An echo chamber is "an environment where a person only encounters information or opinions that reflect and reinforce their own."
In discussions of news media, an echo chamber
refers to situations in which beliefs are amplified or reinforced by
communication and repetition inside a closed system and insulated from
rebuttal.
By participating in an echo chamber, people are able to seek out
information that reinforces their existing views without encountering
opposing views, potentially resulting in an unintended exercise in confirmation bias. Echo chambers may increase social and political polarization and extremism.
The term is a metaphor based on an acoustic echo chamber, in which sounds reverberate
in a hollow enclosure. Another emerging term for this echoing and
homogenizing effect within social media communities on the Internet is
cultural tribalism.
Many scholars note the effects that echo chambers can have on
citizens' stances and viewpoints, and specifically implications has for
politics. However, some studies have suggested that the effects of echo chambers are weaker than often assumed.
Concept
The
Internet has expanded the variety and amount of accessible political
information. On the positive side, this may create a more pluralistic
form of public debate; on the negative side, greater access to
information may lead to selective exposure to ideologically supportive channels.
In an extreme "echo chamber", one purveyor of information will make a
claim, which many like-minded people then repeat, overhear, and repeat
again (often in an exaggerated or otherwise distorted form) until most people assume that some extreme variation of the story is true.
The echo chamber effect occurs online when a harmonious group of people amalgamate and develop tunnel vision. Participants in online discussions may find their opinions constantly echoed back to them, which reinforces their individual belief systems due to the declining exposure to other's opinions.
Their individual belief systems are what culminate into a confirmation
bias regarding a variety of subjects. When an individual wants something
to be true, they often will only gather the information that supports
their existing beliefs and disregard any statements they find that are
contradictory or speak negatively upon their beliefs.
Individuals who participate in echo chambers often do so because they
feel more confident that their opinions will be more readily accepted by
others in the echo chamber.
This happens because the Internet has provided access to a wide range
of readily available information. People are receiving their news online
more rapidly through less traditional sources, such as Facebook,
Google, and Twitter. These and many other social platforms and online
media outlets have established personalized algorithms intended to cater specific information to individuals’ online feeds. This method of curating content has replaced the function of the traditional news editor.
The mediated spread of information through online networks causes a
risk of an algorithmic filter bubble, leading to concern regarding how
the effects of echo chambers on the internet promote the division of
online interaction.
It is important to note that members of an echo chamber are not
fully responsible for their convictions. Once part of an echo chamber,
an individual might adhere to seemingly acceptable epistemic practices
and still be further misled. Many individuals may be stuck in echo chambers due to factors existing outside of their control, such as being raised in one.
Furthermore, the function of an echo chamber does not entail eroding a member's interest in truth;
it focuses upon manipulating their credibility levels so that
fundamentally different establishments and institutions will be
considered proper sources of authority.
Empirical research
However, empirical findings to clearly support these concerns are needed and the field is very fragmented when it comes to empirical results.
There are some studies that do measure echo chamber effects, such as
the study of Bakshy et al. (2015).
In this study the researchers found that people tend to share news
articles they align with. Similarly, they discovered a homophily in
online friendships, meaning people are more likely to be connected on
social media if they have the same political ideology.
In combination, this can lead to echo chamber effects. Bakshy et al.
found that the potential exposure to cross-cutting content (content that
is opposite to the own political beliefs) through the own network is
only 24% for liberals and 35% for conservatives.
However, there are other studies which contradict this. Some
found that news reports are also shared if they don't align with the
political believes.
Others found that people using social media are being exposed to more diverse sources than people not using social media.
In summation, it remains that clear and distinct findings are absent
which either confirm or falsify the concerns of echo chamber effects.
Difficulties of researching processes
There
are several reasons why empirical findings are so fragmented and
unclear. First, there are some conceptual unclarities due to different
definitions and the novelty of these phenomenons. Therefore, there are
inconsistent measuring methods and usage of the concepts which means
that studies aren't comparable. In addition to that, the data that is
used in the empirical research isn't representative for the entire
population, as Facebook users for example are more likely to be feminine
and have a higher educational status than the average US population.
Another problem is the aggregation bias where individually, effects are
being measured, but when adapted to the population it can lead to
ecological fallacy. Furthermore, social media platforms are continually
changing their algorithmic filtering without making these algorithms
public. This makes it difficult to get consistent and comparable
results. Finally, most studies are done in the US, therefore in a two
party system and can not be conferred to political systems with several
different parties.
