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- Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
- Kategorie: Bildung
- Sprache: Englisch
Helps students develop the ability to analyze culture and utilize media literacy techniques, provides the core skills necessary to succeed in a communications career
Essential Mass Communication helps students build a strong understanding of communication theory, mass communication technology, information studies, and mass communication practices. Offering an expanded view of the field, this comprehensive textbook combines easily accessible coverage of core skills and concepts with historically critical content on mass communication revolutions, cultural impacts, and converging media as they changed society. Throughout the text, author John DiMarco integrates professional practice components into each chapter, including professional pathways to applying mass communication to students' careers.
Essential Mass Communication addresses a variety of creative fields, such as storytelling, rhetoric, journalism, marketing and advertising, design, fine art, photography, and filmmaking. Student-friendly chapters explore a uniquely wide range of topics, from introductory content on communication process and product to more in-depth discussion of game history and theory, critical theory, strategic communication, and more.
Designed to help aspiring creative professionals learn and use the technology tools and channels available to deliver cultural and personal experiences in the form of media products, Essential Mass Communication:
- Introduces the concepts of mass communication and establishes foundations for understanding convergence and culture
- Provides the skills and knowledge required to apply critical media literacy analysis techniques in different fields
- Discusses the driving technologies, key people, convergence, and cultural instances of each mass communication media
- Covers the business and information disciplines of mass communication, including ethics and communication law
- Highlights the connection between communication technologies, culture, and careers in mass media
- Includes a wealth of real-world case studies, applied examples and assignments, key term definitions, end-of-chapter questions, in-text QR codes linking to internet sources, and valuable appendices for career development
With a strong focus on creative, active learning, Essential Mass Communication: Convergence, Culture, and Media Literacy is the perfect textbook for undergraduate and graduate courses in Mass Communication, Information Studies, and Communication technologies, as well as relevant courses in Media Studies, International Communications, and Marketing, Advertising, and Public Relations programs.
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Table of Contents
Cover
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright Page
Authors’ Biography
Preface
The Creative Professional and Mass Communication
Story Telling
Rhetoric
Journalism
Persuasion and Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC)
Advertising
Public Relations
Marketing
Sales Promotion
Design
Fine Art
Photography
Filmmaking
Notes
Acknowledgments
About the Companion Website
PART 1: Mass Communication in Society
CHAPTER 1: Mass Communication Convergence, Culture, and Media Literacy
Mass Communication, Media, and You
Growth of Mass Communication
Mass Media Convergence and Society
Culture and Mass Media
Media Literacy
Chapter Summary
Review Questions
Media Literacy Exercise
Notes
CHAPTER 2: Research and Effects
Communication and Media Research Fundamentals
Communication Studies Origins
Communication Theories and Models
Mass Media Effects in Culture and Society
Chapter Summary
Review Questions
Media Literacy Exercise
Notes
PART 2: Mass Media Technologies
CHAPTER 3: Books
Printing and Book Publishing Evolution
Books and Print Media in Society and Culture
Book Industry and Corporate Ownerships
Research in Book Publishing
Book Publishing Career Roles
Chapter Summary
Review Questions
Media Literacy Exercise
Notes
CHAPTER 4: Newspapers
Newspaper Evolution
Newspapers in Society and Culture
Newspaper Industry and Business Structure
Current Research in Newspaper Publishing
Newspaper Publishing Career Roles
Chapter Summary
Review Questions
Media Literacy Exercise
Notes
CHAPTER 5: Magazines
Magazine Evolution
Magazines in Society and Culture
Magazine Industry and Business Structure
Current Research in Magazine Publishing
Magazine Publishing Career Roles
Chapter Summary
Review Questions
Notes
CHAPTER 6: Recordings and Music
Sound Recording Evolution
Popular Music Genres in Culture
The Recording Business
Recordings Research
Careers in Recording and Music Publishing
Chapter Summary
Review Questions
Notes
CHAPTER 7: Radio
Radio Technology Evolution
Radio in Culture and Society
The Radio Business
Radio Broadcasting Research
Careers in Radio Broadcasting
Chapter Summary
Review Questions
Notes
CHAPTER 8: Movies
Movie Technologies and Innovations
Movies in Society and Culture
Movie Business and Industry
Movie Research
Careers in Video and Film
Chapter Summary
Review Questions
Notes
CHAPTER 9: Television
Television Technologies and Innovations
Television in Culture and Society
Television Business and Industry
Television Broadcasting Research
Careers in Television Broadcasting
Conclusion
Review Questions
Notes
CHAPTER 10: Internet and Gaming
Internet and Game Innovations
Internet and Game Technologies in Culture and Society
Internet and Gaming Industries
Internet, Social, and Gaming Research
Careers Internet and Gaming
Summary
Review Questions
Notes
PART 3: Mass Communication Practices
CHAPTER 11: Journalism
Journalism Elements
Journalism in Society and Culture
Research in Journalism
Journalism Careers
Chapter Summary
Review Questions
Notes
CHAPTER 12: Public Relations
Public Relations Evolution
Public Relations in Culture and Society
Public Relations Research
Public Relations Business and Professional Practice
Public Relations Careers
Chapter Summary
Review Questions
Media Literacy Exercise
Notes
CHAPTER 13: Advertising
Advertising and Ephemera Evolution
Advertising in Culture and Society
Advertising Agencies and Creative Business
Current Research in Advertising
Advertising Career Roles
Summary
Review Questions
Notes
CHAPTER 14: Ethics and Communication Law
The Origins of Ethics and Communication Law
Ethics and Communication Law in Society and Culture
Communication Law Professional Practice and Careers
Chapter Summary
Review Questions
Notes
Appendix Career Connection
Index
End User License Agreement
List of Illustrations
Chapter 1
FIGURE 1.1 This 47‐page pamphlet, Common
Sense
, was instrumental in encourag...
