MASS MEDIA• Medium: a means of communication. Media is the plural of medium.• On average:

• A high school graduate will have spent 11,000 hours or 458 days in a classroom.• A high school graduate will have spent 14,000 hours or 583 days watching television (2+ hours per day).

• “Media tells people what to think about, not what to think.”

MEDIA TYPES1. Television:

• TV is the principal source of news for 80% of Americans.

MEDIA TYPES2. Newspapers:

• 2nd to TV as principal news source.

MEDIA TYPES

3. Radio:• The average American listens to 20+ hours of radio per week.

                                             

MEDIA TYPES

MASS MEDIA• Even with the vast array of media choices, Americans are largely uninformed.

•“Overall, Americans are no better informed now than they were 18 years ago. The least informed are between 18 and 29. And Americans with a high-school degree are likelier to be less informed than those who are college educated.” •“But what is most troubling about the Pew survey is this: Many Americans have no desire to keep informed. They prefer entertainment and celebrity news -- things that just don't matter.”

MASS MEDIA

• How uninformed are we?•This chart is from August 2007

MASS MEDIA

• How uninformed are we?

Who’s at fault?1) The Media? Analysts claim:

• The media is more interested in entertainment than informing the public.

• Sound Bites: short (30 sec.), focused reports.• The “news” tends to be negative.

• This leads many people to ignore news reports.

2) The Public? Observers argue:• Since virtually every aspect of

public affairs is covered by the media . . . • The public is too lazy to pay

attention.