Comm 130: Mass Comm 130: Mass Communication SystemsCommunication Systems

Summer 2004

Instructor: Derrick EllisOffice Hours: by appointmentEmail: derrick.ellis@Uconn.edu

Take a moment, flip through your books…

Media and the Information Age:Media and the Information Age:The Changing MediaThe Changing Media

Chapter 1

Q: Why does the influence of media frighten some people?

People as Media ConsumersPeople as Media Consumers

Medium Hours per Person

Annual Media Consumption

Television 1633

Radio 961

Recorded Music 263

Daily Newspapers 151

Internet 124

Books 90

Magazines 107

Video Games 70

Home Video 59

Movies in Theaters 12

Total 3470Veronis, Suhler & Assoc., 2000 – Media Now (p. 4)

That is 9.5 hoursEACH DAY, Per person ofMedia consumption!

-You don’t spend that much time at work!-You don’t spend that much time sleeping!

Why does the influenceof media frighten somepeople?

Changing Media Technologies Changing Media Technologies The primary feature of newer media is the capacity for

representing information digitally Analog vs. Digital

– Analog Media is an exact replication of the sound or image Interference is additive—therefore subsequent copies do not retain the

initial perfection Requires substantial storage/transmission capacity

– Digital (1’s and 0’s) Media is an approximate replication of the original Sampling rate and compression scheme influence file size Interference is non-additive, only errors existing in the original copy will

be reproduced—therefore, copies are identical to the original recording

Changing Media TechnologiesChanging Media Technologies

Advantages to “going digital”– Quality

As mentioned, if 1’s and 0’s can be identified, then the image/sound can be perfectly reproduced

– Channel Abundance Mainly due to the ability to compress digital signals into smaller sizes than

their analog counterparts– Sampling rate, and being able to account for repetitive information greatly

reduce the storage needed– 5 digital cable channels for every 1 analog cable channel

• This will always be increasing (in favor of digital) as new compression protocols are developed

• Fiber optics will enable even more… leading to V.O.D.

– User Control Search engines, V-chip, web directories

Newer Digital MediaNewer Digital Media Telephone

– First consumer communication medium to utilize digital signals (1962)

– T1 lines used to simply serve as the backbone, now they are being used to enable high-speed internet access (DSL, ADSL; Digital Subscriber Line & Asynchronous…)

Print Media– First used digital in late 1960’s in large commercial newspaper

development– Now, virtually all of the print media development process is

digital—save the actual final rendering/printing – Now thousands of newspapers and books are available online

(without being printed)

Newer Digital MediaNewer Digital Media Film

– Computer (digital) Technology in film arrives with the production of Star Wars in 1977

– First completely digital movie is Toy Story (1995)– First digitally filmed live-action movie is The Phantom Menace

(1999)– DVD at home, DLP (Digital Light Projectors) in theaters

Recordings– Digital recordings first hit consumers with CDs (1982)– Now mp3’s are readily available online

Mp3 players are replacing the discman

Newer Digital MediaNewer Digital Media Computers

– PCs first used in 1975– By late 1980’s, CD drives in PCs caused multimedia to become reality– Multimedia explosion with WWW (major events between 1991 and

1995) Cable and Satellite Television

– Cable goes digital in 1998 largely due to competition from DBS (Direct Broadcast Satellites)

– Now many use cable modems for high speed internet access Broadcasting

– HDTV began broadcasting in the US in 1998– DAB (digital audio broadcasting; radio) in 2003

Changing Media in a Changing WorldChanging Media in a Changing World

The “Digital Revolution” has resulted in widespread change in many aspects of communication

– Merging Technologies Convergence – the integration of mass media, computers and

telecommunication Ex. Panasonic SV-AV50s: Photo, Mpeg, TV recorder, Mp3 player, voice

recorder all-in-one for only $399.99

– Merging Industries AOL Time Warner: massive merger… recently dropped “AOL” from the

company name Result from decreased regulations (FCC) and convergence of

communication channels (TV and Computer, phone)

Changing Media in a Changing WorldChanging Media in a Changing World

Changing Lifestyles– 1/3 of Internet users report using TV less than before they started

using the net (Miller & Clemente, 1997)– A poll for MTV found that ¼ of TV viewers go online while they

watch– Conventional media are using newer forms to extend their reach– Digital Divide is picking up where knowledge gap left off

Changing Careers– Convergence means that you need knowledge of media technology

Hopefully this class will help

– 1/50 of all jobs in 2000 were reliant upon computers (University of Texas)

Changing conceptions of the MediaChanging conceptions of the Media

Classic View of Media– SMCR (Schramm, 1982) Model

An elite corps of media commentators and professional producers acted as gatekeepers by making decisions about what would (and would not) appear in the media

– A form of censorship

– Types of Communication Intrapersonal (within the self—me in my car) Interpersonal (between 2 people) Group Communiation (3 or more people)

– Small-group (3-12)– Large-group (12-300ish)

Mass Media (very large audience) Other types:

– Organizational (within formally structured orgs)– Intercultural (across international or cultural borders)

Changing conceptions of the MediaChanging conceptions of the Media Characteristics of New Media

– Interactivity Communication that uses feedback to modify a message

– Interactive fiction, Face-to-Face, IM, ETS Elf, ALICE– Asynchronous Communication

Old Mass media required that the audience receive the message at about the same time—new conceptions of media enable people to “time shift”

– Time shifting is done through things like the VCR and TiVo– Desktop Production

The barriers to media production have been significantly lowered, enabling almost anyone to become a source

This may be impacting the supposed ability of the mass media to “define culture and dictate popular opinion”

The Hamilton Jedi– Multimedia Forms (convergence)– Narrowcasting

Content can be targeted at smaller segments of the audience due to development of new technologies—this type of targeting has become more economically feasible

Perspectives on the Societal Perspectives on the Societal Consequences of TechnologyConsequences of Technology

Technological vs. Cultural Determinism Technological Determinism

– New communication technologies determine culture; it is the form—rather than content—of the media that matters

“The medium is the message” (McLuhan, 1962) Global village becomes a reality as a direct result of electronic communication

– My first exposure to email

– Technology as Dominant Social Force Computers foster a technoploy in which technology is deified Ultimately is responsible for destroying culture

– Media Drive Culture The over-exposure to popular culture causes people to lose critical thinking

and reasoning skills (Postman, 1986)

Perspectives on the Societal Perspectives on the Societal Consequences of Technology Consequences of Technology

(cont’d)(cont’d) Technological vs. Cultural Determinism Cultural Determinism

– Based upon the idea that the source and receiver jointly create meaning in the message Suggests a need to understand the causes underlying media changes, be skeptical

about media industry explanations and look into other potential influencesCalls this process “Media Literacy”

– Political Economy This perspective focuses on the relationships between economic structures, industry

dynamics and the ideological content of media “Media content and media technology are driven by the desire of the ruling classes

to dominate society”– Cultural Studies

These perspectives stress the importance of the cultures that people belong to as a determining factor in their interpretation of the media

People don’t necessarily perceive the message that the source intended