FIGURE 1.2 This Coby 5‐inch combination UHF, VHF, television with AM/FM radi...
FIGURE 1.3 Content management systems for websites such as Shopify require l...
FIGURE 1.4 Prominent ICT companies are recognized by their own moniker in fi...
FIGURE 1.5 Information Age creative communication Model.
FIGURE 1.6 This commercial from
“
The Look” campaign, targets the issue...
FIGURE 1.7 An example of semiotics in social learning is the See N Say toy. ...
FIGURE 1.8 Television Shows such as,
The Office
and
Workaholics
provide a co...
FIGURE 1.9 Public Enemy's 1988 hit passionately disapproves of false media, ...
Chapter 2
FIGURE 2.1 This graph demonstrates the presence of gun‐related behavior acro...
FIGURE 2.2 There are a wide variety of specialized academic journals coverin...
FIGURE 2.3 Self‐talk, internal brainstorming, and journaling are all forms o...
FIGURE 2.4 Hybrid‐style meetings, with some in‐person and others joining vir...
FIGURE 2.5 The diagram depicts how two people communicate: one sends a messa...
FIGURE 2.6 United States government advertisement titled “The more women at ...
FIGURE 2.7 Portrait of suffragist Hallie Quinn Brown.
FIGURE 2.8 Imagine owning the same car as the
Fast and the Furious
character...
FIGURE 2.9
Ink Master
teams working on live canvas' face difficulties as cli...
MEDIA EXPLORATION 2.1 Check out this YouTube video “‘We are not those mascot...
MEDIA EXPLORATION 2.2 Check out
CNN
(a) and
Fox News
(b) digital content, pa...
Chapter 3
FIGURE 3.1 Early civilizations used pictographs to visually communicate thei...
FIGURE 3.2 This Chinese type block allowed for consistent reproduction of le...
FIGURE 3.3 A 19th century illuminated manuscript signals the beginning of th...
FIGURE 3.4 The American Printer: a manual of typography containing practical...
FIGURE 3.5 (a) The Gutenberg Bible was created in 1455. Unlike the ancient C...
FIGURE 3.6
The Art of Money‐Getting
is a late 1800s paperback self‐hel...
FIGURE 3.7 Dime Novels such as
Larry Lee, The Young Lighthouse Keeper
, were ...
FIGURE 3.8 A 1895 nickel‐plated typewriter, produced by Oliver Typewriter Co...
FIGURE 3.9 An adaptation of Goodwin’s book, the film
Lincoln
, provides a vis...
Chapter 4
FIGURE 4.1 Some media outlets, like the
Montgomery Advertiser
, revisit topic...
FIGURE 4.2 Around 59
BC
, the Acta Diurna emerged, creating an early form of ...
FIGURE 4.3 Martin Luther publishes the 95 Theses in 1517. Made possible by t...
FIGURE 4.4
The Bengal Hurkaru and Chronicle
were circulated daily in India, ...
FIGURE 4.5 Newspaper Sizes have varied over history, with different formats ...
FIGURE 4.6
Publick Occurrences Both Forreign and Domestick
(1610) is an exam...
FIGURE 4.7
The North Star
newspaper was monumental in publishing civil right...
FIGURE 4.8
The Sun and the New York Herald
favored eye‐catching headlines to...
FIGURE 4.9
The San Francisco call
. February 22, 1898, raised suspicions abou...
FIGURE 4.10 Broadway musical drama
Newsies
, centers around the labor exploit...
FIGURE 4.11 (a)
The Wall Street Journal
continues to offer exclusive busines...
FIGURE 4.12 USA Today offers general‐interest for daily US consumption that ...
MEDIA EXPLORATION 4.1 Check out these historical African American newspapers...
MEDIA EXPLORATION 4.2 Check out these alternative and underground newspapers...
Chapter 5
FIGURE 5.1
Sports Illustrated
is known for their eye‐catching covers of top ...
FIGURE 5.2 A 1894
Harper’s Weekly
Christmas edition, picturing Santa C...
FIGURE 5.3
Saturday Evening Post
cover from the early 1900s, picturing an il...
FIGURE 5.4 A
Harper’s Magazine
issue that reflects on President George...
FIGURE 5.5 Scan the QR code to learn about how
TIME Magazine
covers have tra...
FIGURE 5.6 Trade Magazines such as this one, Inventor, provide industry base...
FIGURE 5.7 This
Consumer Report
offers insights on saving gas. It includes g...
FIGURE 5.8
The Economist
is a weekly magazine that covers politics and gener...
FIGURE 5.9 This job description for
Globe Magazine
explains a few of the tas...
Chapter 6
FIGURE 6.1 The phonautograph is a 19th century invention that recorded sound...
FIGURE 6.2 Edison’s 1877 phonograph was monumental in recording sound. Check...
FIGURE 6.3 The picture depicts a Berliner gramophone factory; whether they a...
FIGURE 6.4 (a) Many early microphones – like that used by James Farmer at th...
FIGURE 6.5 Napster allowed open access to music files, leading to copyright ...
FIGURE 6.6 (a) Sister Rosetta Tharpe drew from folk, blues, and gospel influ...
FIGURE 6.7 These ticket stubs from the author's life illustrate a range of m...
Chapter 7
FIGURE 7.1 An early telephone made by the Edison Company. The crank on the s...
FIGURE 7.2 AM and FM radio waves have different amplitudes or energy. FM has...
FIGURE 7.3 A Regency TR‐1 Transistor Radio from 1954. Transistors became cru...
FIGURE 7.4 This chart shows how to use Morse code, explaining which dots and...
FIGURE 7.5 This 1935 CBS Radio Playhouse featured performers in a classic ra...
FIGURE 7.6 NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert, featuring Kirk Franklin, celebrates Blac...
FIGURE 7.7 A screenshot from
iHeartMedia
’s
homepage explains it is the...
