Abstract This paper discusses the current age of global media in which we are living. Though smaller factions of media do still exist, a select few massive companies currently maintain control over most of the world's newspapers and television stations. The paper further discusses how these corporations, like all mass media, have the power and access to affect trends and advance their own corporate agendas in all areas around the globe. It is imperative, then, that individuals living in this age not only know the range and possibilities within global media but understand the channels and powers at work.
Abstract Over the last several years communications technology has evolved dramatically. To wit, things such as the Internet, iPods, Blackberries and high definition television are all items that were either non-existent or unavailable to the general public less a decade ago. The paper examines the rapid evolution of communication technology by looking at one particular aspect of it; specifically, time will be devoted to exploring the current state of Internet television, as two of today's most widespread communicationmedia gradually merge into one.
Abstract In this article, the writer discusses that in today's world, the mass media has an impact in almost all we do as people. The writer notes that media affects everything from what clothes we wear to what television programs we watch. The writer discusses that James Lull, in his book 'Media, Communication, Culture' explains how media interacts and affects the communication among people and how culture changes with advances in media and technology. The writer concludes that 'Media, Communication, and Culture' informs an audience of how the mass media and modern forms of communication have affected the development of culture and the ways of society. Further, the writer maintains that James Lull uses a distinctive style and a logical structure in order to properly educate his audience about the influence mass media has on today's world.
From the Paper "Within each chapter, he inserts an article on a real life example of events where mass media, human communication, and culture were involved and had an effect. Such events as the Chinese student rebellion at Tiananmen Square in 1989 and the Bill Clinton/Monica Lewinsky scandal in the mid-1990's are included along with explanations of how media, communication, and culture had an effect on these historical events. Along with modern events, Lull includes historical changes in media and communication to emphasize his argument that mass media and technological advances have had major effects on societies across the world. His structure also allows for any member of his audience to follow and understand what he puts forth. Lull avoids implication and instead tells the audience what he wants them to know to avoid letting them infer it on their own. An informed audience will also understand an author's purpose more readily than an audience which inferred the author's intentions. Lull also tends to end discussions by putting more emphasis on his own ideas and support of others that follows what he believes about media, communication, and culture."
This informative paper details the advantages and disadvantages of the personal and informal method of communication, as opposed to the more structured forms which tend to be artificial by comparison.
Abstract This well-researched paper defines and details the differences between the various forms of communication currently being used in business. The writer of this paper maintains that informal communication, also known as face-to-face communication, is a more viable and practical method of disseminating and sharing information. The writer also explores the various media rich, advanced technologies available and goes on to explain why these forms of communications are incapable of delivering information in the manner intended.
Outline
The Rising Importance of Information Technology (IT)
Organization Information Processing
Impact of IT on Information Processing
Informal Communication Process
Early Rational Theories
Media Richness Theory
Alternative Media Choice Theories
Critical Mass Theory
Organization Culture: Social Norms
Background Conditions
The Media Choice
Informal Communication Process in Organization
Bibliography
From the Paper "In the 1990s the business environment is highly turbulent and complex, where competitive pressure is increasing with globalization. Topping this off is the dramatic, pervasive and quickly felt implications of the information revolution. In this climate new paradigms are created and with it new opportunities. To capitalize on these opportunities and to handle the complex environment, an organization requires timely and relevant information more than even before. Information has always been the life blood of the organization; it enables an organization to make sense of the world, to resolve ambiguity and to facilitate decision making and coordination. Information is an important source of competitive advantage."
Tags:media, communication, it, technology, information, applied, practice, business
Abstract This paper analyzes the origins of language and its relationship to human societies and media. The paper argues the thesis that language is not simply a vehicle for communication but also a means for the control of the world around us and its social orders. The paper then looks at contemporary mass media, popular culture and their employment for political purposes. The paper explains that the complex structures of signification of language texts in mass media is essential to understand and resist their deployment as vehicles of power and control. In conclusion, the paper shows that as political culture draws upon popular culture to achieve its mythologizing effects, it becomes imperative that media literacy be achieved in order that the mass media audience at least has the possibility of interrogating media messages and asserting their identities as citizens rather than consumers.
