Mass Media

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses how mass media - television, radio, newspapers, magazines and the Internet, is a part of everyday life in all parts of the developed and developing worlds and looks at how it shapes our lives in almost every possible way. The paper also discusses how, in some nations, the media is tightly controlled by the national government, while in others only guidance is provided. The paper examines mass media in both developed and in developing countries and maintains that the modern media's far-reaching nature makes it a powerful tool for the dissemination of ideas... and of propaganda.

From the Paper:

"It was the developing world that first saw the media become ubiquitous. The peoples of the United States, Canada, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, and most of the nations of the European Union, have long been experienced a media-saturated lifestyle. Radio first became a part of daily life in America in the 1920's. News programs, soap operas, musical performances, comedy sketches, and other sorts of informative and entertaining fair helped Americans to while away the hours. Television arrived some thirty years later, and the small screen quickly achieved a permanent place in America's living rooms. Daily and weekly magazines, cheap dime novels, and daily newspapers had long been staples of American life. From the beginning, the commercial element was present in each of these media. The advertising that supports this privately-owned media depends for its success on large audiences - the larger the better. The large audience required by this system supposedly guarantees a democratization of the views represented, and the material available. News would reflect popular concerns. Popular entertainment would reflect the tastes of the masses."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Curran, James. Media and Power. London: Routledge, 2002.
• Graber, Doris A. "5 Failures in News Transmission: Reasons and Remedies." Beyond Agendas: New Directions in Communication Research. Ed. Philip Gaunt. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1993. 75-87.
• Harris, Richard Jackson. A Cognitive Psychology of Mass Communication. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2004.
• Johnson, Thomas J., Mahmoud A. M. Braima, and Jayanthi Sothirajah. "Measure for Measure: The Relationship between Different Broadcast Types, Formats, Measures and Political Behaviors and Cognitions." Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media 44.1 (2000): 43.
• Lee, Chin-Chuan, ed. Chinese Media, Global Contexts. New York: Routledge, 2003.

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