1) Introduction to Communication: Media and Society: Defining The Field

Communication:
● is the act of making something common between two or more people.
● It is something people actually do.
● It is a form of social action, in that it implies the involvement of two or more people in a
process of creating or sending and receiving or interpreting a message or idea.
● This process has been conceived in several different ways.

Mass Communication:
● Communication on a large scale

Media:
● A medium is any vehicle that conveys information.
○ Language is a medium, for instance, as are pictures, photographs, and musical
instruments.
○ Any vehicle or object that imparts meaning or information can be considered a
communication medium.
○ Media is the plural of medium.
● Media are the institutions, industries, technologies, and practices by which some of our
most important ideas about ourselves and the world are formed and instilled in us.
● “Media help us decide what we need and want, why we care, and even who we are.”
○ –Gasher, Skinner, and Lorimer
● Media teach us how to be good (or bad) consumers and citizens;
○ they inform our ideas about racial, gender, sexual, class, and other kinds of
identity;
○ they alert us to what our community and our society deem important and
newsworthy;
○ they furnish us with images and ideas of what the rest of the world, beyond our
immediate purview, is like.

Mass Media:
● vehicles through which mass communication takes place
● Ex: newspapers, magazines, cinema, television, radio, advertising, and sometimes book
publishing (especially popular fiction) and music (the pop industry)

Traditional or Legacy Media:

 ● Television, news organizations, film, broadcast (television, radio), print (newspapers,
magazines)
● while we hear a lot about the decline of traditional media today (which is why they are
sometimes alternative referred to as “legacy media”), they continue to play an
important role in our media landscape
○ e.g., most Canadians are relying upon traditional news organizations for COVID-
19 news

New Media (Digital Media):

● Came into prominence in mid 1990s
● “new” or digital media like social networking platforms, email, blogs, and information
communication technologies like smartphones and laptops
● i.e., technologies, practices, and institutions designed to facilitate
participation/interaction in information production and exchange on a mass scale
● Interactivity and Participation
○ with the transition to Web 2.0 in the 2000s, a new kind of culture appeared
around the Internet
○ consumers could be producers of media themselves using platforms like Blogger
and Livejournal, and later, YouTube and Tumblr, Facebook and Twitter, to Twitch
and TikTok
○ so one differentiating point between traditional and new media is this
interactivity and participation by users
○ the relationship between these two kinds of media – traditional and new/digital
media – has often been described in terms of the latter overtaking and replacing
the former
○ but that may be too simplistic an account of what we’re saying

Technological Convergence:
● We are not witnessing a replacement of traditional media but a technological
convergence of media
● It is the merger or bringing together of previously distinct technologies and media
● video, images, and sound used to be produced, stored, and transmitted by entirely
different media and technologies – tape, photographs, and records

● but the transition to electronic digital technologies allowed for all of these – video,
images, and sound – to be captured as data in the binary language of 1s and 0s
 ● so now the same devices – computers, smartphones, tablets, smart watches, etc. – that
we use to take photos can also be used to play music and record video and access the
Internet

Corporate Convergence:
● at the same time as this technological convergence, we’re also seeing a kind of
corporate convergence
● media companies merge and combine to operate in many industries at the same time,
with investments in multiple kinds of media
● e.g., in Canada, telecommunications companies like Rogers and Bell are involved in the
telephone, radio, TV, newspaper and magazine publishing industries

● while we will have occasion to be critical of this corporate convergence, it has also has
some interesting consequences
● it has made possible new forms of transmedia storytelling whereby a story can be told
across multiple platforms, delivering a different experience on each one
● e.g., watching The Mandalorian on Disney+, watching the Star Wars movies, playing the
Battlefront video games

Communication Technologies:

The Telegraph:
● in some ways, the history of modern communication starts with the invention of the
telegraph, the first electronic medium of communication, in the 1830s
● for the first time, communication was not tied to transportation (by horses, carrier
pigeons, ships, etc.), which was time-consuming
● with the telegraph, a message could be conveyed almost instantly across thousands of
miles