FIGURE 7.8 This table lists the top ten radio owners based on revenue in 202...
FIGURE 7.9 This table lists various radio genres and their number of station...
FIGURE 7.10 This table lists the top radio stations by revenue. The top thre...
Chapter 8
FIGURE 8.1 The images Eadweard Muybridge, the father of motion pictures, too...
FIGURE 8.2 The Lumière brothers evolved the moving image with the cinematogr...
FIGURE 8.3 The 1915 movie
The Birth of a Nation
by D.W. Griffith is identifi...
FIGURE 8.4 In the film
Schindler’s List
, a young girl is pictured in a...
FIGURE 8.5 The warning screen for an R (restricted) movie, part of the MPAA ...
FIGURE 8.6 Wilson, a sports equipment company, paid for product integration ...
FIGURE 8.7 The Lego
Star Wars
collection is an example of the global TV and ...
Chapter 9
FIGURE 9.1 John Baird experimented with broadcasting moving images with his ...
FIGURE 9.2 Vladimir Zworykin pictured with his patented iconoscope or TV cam...
FIGURE 9.3 David Sarnoff, a board member of the RCA, demonstrated a video ma...
FIGURE 9.4 Pictured is a Philips television receiver from the 1950s. Philips...
FIGURE 9.5 Image quality can depend on differences in resolutions for varyin...
FIGURE 9.6 Behind the scenes, control centers like the Suite One control roo...
FIGURE 9.7
Mighty Mouse
was a popular cartoon character first appearing in 1...
FIGURE 9.8 Gunsmoke was a 1950s CBS Western drama series.
FIGURE 9.9 Arsenio Hall interviewed Snoop Dogg, discussing his music and jou...
FIGURE 9.10 HBO is diverse in offering a wide variety of content ranging fro...
FIGURE 9.11 Sitcom
All In The Family
, which ran from 1971 to 1979, was recor...
Chapter 10
FIGURE 10.1 Interface message processors were the first routers that allowed...
FIGURE 10.2 The Netscape Navigator Browser in 1994 offered one the first ser...
FIGURE 10.3 The Archie Query Page served as an early form of the modern sear...
FIGURE 10.4 Example of a database providing information structure to a baseb...
FIGURE 10.5 The emails carried through the post office protocol work similar...
FIGURE 10.6 Similar to diplomacy, risk requires players to strategically eng...
FIGURE 10.7 A Nuclear Destruction screenshot, seen here at
www.boardgamegeek
...
FIGURE 10.8 The 1977 Atari 2600 home video game console allowed users to swa...
FIGURE 10.9 The Dragon's Lair franchise, a pillar of storytelling and player...
FIGURE 10.10 Dungeons and Dragons creates a game experience based on the pla...
FIGURE 10.11
Twitchtracker.com
follows online Twitch game viewership and pro...
FIGURE 10.12 Democratization of media pros and cons.
65
FIGURE 10.13 2023 Lifetime Top Video Game Consoles Sales show the most succe...
FIGURE 10.14 Cloud gaming allows for membership‐based access to vast librari...
Chapter 11
FIGURE 11.1 A memorial honoring missing and murdered Indigenous women is set...
FIGURE 11.2 The film
Shattered Glass,
cycles through the life of Stephen Gla...
FIGURE 11.3 The film
Nightcrawler
tells the story of unethical journalistic ...
FIGURE 11.4
A Red Record: Lynchings in the United States
, is one of the pamp...
FIGURE 11.5 Frank Tassone, played by Hugh Jackman in the 2019 film
Bad Educa
...
FIGURE 11.6 Controversy erupted over former president of Harvard University,...
FIGURE 11.7
Real Sports with Bryant Gumble
is an example of long form televi...
FIGURE 11.8 This job description from
Boston Globe Media
explains the role o...
Chapter 12
FIGURE 12.1 Like pro‐golfer Tiger Woods's 2009 public apology, Youtubers att...
FIGURE 12.2
Shark Tank
TV personality and Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban ...
MEDIA EXPLORATION 12.1 Explore the different visual and written elements pre...
FIGURE 12.3 Many Amazon influencers will show off their “hauls” on social me...
FIGURE 12.4 Political cartoons attempt to spin narratives and shape public p...
FIGURE 12.5 Flyer advertising PT Barnum’s “Greatest Show on Earth” featuring...
FIGURE 12.6 Political cartoon of Andrew Jackson “to the victors belong our s...
FIGURE 12.7 NAACP call to action after Alabama attempts to suspend organizat...
MEDIA EXPLORATION 12.2
Check out the
history of Gallup polling on the c‐span...
FIGURE 12.8 (a) Ivy Lee, a prominent PR figure, gained recognition for empha...
FIGURE 12.9 Truth Campaign depicting how the Nicotine and vape industry mold...
MEDIA EXPLORATION 12.3 If you work at an internship in public relations or c...
FIGURE 12.10 Top 10 global PR agency rankings for 2023 according to PRovoke ...
Chapter 13
MEDIA EXPLORATION 13.1 Check out how logos like Gap change over time as the ...
FIGURE 13.1 Advertisement for the 1869 gymnacyclidium, the first indoor cycl...
FIGURE 13.2 Wholesale stores like Costco that offer bulk shopping experience...
FIGURE 13.3 Heinz's ketchup ad campaign pitch in the television series
Mad M
...
FIGURE 13.4 This JWalter Thompson ad for
Rinso Washing Powder
communicates m...
FIGURE 13.5 David Ogilvy's Man in the Hathaway shirt campaign saw remarkable...
FIGURE 13.6
Playing
on a cultural moment, SKITTLES and the DDB Chicago team ...
FIGURE 13.7 In their website design, Shape Stretch, a stretching equipment, ...
MEDIA EXPLORATION 13.2 In a 2021 campaign, Christian Dior used Snapchat and ...
