What is the means of mass communication such as radio and television publishing and the Internet Thatreach people widely?

Mass media

Mass media refers to a diverse array of 

The organizations that control these technologies, such as movie studios, publishing companies, and radio and television stations, are also known as the mass media.[4][5][need quotation to verify]

Contents

• 
  1Issues with definition
  
  • 
    1.1Characteristics
    
  • 
    1.2Mass vs. mainstream and alternative
    
• 
  2Forms of mass media
  
  • 
    2.1Broadcast
    
  • 
    2.2Film
    
  • 
    2.3Video games
    
  • 
    2.4Audio recording and reproduction
    
  • 
    2.5Internet
    
    • 
      2.5.1Blogs (web logs)
      
    • 
      2.5.2RSS feeds
      
    • 
      2.5.3Podcast
      
    • 
      2.5.4Mobile
      
  • 
    2.6Print media
    
    • 
      2.6.1Magazine
      
    • 
      2.6.2Newspaper
      
  • 
    2.7Outdoor media
    
• 
  3Purposes
  
• 
  4Professions involving mass media
  
  • 
    4.1Journalism
    
  • 
    4.2Public relations
    
  • 
    4.3Publishing
    
    • 
      4.3.1Software publishing
      
  • 
    4.4Internet Based Professions
    
• 
  5History
  
  • 
    5.1Mergers and acquisitions
    
• 
  6Influence and sociology
  
  • 
    6.1Racism and stereotyping
    
    • 
      6.1.1Example
      
• 
  7Ethical issues and criticism
  
  • 
    7.1Criticism
    
• 
  8See also
  
• 
  9Sources
  
• 
  10Notes
  
  • 
    10.1Works cited
    
• 
  11Further reading
  
  • 
    11.1In other languages
    
• 
  12External links
  

In the late 20th century, mass media could be classified into eight mass media industries: books, the Internet, magazines, movies, newspapers, radio, recordings, and television. The explosion of digital communication technology in the late 20th and early 21st centuries made prominent the question: what forms of media should be classified as "mass media"? For example, it is controversial whether to include cell phones, computer games (such as MMORPGs), and video games in the definition. In the 2000s, a classification called the "seven mass media" became popular.[citation needed] In order of introduction, they are:

1. 
   Print (books, pamphlets, newspapers, magazines, etc.) from the late 15th century
   
2. 
   Recordings (gramophone records, magnetic tapes, cassettes, cartridges, CDs, and DVDs) from the late 19th century
   
3. 
   Cinema from about 1900
   
4. 
   Radio from about 1910
   
5. 
   Television from about 1950
   
6. 
   Internet from about 1990
   
7. 
   Mobile phones from about 2000
   

While a telephone is a two-way communication device, mass media communicates to a large group. In addition, the telephone has transformed into a cell phone which is equipped with Internet access. A question arises whether this makes cell phones a mass medium or simply a device used to access a mass medium (the Internet). There is currently a system by which marketers and advertisers are able to tap into satellites, and broadcast commercials and advertisements directly to cell phones, unsolicited by the phone's user.[citation needed] This transmission of mass advertising to millions of people is another form of mass communication.

Video games may also be evolving into a mass medium. Video games (for example massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs), such as RuneScape) provide a common gaming experience to millions of users across the globe and convey the same messages and ideologies to all their users. Users sometimes share the experience with one another by playing online. Excluding the Internet however, it is questionable whether players of video games are sharing a common experience when they play the game individually. It is possible to discuss in great detail the events of a video game with a friend one has never played with, because the experience is identical to each. The question, then, is whether this is a form of mass communication.[citation needed]

Characteristics

Five characteristics of mass communication have been identified by sociologist John Thompson of Cambridge University:[7]

• 
  "[C]omprises both technical and institutional methods of production and distribution" – This is evident throughout the history of mass media, from print to the Internet, each suitable for commercial utility
  
• 
  Involves the "commodification of symbolic forms" – as the production of materials relies on its ability to manufacture and sell large quantities of the work; as radio stations rely on their time sold to advertisements, so too newspapers rely on their space for the same reasons
  
• 
  "[S]eparate contexts between the production and reception of information"
  
• 
  Its "reach to those 'far removed' in time and space, in comparison to the producers"
  
• 
  "[I]nformation distribution" – a "one to many" form of communication, whereby products are mass-produced and disseminated to a great quantity of audiences
  

The term "mass media" is sometimes erroneously used as a synonym for "mainstream media". Mainstream media are distinguished from alternative media by their content and point of view. Alternative media are also "mass media" outlets in the sense that they use technology capable of reaching many people, even if the audience is often smaller than the mainstream.