● the telegraph was the first communication technology to shrink space through time –
reduce the time to complete a particular task in space
● telegraph technology was important to the rise of modern commerce (letting
consumers and businesses place orders for products with firms on the other side of the
country) and politics (allowing central governments to send directives or order military
forces to distant colonies around the world)

Telephone and Radio:

 ● subsequent innovations in communication technologies like the telephone and radio
similarly compressed space through time
● but radio was particularly important because it allowed a message or communication to
be addressed a large audience in real time
● it was seen as being instrumental for fostering a common consciousness and
understanding among people, especially in a country as geographically disparate and
culturally diverse as Canada
● To be sure, print media had always been capable of addressing a large and diverse
readership (and we’ll talk about the importance of print for the rise of nations and
nationalism next class). But radio was unique in its immediacy – the fact that everyone
would be listening to a broadcast at the same time.

● television eventually supplanted radio as the preeminent media technology

● radio became more something to be used “in the background” while listeners were
doing something else – cooking, driving to or home from work, etc.
● television made possible projection of moving images and sound to millions of people
around the world, giving it a power and influence that greatly exceeded radio and print
alike
● In the 1970s and 1980s, cable television became more standardized, allowing for more
reliable signals than antennae used to pick up over-the-air signals, as well as greater
compression and transmission of data through those signals;
○ this led to an increase in both the quality and quantity of television
programming.

● so today’s communication and media technologies build and elaborate upon the social
and cultural transformations that preceding technologies already introduced

Perspectives on Media Development:

● utopian view of media development
● dystopian view of media development

The Utopian View:

● this is the belief that newer communication technologies and media deliver greater
consumer choice and empower the public with information and entertainment
● for utopians, new media like the Internet and social networking platforms are helping to
promote democracy around the world, inform citizens about important issues, and
empower them to speak truth to and challenge authorities
 ○ e.g., the short-lived enthusiasm for “Twitter revolutions” in the early 2010s,
when a series of popular uprisings swept throughout the Middle East and North
Africa

The Dystopian View:

● new communication and media technologies reproduce and support already established
inequalities due to being driven by profit motive/market principles
● e.g., the digital divide between those with access to digital technologies (in urban
centres of Canada and the developed world more generally) vs. those without access (in
rural parts of Canada and in the developing world more broadly)
● for dystopians, new communication and media technologies subject us to more invasive
forms of surveillance and encourage disinformation and propaganda
○ e.g., consider the controversies that have surrounded platforms like Facebook
over the last few years, regarding “fake news” and how it may have influenced
the 2016 U.S. presidential election

In this course, and in the textbook, a critical view of media development is taken that is neither
just utopian nor dystopian
● We’ll try to do justice to both aspects of media development – to how new media can
empower the public and enhance democracy, but also subject them to new forms of
control and surveillance.

Models of Communication:
● mathematical or transmission mode of communication
● social model of communication

Mathematical or Transmission Model:

● developed by Claude Shannon and Warren Weaver, engineers working for Bell
Laboratories
● saw communication as a process of sending and receiving messages, from a source to a
receiver
● Shannon and Weaver’s Mathematical Model of Communication (1949)
 ○

■ Any interference in the transmission of the intended message (lightning

bolts) is call noise
● Noise may be loud background sounds that make it difficult for
you to hear; a heavy, unfamiliar accent; static on the telephone
line; or a typographical error in an email or text message.
● This mathematical or transmission model’s strength is its simplicity.
○ It breaks the process of communication into a few very basic elements.
● people still employ some version of this model when, e.g., coronavirus “skeptics”
protesting the lockdowns talk about how “the news media is lying about or exaggerating
this pandemic, which why people are overreacting or panicking”
● the assumption here is that the way news media communicate with the public is linear
and one-way
● In some respects, the mathematical or transmission model is the dominant way we tend
to talk about communication and media: we often assume that Hollywood or Fox/CNN
or whoever are addressing the public in the way the model describes – sending a
message to passive receivers.
○ In April 1999, after two teenagers, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, killed 13 people
at their high school in Columbine (in Jefferson County, Colorado), and then
committed suicide, a huge public debate erupted in the U.S. about the role that
video entertainment media might have played in precipitating the shooting
(which, tragically, has had countless sequels in the three decades since). The
 argument was that Hollywood had sent a message to kids and youth that
violence was acceptable.
■ Some critics argued that Harris and Smith’s enjoyment of the dark,
nihilistic rock music of Marilyn Manson or the violent gameplay of the
classic PC first-person shooter game Wolfenstein helped to explain why
they undertook their massacre. (These arguments were vigorously
challenged by others, needless to say.)