FIGURE 13.8 The “Smokey is Within” campaign highlighted the iconic Smokey th...
FIGURE 13.9 (a and b) In 1968, Virginia Slims advertised cigarettes to women...
FIGURE 13.10 Ethnic approaches to advertising fell short in a New York Lotte...
MEDIA EXPLORATION 13.3 Watch the Bada Bling commercial for the New York Lott...
Chapter 14
FIGURE 14.1
The 2016 film Snowden
tells the story of Edward Snowden. The whi...
FIGURE 14.2 Media in the courtroom during the 2022 case of Depp v. Heard, tu...
FIGURE 14.3 Actor Scarlett Johansson took legal action in late 2023 after an...
FIGURE 14.4 In the late 1970s, Kodak was looking for a way to compete agains...
Guide
Cover Page
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright Page
Authors’ Biography
Preface
Acknowledgments
About the Companion Website
Begin Reading
Appendix Career Connection
Index
Wiley End User License Agreement
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Essential Mass Communication
Convergence, Culture, and Media Literacy
JOHN DIMARCO
Copyright © 2025 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved, including rights for text and data mining and training of artificial technologies or similar technologies.
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Authors’ Biography
John DiMarco, PhDAuthor
John DiMarco, PhD, is a professor of Mass Communication and Digital Media Design at St. John's University in New York City. John earned a PhD in Information Studies and an MA in Communication Design from Long Island University. He completed his undergraduate degree in communication from University at Buffalo. Dr. DiMarco is a patented inventor, researcher, and nonfiction writer who has published over 35 articles and chapters and multiple books. Recent works include The Resume, Cover Letter, Portfolio Handbook in 2022; Communications Writing and Design, published by Wiley Blackwell in 2017; Career Power Skills, published by Pearson in 2013; and Digital Design for Print and Web, published by Wiley in 2010. Past books include Web Portfolio Design and Applications (2006) and Computer Graphics and Multimedia (2004), both published by IGI.
Dr. DiMarco has contributed to and been quoted in media outlets including USA Today, MONEY Magazine, Newsday, Fox Business, Learning Solutions Magazine, Training and Development Magazine, Business News Daily, and The New York Daily News on stories involving mass communication, advertising, public relations, visual design, and career skills. John has helped people with learning, communication, and design for over 25 years.
Professor DiMarco teaches, writes, trains, and consults in creativity, design thinking, new product development, digital media, instructional design, persuasive communication, and career building. He is a Certified Adobe Education Trainer and a Certified Instructional Designer. His passion for helping people intersects digital communication, instructional design, visual media, and product development disciplines. John is the inventor of the Shape Stretch Body bar, a patented stretching apparatus and exercise system, and created Shapestretch.com, an instructional website for stretching and flexibility.
Kimberly DiMarco, PhDContributing Author
Dr. Kimberly DiMarco is a literacy researcher and special education teacher, servicing elementary special education students for over two decades in Long Island schools. She holds degrees in elementary education, special education K‐12 from SUNY Westbury, and a master's degree from SUNY Albany. She holds a PhD in Literacy from St. John’s University. Dr. DiMarco specializes in differentiating instruction to meet the needs of students and has worked with all ages ranging from pre‐K through middle school, in both the special and general education classroom settings. In addition to being an educator and life‐long learner, Kimberly DiMarco is the proud mother of two sons and is married to Dr. John DiMarco.
Paul Balsamo, BSContributing Author
Paul Balsamo grew up in Queens, NY, and lives in Massapequa Park, NY. He graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Management and Communications from Adelphi University.
He has spent his career in corporate Learning and Development, leveraging learning technologies and leading teams in needs analysis, instructional design, delivery, scheduling, budgeting, marketing, tracking, and measurement. He is a lifelong gamer including board games, roleplaying, play‐by‐mail, and video games. His favorite arcade game was Missile Command, and he still has an Atari 2600 in his attic.
Paul has several published works for the Star Wars and TORG roleplaying games including the short story “Escape from Balis‐Baurgh” in the Star Wars Adventure Journal volume I and the roleplaying adventure “Power Cyp‐ply” in the TORG supplement Cylent Scream.
Sarah Hermina, MSContributing Author
Sarah Hermina is from Howard County, MD. Sarah holds her master’s degree from Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and a bachelor's degree in mass communications from St. John’s University, New York.
As a former broadcast reporter, Sarah enjoys telling a compelling and visual story that will capture an audience. Having worked in local and national news, Sarah has a deep appreciation and understanding of the newsroom and news cycle. Her passion, experience, and expertise in storytelling enable her to bring client stories to life.
Now working in the world of PR and media relations, Sarah enjoys being a trusted source for her media colleagues.
Daniel Malone, JDContributing Author
Daniel P. Malone 2024 graduate of St. John’s University School of Law and obtained his bachelor’s degree in political science from Hofstra University. He was born and raised in Long Island, New York. His work is focused primarily on commercial litigation, contract disputes, and civil rights.
Sophie Gangi, MSContributor and Content Manager
Sophie Gangi is from Weymouth Massachusetts, a town outside of Boston. She completed her Bachelor of Science in Communication Arts in May 2023 and her Master of Science in International Communication at St. John’s University in May 2024.
With an affinity for writing and research, Sophie focused on diverse topics during graduate school: From how partisan news outlets contribute to political polarization, to social media and overconsumption. Her experience as a caption writer for this book and editor‐in‐chief of her college’s interdisciplinary journal catalyzed her interest in the publishing industry.
She has one self‐published book, “W is for Wicked: The ABC’s of Boston,” a short picture book containing lots of Boston lore. Besides sitting courtside at the Celtics game, writing, and illustrating a children’s book are on Sophie’s bucket list.