In common usage, the term "mass" denotes not that a given number of individuals receives the products, but rather that the products are available in principle to a plurality of recipients.[7]

Forms of mass media

Broadcast

A family listening to a crystal radio in the 1920s.

Main articles: Radio broadcasting and Television

The sequencing of content in a broadcast is called a schedule. With all technological endeavours a number of technical terms and slang have developed. Please see the list of broadcasting terms for a glossary of terms used.

A broadcasting organisation may broadcast several programs simultaneously, through several channels (frequencies), for example BBC One and Two. On the other hand, two or more organisations may share a channel and each use it during a fixed part of the day, such as the Cartoon Network/Adult Swim. Digital radio and digital television may also transmit multiplexed programming, with several channels compressed into one ensemble.

When broadcasting is done via the Internet the term

is often used. In 2004, a new phenomenon occurred when a number of technologies combined to produce

. Podcasting is an asynchronous broadcast/narrowcast medium.

and his associates, the Podshow, are principal proponents of podcasting.

Film

Main article: Film

The term 'film' encompasses motion pictures as individual projects, as well as the field in general. The name comes from the photographic film (also called filmstock), historically the primary medium for recording and displaying motion pictures. Many other terms for film exist, such as motion pictures (or just pictures and "picture"), the silver screen, photoplays, the cinema, picture shows, flicks, and most common, movies.

Films are produced by recording people and objects with cameras, or by creating them using animation techniques or special effects. Films comprise a series of individual frames, but when these images are shown in rapid succession, an illusion of motion is created. Flickering between frames is not seen because of an effect known as persistence of vision, whereby the eye retains a visual image for a fraction of a second after the source has been removed. Also of relevance is what causes the perception of motion: a psychological effect identified as beta movement.

Film is considered by many[who?] to be an important art form; films entertain, educate, enlighten, and inspire audiences. Any film can become a worldwide attraction, especially with the addition of dubbing or subtitles that translate the film message. Films are also artifacts created by specific cultures, which reflect those cultures, and, in turn, affect them.[who?]

Video games

A video game is a computer-controlled game in which a video display, such as a monitor or television, is the primary feedback device. The term "computer game" also includes games which display only text (and which can, therefore, theoretically be played on a teletypewriter) or which use other methods, such as sound or vibration, as their primary feedback device, but there are very few new games in these categories.[who?] There always must also be some sort of input device, usually in the form of button/joystick combinations (on arcade games), a keyboard and mouse/trackball combination (computer games), a controller (console games), or a combination of any of the above. Also, more esoteric devices have been used for input, e.g., the player's motion. Usually there are rules and goals, but in more open-ended games the player may be free to do whatever they like within the confines of the virtual universe.

In common usage, an "

" refers to a game designed to be played in an establishment in which patrons pay to play on a per-use basis. A "computer game" or "

" refers to a game that is played on a

. A "

" refers to one that is played on a device specifically designed for the use of such, while interfacing with a standard

set. A "video game" (or "videogame") has evolved into a catchall phrase that encompasses the aforementioned along with any game made for any other device, including, but not limited to, advanced

,

,

, etc.

Audio recording and reproduction

is the

or mechanical re-creation or amplification of

, often as

. This involves the use of 

such as microphones, recording devices, and loudspeakers. From early beginnings with the invention of the

using purely mechanical techniques, the field has advanced with the invention of electrical recording, the mass production of the

, the

followed by the

, the vinyl

. The invention of the

in the 1960s, followed by Sony's

, gave a major boost to the mass distribution of music recordings, and the invention of

and the

in 1983 brought massive improvements in ruggedness and quality. The most recent developments have been in

.

An album is a collection of related audio recordings, released together to the public, usually commercially.

The term record album originated from the fact that 78 RPM Phonograph disc records were kept together in a book resembling a photo album. The first collection of records to be called an "album" was Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Suite, release in April 1909 as a four-disc set by Odeon records.[8][9] It retailed for 16 shillings – about £15 in modern currency.

