CMN 102 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: New Media, Bob Iger, Baby Boomers
11 Jun 2018
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Monday March 26th:
What is mass communication?
● “Communication”
use of shared symbols to convey ideas, info, beliefs
● Forms
-Direct
-Indirect- more complex
- “Transmission”- content being communicated, straight forward broadcast from sender to receiver.
- “Ritual”- more complex,thinking about what audience believes (assumptions, biases, goals) ex: super
bowl parties
● Communicate across spatial and temporal boundaries
-media mediates content
● impact?
-Dissemination of mis/information
-Democratization of knowledge
-Emergence of consumer control
-Centralized political/ economic/ cultural power
● “Remediation”
-New media modeled on older media on older media (& vice versa)
-Ex: book-film, mail-email, book-kindle
What is “Media”?
● Both form and content
-What is being mediated? How?
-By whom? For whom?
● Media is a form of:
-Communication
-different media present different questions
-Representation
-how people, places, events are depicted
-Influence
-affects people’s opinions, beliefs, behaviors
How to Contextualize Mass Media?
● Aesthetics
-narrative, music, color, editing, etc
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
● Technology
-limitations, innovations shape aesthetic choices
● Economics
-$ shapes technological aesthetic potential
● Laws
-Legal decisions inform all of the above
Wednesday March 28th
What is Media Literacy?
● Skills to critically engage mass media
-not just passively “consumes” texts
● Process:
1. Describe
-describe, summarize text and key features
2. Analyze
-do certain patterns emerge visually, narratively, etc.?
3. Interpret
-what do those patterns mean?
4. Evaluate
-make informed judgment on how effective the text is, and why (move beyond subjective reactions)
HISTORY OF BOOKS
● Manuscripts (pre 1440)
-luxurious, handwritten, bulky, religious
● Gutenberg printing press (post 1440)
-first “mass” produced media text
● Significance
-reduced costs in production, democratic access to knowledge, more informed citizenry
● Future?- Enthusiast VS critics (Enthusiasts think books will be completely replaced. Critics think
some form of the book will always exist.)
How do we define a “book” today?
● Has a lot of information, greater depth, more detail
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Does a nook’s “materiality” (physical presence) matter in the digital age?
● Advantages of e-books
-cheaper (production cost not as high)
- good for people with special needs (older audience, dyslexic)
-interactivity: images, viedos, sounds, games
-benefits independants: swifter distribution, greater convenience control, higher royalties
● Disadvantages
-hacking and privacy: stealing content, collecting data
-incompatibility: no universal formal
-economic strain: restricted access, school budgets, expiration dates
-environmental concerns: digital materials not eco-friendly
Possible value from the standpoint of…
● History
-they are records of the past
● Aesthetics
-they provide stories, information, in unique ways
● Culture
-they inspire empathy and awareness for others
● Commerce
-they encourage consumption of other texts
● Politics
-they promote literacy and knowledge
Monday April 2
Radio
● The first instantaneous form of mass communication
-didn’t have to wait for print to travel
● The first affectively intimate form of mass communication
Origins of Radio
● Telegraph
-Transatlantic cable - cable put under water by a boat, connected continents
-Narrowcasting (specific narrowed audience) vs broadcasting (abc, cbs, nbc- reaching “everybody”)
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Communication use of shared symbols to convey ideas, info, beliefs. Transmission - content being communicated, straight forward broadcast from sender to receiver. Ritual - more complex,thinking about what audience believes (assumptions, biases, goals) ex: super bowl parties. New media modeled on older media on older media (& vice versa) Describe, summarize text and key features: analyze. Do certain patterns emerge visually, narratively, etc: interpret. Make informed judgment on how effective the text is, and why (move beyond subjective reactions) Reduced costs in production, democratic access to knowledge, more informed citizenry. Future?- enthusiast vs critics (enthusiasts think books will be completely replaced. Critics think some form of the book will always exist. ) Has a lot of information, greater depth, more detail. Good for people with special needs (older audience, dyslexic) Benefits independants: swifter distribution, greater convenience control, higher royalties. Economic strain: restricted access, school budgets, expiration dates. The first instantaneous form of mass communication.