Emily Hartwig, MSContributor and Content Manager
Emily Hartwig moved to the Big Apple from Mendon, MA, to pursue her Bachelor of Science in Public Relations at St. John’s University. Having fallen in love with the city, she continued her education, working to complete her Master of Science in International Communications at her Alma Mater. She worked as a Graduate Assistant promoting St. John’s University’s Institute for International Communication’s commitment to thought leadership and global understanding as she completed her degree.
Driven by a passion for research, Emily is interested in human rights, peacebuilding, and policy and hopes to contribute to de‐escalating conflict through bridge‐building dialogue and diplomatic relations. She has experience across multidisciplinary internships and experience in PR and politics.
Preface
The Creative Professional and Mass Communication
Individuals and professionals across business domains make creative communication utilizing creative skills in research, writing, design, production, and performance using technologies specialized for their fields. Have you ever used creativity to make something new that communicates an idea, message, sound, or still image or moving image? Regardless of the field or industry one works in, creativity is used to communicate with others, make new things, and solve problems. Thus, creative media skills become personal tools for all of us, and most importantly they become career tools for dedicated “creative professionals” across industries. Creative media skills can be self‐taught, transferred through personal learning, internship experiences, or acquired in a college, art school, or technical school – you already know this, as you have a wide set of your own – making you creative. Once you focus professional work on creativity, you become a creative professional.
The creative professional is intimately involved in mass communication. The prose and production quality, as well as the business directives needed in mass media, require a creative team of professionals who possess core skills in the following creative fields: storytelling, rhetoric, journalism, persuasion (marketing, advertising, public relations), design, fine art, photography, and film making, and understand the technology tools and channels available to deliver cultural and personal experiences in the form of media products. These core skills are the ones that you will build as you grow in a communications career. Let us walk through them briefly next, as we expand on these areas in greater depth in the following chapters exploring mass communication, media literacy, and creativity, and how they can connect to you.
Story Telling
Story telling is a living process that allows us to imagine according to information. Scholar Dr. Amy Spaulding bullets storytelling as an “organic art” and an “antidote to impersonality.” A living process according to Spaulding, story and information are intertwined entities, but have distinct differences. Whereas information is about distinguishing facts based on data gathered through observation and calculation sources, the story is about making the meaning of facts and data.1 The meaning made is planned to provide a direction toward one or more combined core media goals to inform, persuade, entertain, or educate.
Storytelling in written form is always a starting point for media products. It was at the beginning of mass communication, with orators and scribes delivering tales to crowds. In modern mass media products, visualization and writing out of ideas before production and delivery is a required practice in professional storytelling. Whether it be speeches, monologues, comedy routines, scripts, storyboards, content maps, or proposals, writing and presentation design is critical to pitching the quality and audience value of a proposed project. Presentation design is used to explain story ideas before media productions are financially approved. Storytelling across mass media is the invisible element that nurtures drama, comedy, suspense, action, and instruction to elicit emotional and logical connections for the audience that relate to their experiences reflected in settings, characters, and plots.
All media professionals tell stories in some form, making storytelling a critical mass communication skill. The ability to transcend experiences into entertaining and audience‐relevant content for delivery to an audience is the job of a storyteller. Professionally, in industries like Internet video, film, television, and publishing, writers, directors, designers, actors, and producers telling stories will meticulously research and document source materials, write storylines, and then produce a final communication product in a media format based on the communication channel delivering the message.
Rhetoric
Rhetoric is the art and science of oral presentation and argument of ideas. It surrounds spoken language and is the oldest and most influential social practice medium. It holds a place in the history of ideas as a tradition with three sets of concepts: preparing a speech, addressing the audience, and commonplace argument.2
Three sets of rhetorical concepts3
Speech Preparation
(Five stages)
Inventio
. Conceptualizing and collecting subject matter information to form main points and arguments.
Dispositio
. Structure planning of the speech to order the subject matter logically and pragmatically.
Elecoutio.
Linguistic delivery of the speech with emphasis on specific articulations.
Memoria.
Memorization of the speeches form, content, and delivery approach.
Actio.
Performance of the speech to an audience with the goal of persuasion.
Audience delivery
with the goal of persuasion (focused on action–).
Ethos.
Authority to speak on a subject creating subject matter credibility.
Logos. L
ogical arguments that present reasons to alter opinion.
Pathos.
Emotional connection that relates to personal, social, and familial feelings and memories.
Common place connection
Topos, which means a place referring to familiar places that speakers share with audiences. This parallel connection to audiences with commonplace ideas becomes a topical argument that needs but a few concrete examples to persuade audience members with shared experiences.
Rhetoric is seen in modern‐day mass media in spoken words in media products including talk shows, newscasts, in article quotes, speeches, political debates, and interviews.
Journalism
Journalism is the art, science, and process of researching, observing, assembling, verifying, and publishing accurate facts based on credible sources of data and serves to provide citizens with reliable information needed to function in a free society.4
Journalists see themselves as having a literal sixth sense, called a “nose for news” to find instances of news. News is qualified by situations, activities, accounts, and outcomes that are relevantly rooted in phenomenon existing in society and culture. The term journalist used to be a label for someone who kept public records and presented them to the public; journalists now range across a slate of job titles and organizations, in both corporate and freelance positions, including photojournalists, publishers, photographers, field producers, trend writers, reviewers, and bloggers.5
Persuasion and Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC)
Persuasion is the use of messages and arguments aimed at logical and emotional reception with the goal of creating action in the message receiver. That action could be to make a purchase or believe in something, some idea, or somebody. The persuasion industries in mass communication include marketing, advertising, public relations, and sales promotion. These professional disciplines make up the core competencies in IMCs, succinctly called IMC in the business world. Companies practice IMC across different media channels with multiple media products. Professionals in the field may be practitioners of only one discipline, say public relations, or work across disciplines to produce multiple projects in IMC.
IMC brings together multiple approaches to persuasion to create a bubble of messages around media and product consumers so that they are inescapably engaged. It is important to realize that companies are using a mixture of methods to induce persuasion in the media. The media mix is a combination of touchpoint activities that yields different modes to reach audiences.
