3.

18 The Power of Mass Media

Procedure and Input

- Invite two volunteers to play a ping-pong game of three points across the room.
The students can use their hands.
- Or if this may seem too childish for their age, allude to the game and the way it is
played.
SENDER MESSAGE RECEIVER
MEDIUM

Aim receiver messages sender

To understand how media culture
[ - Now with the help of the diagram draw a parallel with interpersonal and group
originates. communication as follows:
To understand the power of the
[ - The game you have just seen is very much like the basic structure of communication
mass media. we studied in 1.7. The sender sends the ball/message and the receiver receives
it.
- Next, the receiver is the sender who returns the ball/another message/feedback to
the sender who is now the receiver, and so the game/communication goes on.
- It is the same when communication is between groups.
- It is important to note that both sender and receiver are in control of their
communication. They are in a position to seek clarification, to agree or disagree,
to state their point of view, to check misinterpretations and reinterpret what has
not been understood. This also means that they are also accountable to each
other. They directly face the consequences of their interpersonal and group
communications.
- In the case of mass media, the situation is more complex. Mass communication
through electronic means is very much like this: (Take a glass of clear water

POST NOVITIATE
and insert a few drops of water colour.) Watch the colour spread and gradually
dissolve in the water. Notice how the colour once thrown into the water is difficult
to control. The colour spreads to give every section of the water in the glass a
coloured tint.
- The experiment adequately demonstrates the way mass media influence society.
Unlike the ping-pong ball, the sender cannot easily take back the ‘colour’ he has
thrown into the water nor control the way it spreads. The influence of the message
is wide and all pervasive because of the power of the media technology used.
Everyone in due course of time is ‘tinted’ by the message – if not directly (by glib
acceptance), indirectly (through the influence of friends, neighbours and the fear
of human respect).
- The role of technology - the development of machines- drives economic and
Materials Required cultural change. This is known as technological determinism. Indeed, there can
A tennis ball, a glass of water
[ be no doubt that movable type contributed to the Protestant Reformation and the
and powder water color decline of the Catholic Church’s power in Europe, or that television changed the
way members of American families interact. However, others see technology
as more neutral and claim that the way people use technology is what gives it
significance. This perspective accepts technology as one of many factors that shape
economic and cultural change; technology’s influence is ultimately determined by
how much power it is given by the people and cultures that use it.
- Money also shifts the balance of power; it tends to make audiences products
rather than consumers. The first newspapers were financially supported by their readers
but in the 1830s, publishers began selling their papers for a penny and because so
many more papers were sold at this bargain price, publishers could “sell” advertising
space based on their readership. What they were actually selling to advertisers was

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 not space on the page, it was readers. This new type of publication changed the nature of mass communication. The goal
of the process was no longer for audience and media to create meaning together; rather it was to sell those readers to a
third participant – advertisers. This does not mean, however, that the media are or must be slaves to profit, our task is to
understand the constraints placed on these industries by their economies and then demand that, within those limits, they
perform ethically and responsibly. We can do this only by being thoughtful, critical consumers of the media.

Current Trends in Mass Communication

1. Concentration of ownership and Conglomeration
Ownership of media companies is increasingly concentrated in fewer and fewer hands. Through mergers, acquisitions,
buyouts and hostile takeovers, a very small number of large conglomerates is coming to own more and more of the
world’s media outlets.

2. Globalisation
The potential impact of globalisation on the mass communication process speaks to the issue of diversity of expression.
Will distant, anonymous, foreign corporations, each with vast holdings in a variety of non-media businesses use their
power to shape news and entertainment content to suit their own ends? Opinion is divided. Some observers feel that
this concern is misplaced, that the pursuit of profit will force these corporations to respect the values and customs of the
nations and cultures they operate in. Other observers point to the 1998 controversy surrounding the publication of East
and West as a prime example of the dangers of media globalisation. This book was too critical of the Chinese government
and News Corporation had significant business dealings with the Chinese government and had ambitions of even more.

3. Audience Fragmentation
The audience is becoming more fragmented, its segments more narrowly defined. It is becoming less of a mass audience.
If the nature of the media’s audience is changing, then the mass communication process must also change. The audience
in mass communication is typically a large, varied group about which the media industries know only the most superficial
information. What will happen as smaller, more specific audiences become better known to their partners in the process
of making meaning? What will happen to the national culture that binds us as we become increasingly fragmented into
demographically targeted taste publics – groups of people bound by little more than an interest in a given form of media
content?

