all about Mass Communication

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2. Communication defined
Harold Lasswell (1948):
 Who?
 Says what?
 Through which channel?
 To whom?
 With what effect?
Harold Lasswell (1948):
 Who? (source)
 Says what? (message)
 Through which channel? (medium)
 To whom? (receiver)
 With what effect?
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3. Osgood and Schramm’s Model (1954)
Encoding: Transferring a message into
understandable signs or symbols (speaking,
writing, etc.)
Decoding: Signs or symbols are interpreted
(listening, reading, watching, etc.)
Model of Interpersonal Communication (No Source!)
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4. Osgood and Schramm’s Model (1954)
Encoding: Transferring a message into
understandable signs or symbols (speaking,
writing, etc.)
Decoding: Signs or symbols are interpreted
(listening, reading, watching, etc.)
Model of Interpersonal Communication (No Source!)
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5. Mass Medium defined
The telephone is the medium that carries my voice to
my friend across town.
When the medium is a technology that carries
messages to a large number of people (e.g.
newspaper, radio, television) – we call it mass
medium (plural: media).
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6. Mass Communication defined
Mass Communication is the process of creating
shared meaning between the mass media and
their audiences.
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7. Types of Communication
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8. Interpersonal vs. Mass Communication
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9. Interpersonal vs. Mass Communication
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11. What is Culture?
“Culture is learned, socially acquired traditions and
lifestyles of the members of a society, including
their patterned, repetitive ways of thinking, feeling
and acting.” (Harris 1983)
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12. What is Culture?
Shared Meanings are an important part of culture –
you see a photo and have associations.
Creation and maintenance of a more or less common
culture and shared meanings occur through
communication, including mass communication.
Friends, parents, religion, teachers, politicians, and
media.
Culture defines our realities and thereby shapes the
ways we think, feel, and act. (e.g., how you think
about food, about the color of your skin, etc.) 12

13. Culture’s Positive/Negatives Sides
Positive and helpful:
Provides guidelines for behavior
 Should I use chopsticks or a spoon to eat a soup?
 How far should I stand away when speaking with
somebody?
Negative:
 Are thin or fat people beautiful? (different beauty
ideals)
 81% of all 10-year-old girls in the US are afraid of being
fat.
 Are foreigners good or bad people? (which one?)
Where did we learn this??
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14. Culture’s Positive/Negative Sides
Culture unites people, however also divides them:
 What learned perceptions do people in another
country have e.g. about Koreans?
 Culture also divides people – people from another
culture are not a part and excluded – sometimes
also discriminated, etc.
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15. Discussion
Can you give any examples for culture’s positive or
negative side?
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17. Mass Media as Cultural Storytellers
A culture’s values and beliefs reside in the stories it tells.
 Who are the good guys?
 Who are the bad guys?
 How many of our childhood heroines were fat?
 How many good guys dressed in black?
 How many heroines lived happily ever after without
marrying Prince Charming?
Storytellers have a remarkable opportunity to shape
culture.
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18. Mass Media as Cultural Storytellers
The storytellers also have responsibility to do their job in
a responsible and ethical way!
BUT also the audience has responsibility.
The audience should not just be entertained but learn
about the world around, understand the values, the
way things work.
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19. Mass Media as Cultural Storytellers
The audience – YOU - have responsibility to question
the storytellers and their stories!
To ask what such stories tell about your culture and
what it says about cultural values within your culture.
If you do not do – you cannot construct your own
meaning!
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20. Mass Media as Storytellers
Mass media has become a primary forum for the
debate about our culture:
 Who is good and bad?
 Who is patriotic?
 What is the meaning of “beautiful”, “honest”,
“moral”, “successful”, etc.
 What food is healthy?
Who should have the power over these media:
Media industries or audiences?
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