Outline:
Introduction
Language and the Earliest Human Societies
Language, Media and the Construction of Human Societies
Visual Mass Media and Multi-textual Communication Conclusion
From the Paper "This insight is critical to understand the structural convergence of media and language in human civilization. Language is more than simply a system whereby particular vocal utterances contain socially-agreed meanings. From this perspective, the origins of language and media of communication have been recognized as being key determining factors in the construction of human societies from earliest times. Whether in oral, literate or digital societies the manner by which language is used to communicate thoughts and ideas has played a major role in the design and workings of those societies. While most people use the term language in reference to the various spoken languages developed in societies around the world, in reality language is much more complex. It is a system of signs - communicated usually through vocal speech - which are commonly agreed to have an "objective" reference (Berger and Luckmann 36)."
A summary of the uses and gratifications theory and the agenda-setting theory, two of the most popular and widely recognised theories in communication science.
Abstract This paper studies a local publication, the South African edition of "Men's Health" to investigate the reasoning behind mass media public reading and exposure to this print media product. In order to explain the research findings two prominent mass communication theories are used as theoretical frameworks in the study. This is because an international publication that has over twenty-five versions all over the world, such as "Men's Health", is accessible to many different people on many levels of society and so it therefore forms an integral part of the mass media and provides for an ideal case study. The two theories used are the uses and gratifications theory and the agenda-setting theory, two of the most popular and widely recognised theories.
Outline
Introduction
The Publication
Two Communication Theories
Uses and Gratifications Theory
What Gratifications Are Sought And Obtained?
Media's Role in the Gratifications Process
The Three Processes
Expectancy-Value Theory
Dependency Theory
The Agenda-Setting Theory
Definition
Core Assumptions
Theory Framework and Developments
Contingency Factors
Issue Obtrusiveness
Levels of Agenda-Setting
Critique
Uses and Gratifications Theory
Agenda-Setting Theory
Conclusion
Sources Consulted
From the Paper "The very first definition of the uses and gratifications theory, put forth by Katz, Blumler and Gurevitch (1974), is still among the best and most accurate, stating that the uses and gratifications theory addresses the social and psychological origins of needs, which generate expectations of the mass media or other sources, which lead to differential patterns of media exposure, resulting in need gratifications. This means that the readers of the Men's Health publication are specifically choosing to read the stories in the magazine because they appeal to a certain need that the reader is trying to fulfil. They expose themselves to the media because the contents such as health reports are fulfilling a social or psychological need. "
Abstract This paper analyzes the predictions and views of media guru Marshall McLuhan, who argued that all forms of media exert a compelling influence on humanity and society and not necessarily for the benefit of man. In one of his more well-known books, "The Medium is the Massage," McLuhan contends that people consume both medium and message as a total experience. The writer of this paper details the rapidly advancing technologies of the 21st century while examining their impact on humanity and society. This paper discusses the views of McLuhan, one of the founders of media ecology, who voiced his concerns that the media, especially television, brought the brutalities of war into our living rooms, while making the viewer numb to the negative happenings of the world. The author had many strong opinions regarding modern forms of media and communication, such as the telephone. McLuhan was concerned that phones made it possible for people to talk with one another without actually being together. This paper also delves into the various predictions and concerns McLuhan had regarding the emergence of electronic media, in which the author often stated that man's dependence on electronic forms of media would eventually spell the end of humanity as it it now known.
From the Paper "Of more concern, technology continues to expand the gap between the haves and have-nots. According to the International Telecommunication Union, 90 percent of Internet users come from industrialized countries and only 25 percent of people in developing countries have Internet access. A computer in Bangladesh costs eight years the country's annual salary. Similarly, in the United States, for example, technology, especially the Internet, is a class issue. Compare the number of the technology budget and wired PCs and laptops in the suburbs to that of the inner-cities and other poorer areas of the country. Information is power, and the power is located in similar pockets as the money."
