Mass Media and Communications : Theory and Practice

The mass media are diversified media technologies that are intended to reach a large audience by mass communication. The technologies through which this communication takes place varies. In the late 20th Century mass media could be classified into eight mass media industries: books newspapers magazines recordings radio movies television and the internet. With the explosion of digital communication technology in the late 20th and early 21st centuries the question of what forms of media should be classified as “mass media” has become more prominent. Each mass media has its own content types its own creative artists and technicians and its own business models. For example the Internet includes web sites blogs podcasts and various other technologies built on top of the general distribution network. The sixth and seventh media internet and mobile are often called collectively as digital media; and the fourth and fifth radio and TV as broadcast media. Some argue that video games have developed into a distinct mass form of media. Mass communication was seen by those who owned newspapers radio and T.V. stations and by cinema producers mostly as an efficient device to reach messages to very large number of people in a linear fashion. The media users were seen primarily as targets-passive targets for message intake and appropriate action either in voting as desired or buying products advertised or imbibing ideas intended by producers. Magic bullet theory suggests that messages were shot directly into the receiver. It assumes that receivers ate passive and defenceless and take whatever is shot at them. The magic bullet theory also portrays that the media have direct immediate and powerful effect on those who pay attention to their contents. This book has been intended as a manual for students of this subject.