Differences Between the Traditional Mass Media, the New Mass Media and Interactive Media

Paper Info
Page count 8
Word count 2270
Read time 8 min
Subject Media
Type Essay
Language 🇺🇸 US

Essay Proposal

The topic I selected for analysis is differences and similarities between the traditional mass media, the new mass media and interactive media. Using theoretical materials and practical examples, I would like to investigate different types of media and their impact on the audiences. My focus in the essay will be on set of activities, technological configurations, information, symbols and images popularized by mass media and their impact on the audience. The essay will discuss the idea that the media play a large role in public opinion formation. Following Cooper (1998): “new communication and information technologies are being introduced more rapidly into society than ever before, and into some societies for the first time, it is especially important to study the effects and ethical issues accompanying new communications media” (72). Also, the essay will highlight the role and impact of technology on mass media and emergence of mass audiences. The articles New Technology Effects Inventory and A Theory of Media Power and a Theory of Media Use that I will consider are those that reflect and analyze the process of communication, different types of media and media messages. Both articles are taken form scholarly peer review journal and are based on theoretical materials and discussions. I plan to address briefly how the new mass media and the interactive media transform social communication and open new opportunities for mass audiences. Greater participation and increasing flows of information transform traditional roles of media and its functions. The researches by N. Lacey (1997) and Ch. Chippendale (2004) present good theatrical material on the topic. Both authors agree that popularity of different types of mass media is explained by the fact that ordinary individuals want to belong to a community. In modern societies, the media largely determine public consensus.

Commentary

It is not surprising that most people believe that the mass media have powerful effects on the public’s thoughts, feelings, and actions. Mass media of different types (the traditional mass media, the new mass media and interactive media) communicates with its audiences through certain images and symbols. Thesis through different and diverse images and symbols mass media shapes social opinion and values, creates certain stereotypes and popularizes mass culture.

Gaming, music and consumption, blogging, and news are based on symbols and images encoded by the media and decoded by the audience. Communication takes place only when meaning is transferred. “The message is encoded, conveyed via the appropriate channels, and decoded by the customer-receiver. Three main difficulties can compromise an organization’s attempt to com­municate with customers” (Chippendale 98). For instance, repeatedly, scarce images of minority groups have focused on unfavorable and confining stereotypes that can be traced back to film images. Viewers perceive negative stereotypes and attitudes towards certain social groups through negative images popularized by mass media (Ball-Rokeach 7). For instance, Russians are often depicted as bandits. This character is disheveled, untrustworthy, and dishonest— typified in representations such as the drug runner or the inner-city gangster found in many police crime dramas (Lacey 76). Thus, the traditional role of mass media as information gatherers and informers has been transformed. Modern mass media creates certain images and symbols, forms public opinion and attitudes through these symbols. Following Chippendale (2004) self-interest binds all the competing factions into a tacit agreement not to question the monolithic assumption that the media have massive impacts (35). It is not surprising that most people believe that the mass media have powerful effects on the public’s thoughts, feelings, and actions (Vivan 34).

In Canada, there is a great impact on American and British mass culture on the media. This impact is achieved through culturally determined images of cowboys and Hollywood stars, American life style and fast food industry. In this case, viewers perceive and interpret a message through culture it belongs to (Lorimer & Gasher 26). For instance, for many people, fast food culture in its various manifestations is very often seen as an arena for displays of mundane agency in subverting dominant flows of meaning. Only certain artefacts and practices are allowed into the cultural canon of fast food. It is possible to say that the image of fast food culture is replaced by a version of the social culture that is constituted by a process of ongoing struggle to comprehend and live through a world in which everything that was solid is melting into air. For instance, through the image of advertisement, marketers grab attention of consumers with a visual surprise. Communication occurs through the image (symbol) depicted on the advertisement and through the color. For instance, McDonald fast food uses a “yellow” color that helps customers to recognize its brand at once. People are motivated and persuaded to buy the products through symbols (Vivan 39). The advertising appeal is the communications approach that relates to the motives of the target audience (Ball-Rokeach 25). Critics of the mass media also are motivated to assume massive media effects because their complaint is not that media are ineffectual, but that they have gigantic heinous effects on the public. Mass media images form social opinion about products and life styles, influence viewers’ attitudes through symbols and social values.

Essay

During the 20th century, the means of communication became massive and the use of mass media grew a thousand-fold. Communication plays a crucial role in modern society contributing social cohesion, facilitating and constraining social interaction. Mass media present a constant stream of messages through news, advertising, talk shows and entertainment programming. The fundamental categories of cultural life are the same in all societies. In all the different strata of any given society, the effort to explore and explain the universe, to understand the meaning of events, to enter into contact with the sacred or to commit sacrilege, to affirm the principles of morality and justice and to deny them, to encounter the unknown (Lacey 72). Thesis The traditional mass media, the new mass media and interactive media differ in channels of communication and interaction, different impact on potential viewers and receivers but similar in their transmission function.