The focus of IMCs is to generate touchpoints, which are connections that brands make with audiences across different media products and media channels.6 Multiple interactions with consumers build trust and brand awareness, which can trigger a purchase, beyond a simple need. Touch points go across all media so an example for a consumer product purchased in a retail store…here’s what the touchpoints might look like: an advertisement showing the product and announcing launch dates in a magazine to inform consumers, a press release announcing the new product launch to inform the news media, a television commercial with a call‐to‐action persuading consumers to buy, a product purchase display and packaging represented at a public retail location or an online store. After the purchase, the touch points may continue with a product registration card that requires name, email, and dates of purchase, which will become a lead for a direct email marketing message set or digital ad, initiated by cookies that index data codes to a computer's IP address, which will follow someone around on the web as they search other websites. All in the name of announcing a flash sale or announcing the next new product offering.
Mass media persuasion disciplines advertising, public relations, marketing, and sales promotion gain media recognition and customer attention, which can be paid, self‐produced, or earned. Adding to the traditional media products delivered on commercial media channels of radio, television, and print media, new media products such as blogs, podcasting, viral marketing, and online digital marketing can reach buyers directly and are less expensive to attain a broader reach. The use of content and thought leadership have become the novel approach to connecting to buyers through explicit needs and a thirst for knowledge and problem solving.7
Advertising
Advertising is the art, science, and practice of selling a product, which can be a physical good or service, a person, or an ideology. Advertising is paid media and controlled by the creator, which is the organization paying for the advertising. People employed in advertising typically specialize in one of three distinct functions. Media planning and buying, account management, and creative design are the main professional roles in advertising. The media planners buy commercial media airtime, space in print publications, and banner ad spots on targeted websites and social platforms. The account managers sell the ideas for the media to the client. The creative staff at agencies and within corporate in‐house departments include art directors, copywriters, designers, and producers who develop ads and other communication products for print, digital, broadcast, and mobile platforms. Creatives use storytelling techniques to devise commercials and campaigns that offer calls to action.
Public Relations
Public relations are the art and science of communication between an organization and its publics to promote two‐way communication and influence public opinion. The estimated, collective, ever‐changing feelings, opinions, and attitudes of a group or society constitute public opinion. The goal of public relations is not to sell a product specifically, but to sell the whole organization, its employees, products, mission, and contribution to society.8 Unlike advertising, publicity and positive public relations are earned, not purchased. The essence of the field is truth, ethics, and credibility. Public relations specialists in corporate, government, and nonprofit organizations engage in a wide variety of communication practices including social media management, research, counseling, media relations, publicity, community relations, government relations, issues management, financial relations, and special events.9
Marketing
Marketing is the art and science of bringing products to market. The focus of marketing is in managing the critical elements of product design and deployment to audiences and stakeholders. The marketing functions include establishing five critical business decisions known as the “P’s of marketing,” which are:
Product:
Person:
Place:
Package:
Price:
Marketing professionals can work as product managers developing product plans to launch new and updated products and services into markets. Corporate marketing managers create communications to support advertising and sales promotion activities.
Sales Promotion
Sales promotion is the art and science of actively engaging customers in sales channels and sales environments to produce revenue. In sales promotion, the point of sale, the merchandising in‐store, and the use of real‐time customer service are all components that translate the efforts of marketing, advertising, and public relations into sales revenue.
The display of products in an aisle at Walmart that gets viewed by thousands of people every year and the digital screen at a sporting event that flashes a mix of game scores, highlights, and commercials are examples of sales promotion.
Mass media persuasion disciplines advertising, public relations, marketing, and sales promotion gain media recognition and customer attention, which can be paid, self‐produced, or earned. Adding to the traditional media products delivered on commercial media channels of radio, television, and print media, new media products such as blogs, podcasting, viral marketing, and online digital marketing can reach buyers directly and are less expensive to attain a broader reach. The use of content and thought leadership have become the innovative approach to connecting to buyers through explicit needs and a thirst for knowledge and problem‐solving.10
Design
Design is the process of solving a problem with a created solution. All mass media is a product of design. Design is different than art in that it has deliberate specifications and a required final output format. In addition, design should be focused on problem‐solving for the client, whereas art is focused on the thoughts, feelings, and emotions of the artist. To design something means that you went through the process of conceiving and created an idea or an object to solve a problem. Design can also be defined as an outcome to the process as well, as in a “final design” or, that is my “design.” The “design” is the final output of a media product. A television show pilot would be the final design, but so would the set it is shot on. A design is also a finished idea that represents a solution.
The social media platforms you use are examples of design. The advertisements you read in YouTube videos are designed by graphic designers. The sets for shows and movies you watch on digital streaming platforms and cable television are designed by art directors and set designers. The kiosks you interact with at the store or airport are designed by interactive designers. The media products you use every day are created by engineers and industrial designers and the containers they come in are created by package designers. Design is omnipresent in media productions and vital to create products of all types.
Fine Art
Fine art is the physical or digital media product of an artist’s thoughts, feelings, and emotions through materials and techniques. Materials in art are also known as substrates or media. Disciplines in fine art include drawing, painting, sculpture, mixed/multi/trans media, and digital. Art serves to provide an outlet for personal expression, offering a social channel for communication and expression.11 Many artists work in mass media. Art uses substrates, which are media, for delivering the artist’s message. In art, media is required…the canvas for the painter, the raw material for the sculptor, the digital screen for the graphic artist, the paper for the illustrator. The same with mass media. It uses delivery media to reach mass audiences.
In mass media, the need for art and its influence is everywhere. The elements of art including line, shape, texture, color, value, and rhythm are infused in the mass media such as recordings, television shows, and visual ephemera including media packaging and productions, animation, and human performances.
