possess  high-­‐level  interpretive  and  comprehension  skills  that  make  even  
the  most  sophisticated  TV  show,  movie  or  magazine  story  understandable  
and  enjoyable  
• Consider  how  important  the  mass  media  are  in  creating  and  maintain  the  
culture  that  helps  define  us  and  our  livesà  a  skill  that  must  be  improved  
Elements  of  Media  Literacy  
• Media  literacy  includes  these  characteristics  
1
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an  understanding  of  the  process  of  ass  communication  
3
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strategies  for  analyzing  and  discussing  media  messages  
5
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the  ability  to  enjoy,  understand  and  appreciate  media  content  
• multiple  points  of  accessà  to  approach  media  content  from  a  variety  of  
directions  and  derive  from  it  many  levels  of  meaning  
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an  understanding  of  the  ethical  and  moral  obligations  of  media  practitioners  
Media  Literacy  Skills  
• media-­‐literate  consumption,  however,  requires  a  number  of  specific  skills  
1
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an  understanding  of  an  respect  for  the  power  of  media  messages  
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third-­‐person  effectà  the  common  attitude  that  other  are  influenced  by  media  
messages  but  that  we  are  not  
3
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development  of  heightened  expectations  of  media  content  
5
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the  ability  to  think  critically  about  media  messages,  no  matter  how  credible  
their  sources  
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