Haris Khan

Throughout this semester of Mass Communication, I have learned many things I did not expect.
When I first decided to take the class, I did not think much of it. However, as the semester progressed, I
feel as though this is one of the more important and useful classes that I have ever took because of
many different aspects of media I learned. There were many interesting topics and I believe the
following to be the ones that stuck out the most to me.

1. Mass Communication, Culture, and Media Literacy

In this chapter there were several interesting concepts and events to choose from, but I believe
the one most important was the Industrial Revolution. People no longer needed to farm to
survive and instead could specialize in other jobs, allowing for more spare time and income.
While it can be argued that the printing press had a more direct impact on mass communication,
without the changes in society that were brought about by the industrial revolution, its effects
would be lessened. People would not have the time nor money to do things like reading or
writing.

2. Convergence and the Reshaping of Mass Communication

An interesting concept in this chapter to me was Globalization. Globalization refers to how

media is connected by large corporations. I find it interesting because of how many different
views there are on it. Some say it leads to media being carefully tailored to what those
corporations want to show, while others believes that without these large corporations with
massive amounts of capital, media would not have been able to reach the scale that it has. This
would mean a less interconnected world and is one of the more major reasons in support of
globalization.

3. Books

While censorship has existed for a long time, it has been getting a lot of attention recently with
places like China and North Korea being some of the more egregious examples of censorship.
Censorship is essentially the limitation of media access. The reason why this poses such a major
issue is that by limiting what people see, you can influence what people think to an extent.
While this most often happens in nations with authoritarian regimes, as they need a way to
control the population, it is not the only place where censorship takes place. For example, some
companies like to hide things they have done long ago, an example of this is how sometimes
when older movies are rereleased, edits are made so they fit modern social standards. Even in
the US some pieces of media are censored as they are deemed too dangerous to society. The
biggest example of this was during the cold war, with the US censoring anything that could have
procommunist sentiments.

4. Newspapers

Something not necessarily interesting but instead very important was how newspapers were
 Haris Khan

affected by the internet. While newspapers are still around and many people buy them, the
internet has significantly decrease newspaper sales as people switch to digital. While some have
seen this decline in newspapers as a bad thing, I believe that this transition is more of an
evolution of how people get their news. People are still receiving the same information and it
can reach more people.

5. Magazine

Like newspapers, I believe that the affect of the internet on magazines is something that is very
important. Physical magazines have declined, but because of the switch to digital, they have
been able to reach many more people. People now can subscribe and gain access to thousands
of magazines when in the past you would have to buy them individually. This has had a huge
positive effect on the magazine industry, however due to competition, magazines are now filled
with advertisements. Many are focusing more on getting as many as possible then what the
magazine is supposed to be about.

6. Film

Something interesting I learned from this chapter was how large the film industry is, with many
movies making well over a billion dollars. In the past, films had mostly been for rich as few could
really afford, but with the rise of major filmmaking studios, it has allowed movies to be viewed
by most. This has generated huge amounts of revenue for these studios, and they only get
larger. However, to some the actual quality of films have degraded. Many newer films appeal to
younger and younger audiences to where it does not matter really what the film is about or
what it shows, instead people watch it because it is new.

7. Radio

I believe that the invention of the radio was easily one of the most important inventions for
mass communication. While similar things like the telephone or telegraph were around by then,
however it is far more difficult to really share information to a large amount of people with
them than it is with the radio. Many people at once could tune into a channel and listen in and it
became so widespread to the point where many families own a radio and spend hours listening
in. It was only until television became cheaper to where it overtook the radio and took on a
similar role. Even then radios are used widely, and people can still tune into many different
channels to listen to music, news, or podcasts.

8. Television, Cable and Mobile Video

Streaming services on television have had a major impact with how people watch movies and
shows. Companies like Netflix took advantage of advancements in technology that allowed them
to stream over the internet to people’s television sets. Because of the much greater
convenience and price, streaming services have expanded significantly. Things like DVD and Blu-
Ray are seen as antiquated while more and more shows and movies are becoming exclusive to
 Haris Khan

streaming services. While in the earlier days of streaming when there were only a few different
choices, the industry has expanded to where several major companies like Disney have their
own streaming platform and create content specifically for it. Overall streaming has brought
more shows and movies to more people but with more and more different platforms each with
their own price and exclusive shows, the trend towards availability may be going back.

