Rider Mass Media Presentation Week 2

• “The greatest potential impact of a new invention is not how it changes or replaces old things but how it generates things that are entirely new”- Arago’s rule of technology

Each new epoch brought both change and progress

• Prophet of the Media• Deemed phrase: “The medium is the message”

o Determines the substance of the communicationo Act of watching television shapes how we think

regardless of its contento Changes our perception of others and ourselveso The dominant medium has become mass

communication

• McLuhan says media are a force in determining other things

• States that technology shapes how individuals and society think, feel and act.o The dominant media of an era determine the dominant senses

and ways we communicate

• McLuhan spent time analyzing hot and cool mediao Hot Media reduces our ability or need to participateo Cool Media invites interaction and discussion

• The Tribal Epoch: Primary communication as face to faceo Cohesive communities dependent on one another for

information• The Literate Epoch: Symbols and writing changed

the dominance of face to face communicationo Sight replaced hearing as dominant force

• The Print Epoch: Access to print media was restricted to the richo Gutenburg’s printing press changed this distinctiono Mass-produced printing began and no longer did

people need to be together to share informationo The birth of printing marks the birth of mass

communication

• The Electronic Epoch• Began with the telegraph• Create the idea of the “global village”

o No longer were people separated by distanceo Such is true today with the Internet

• Creates a sense of immediacyo Information at your fingertips

• Promotes mulitasking

Also known as the limited-effects model of mass communication

• Media set agenda for public discussion• People talk about what they see and hear in

various media outlets• Media tell people what to think about not

what to think…objectivity

• Studied the immediacy that new technologies encourageo We expect it quick, news media give it quick and

mistakes happeno Deadlines are fierce and fact checking is missedo Have you ever found an error in a news report?o Have you ever felt unsure about the report?

• Defined local life• Made of diverse content• Served as a watchdog

o Guarding against governmental abuses of powero Criticizing the Governmento John Peter Zenger trial

Truth is the defense when criticizing government• Convenient packaging• First draft of history• Newspapers are timely

• Where are these styles present today?• Yellow Journalism (Sensationalism- if it bleeds it

leads)• Jazz Journalism (lots of pictures-tabloid style)

Al Neuharth got into the biz when he was only11. Later he was hired by Gannett…the rest history

• On-line newspaperso No newshole limitationso Updates continuouslyo Interactiveo Accompanying video and audio clips

New York Times is the leader o User-generated content

Blog posts Crowdsourcing Tips Mobile media

• Using more color• Changing to shorter writing styles and summary

decks• More features• Free tabloids to young readers

• Circulation which drive advertising revenue• Readership

o A dying breed—young people find papers cumbersome and unnecessary

o Competition from other mediao Transient populationso Migration to suburbs

• Rising costs of printing and distributiono The New York Times is shrinking from 54” to 48”

• Less competition and loss of diverse opinionso Conglomerates account for 68% of all daily papers

• Like newspapers, magazines have their own worries

• Unlike newspapers they have always understood one specialized feature of audiences…

Audience Segmentation

• Rely heavily on advertising• Internet is having a dramatic effect on readership

o Most especially teens• Finding way to capitalize on the Internet and the

mobile media potentialo Digital newstandso My delicious account

• Magazines were aimed at an intelligent audience• Also looked to enhance and influence public

opinion o Acted as Muckrakers on big business and bad practices

• Found it profitable to specializeo Leisure time meant sports magazineso Scientific advances meant magazines geared towards

discovery.

• Digests• News magazines• Pictorial magazines

Consider these issues

• 17,000 magazines published in US• Walmart is selective • Look for the target

o Cable TVo Trends fade- 60% don’t last a year

• A Few Big Companieso Time-Warnero Advance Publicationso Hearst Corp.

Not all technology

• Magazines are sleek• You can roll them up and take them

with you• Magazines have web presence

• General consumer• Trade publications• Custom magazines• Academic journals• Newsletters• Public relations magazines

What makes a journal credible?

http://www.comm.umd.edu/graduate/journals.html

• Journal of Communication• Columbia Journalism Review• Journal of Film & Video

Not always a clear line between advertising and editorial content

• Product Placement• Damaging Credibility

• Subscriptionso Paid circulationo Controlled circulation

• Single copy saleso Primary audienceo Pass along audienceo Unique visitors

• Advertisingo Rate base

• Ancillary functionso E-commerce

Why? What made you want to read the book? Not everyone feels the same way you do…Just a bunch of slush

Oprah’s feature of The Secret and product placement in the Sex and the City movie

help drive the sales of the book- over 3.75 million copies sold

• Being sticky not slushy• Highly competitive• Big companies dominate• Promotion is key

o Timed righto Placed right

• Of all mass media, it is the least affected by the digital revolution

• Oldest form of commercial mass media• Began by serving the elite to a form of pop

culture…

• Books caught on…o Ben Franklin’s library system of the 1700so Dime novels- paper backs (still a staple today)o Specialization- schools, technical and scientific needs

and higher education

• Uncle Tom’s Cabin, 1852• A threat to the church• Disposable income and leisure time drove the

book industry• Literacy and public education numbers rising• Book of the month clubs of the 1920s

• Small book shops being gobbled up by the bigs– Barnes and Noble and Borders

• E-commerceo Amazon.com– Jeff Berzos (initial investment of about

$300,000 started in his garage)o Helped to make point and click behavior the norm

• Take it with you (mobile media)o Functional paperbackso E-bookso Cell-phone downloadso User-generated book collaboration

• Three main channels books get to readerso Big Chain Stores (flow from publishers to distributors or

wholesalers to retail to consumers)o Amazon.como E-books

• Agents’ submissions• Unsolicited with fingers crossed

o No Slush!• Editors

Proposals include:Cover letter, synopsis, justification, audience/target market, outline, and two sample chapters

• Unlike other media, books are not reliant on advertising

• They instead rely on book sales and subsidiary rightso Making best-seller lists help to sell bookso Popularityo Promotions