Artists working in video graphics and special effects for movies, television, and online video collaborate to perform individual parts that contribute to successful productions. Although traditional artists such as painters and sculptors may work alone, artists in mass media work on project teams consisting of other artists in varied media, along with others including, but not limited to, writers, designers, producers, directors, production crew, programmers, engineers, and other professionals. These artist teams navigate professional technical equipment and specialize in certain areas of the arts that contribute to completing the production.
Photography
Photography is the art and science of creating a photograph, which is an image instance stopped in time exposing light on light‐sensitive material and now writing an image to WIFI or removable media such as an SD card.12 Photographers consider viewpoint, lighting, distance, lens, and depth of field, but they also consider the value of the subject matter on the communication message. In photography, the content is the message, as photographs reveal frozen points in time that make meaning to the viewer beyond what the photographer intended in many cases.13
Photography has many roles in mass media as it is used not only for production of still images for productions, publications, and promotions in print and digital channels but also as a planning tool for casting, set designs, location scouting, as well as shot setups and art direction in filmmaking.
Filmmaking
Filmmaking is the art and science of preparation, shooting, and assembly of a moving image production. Filmmakers consider and manage story development, scriptwriting and storyboarding, scene locations, shot decisions, technology needs, talent and acting roles, lighting, dialogue, titling, music, editing and then inevitably, distribution to audiences.14
Filmmaking skills are not just used for movies that would be released to the public but also used for videographers and communications specialists creating content for corporate, advertising, public relations, government, or institutional purposes.
Filmmakers use technology and must be able to understand the principles of art and design to create beautiful and technically composed imagery.
Now that you have a better understanding of the creative skills that flow through mass communication and its domains, let us move on to learning and using essential mass communication. The next goals are to build a strong understanding of convergence, develop an ability to analyze culture, and become adept at utilizing media literacy techniques.
Notes
1
Amy E. Spaulding,
The Wisdom of Storytelling in An Information Age
(Lanham, MD.: Scarecrow Press, 2004).
2
Klaus B. Jensen
The Handbook Of Media And Communication Research
(London: Routledge, 2004).
3
Ibid.
4
“Principles Of Journalism | American Press Association,” American Press Association, Last modified 2020,
https://americanpressassociation.com/principles‐of‐journalism/
.
5
Barbie Zelizer, "Definitions Of Journalism," University Of Pennsylvania Scholarly Commons, Last modified 2005,
https://repository.upenn.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1697&context=asc_papers
.
6
John DiMarco,
Communications Writing And Design
(Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2017).
7
David M. Scott,
The New Rules Of Marketing & PR
, 2nd ed. (John Wiley and Sons, 2009).
8
Fraser P. Seitel,
The Practice Of Public Relations
(Boston [etc.]: Pearson, 2017).
9
Dennis L. Wilcox and Glen T. Cameron,
Public Relations
, 8th ed. (Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon, 2007).
10
David M. Scott,
The New Rules Of Marketing & PR
, 2nd ed. (John Wiley and Sons, 2009).
11
Edmund B. Feldman,
Varieties Of Visual Experience
(New York: H.N. Abrams, 1992).
12
“Tate,” Tate, Last modified 2020,
https://www.tate.org.uk/
.
13
Philip B. Meggs,
Type & Image
(New York: Wiley, 1997).
14
David Bordwell and Kristin Thompson, Film Art …, 6th ed. (New York: McGraw Hill, 2001).
Acknowledgments
Contributors, reviewers, and the team at WileyI spent two years authoring this book. The list of people to thank is long and must first include my incredible team of contributors. Sophie Gangi and Emily Hartwig took on the multiple roles of caption writers, content editors, and photo curators. The dedication and professionalism they showed, dealing with my requests while completing their own master’s program coursework, was a lesson in challenging work. I cannot thank them enough for taking on this project and helping me to navigate the image management process with ease.
The contributing authors, Dan Malone, Paul Balsamo, Dr. Kimberly DiMarco, and Sarah Hermina, stepped up immediately by agreeing to spend countless hours researching and writing excerpts and chapters to lend their expertise. I’m so grateful for their brilliance. They helped me achieve a greater goal for this book, including a wider range of expertise across multiple generations to give readers more depth and breadth to learn.
The reviewers for this book included Dr. Frank Brady and Dr. Tom Kitts. Frank helped shape the proposal and better understand the books and newspaper chapters. Tom provided a detailed full review and edits on music and recordings. These gentlemen are cherished mentors and friends – I’m so grateful for their time and wisdom.
The incredible team at Wiley has been part of my publishing family since the book Digital Design for Print and Web in 2006. We worked together again in 2017 for Communications Writing and Design, and I am always so humbled to publish with Wiley and their scientific and academic imprint, Wiley Blackwell. The editorial team of Nicole Allen, Janaki Gothandaraman, and Nicholas Wehrkamp have guided this latest journey, working to help shape a mammoth project, offering solutions, and granting kind considerations when I was daunted by challenges.
My FamilyMy life is all about Kim, David, Jack, and my little puppy Bella. My incredible wife, Dr. Kimberly DiMarco, is the love of my life, my partner, and best friend. She is a wonder woman to me and my sons, David, and Jack. Together, they are my best everything and I would not have success without their love and strength. I must thank my incredible extended family, The Borowski’s, Deals, and Lawrences are the most incredible people, and I am grateful for their existence in my life. Finally, thanks Mom and Dad; Margaret and Jerry; Roseann, Gina, and Richard; Tommy and Alexis; Joey and Paige; and all the little babies for all the love and support.
My UniversityI cherish my colleagues, my students, and my incredible second home, St. John’s University. Since 2005, I have been blessed to work in a caring school that allows me to keep moving through the academic universe with support as I search for knowledge and strive to help people find true happiness through teaching and research.
