The "traditional" definition is "a complex organization sending public messages to large audiences to influence an action"
But the Internet has blurred this definition by rewriting the rules. Instead of "a complex organizations sending public messages to large audiences to influence an action", you now have individuals sending public messages to narrow (but global) audiences to influence an action.
Sender
1) A group of individuals with a fixed role within an organization, "professional communicators". This makes most "mass communication" a group effort.
2) Or an individual with access to a "mass" channel. As the cartoon to the right shows, new forms of technology allow individuals unprecedented mass audiences
"As the field of self-publishing matures, the quality of both content and format for many of these titles is becoming indistinguishable from those published by traditional houses."
Encoding
A highly complex process with multiple steps, usually performed by specialists
Channels
1) Highly complex and machine assisted
2) Distribution can be slow, like a TV show or movie that might be watched years after it was created, or rapid, like a blog post that's immediatly picked up and spread over the Internet
3) And often on a regular schedule
Messages
1) Public, intended for large audiences
2) Is designed to influence the audience
3) Termination is easiest in mass communication
Decoding
Also complex, involving multiple machines
Receiver
1) Thought of as a mass "audience" rather than as an individual
2) Heterogeneous, made up of several different groups. Although niche communications like MTV or a topic specific blog can target narrow groups.
3) Spread over wide geographic area
4) Self-defined - the audience chooses what messages to receive
5) Subjective - each individual interprets the message in a unique way.
6) Anonymous to one another
As a result, receivers are influenced in unpredictable ways
Feedback
1) Indirect at best, often minimal
2) The search for direct feedback is vital. This explains the importance of audience testing and audience measurements.
3) Social media, however, is transforming Mass Communications feedback.
Noise
The complexity of the process greatly increases the chance of noise, reducing the effectiveness of the message.
Environmental - Semantic - Psychological
The commercial below, from Japan, fails because of Semantic Noise. We don't understand the language. Even if dubbed, the spot would still fail because we don't understand the underlying cultural reference.
Problems with encoding, decoding, and noise have plagued mass communications from the beginning.
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