In recent years, closed epistemic networks have increasingly been held responsible for the era of post-truth and fake news. However, the media frequently conflates two distinct concepts of social epistemology: echo chambers and epistemic bubbles.
An epistemic bubble is an informational network in which
important sources have been excluded by omission, perhaps
unintentionally. It is an impaired epistemic framework which lacks
strong connectivity. Members within epistemic bubbles are unaware of significant information and reasoning.
On the other hand, an echo chamber is an epistemic construct in
which voices are actively excluded and discredited. It does not suffer
from a lack in connectivity; rather it depends on a manipulation of
trust by methodically discrediting all outside sources. According to research conducted by the University of Pennsylvania, members of echo chambers become dependent on the sources within the chamber and highly resistant to any external sources.
An important distinction exists in the strength of the respective
epistemic structures. Epistemic bubbles are not particularly robust.
Relevant information has merely been left out, not discredited. One can ‘pop’ an epistemic bubble by exposing a member to the information and sources that they have been missing.
Echo chambers, however, are incredibly strong. By creating
pre-emptive distrust between members and non-members, insiders will be
insulated from the validity of counter-evidence and will continue to
reinforce the chamber in the form of a closed loop. Outside voices are heard, but dismissed.
As such, the two concepts are fundamentally distinct and cannot
be utilized interchangeably. However, one must note that this
distinction is conceptual in nature, and an epistemic community can
exercise multiple methods of exclusion to varying extents.
A filter bubble – a term coined by internet activist Eli Pariser – is a state of intellectual isolation that allegedly can result from personalized searches
when a website algorithm selectively guesses what information a user
would like to see based on information about the user, such as location,
past click-behavior and search history. As a result, users become
separated from information that disagrees with their viewpoints,
effectively isolating them in their own cultural or ideological bubbles.
The choices made by these algorithms are not transparent.
Homophily is the tendency of individuals to associate and bond
with similar others, as in the proverb "birds of a feather flock
together". The presence of homophily has been detected in a vast array
of network studies.
Both echo chambers and filter bubbles relate to the ways
individuals are exposed to content devoid of clashing opinions, and
colloquially might be used interchangeably. However, echo chamber refers
to the overall phenomenon by which individuals are exposed only to
information from like-minded individuals, while filter bubbles are a
result of algorithms that choose content based on previous online
behavior, as with search histories or online shopping activity. It is equally important to understand that although similar, homophily and echo chambers are not the same either.
Implications of echo chambers
Online communities
Social network diagram displaying users forming separate, distinct clusters
Online social communities become fragmented by echo chambers when
like-minded people group together and members hear arguments in one
specific direction with no counter argument addressed. In certain online
platforms, such as Twitter, echo chambers are more likely to be found
when the topic is more political in nature compared to topics that are
seen as more neutral. Social networking communities are communities that are considered to be some of the most powerful reinforcements of rumors due to the trust in the evidence supplied by their own social group and peers, over the information circulating the news.
In addition to this, the reduction of fear that users can enjoy through
projecting their views on the internet versus face-to-face allows for
further engagement in agreement with their peers.
This can create significant barriers to critical discourse within
an online medium. Social discussion and sharing can potentially suffer
when people have a narrow information base and do not reach outside their network. Essentially, the filter bubble can distort one's reality in ways which are not believed to be alterable by outside sources.
Many offline communities are also segregated by political beliefs and cultural views. The echo chamber effect may prevent individuals from noticing changes in language and culture
involving groups other than their own. Online echo chambers can
sometimes influence an individual's willingness to participate in
similar discussions offline. A 2016 study found that "Twitter users who
felt their audience on Twitter agreed with their opinion were more
willing to speak out on that issue in the workplace".
Examples
Ideological echo chambers have existed in many forms, such as:
The McMartin preschool trial coverage was criticized by David Shaw in his 1990 Pulitzer Prize
winning articles, "None of these charges was ultimately proved, but the
media largely acted in a pack, as it so often does on big events, and
reporters' stories, in print and on the air, fed on one another,
creating an echo chamber of horrors."
Shaw stated that this case "exposed basic flaws" in news organizations
such as "Laziness. Superficiality. Cozy relationships" and "a frantic
search to be first with the latest shocking allegation". His mention of
"Reporters and editors often abandoned" journalistic principles of
"fairness and skepticism" and "frequently plunged into hysteria,
sensationalism and what one editor calls 'a lynch mob syndrome'" shows the effect of such an echo chamber and how it alters the coverage of specific types of media.