The main difference between the media is their channels of communication with potential audiences. The traditional mass media involves printed media (books, magazines, newspapers, etc), radio and TV. In contrast, the new media and interactive media use the Internet faculties (websites), broad cast messages; e-mails and cell phones. These channels determine the impact and influence of the messages and their contents (Lorimer & Gasher 33). In contrast to the traditional mass media, the new mass media and interactive media attracts wide target audiences involving all social classes and social groups. For instance, the new mass media proposes contents with varying levels of sophistication which attracts diverse target audiences. Also, interactive media uses simple messages which imply a quick response and easy access to promoted services. A special stratum of the population that cuts across all classes and gives a particular tone to mass media of all types is the younger generation, the maligned and bewildering “youth.” (Chippendale 27-28). The coming forth of youth in contemporary society rests on primordial foundations which exist in all societies. In most societies, however, the institutional structure and the niggardliness of nature have kept youth in check. In modern times, romanticism and increased wealth and (more deeply) the expanding radius of empathy and fellow-feeling have given (Lacey 87).

People of higher socioeconomic standing perceive the print medium as being more credible, whereas those of lower socioeconomic standing lean toward television or the Internet. A channel is used according to its availability; thus in sparsely populated areas, such as the north of Canada, television may be unavailable, and in areas where the illiteracy rate is high there may be no printed materials (Chippendale 34). Permanency of the message is an attribute of print. Multiplicative power (its ability to cover extensive geographic areas speedily) and the timeliness and simultaneity of the message are attributes of the channel that affect its effectiveness. For traditional mass media, it is easier to predict its audiences and their tastes. Mass communication behavior can be explained according to such variables as the sex, age, education, and interests of the audience. Chippendale (1997) state that the average college student spends less time with television, radio, and magazines but more time with newspapers and movies. Thus, it is more difficult to predict and evaluate behavior of the Internet users and cell phones users (Vivan 45).

These media have a different impact on potential audiences and attract different consumers. For instance, among the middle classes the consumption of the traditional genres of superior culture is not large. Popular periodicals, bestselling novels, political books of transient interest, inferior poetry, inspirational works of theology and moral edification and biographies–these made up and still make up the bulk of their consumption. More recently, the films and radio, and most recently, television, have provided the substance of their cultural consumption (Chippendale 92). Their fare is largely philistine–mediocre culture and brutal culture. Nonetheless, because of exposure to the “mass media,” e.g., periodicals like Life and a narrow band of the output on television, film, and radio, a larger section of these classes has come into contact with and consumed a larger quantity of extra-religious, superior culture than has been the case throughout the course of modern history (Cooper 31).

In contrast to traditional media, the advantage of interactive media is that it is more focused on the individual and personalized. Interactive media gains popularity because many of its communication technologies have also made it increasingly easy for the consumer (receiver) to respond to the marketer’s communications and even initiate communication with the marketer. Although this will still be only about 10% of all advertising expenditures, there is reason to believe that this figure will dramatically increase as both consumers and marketers recognize the benefits of interactive advertising (Vivan 62). In contrast to the traditional mass media, the new media provides access to an extremely wide array of information content (Lorimer & Gasher 34-35). The user plays a much greater role in selecting information, and exposure is much more specialized and individualized. The flow of information in the system is much more difficult to trace than for previous media, as information passes through many hands. Consequently, the original source and the accuracy and credibility of the information are also more difficult to assess.

The main similarity between the three media is their transmission function. Transmission of the social heritage function is simply the mass media’s reinforcing of behavioral norms by holding up a mirror to society, reflecting standards for behavior. The entertainment function is perhaps the function of the mass media best appreciated by audiences the world over. The role of traditional mass media and the new mass media is to warn society and individuals of natural dangers, war, attack, and so forth (Lacey 96). Thus, the role of interactive media is to facilitate social communication; it is more consumer and marketing oriented. More often, the three types of media canalize behavior-that is, rather than forming or changing attitudes, the media direct attitudes in one direction or another. An often cited example of this phenomenon is the glut of toothpaste commercials. The advertisers are not trying to persuade people to adopt the attitude that brushing their teeth is good; they already know this and they have already been socialized to do so. “The selection of a particular brand of toothpaste is the canalizing of this attitudinal behavior” (Ball-Rokeach 73). There are a number of conditions that affect the level and direction of effects. If commercials are so successful in activating people to purchase products, the Internet and direct mails are less credible.