9. Video Games

What I found most interesting about this chapter was the sheer scale of the gaming industry,
but despite this you do not really see that much attention from outside of certain circles. I
believe that the main reason for this is because of how affordable they have become and
because of the huge variety they come in and another point I believe is overlooked is how they
are interactive. Movies and shows also come in a huge variety, but there is only so many times
you can watch the same thing. Meanwhile with games, people create their own experiences
with them.

10. The Internet and Social Media

What is arguably the most important creation not just for mass communication, but for the
world overall is the Internet. It has allowed for a level of interconnectivity that has never been
seen before. Really any modern form of communications can trace back to innovations brought
about by the internet. It has been able to provide massive amounts of information to any who
are able to access it, however people have taken advantage of this and use the wide-reaching
effect of the internet to put spread what they want people to think. This has given rise to fake
news and has caused many people to be woefully uninformed. While this is not necessarily new,
the internet has allowed it to affect a great number of people. Despite all this, the benefits
gained by the invention of the internet cannot be overstated. It has radically how people
interact around the entire world.

11. Public Relations

Public relations was something I used to not really pay attention to all that much. Afterall, would
you not want to maintain a good image? Especially with how fast information now spreads due
to the internet, trying to fix a situation quickly is very important. When learning more about it
from this chapter I realize it is far more than just that. While public relations were originally for
maintaining a good, overtime they became more for shaping how the public views something
whether its for a specific person or a massive company.

12. Advertising

Like many forms of media and communication that existed prior to the internet, advertisement
has been drastically changed by its arrival. However, when reading the chapter and seeing how
advertisement was back then and comparing it now, the intention of it has not changed. While
nowadays we complain about how inaccurate advertisement is, when looking at how people did
 Haris Khan

it in the past, it really has not changed that much. I found this to be extremely interesting as I
would have expected older advertisement to be much more honest. Of course, there are
differences from modern advertisement, mainly with the scale. With the internet,
advertisement is placed everywhere to get the most amount of people looking at them. Every
year, billions are spent on them and will only continue to increase as the internet becomes more
and more accessible.

13. Theories and Effects of Mass Communication

An interesting topic in this chapter was the effects debate. Essentially it is whether the media
influences us or not. I found this interesting because it seemed obvious, the media has shaped
us whether for good or bad. Yet, there are people who believe the media has had little to no
effect. It is also interesting to see people on the other side that are completely controlled by
what they see online. They completely trust things that are blatantly false. To me these people
are almost the same and it reminds me of another topic in the chapter of how the media can
make things seem smaller than they are and can make small things seem massive, another way
that they can influence us.

14. Media Freedom, Regulation and Ethics

Regulation of media is probably going to be one of the more important discussions in the
coming years at the internet expands and is becoming accessible to more people. The most
important thing in this chapter I believe was the section about ethics. We can share virtually
anything over the internet, but should we? At what point is the line drawn at and what
concessions should we make to create a better and safer internet? These sort of question I
believe will become major issues that eventually will need to be solved.

15. Global Media

The concept of the global village stuck out the most to me in this chapter. It is the idea that as all
these new communication technologies are being created, people will become more and more
involved in each other’s lives. I feel as though that this is partially true. People are willing to
share more and more information online however, at the same time, you have people living very
private lives and being careful to share anything with the outside world. They even go so far as
to create an entire new identity online so that they may interact with others while not exposing
themselves. I believe that as time goes on this rift will only grow larger and larger between
people who share everything and people who do not show anything.

Throughout the book there were many more interesting topics that stuck out, however
these I believe are by far the most important and the value of what I have learned from them is
immense. With how the world is changing and the role media plays in our daily lives, I believe
that everyone should try to understand it and take part in discussion of how media can be
changed for the better.
Haris Khan