The conservative radio host, Rush Limbaugh,
and his radio show was categorized as an echo chamber in the first
empirical study concerning echo chambers by researchers Kathleen Hall
Jamieson and Frank Capella in their book: Echo Chamber: Rush Limbaugh and the Conservative Media Establishment (2008)
The Clinton-Lewinsky scandal reporting was chronicled in Time magazine's 16 February 1998 "Trial by Leaks" cover story
"The Press And The Dress: The anatomy of a salacious leak, and how it
ricocheted around the walls of the media echo chamber" by Adam Cohen. This case was also reviewed in depth by the Project for Excellence in Journalism in "The Clinton/Lewinsky Story: How Accurate? How Fair?"
A New Statesman essay argued that echo chambers were linked to the UK Brexit referendum.
The subreddit/r/incels and other online incel communities have also been described as echo chambers.
Discussion concerning opioid drugs and whether or not they should be considered suitable for long-term pain maintenance.
However, since the creation of the internet, scholars have been curious to see the changes in political communication.
Due to the new changes in information technology and how it is managed,
it is unclear how opposing perspectives can reach common ground in a
democracy. The effects seen from the echo chamber effect has largely been cited to occur in politics, such as Twitter and Facebook during the 2016 presidential election in the United States. Some believe that echo chambers played a big part in the success of Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential elections.
Some companies have also made efforts in combating the effects of an echo chamber on an algorithmic approach.
A high-profile example of this is the changes Facebook made to its
"Trending" page, which is an on-site news source for its users. Facebook
modified their "Trending" page by transitioning from displaying a
single news source to multiple news sources for a topic or event.
The intended purpose of this was to expand the breadth of news sources
for any given headline, and therefore expose readers to a variety of
viewpoints. There are startups building apps with the mission of
encouraging users to open their echo chambers, such as unFound.news. Another example is a beta feature on BuzzFeed News, called "Outside Your Bubble".
This experiment adds a module at the bottom of BuzzFeed News articles
to show reactions from various platforms, like Twitter, Facebook, and
Reddit. This concept aims to bring transparency and prevent biased
conversations, diversifying the viewpoints their readers are exposed to.
Mass media refers to a diverse array of mediatechnologies that reach a large audience via mass communication. The technologies through which this communication takes place include a variety of outlets.
Broadcast media transmit information electronically via media such as films, radio, recorded music, or television. Digital media comprises both Internet and mobile mass communication. Internet media comprise such services as email, social media sites, websites,
and Internet-based radio and television. Many other mass media outlets
have an additional presence on the web, by such means as linking to or
running TV ads online, or distributing QR codes
in outdoor or print media to direct mobile users to a website. In this
way, they can use the easy accessibility and outreach capabilities the
Internet affords, as thereby easily broadcast information throughout
many different regions of the world simultaneously and cost-efficiently.
Outdoor media transmit information via such media as AR advertising; billboards; blimps;
flying billboards (signs in tow of airplanes); placards or kiosks
placed inside and outside buses, commercial buildings, shops, sports
stadiums, subway cars, or trains; signs; or skywriting. Print media transmit information via physical objects, such as books, comics, magazines, newspapers, or pamphlets. Event organising and public speaking can also be considered forms of mass media.
The organisations that control these technologies, such as movie
studios, publishing companies, and radio and television stations, are
also known as the mass media.
Issues with definition
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 mobile phones, computer games (such as MMORPGs) and video games in the definition. In the early 2000s, a classification called the "seven mass media" came into use. In order of introduction, they are:
Print (books, pamphlets, newspapers, magazines, posters, etc.) from the late 15th century
Each mass medium has its own content types, creative artists,
technicians and business models. For example, the Internet includes blogs, podcasts, web sites
and various other technologies built atop the general distribution
network. The sixth and seventh media, Internet and mobile phones, are
often referred to collectively as digital media; and the fourth and fifth, radio and TV, as broadcast media. Some argue that video games have developed into a distinct mass form of media.
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. 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.
"[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
Mass vs. mainstream and alternative
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.
The sequencing of content in a broadcast is called a schedule. With all technological endeavours a number of technical terms and slang have developed.
Radio and television
programs are distributed over frequency bands which are highly
regulated in the United States. Such regulation includes determination
of the width of the bands, range, licensing, types of receivers and
transmitters used, and acceptable content.
Cable television
programs are often broadcast simultaneously with radio and television
programs, but have a more limited audience. By coding signals and
requiring a cable converter box at individual recipients' locations, cable also enables subscription-based channels and pay-per-view services.