● the problem with this model is that it is too simplistic and therefore can’t account for or
explain the more complex kinds of communication that characterize our media
landscape
○ the way that films or video games “speak” to their audiences and the public at
large is not the way that one person speaks to another during a phone call

Social Model of Communication:

● for this model, a message is directed not from a “sender” but from an encoding context,
and delivered to a decoding context (which represents the ideas and understandings
that the decoder brings to deciphering the encoded message)
● these contexts include shared ideas, languages, practices, and other elements that
transcend the individual sender and receiver

●
○ Encoding context → Encoded content → Medium → Decoding context →
Decoded context
● “From this perspective, successful communication is always contingent on the sender
and the receiver sharing some common idea or notion of the process and/or subject of
communication, particularly in terms of language or experience.”
○ –Gasher, Skinner, and Lorimer
● so what a “message” means will not depend solely upon the sender or the receiver but
also the contexts in which they are sending and receiving these messages
 ● e.g., most people watch violent movies without drawing the conclusion that violence is
acceptable in real life because they inhabit “contexts” (societies and cultures) where
violent entertainment is recognized as a fantasy
● Ex: if provided with the letters a-p-p-l-e, you would probably conjure the image of a juicy
red (or green) fruit. However, the letters p-o-m-a would probably not have the same
effect, unless you speak Catalan.

Mass Communication:
● Communication on a large scale
● in the past, mass communication has carried the notion that mass audiences are
unsophisticated and mindless
● emergence of forms of mass communication like film and radio was seen as being closed
related to rise of totalitarian movements and states, like Nazi Germany or the former
USSR
● but today, the idea of a “mass audience” has become more of an ideal than a reality
○ the once “mass audience” has become fragmented now that people have so
many more means of entertaining or informing themselves
■ no single newspaper or TV show, etc. commands the kind of huge
audience its predecessors might have twenty or thirty years ago

● many media platforms and producers now tailor their programming or content to
smaller, niche audiences rather than large, mass audiences
○ e.g., consider how many specialty channels are available on cable and satellite or
how many different genres of TV programs and movies are available on Netflix –
something for pretty much every type of audience member
○ even systems of promotion are tailored to individuals – everything from Netflix’s
recommendations to Facebook’s Newsfeed

● as such, since the traditional definition of mass communication is oncomplete, we need

to refine our definition and understanding of mass communication
○ indeed, a threefold conception of mass communication is necessary
1. mass communication as the production and dissemination of mass information and
entertainment – intended for large audiences, sometimes government-regulated, e.g.,
radio, television, newspapers
a. the production of entertainment and information to large audiences by means of
print, screen, audio, broadcast, audiovisual, and internet technologies or public
performance for both private and public consumption.
 b. In certain instances (e.g., broadcasting and, less often, print) it is state regulated.
Some examples are radio, television, newspapers, film, magazines, books,
recorded and performed music, and advertising.
2. mass communication as the decentralized production and wide accessibility of
information and entertainment – intended for smaller or niche audiences, e.g., blogs,
podcasts
a. Such communication is sometimes corporately financed, sometimes industrially
produced, and sometimes, but not necessarily, intended for small or niche
audiences.
b. It may be undertaken by many individuals, organizations, and institutions and
includes websites, podcasts, blogs, print, film, audio, broadcast, and public
performances.
c. YouTube stands as a case in point here. The site acts as a centralized platform
where producers and consumers from around the globe meet to share
information. The site gets 1 billon visits a month, and the most watched video
—“Despacito” by Luis Fonsi—had over 5.5 billion views as of October 2018
(Statista). This is a “mass medium” with a “mass audience.”
3. mass communication as the interactive exchange of information to a number of
recipients – intended to promote interactivity and exchange between networked
groups, e.g., Twitter, Facebook, YouTube
a. It includes applications such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter and
encompasses a wide range of technologies, such as telephones, computers,
tablets, and a range of mobile devices, as well as an expanding number of ways
that the users of these media produce and contribute to the content that they
carry—from Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram accounts, to uploading videos to
YouTube, to playing massively multiplayer online role-playing games

