Chapter 1: Communication, Mass and Other Forms

The communication process

The communication process

• a source• a process of encoding• a message• a channel• a process of decoding• a receiver• potential for feedback• the chance for noise

Source

• starts with a thought• wants to share that

thought with some other entity

• can be anyone: an individual, group, or organization

Encoding

• what a source goes through to take that idea, and express it in a way that can be perceived

• speech, words, image -- any form of expression

Message

• the actual physical product encoded by the source

• Article, TV show, speech

Channels

• the ways the message travels to the receiver

• our senses: vision, hearing, smell

Receiving the message: decoding

• opposite of encoding, this means how you translate and interpret the message

• examples of decoders: tv set, radio, phone, YOU

The receiver

• the target for the message, the ultimate goal• the audience

Feedback

• responses from the receiver, expressing their interpretation of the message

• positive & negative

Noise

• anything that interferes with the delivery of the message

• Semantic, Mechanical & Environmental• Semantic: Soda vs. pop Words & phrases can

have different meanings to different people• Mechanical: decoder malfunction TV broken,

phone drops a call, pen runs out of ink• Environmental: “noise” that’s external to the

communication process, e.g noisy restaurant, distracted receiver

Interpersonal communication

• when a person, or group, is interacting with another person or group

• w/o the aid of a mechanical device

• having a conversation, participating in class

Machine assisted Interpersonal Communication

• Combines characteristics of both the interpersonal and mass communication situations.

• email• ATM• Power point

Mass Communication

• complex organization with the aid of one or more machines produces and transmits public messages that are directed at large groups, and scattered audiences

• TV, Radio, Advertising, Print Media <--- media vehicles

• Media vehicle: single component of the mass media

Gatekeepers

• a person or group who has control over what material eventually reaches the public

• Movies: Motion Picture Association of America, directors, producers

• Radio & TV: FCC, program directors• Print: Editors

The internet and mass communication

• Mass communication or machine assisted interpersonal communication?

• offers the potential to reach ....EVERYBODY

• new type of mass communicator....YOU

Publishing on the web

• really, anyone with the knowledge & access can publish on the web

• blogs, personal websites, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube

• Just because the potential for mass communication is there -- doesn’t mean you’re actually reaching anyone!

• i.e. if no one visits your website, no mass communication has taken place

Traditional communication model

Segmenting the mass audience

• 1930’s, everyone listened to Amos & Andy, today the top rated radio stations only represents about 3% of the total audience (How many choices were there???)

• Demographics: breakdowns based on age/gender• Many choices for the audience, leads to increased

audience control. Example: radio/satellite/iPod; TV/Tivo/Hulu.com/Streaming video; Movies in the theater/Netflix

Convergence

• Convergence: the process of coming together or uniting in a common interest or focus

• Corporate convergence: This trend started in the 1980s with synergy. Companies that were content providers, such as movie studios and record labels, acquired distribution channels such as cable TV. As digital technologies emerged, synergy turned into convergence, a vision of one company delivering every service imaginable. Example: Microsoft about Skype, will package with Xbox

Convergence

• Operational Convergence: This occurs when owners of several media properties in one market combine their separate operations into a single effort. Example: in Florida, TV station WFLA, the Tampa Tribune, and TBO.com operate a converged news department. In the end it saves money by co-opping resources. What does it do to jobs?

• Device Convergence: combining the functions of two or three devices into one mechanism. Example: iPhone -- is a phone, an MP3 player, and a camera, and it can connect to the Internet.

Important Trends

• Multiple platforms: “everything, everywhere” Newspapers with a print edition, website, app, social media.

• User-generated content: YouTube, Flickr, Facebook – the users create the content. News stations asking for and airing cell phone pics, video.

• Mobile media: More than 45 million people have smartphones; more than 15 million have an iPad or other tablet computer; and more than 3 million have the Kindle e- reader.

• Social media: online communications that use special techniques that involve participation, conversation, sharing, collaboration, and linkage.