Reading Report

This book provides a condensed introduction to mass communications. This book is extremely useful for communication subjects and is also very easy to read. The first chapter of this book examines the culture as well as the social and economic roles that mass communication plays. Chapter two discusses the need for each of us to be media literate and provides the framework for thinking critically about the structure of the advertising industry, which is discussed in Chapter 3, and the role that advertising plays in each medium is examined in the chapters devoted to those media. Chapters four through eight look at traditional media such as television, radio, print media, and movies. These chapters examine the evolution of each communication medium and discuss its current state of each.Most traditional media are essentially advertising delivery vehicles. This should be obvious for broadcast and print media, and advertising plays a larger role in movies. The focus of chapters eight and nine is the internet and what is commonly referred to as "new media." New media include social networking, mobile communications devices, and video games. The interactivity of these media and their ability to let users view media whenever and wherever they want are posing a serious threat to traditional media. Chapter Ten examines the disaggregation of audiences and the convergence of media; the topic of Chapter Eleven is mass communication. This book concludes a discussion of how globalisation affects and is affected by mass communication.

Communication means the practise of encoding information through sounds, symbols, and actions in order to transmit that information to others. It also includes decoding that information and interpreting it to give it meaning. Mass communications are more than a source of entertainment and information. Mass communications are messages. They affect how we see the world and how we see ourselves, yet they are so embedded in our lives. It relies more on quantity than quality, while interpersonal communications rely more on quality than quantity. Mass communication can reach more people at one time than interpersonal communication can. Interpersonal communication has existed for as long as humanity, whereas mass communication is a relatively recent development. Just as interpersonal communication allows people to establish relationships with each other, mass communication serves a role in building and maintaining communities. Mass communications are distributed through mass media. Mass communications require technology because many forms of mass communication rely on electronics. In the 1800s, the mass communication industries arose in the United States as the industrial revolution generated the need for mass marketing and mass media.

I learned two methods of categorising people from this book: demographics and psychographics. Demographics are measurable characteristics of people based on such factors as age, gender, income, education, and geographic location. For example, a 22-year-old who makes $3 million a year as a professional athlete has very different consumption habits than a 22-year-old who has just started a career selling insurance. Another way to categorise people is by psychographics, which examines consumers' attitudes, beliefs, and habits. For instance, a consumer who is concerned about global warming is more likely to buy a Toyota Pirus than is the driver of a Hummer, who may believe that global warming is a myth propagated by liberals. The demographic and psychographic characteristics of consumers play a large part in determining what type of mass media they consume.

Media studies begin by looking at the structure of the media. It is important to understand how the media function and what roles they serve in society. The media are industries with owners who seek profit. The Media Awareness Network of Canada describes media literacy as "the process of understanding and using the mass media in an assertive and non-passive way, which includes an informed and critical understanding of the nature of the media, the techniques used by them, and the impact of these techniques." In this second chapter, I have learned two more new words: cynicism and skepticism. Cynicism means not really believing anything and not having any value system at all. Skepticism requires carefully choosing and examining what one decides to believe in.

Advertising is everywhere and can't be avoided. It tries to create a sense of dissatisfaction among consumers in order to generate demand for their products and services. Advertising affects all of us, whether we are willing to admit it or not. To identify and research their target markets, advertising and advertising agencies conduct both qualitative and quantitative research.

Disaggregation occurs as our choice of media channels expands, yielding increasing completion rates for audiences among those media channels. It also arises from advertisers' identification of relatively small, highly defined consumer segments for specialised product services. Convergence results as increasingly sophisticated communication technology allows us to communicate in different ways. For example, our mobile phone can also be our music player, our internet browser, and our text-messaging device. Convergence also comes from communication providers offering a variety of communication services, like our cable television provider, our landline and mobile telephone provider, and our internet service provider.

Mobile phones, video game GPS devices, podcasting, and RSS feeds are known as new media. New media provides users with a mix of interpersonal and mass communication capabilities that have not existed before, with an emphasis on interactivity and mobility. New media allow advertisers to create new methods of communicating with their target market, including highly personalised and interactive advertisements. Mobile phones, initially introduced by Motorola in the 1990s as a means of allowing people to communicate with each other while traveling, have evolved into a type of mass media. Originally, video games were developed for military purposes. Video games have proven to be highly popular. And advertisers recognise the opportunities that video games offer them to reach consumers. Social networking continues to be one of the fastest-rising forms of media, but social networking's popularity doesn't necessarily translate into profitability for social networking sites.

The internet has created new ways for businesses to deliver goods and services to their customers. It facilitates mass communication of products and services. The internet provides a tremendous amount of information, as well as misinformation. The internet is an example of many types of computer networks, also known as "internets." The online class is delivered via the internet. Sitcoms, dramas, news, contests, and reality shows are the programming of television. "Sitcom" means situation comedy. Television is found in every house these days. It is extremely harmful to students. Television provides more information about the present, past, and future. But sometimes television is used unnecessarily. Television has many good programmes that try to teach how to live a healthy and educated life and how to communicate with each other. Television is a visible medium through which we can learn effectively.

Movies and videos are good and bad. Every movie and video is made to entertain people and make them happy, as well as to earn money. Every movie can be one hour or more than one hour, but videos can be five minutes or ten minutes. Each movie has a message for the people. There was only one dialogue in the movie I watched. Information is wealth. It means information gives people life, death, and money. Therefore, people need to be secure. While the movie and video industries continue to grow, finding employment in them is difficult because of the large number of people seeking jobs in these industries.

Radio is another medium for communication. It broadcasts news, advertisements, and music. This medium helps with mass communication. Traditional broadcast radio must now compete with satellite and internet radio. Radio is found in rural areas rather than urban areas.

Application

I have gained new insights into communication as I have read this book. This book taught me about mass communication. We can communicate with one another via radio, television, and the internet. I've learned about interpersonal communication and communication in general. I will apply in my daily life what I have learned from this and from this communication subject in my ministry as well. Communication is very important in the ministry. If we do not have proper communication with people, our ministry can't be effective and blessed. I will use media such as television, radio, and the internet for the glory of Jesus and the expansion of his kingdom. All of these media help me share the gospel of Christ with the people. As our sir, Ashish Christian, does his ministry on Facebook Live through Christian music to glorify Jesus and teach us, I will teach and share the gospel on YouTube. I will preach in church on the topic of communication whenever I get the opportunity because the church believers need to know about communication from the perspective of the Bible.

 

 

Bibliography

Paxon, Payton.  Page No. 260 in Mass Communication and Media Studies: An Introduction, New York, continuum, 2010.