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Media, Society and Culture
Lecture notes

CMNS-130
C.A. Murray
The Definition of Communication
 From Latin Communicare
 Verb: to share, impart, to make meaning
common
 To give or receive information, signals, messages
in any way
 Using talk, gestures, writing or other means
 “ a meaningful exchange of information”

CMNS-130
C.A. Murray
Origins of Communication
 Part of human search to transcend time and
space
 One of the oldest of human practices:
 Essential for social survival, economic organization
 Formal study rooted in classical politics from times of
Ancient Greece and Rome under a different title:
rhetoric, literary criticism, persuasion (humanities)
 Development of the study of Mass Communication
allied with rise of social sciences and mass marketing

CMNS-130
C.A. Murray
Mass Communication
 Communication from one person, group or
institution through a transmission system
or medium to large audiences or markets
 From one ( or few) to many
 Implies concept of gatekeeper: controller of transmission/message
design
 Implies concept of effectiveness and efficiency: is messaging achieving
what it intended?

CMNS-130
C.A. Murray
Media of “Mass” Communication
 Print
 Newspapers
 Magazines
 Books
 Audio
 Radio
 Music/Sound Recording
 Visual
 Film
 TV
 Videogames
 Digital
 Internet

CMNS-130
C.A. Murray
Characteristics of Mass Communication
 Message produced in complex organizations
 Message fixed in some form with information and
symbolic content ( either in digital bits or commodity
form)
 Message is sent/transmitted or diffused widely via a
technological medium
Newspaper, magazine, CD or videocassette, radio,
television, satellite or Internet
 Message is delivered rapidly over great space
 Message reaches large groups of different people
simultaneously or within a short period of time
 Message is primarily one-way, not two way

CMNS-130
C.A. Murray
Transformation of ‘Mass’
Communication
 Arrival of computers and switched two-way
interactive technology …digitization
 Internet
 From one to one, … from many to many--almost
infinitely
 Rise of transactional media ( pay per bit)
 Resistance of media piracy: swapping and
downloading

Mass Communication: Frame work
 Mass Communication & Mass media
 The media are technologically developed and
economically profitable forms of human
communication, held either in public or private
ownership, which can transmit information and
entertainment across time and space to large
groups of people.
 Significance of media in contemporary society

Mass media in contemporary society
People are concerned about how media content influences us both
individually and collectively
how media operate
what influences they have on both children and adults
whether they are ethical and responsible in what they present
How much control society actually have over their content
Portrayal of violence
Excessive sexual depiction
language used

Issues
 Relations with politics and the state
 Cultural issues
 Social concerns
 Normative questions
 Economic concerns

Theories in mass communication
 Social Scientific Theory
 Cultural Theory
 Normative
 Operational
 Common sense theory of media use

Academic origin and concerns
 Science of Communication
 Alternative traditions of analysis
Structural
Behavioural
Cultural

Culture
 Culture is a property of a society or group of people who
live together; a culture is shared by everyone and does
not belong to any single individual.
 Within a society, there is often a general culture that
binds everyone in a society. However, there can also be
one or more sub-cultures, usually based on demographic
or linguistic characteristics, which bind certain groups
together
 within the general culture. A case in point: youth culture.

Three dimensions of Culture
 Beliefs and values. Beliefs are ideas people hold to be
true; values are judgments about what is good, important,
desirable or pleasing.
 Rituals and customs. People who share the same culture
engage in certain rituals, common and routine behaviors
that come to be associated with that culture.
 Cultural artifacts represent anything that is an expression
of a culture and can be observed. Artifacts include
gestures, actions, words, images,languages, handmade
crafts or manufactured goods.

 Social Construction of Culture

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201 Unit media culture and technologies

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