Tags:media, society, technology, computers, internet, literature, communication
Abstract This paper relates that the Metropolitan Toronto Police (MTP) face a Black community that can strongly support police efforts, although some individuals see the MTP as biased against any and all persons of African descent. The paper discusses media stereotypes and representations of Black youth violence. The paper looks at the Toronto Police service's racism-free policing culture and comments that one sees nothing in the media to indicate many decent police who certainly serve the Black public fairly. The paper decries the media that focuses on alleged police brutality, prejudice or anti-African discrimination.
Outline:
Introduction
The African 'Community'
Police Prejudice and its Correction
Observations of Lawyers and Others
Again -- What is the Black Community?
Gangs and Related Activities
Concluding Discussion
From the Paper "The very term African or 'Black' is a very broad and some would argue a distorting term, in view of a range of communities in Toronto that happen to be of African origin. Effort was made while preparing this paper to speak with a range of persons in those of 'Canadian Black' origins, descendants of Underground Railroad fugitives, Jamaican Maroons or Empire Loyalists, from Toronto's immense and also varied West Indian community to have taken form since the early 1960s, and also, more recent arrivals from Commonwealth and other African countries. The extreme variety of African origins in the 'Black Community' is not explained to the public by the mass media any more than effort is made to explain that 'white' Torontonians are extremely varied."
Abstract This paper explains that the basis for micro-marketing through website interaction and blogging help bring about a greater diversity in how advertising can be accomplished with media markets. The basis for a post-modern global community has been the driving force allowing for more community interaction and diversity. This form of advertising works within new modes of information that depend more on people and multi-cultural ways of communication, rather than the automaton of TV commercials and newspaper ads.
From the Paper "By realizing the depth and scope of the American military industrial complex, links can be made to the news agencies that support this agenda in journalistic reporting. In many ways, the use of pro-war propaganda is used to help news agencies to work adjacently within the government in supporting a biased form norm in news reporting."
Abstract This is an exploration into the four main conceptions based around media studies and the media as a whole. The four conceptions are transformations - the theory based on communication; institutions - the various groups formed within or by the media; forms - the reality aspect of the media and audiences - that which the media gains. The writer looks at the works of Raymond Williams and other theorists for examples of each.
From the Paper "Communication is the main trend within different media institutions. Transformations are key to our perceptions about the media. They are forms of communication such as face-to-face communication where a conversation could be taking place but the participants of the conversation are sharing the same space and time. This has advantages because it is easy to see the mood of the person you may be conversing with due to the body language and facial expression that might be used. It also needs more interaction. Secondly, there is mediated interaction. This would incorporate telephone conversations, post and e-mail. These are forms of communication where we would have the expectation of a response. The advantages here are that the people within the acts of communication do not necessarily have to be the same time or space. The media itself is mainly concerned with mediated quasi interaction. This is communication where the communicator is relaying information but is not expecting a response such as television, newspapers and radio, where the programmes or articles are aimed at entertaining or providing information but not expecting a response form the public who are listening, reading or watching. The advantages of this are that it is a simple quick way of relaying information or entertaining and there is not necessarily any need for a response."
Abstract This paper discusses, through example, the differences between communication in men and women in casual circumstances and within relationships. It highlights eye contact, decision making and emotions. The paper also explores gender specific communication within the media, using "Judging Amy" as its example.