4. Hyper-commercialism
The costs involved in acquiring numerous or large media outlets, domestic and international, and of reaching an increasingly
fragmented audience must be recouped somehow. Selling more advertising on existing and new media and identifying
additional ways to combine content and commercials are the two most common strategies. This leads to what media critic
Robert McChesney calls hyper-commercialism. He explains: “Concentrated media control permits the largest media firms
to increasingly commercialise their output with less and less fear of consumer reprisal” E.g. in 1999 there were 16 minutes
and 43 seconds of advertising in an average network television prime-time hour, a 21.8% increase from 1991.

5. Erosion of Distinctions Among Media (Convergence)

You can read the New York Times or Nation Newspaper and a few other newspapers and magazines here in Africa on
your computer screen. Manufacturers in the US now produce WebTV, allowing families to curl up in front of the big
screen for online entertainment and information. Cable television delivers high-fidelity digitised music by DMX. Where
people had to buy game cartridges for video games, now these games can be played interactively on cable television. This
erosion of distinctions among media is called convergence. The reasons for convergence include a strong incentive to get
the greatest use from media content whether news, education or entertainment by using as many channels of delivery as
possible. Another reason for convergence is audience fragmentation. A mass communicator who finds it difficult to reach
the whole audience can reach its component parts through various media. A third reason is the audience itself which is
becoming increasingly comfortable receiving information and entertainment from a variety of sources. Will this expansion
and blurring of traditional media channels confuse audience members, further tilting the balance of power in the mass
communication process toward the media industries? Or will it give the audiences more power – power to choose, power
to reject, and power to combine information and entertainment in individual ways?

- The chart below demonstrates the power the mass media has in influencing society. Because the mass media have
such tremendous power over the masses, those who use them (senders) have in their control the possibility of shaping
society and influencing millions of people the world over. Mass media barons and those who work with them have the
power to inform, to educate and to entertain at so influential a level that they have the possibility of:
• affecting political equations (what we think about a political party, policies, etc);
• changing economic standards (our opinions about capitalism, socialism, etc);
• shaping public opinion (our view points about just any issue);
• Defining our identities (what we think about ourselves, our sexuality);
• Manipulating our life-styles (what we consider needs, desires and luxuries);
• Shaping our relationships (who are our friends, how do we express affection…);
• Changing beliefs and value systems (traditions, religion, ethics, ideals, priorities.);
• Influencing culture (language, dance, drama, customs, festivals, etc);

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A revision of Maletzkie’s Model of Mass Communication in Chapter 1.7 will be helpful.

Review
1. In mass communication, the influence of the message is wide and all pervasive because of the power of the media
technology used.
2. The role of technology - the development of machines- drives economic and cultural change. However, others see
technology as more neutral and claim that the way people use technology is what gives it significance.
3. Money also shifts the balance of power; it tends to make audiences products rather than consumers.
4. Concentration of ownership and conglomeration, globalisation, audience fragmentation, hyper-commercialism and
erosion of distinctions among media are all major areas where the mass media is changing.
5. Media has the potential to: affect political equations, changing economic standards, shape public opinion, define our
identities (what we think about ourselves, our sexuality), manipulate our life-styles, shape our relationships (who
are our friends, how do we express affection…) change beliefs and value systems (traditions, religion, ethics, ideals,
priorities.) and influence culture (language, dance, drama, customs, festivals, etc)

Reflection
1. What are the qualities of a thoughtful and reflective media consumer? Do you have these characteristics? Why or why
not?
2. The media must not be slaves to profit. Our task is to understand the constraints placed on the media industries by their
economies and then demand that, within those limits, they perform ethically and responsibly. We can do this only by
being thoughtful, critical consumers of the media. Are you a thoughtful and critical media consumer? In what ways
can the media work ethically and responsibly in the 21st century?

Relevant Skills
1.Evaluate the impact of television news on your country’s audience. How does it shape public opinion?

Resources
BOSCOM-INDIA. ‘SHEPHERDS’ FOR AN INFORMATION AGE. Matunga: Tej Prasarini, 2000.

References
Baran J. Stanley. Introduction to Mass Communication. USA: McGraw-Hill Higher Education, 2002.

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