With much gratitude,
John DiMarco, PhDProfessor
Mass Communication and Digital DesignSt. John’s UniversityNew York City
About the Companion Website
This book is accompanied by a companion website:
www.wiley.com/go/DiMarco/essentialmasscomm
This website includes a chapter‐by‐chapter instructor exam bank and slide decks for each chapter highlighting key points.
PART 1Mass Communication in Society
Part 1 introduces the concepts of mass communication and establishes foundations for understanding convergence and culture, and applying critical media literacy analysis techniques.
CHAPTER 1Mass Communication Convergence, Culture, and Media Literacy
CHAPTER OBJECTIVES
Understand your relationship with information and mass communication
Identify innovation periods in mass media history
Define mass media convergence in society
Synthesize cultural connections to mass media
Apply media literacy techniques to analyze media interactions
Think About It
What Is Essential Mass Communication?
When something is necessary, it is considered essential. The history of mass communication has shown it has and will continue to be essential to the growth of civilizations, progress of societies, and fostering culture and creativity. We can agree that in our own lives, mass communication is essential. From formal and informal learning experiences generated through all kinds of media sources, to satisfying unending entertainment cravings, to gaining information about our community and world beyond, and to providing the tools and technologies we use to connect with others in our personal and professional relationships, mass communication is essential. The goal of the text is to guide you to build a better understanding of the technologies, histories, and cultural impacts of mass communication so that you can apply them in your own creativity, career, and life. This book aims to help you make essential mass communication part of your skill set and knowledge base!
Think About It Critically
Why is understanding the essential histories, technologies, and events in mass communication important to your ability to engage and use media? How can this knowledge help you in your career?
Think About It Culturally
How can your cultural attachments (clothing, music, games, movies, and social content) be better utilized by understanding essential mass communication better?
Mass Communication, Media, and You
Mass communication is a message and feedback exchange process constantly in a state of convergence causing redistribution of mass media content that fills our social and cultural experiences. Convergence creates a melding of technological devices across time and global distance to meet commercial and economic demands – to sell things and influence people. Content in mass communication is packaged as “news,” which represents objective and truthful reports on a person, place, thing, and “entertainment,” which provides an experience detached from reality through storytelling and production. Content becomes a lifeblood of information helping to navigate society and understand culture in a dynamic world. To interpret and use content, we need media literacy, which is a skill that helps you convert media content and messages into information that can have value to your knowledge base or no benefit at all.
Media literacy is a tool for cleansing toxic information from your media diet, which are all the direct messages and media content you consume each day. Using media literacy to your benefit requires taking both critical and cultural analysis vantage points to understand how media exists and is controlled in society across political, commercial, and personal spaces.
Communication Process and Product
Communication is a process of production, transfer, and reception of knowledge. Media scholar Arthur Berger, in 1995, connected the communication process in a conceptual model famously established by political scientist Harold Lasswell in 1948. Lasswell identified a model for the communication process – who says what, in which channel, to whom, with what effect. A sturdy approach that was expanded by Berger with the addition of focal points, bolstering Lasswell’s model to further illustrate the transmission path.
Berger’s focal points illustrate the need for people, media products, and mediums. We have updated the model to combine Berger and Lasswell connecting the process with the products and people in communication more fully. Think about your roles in this process and how you shift between them as you grow into your career and life. You constantly engage in various places in this process at separate times depending on your communication goals. For example, say you are managing social for an organization…you may act in the sender role of writer, creating a message to post to an audience through a social platform who gives feedback through engagements.
Who?
Sender
You / writer / designer / producer / artist
Says what?
Message
Post / text / media / artwork
In which channel?
Medium
Social / device / channel / substrate
To whom?
Audience
Followers / stakeholders / customers / viewers
With what effect?
Feedback
Engagements / culture / commerce / change
The process can be face to face, without mediation, but in many cases, there is a “communication product” involved. The product could be a textbook, film, social platform, digital song, television program, radio announcement, web banner advertisement, or any other delivery mechanism for message content, regardless of if its goal is to entertain, inform, persuade, or educate.
Mass media is used by people and organizations to carry out communication interactions. Interactions are instances of the creation and use of symbolic systems. The symbols we see in the forms of different media are tokens used to exchange information and meaning mass audiences. This process is transactional and relies on people communicating through content exchange. The content that goes back and forth through the media during communication interactions are messages.
Message exchange with mass media includes elements of popular culture. Popular culture elevates the most relevant content in the culture at that time in history. The content becomes part of culture that becomes known by large swaths of various populations in tandem. An example of this would be a celebrity Tweeting out a photo of themselves wearing a certain fashion garment, say a pair of shoes. The photo gets consumed by mass audiences of followers, retweeted to others, and viewers of the post buy the item and begin to post images of themselves with it. That shoe or shoe style may become popular enough to create a fashion trend, which is captured by magazines, in movies, on athletes, and written about, thus adding it to the media cycle in that time in history. The trend may return in the future, sparking a rebirth for fashion.
Media Drives Our Zeitgeist
Each moment in history is brief in its instance compared to the span of time, but historical periods and their defining cultural spirit can be collectively identified as the zeitgeist of that time. The zeitgeist is the mood of the time in society and can be seen in happenings in sports, politics, religion, fashion, entertainment, health, or any other subject that captures the mass public’s attention. The zeitgeist changes with society and is established through the force and reach of various elements of culture at that time. This happens through mass media, which is the delivery system for information that reaches groups in society across large, diverse audiences.
Media Becomes Part of Our Senses
As scholar Marshall McLuhan, whose immense contributions to the field we highlight in the research chapter, stated,1 “media is an extension of our central nervous system” commanding us to be relevant, and “with it” as we are “on at all times” through our media. We are always using and consuming mass media, but do we understand how and why it affects our lives? Being more media educated and literate allows clearer focus on how facts can be used, distorted (spin), and invented to enact control and persuade us to act. When we are skilled in media literacy techniques, we are in control of the media, rather than the media controlling us.