The traditional media is based on implicit and explicit content of the objects while the new mass media uses broader and more sophisticated contents. It is important to underline a strong impact of the media on social change, advertising, cultural taste, instruction, goal achievement, politics, and social images. For instance, news may become more a form of entertainment than in the past; news reporters and broadcast announcers will be competing for attention with stars of mystery movies and soap operas. The electronic media demand uniqueness from those who use it, and a news reporter on the electronic media who lacks uniqueness is indistinguishable from others. “The idea is never to leave the viewer alone” (Chippendale 81).

In contrast to these media, interactive media is based on ephemeral content created for specific purposes. For instance, the aim of the direct mail is to get a message into the heads of potential consumers (Chippendale 83). In other words, relationships are established when meaning is transferred, and received by the audience. Text communicates through a set of meanings and definitions sending particular messages to consumers and controlling the circulation of ideas (Lacey 23). In the traditional media, the new media and interactive media relationships are explained by emotional reaction of the audience on the information received. News stories form the basis of different class-orientated ‘meaning systems’, through broad categories, and the complexity of real audience responses. The relationships are explained by attempts of the text to process and challenge the information. Also, a media text can evoke trust, faith, hope or anger through certain images and messages sent to the target audience.

In sum, all types of media seek to gain and hold audiences. Thus all messages are designed to attract viewers and shape their social opinion. The media types differ in their channels and ways of message delivering but they are similar in functions and roles. To keep viewers interested in a message force media managers experiment with new techniques, style, and organization of the information.

Works Cited

  1. Ball-Rokeach, S.J. A Theory of Media Power and a Theory of Media Use: Different Stories, Questions, and Ways of Thinking. Mass Communication & Society 1 (1998): 5-41.
  2. Chippendale, Christopher. Print Culture to Electronic Culture. Antiquity Publications, 1997.
  3. Cooper, Th. W. New Technology Effects Inventory: Forty Leading Ethical Issues Journal of Mass Media Ethics 13 (1998): 71-92.
  4. Lacey, N. Image and Representation: Key Concepts in Media Studies. Palgrave Macmillan, 2004.
  5. Lorimer, R., Gasher, M. Mass communication in Canada Fifth Edition, 2003.
  6. Vivan, J.C. Media of Mass Communication. Allyn & Bacon; 8 edition, 2006.

Cite this paper

Reference

EduRaven. (2021, October 19). Differences Between the Traditional Mass Media, the New Mass Media and Interactive Media. Retrieved from https://eduraven.com/differences-between-the-traditional-mass-media-the-new-mass-media-and-interactive-media/

Reference

EduRaven. (2021, October 19). Differences Between the Traditional Mass Media, the New Mass Media and Interactive Media. https://eduraven.com/differences-between-the-traditional-mass-media-the-new-mass-media-and-interactive-media/

Work Cited

"Differences Between the Traditional Mass Media, the New Mass Media and Interactive Media." EduRaven, 19 Oct. 2021, eduraven.com/differences-between-the-traditional-mass-media-the-new-mass-media-and-interactive-media/.

References

EduRaven. (2021) 'Differences Between the Traditional Mass Media, the New Mass Media and Interactive Media'. 19 October.

References

EduRaven. 2021. "Differences Between the Traditional Mass Media, the New Mass Media and Interactive Media." October 19, 2021. https://eduraven.com/differences-between-the-traditional-mass-media-the-new-mass-media-and-interactive-media/.

1. EduRaven. "Differences Between the Traditional Mass Media, the New Mass Media and Interactive Media." October 19, 2021. https://eduraven.com/differences-between-the-traditional-mass-media-the-new-mass-media-and-interactive-media/.


Bibliography


EduRaven. "Differences Between the Traditional Mass Media, the New Mass Media and Interactive Media." October 19, 2021. https://eduraven.com/differences-between-the-traditional-mass-media-the-new-mass-media-and-interactive-media/.

References

EduRaven. 2021. "Differences Between the Traditional Mass Media, the New Mass Media and Interactive Media." October 19, 2021. https://eduraven.com/differences-between-the-traditional-mass-media-the-new-mass-media-and-interactive-media/.

1. EduRaven. "Differences Between the Traditional Mass Media, the New Mass Media and Interactive Media." October 19, 2021. https://eduraven.com/differences-between-the-traditional-mass-media-the-new-mass-media-and-interactive-media/.


Bibliography


EduRaven. "Differences Between the Traditional Mass Media, the New Mass Media and Interactive Media." October 19, 2021. https://eduraven.com/differences-between-the-traditional-mass-media-the-new-mass-media-and-interactive-media/.