Table of Contents:
Why I Broke Up with Philip (Relational Communication)
Gender and MediaCommunication Bibliography
From the Paper "Amy can be very assertive when it comes to defending children. In one scene I watched she was being interviewed on a television news talk show. She debated a corrupt politician who was running for office on the issue of trying children as adults for their crimes. The male politician was pictured as exploiting the issue in order to make a name for himself and get elected. He didn't care about children at all. Amy talks about her knowledge of children as human beings whom she relates to every day eye-to-eye. She tells off the politician and calls him a "self-seeking demagogue." "
Abstract The paper examines the complex relationship between society, advertisers, and the media. The paper discusses how, while consumers drive mass media and advertisers, they are also shaped and driven by mass media. Furthermore, the blurring of entertainment media, news media, and advertisements has made the relationship even more complex. The paper concludes that modern communication has become increasingly more uniform, resulting in the marginalization of groups outside of the targeted demographic, which has become the new representation of normal.
From the Paper "In order to understand the interrelationship between the media and society, it is important to have a total understanding of what organizations form what is referred to as the mass media. Media refers to "those organized means of dissemination of fact, opinion, entertainment, and other information, such as newspapers, magazines, cinema films, radio, television, the World Wide Web, billboards, books, CDs, DVDs, videocassettes, computer games and other forms of publishing." (Mass Media 2006)."
Abstract This paper examines how the mergers which have created giant communications conglomerates led by moguls such as Ted Turner and Rupert Murdoch affect consumers both negatively and positively. It analyzes how the primary positive effects are the technological advances made, while the major negative effect is the commercialization of products, including entertainment, news and information. It also looks at how the incredible amounts of money involved in acquiring and operating huge communicationsmedia organizations make it inevitable that the decisions made by the leaders of those organizations are based on little but economic pros and cons.
From the Paper "The argument of the moguls and their representatives, of course, is that the developing technology (made possible in part by the wealth of the conglomerates in support of research and development) allows for greater consumer choice in terms of channels and content. Some of the arguments the moguls make, however, are preposterous. For example, America Online Chairman Steve Case and Time Warner Chairman Gerald Levin, in testimony before the Federal Communications Commission on the merger of AOL and Time-Warner, "extoll[ed] the virtues of their merger as one that will 'take the Internet to the next level' and 'increase consumer choice in communications service and content'" (Connell, 2000, p. 1). The fact is, however, that the rapid expansion of mergers related to the Internet have created logjams in which service is terrible, particularly in DSL lines."
Abstract This paper argues that, although modern China may be adopting a more market-oriented economy, a full transition to a free market system of the press as a Westerner might understand freedom is unlikely. This is examined as a sociological phenomena, known as the frame theory of communication. This frame is also used to consider capitalism and its relationship with a free press. The paper discusses changes in China's attitude toward the media, yet concludes that the state still reserves the right to intervene and limit the media's functions by means of legal censorship, subsidies and direct media control.
From the Paper "True, with greater media commercialization, the media, Party and government organs did become business entities, "similar to a western capitalist system with advertising, subscription dependence and capital investment (Winfield & Peng, 2005: 260). But while the Chinese media has become decentralized in terms of who disseminates the information, official censorship still remains. While the press is no longer a mouthpiece for Marxism and Maoism, "China's uniqueness," such as the longstanding respect for Confucianism and hierarchy "has been largely ignored," by scholars who argue that capitalism inevitably and invariably sows the seed of freedom (Winfield & Peng, 2005: 266). Such scholars are blinded by the Western frame of capitalism as unfettered choice."
Tags: China, media, frame, theory, of, communication
Abstract This paper analyzes Marshall McLuhan's book "Understanding Media", which describes and explains media and cultural transformations. This paper reviews the first seven chapters of his seminal book, which contain his central ideas on mass communication and contemporary culture. The writer explores McLuhan's comparison of media to anything that amplifies or intensifies a human faculty and that extends man's reach and increase in efficiency.
From the Paper "McLuhan's conception is expressed in the seemingly simple statement, "The medium is the message." He offered different views of what this meant, but it basically relates to the idea of persuasion in that he believed that the medium itself changes people more than the sum of the messages of the medium. How we communicate is as important as what we communicate, if not more important. McLuhan relates the different modes of communication to different human epochs, and the most effective means of persuasion shifts in each epoch according to the prevailing technology."