A music video (also promo) is a short film or video that accompanies a complete piece of music, most commonly a song. Modern music videos were primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings. Although the origins of music videos go back much further, they came into their own in the 1980s, when Music Television's format was based on them. In the 1980s, the term "rock video" was often used to describe this form of entertainment, although the term has fallen into disuse.

Music videos can accommodate all styles of filmmaking, including

,

films,

, and non-narrative,

.

Internet

See also: Digital media

The Internet (also known simply as "the Net" or less precisely as "the Web") is a more interactive medium of mass media, and can be briefly described as "a network of networks". Specifically, it is the worldwide, publicly accessible network of interconnected computer networks that transmit data by packet switching using the standard Internet Protocol (IP). It consists of millions of smaller domestic, academic, business, and governmental networks, which together carry various information and services, such as email, online chat, file transfer, and the interlinked web pages and other documents of the World Wide Web.

Contrary to some common usage, the Internet and the World Wide Web are not synonymous: the Internet is the system of interconnected computer networks, linked by copper wires, fiber-optic cables, wireless connections etc.; the Web is the contents, or the interconnected documents, linked by hyperlinks and URLs. The World Wide Web is accessible through the Internet, along with many other services including e-mail, file sharing and others described below.

Toward the end of the 20th century, the advent of the World Wide Web marked the first era in which most individuals could have a means of exposure on a scale comparable to that of mass media. Anyone with a web site has the potential to address a global audience, although serving to high levels of web traffic is still relatively expensive. It is possible that the rise of peer-to-peer technologies may have begun the process of making the cost of bandwidth manageable. Although a vast amount of information, imagery, and commentary (i.e. "content") has been made available, it is often difficult to determine the authenticity and reliability of information contained in web pages (in many cases, self-published). The invention of the Internet has also allowed breaking news stories to reach around the globe within minutes. This rapid growth of instantaneous, decentralized communication is often deemed likely to change mass media and its relationship to society.

"Cross-media" means the idea of distributing the same message through different media channels. A similar idea is expressed in the news industry as "convergence". Many authors understand cross-media publishing to be the ability to publish in both print and on the web without manual conversion effort. An increasing number of wireless devices with mutually incompatible data and screen formats make it even more difficult to achieve the objective "create once, publish many".

The Internet is quickly becoming the center of mass media. Everything is becoming accessible via the internet. Rather than picking up a newspaper, or watching the 10 o'clock news, people can log onto the internet to get the news they want, when they want it. For example, many workers listen to the radio through the Internet while sitting at their desk.

Even the

relies on the Internet. Teachers can contact the entire class by sending one e-mail. They may have web pages on which students can get another copy of the class outline or assignments. Some classes have class blogs in which students are required to post weekly, with students graded on their contributions.

Blogs (web logs)

, too, has become a pervasive form of media. A

is a website, usually maintained by an individual, with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or interactive media such as images or video. Entries are commonly displayed in reverse chronological order, with most recent posts shown on top. Many blogs provide commentary or news on a particular subject; others function as more personal online diaries. A typical blog combines text, images and other graphics, and links to other blogs, web pages, and related media. The ability for readers to leave comments in an interactive format is an important part of many blogs. Most blogs are primarily textual, although some focus on art (artlog), photographs (photoblog), sketchblog, videos (vlog), music (MP3 blog), audio (podcasting) are part of a wider network of social media.

is another type of blogging which consists of blogs with very short posts.

RSS feeds

is a format for syndicating news and the content of news-like sites, including major news sites like

, news-oriented community sites like

, and personal blogs. It is a family of Web feed formats used to publish frequently updated content such as blog entries, news headlines, and podcasts. An RSS document (which is called a "feed" or "web feed" or "channel") contains either a summary of content from an associated web site or the full text. RSS makes it possible for people to keep up with web sites in an automated manner that can be piped into special programs or filtered displays.

Podcast

Main article: Podcast

A podcast is a series of digital-media files which are distributed over the Internet using syndication feeds for playback on portable media players and computers. The term podcast, like broadcast, can refer either to the series of content itself or to the method by which it is syndicated; the latter is also called podcasting. The host or author of a podcast is often called a podcaster.

