Mass Media

8 aspects to consider in our

course this semester
 The eight aspects are...
• Their importance • Demassification

• Primary Mass • Conglomeration

Media
• Globalization
• Media Models
• Media Melding
• Economics
 Their importance

• “Studying the media gives people

the tools to know whether the media
are living up to their potential as
facilitators of democracy.”
 Importance of Mass Media
• 1. Pervasiveness • 5. Persuasion

• 2. Citizenship • 6. Binding influence

• 3. Information
source
• 4. Entertainment
source
 Primary Media
• Print

– Newspapers

– Books

– Magazines
• Radio

• Television

• Computers

• WWW combines
text, audio, still and
moving visuals.
 Chemical Media
• Film

– “silver halide” most

efficient as storage
medium and can be
projected effectively.
 Mass Communication Models

• Marshall Mc Luhan--Canada, 1950s

• “Hot” media require thinking,

involvement
– Newspapers, books, magazines
• “Cool” media require little effort
– TV, radio
 Models continued

• Entertainment -information model

• A dichotomy
• All media can entertain, inform and
persuade
 Elitist Populist Model

• Elitist-Populist Model
 Elitist-Populist Model
• Elitist • Populist
– media have obli- – marketplace decides
gation to improve, – give people what
better raise public they want
consciousness
– educate, uplift, refine
culture.
– Responsibility: pro-
vide cultural &
intellectual leadership
 Push-Pull Model
• Push media • Pull Media

• Active • Passive

• Thrust messages at • You steer them

you; beepers, ad
banners • TV, Radio
• Receivers are on
 Economics of Mass Media

• Two ways to sell media products:

• 1. Advertising support
– advertisers pay for access to customers
– movie makers use “product placement to
pick up advertising directly
– direct payment
• 2. Circulation revenue
– Direct audience payment--HBO, subs
– Audience donations
– Private support
– Government subsidies
– Auxiliary enterprises--A newspaper may
sell newsprint from its paper factories in
Canada.
 “Economic Imperative”

• Means that you must make money

• The principle at work when TV shows
are cancelled due to low ratings.
• Promotions
 Upside and downside

• Free press
• Independent press

• Hard to get certain themes on air

• Media won’t investigate their co’s
• Who owns the “free” press?
 US Media Landscape
• 12, 227 radio stations
– Average is 5 per household
• 1,564 TV stations
• $40.8 billion in Adv revenues
– 70% to TV; 30% to radio
• 84% have VCR’s
• $123.4 billion total stock market value of Fox,
(News Corp) Walt Disney and CBS
 Factoids about Cable
• 11,800 cable systems.
• Time Warner cable the largest.
• Telecom Inc is largest MSO.
• 67.4% US HH subscribe to cable.
• 50% of cable wired HH have >30 chs.
• Cable costs average $27.43 a month
• HBO first satellite channel--1975
• Industry revenues about $29 billion.
Some thoughts about kids and
TV
• TV is on 7 hours 9 minutes a day.
• Children 2-17 watch TV 3 hours a day
• 1,392 crime stories on ABC/CBS/NBC eve.
news in 1998.
• From 1996-1998 in Prime Time
– 5% increase in violence
– 30% increase in foul language
– 42%increase in sexual content
 The Internet

• 35% of US population use Internet

• 57 % Internet users are men
• 71% purchasing online by men.
• $1.3 billion spent by teens and kids to
buy goods online in 2002 (projection)
• $128.4 billion total stock market value of
American Online, Inc., May 1999
 Media Demassification

• No longer seek mass audiences

• Radio began to demassify in 50s
• Now target segments of market share
• Use demographics, psychographics
 Effects of Demassification
• Advertisers bypass mass media to reach
audiences.
• Alternative media--narrowly focused adv
– Direct mail
– Point of purchase TV commercials
– Grocery stores
– Place-based media
– Doctor’s offices
– Telemarketing
 Consequences
• Tendency

– Revenue base will change.

– Mass media will lose advertising support.

– Did you see Blair Witch.com?

 Media Conglomeration

• Big advantage--stability through rough

periods
• Media ownership changing
• Business mgmt. “experts” run media
enterprise; quality of media suffers
• Mergers, acquisitions, buyouts,
corporate ownership
Top Six US Media Companies

• Time Warner
• News Corps
• Telecommunication, Inc.
• GE-NBC
• Disney ABC
• Microsoft
 Media Monopoly or Not?

• Monopolies
– Justice Dept Needs evidence of
“collusion” to fix prices

– Microsoft investigation
 Dubious Effects of
Conglomeration

• Potential for self serving inherent

• Agenda is profits! Not ideology.
• Negative impact on diversity:
sameness
• Quality suffers: fewer people do more
work. People are laid off.
• Newsgathering suffers
 Positive Effects of
Conglomeration

• US book industry financially stronger

• Builder-entrepreneurs committed to
media and its traditions
 Media Globalization
• “Globalization”--international
conglomerate acquisition for media
holdings
• 1. Transnational ownership
• 2. “anonymous superpowers” which
threaten US cultural autonomy
• 3. Can adopt local strategy and respect
national character and cultural tradition.
 Media Melding--8 primary
media in transition

• Digitization--process that compresses,

stores and transmits data:--text, sound,
video…
• Intracorporate Synergy--TV networks
that rely on one another’s productions;
joint ventures between Hollywood film
studios and TV networks. Partners, not
competitors.
 Final Thoughts on Chapter
One

• Correlation between media use,

education and prosperity key to
development
 The First Amendment

• “Congress shall make no law respecting

an establishment of religion or
prohibiting the free exercise thereof, or
abridging the freedom of speech, or of
the press; or the right of the people
peaceably to assemble, and to petition
the Government for a redress of
grievances.”