● in addition to considering these different kinds of mass communication (whether

produced by traditional or new media), we will also be interested in various dimensions
of mass media:

Dimensions of Mass Media:

● distinct set of activities
● particular technological configurations
● forms of ownership
● laws, rules, and understandings
● organizations
● information, entertainment, images, and words
Technological Configurations:
● media are found in particular technological configurations that are constantly changing
and evolving due to social and economic pressures
○ e.g., television in its early days was accessed through over-the-air signals, and
dominated by free, ad-supported programming (i.e., with sponsor or
commercials)
● that business model established an entire industry around it
○ employing millions of people, forming relationships with advertisers, and
organizing and classifying audiences
● today, however, that model is undergoing radical changes, as more people watch
television in different ways and for different reasons
○ E.g., the just recently launched subscription-based streaming service QuiBi
provides radically short 5-10 minute length shows (ostensibly perfect for
commutes…that none of us can make anymore, alas) that are shot so they can
be watched on a phone in either portrait or landscape mode (so that different
parts of the background can be seen in landscape mode vs. in portrait mode).
○ Whether the service is successful remains to be seen – the timing of its launch
was unfavourable. But it illustrates how the new technological configurations of
a medium like television (more people watching on mobile devices) are leading
to radical changes, e.g., in the nature of programming, the business models, and
much else besides.

Mass Media Forms of Ownership:

● mass media are also defined by the kinds of ownership that prevail in different media
industries
● most media organizations are privately owned and commercially driven, i.e., they seek
to earn profits for their investors
○ there is nothing inherently wrong with private ownership but given that mass
media also function as means of informing the public about issues, this profit-
seeking orientation can raise challenges and questions
○ e.g., Canadian TV airwaves are dominated by American programming not
because Canadian TV is inherently unappealing to Canadian audiences (the
spectacular success of Schitt’s Creek suggests otherwise)
■ rather, American TV dominates Canadian networks because they find it
cheaper to license programming from the U.S. than to pay for or produce
original Canadian TV series
 ● there are also some not-for-profit media organizations, like Wikipedia, community and
university radio stations, the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network, and most notably in
Canada, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC)
○ the CBC is our country’s publicly funded broadcaster; it is not profit-driven, but
mandate-driven
○ as specified in the Broadcasting Act (1991), the CBC’s mandate is threefold:
■ 1) to protect and preserve national (and other kinds of) cultural memory
and heritage
■ 2) promote Canadian talent and expertise in media production, etc.
■ 3) practice rigorous journalism and ensure accountability of public and
private institutions

Laws, Rules, and Understandings:

● mass media are also framed by laws and statutes introduced by governments – in some
media industries
○ e.g., newspapers and magazines face very few regulations and require no
licenses (though some argue that should not be the case, and the current Liberal
government has sought to pass legislation that would prescribe “fake news” )
● by contrast, television and radio are strictly regulated by the Broadcasting Act (1991)
○ TV and radio broadcasters in Canada must be licensed by the Canadian Radio-
television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) and abide by the polices
and provisions of the Broadcasting Act, as well as Telecommunications Act
(which governs telecommunications, including the Internet)
○ there are requirements that TV and radio broadcasters face that other media
organizations operating in Canada (like Netflix) don’t have to fulfill, specifically
around Canadian content – a real sticking point for those Canadian broadcasters,
who argue they suffer a competitive disadvantage due to Cancon restrictions.

Organizational Dimensions:
● we’ll also consider some of the organizational dimensions of mass media industries and
look at the different people and outfits that populate those industries
○ media companies
○ media professionals and employees
○ industry organizations and lobby groups
○ unions and professional associations
○ newswire agencies and services
○ advertisers
○ public relations companies
○ government regulators and policymakers
○ think tanks and research institutes