Mobile

Main article: Mobile media

Similar to the internet, mobile is also an interactive media, but has far wider reach, with 3.3 billion mobile phone users at the end of 2007 to 1.3 billion internet users (source ITU). Like email on the internet, the top application on mobile is also a personal messaging service, but SMS text messaging is used by over 2.4 billion people. Practically all internet services and applications exist or have similar cousins on mobile, from search to multiplayer games to virtual worlds to blogs. Mobile has several unique benefits which many mobile media pundits claim make mobile a more powerful media than either TV or the internet, starting with mobile being permanently carried and always connected. Mobile has the best audience accuracy and is the only mass media with a built-in payment channel available to every user without any credit cards or PayPal accounts or even an age limit. Mobile is often called the 7th Mass Medium and either the fourth screen (if counting cinema, TV and PC screens) or the third screen (counting only TV and PC).

Print media

Main articles: Newspaper and Magazine

See also: Publishing § Industry sub-divisions, and Printing

Magazine

A magazine is a periodical publication containing a variety of articles, generally financed by advertising or purchase by readers.

Magazines are typically published weekly, biweekly, monthly, bimonthly or quarterly, with a date on the cover that is in advance of the date it is actually published. They are often printed in color on coated paper, and are bound with a soft cover.

Magazines fall into two broad categories: consumer magazines and business magazines. In practice, magazines are a subset of periodicals, distinct from those periodicals produced by scientific, artistic, academic or special interest publishers which are subscription-only, more expensive, narrowly limited in circulation, and often have little or no advertising.

Magazines can be classified as:

• 
  General interest magazines (e.g. Frontline, India Today, The Week, The Sunday Times etc.)
  
• 
  Special interest magazines (women's, sports, business, scuba diving, etc.)
  

A newspaper is a publication containing news and information and advertising, usually printed on low-cost paper called newsprint. It may be general or special interest, most often published daily or weekly. The most important function of newspapers is to inform the public of significant events.[10] Local newspapers inform local communities and include advertisements from local businesses and services, while national newspapers tend to focus on a theme, which can be exampled with "The Wall Street Journal" as they offer news on finance and business related-topics.[10] The first printed newspaper was published in 1605, and the form has thrived even in the face of competition from technologies such as radio and television. Recent developments on the Internet are posing major threats to its business model, however. Paid circulation is declining in most countries, and advertising revenue, which makes up the bulk of a newspaper's income, is shifting from print to online; some commentators, nevertheless, point out that historically new media such as radio and television did not entirely supplant existing.

The internet has challenged the press as an alternative source of information and opinion but has also provided a new platform for newspaper organizations to reach new audiences.[11] According to the

, between 2012 and 2016, print newspaper circulation continued to fall in almost all regions, with the exception of

, where the dramatic increase in sales in a few select countries has offset falls in historically strong Asian markets such as

and the

. Most notably, between 2012 and 2016,

's print circulation grew by 89 per cent.[12]

Outdoor media

Outdoor media is a form of mass media which comprises billboards, signs, placards placed inside and outside commercial buildings/objects like shops/buses, flying billboards (signs in tow of airplanes), blimps, skywriting, AR Advertising. Many commercial advertisers use this form of mass media when advertising in sports stadiums. Tobacco and alcohol manufacturers used billboards and other outdoor media extensively. However, in 1998, the Master Settlement Agreement between the US and the tobacco industries prohibited the billboard advertising of cigarettes. In a 1994 Chicago-based study, Diana Hackbarth and her colleagues revealed how tobacco- and alcohol-based billboards were concentrated in poor neighbourhoods. In other urban centers, alcohol and tobacco billboards were much more concentrated in African-American neighborhoods than in white neighborhoods.[1]

Purposes

A panel in the Newseum in Washington, D.C., shows the 12 September headlines in America and around the world.

Mass media encompasses much more than just news, although it is sometimes misunderstood in this way. It can be used for various purposes:

• 
  Advocacy, both for business and social concerns. This can include advertising, marketing, propaganda, public relations, and political communication.
  
• 
  Entertainment, traditionally through performances of acting, music, and TV shows along with light reading; since the late 20th century also through video and computer games.
  
• 
  Public service announcements and emergency alerts (that can be used as political device to communicate propaganda to the public).[13]
  

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