When broadcasting is done via the Internet the term webcasting is often used. In 2004, a new phenomenon occurred when a number of technologies combined to produce podcasting. Podcasting is an asynchronous broadcast/narrowcast medium. Adam Curry and his associates, the Podshow, are principal proponents of podcasting.
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 film stock), 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 commonly, 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 has emerged as an important art form. They entertain,
educate, enlighten and inspire audiences. Any film can become a
worldwide attraction, especially with the addition of dubbing or subtitles that translate the original language.
Video games
Shopping carts for children fitted with gaming computers
A video game
is a computer-controlled game in which a video display, such as a
monitor or television set, is the primary feedback device. The term
"computer game" also includes games which display only text or which use
other methods, such as sound or vibration, as their primary feedback
device. 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 "arcade game"
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 "PC game" refers to a game that is played on a personal computer. A "Console game"
refers to one that is played on a device specifically designed for the
use of such, while interfacing with a standard television 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 calculators, mobile
phones, PDAs, etc.
Audio recording and reproduction
Sound recording and reproduction is the electrical or mechanical re-creation or amplification of sound, often as music. This involves the use of audio equipment such as microphones, recording devices and loudspeakers. From early beginnings with the invention of the phonograph
using purely mechanical techniques, the field has advanced with the
invention of electrical recording, the mass production of the 78 record, the magnetic wire recorder followed by the tape recorder, the vinyl LP record. The invention of the compact cassette in the 1960s, followed by Sony's Walkman, gave a major boost to the mass distribution of music recordings, and the invention of digital recording and the compact disc in 1983 brought massive improvements in ruggedness and quality. The most recent developments have been in digital audio players.
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. 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.
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, fibre-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, decentralised
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 education system
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)
Blogging,
too, has become a pervasive form of media. A blog 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) and audio (podcasting), are part of a wider network of social
media. Microblogging is another type of blogging which consists of blogs with very short posts.
RSS feeds
RSS is a format for syndicating news and the content of news-like sites, including major news sites like Wired, news-oriented community sites like Slashdot,
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.
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 phones were introduced in Japan
in 1979 but became a mass media only in 1998 when the first
downloadable ringing tones were introduced in Finland. Soon most forms
of media content were introduced on mobile phones, tablets
and other portable devices, and today the total value of media consumed
on mobile vastly exceeds that of internet content, and was worth over
$31 billion in 2007 (source Informa). The mobile media content includes
over $8 billion worth of mobile music (ringing tones, ringback tones,
truetones, MP3 files, karaoke, music videos, music streaming services
etc.); over $5 billion worth of mobile gaming; and various news,
entertainment and advertising services. In Japan mobile phone books are
so popular that five of the ten best-selling printed books were
originally released as mobile phone books.
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).
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.
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.
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.
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 organisations to reach new audiences. According to the World Trends Report, 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 Japan and the Republic of Korea. Most notably, between 2012 and 2016, India's print circulation grew by 89 per cent.
Outdoor media
Political advertisements on a billboard in the Netherlands in 2019
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
neighbourhoods than in white neighbourhoods.
Purposes
Mass media encompasses much more than just news, although it is
sometimes misunderstood in this way. It can be used for various
purposes:
News-oriented journalism is sometimes described as the "first rough draft of history" (attributed to Phil Graham),
because journalists often record important events, producing news
articles on short deadlines. While under pressure to be first with their
stories, news media organisations usually edit and proofread
their reports prior to publication, adhering to each organisation's
standards of accuracy, quality and style. Many news organisation claim
proud traditions of holding government officials and institutions
accountable to the public, while media critics have raised questions
about holding the press itself accountable to the standards of professional journalism.
Public relations
Public relations
is the art and science of managing communication between an
organisation and its key publics to build, manage and sustain its
positive image. Examples include:
Corporations
use marketing public relations to convey information about the products
they manufacture or services they provide to potential customers to
support their direct sales efforts. Typically, they support sales in the
short and long term, establishing and burnishing the corporation's
branding for a strong, ongoing market.
Corporations also use public relations as a vehicle to reach
legislators and other politicians, seeking favorable tax, regulatory,
and other treatment, and they may use public relations to portray
themselves as enlightened employers, in support of human-resources
recruiting programs.
Nonprofit organisations,
including schools and universities, hospitals, and human and social
service agencies, use public relations in support of awareness programs,
fund-raising programs, staff recruiting, and to increase patronage of
their services.
Politicians use public relations to attract votes and raise money,
and when successful at the ballot box, to promote and defend their
service in office, with an eye to the next election or, at career's end,
to their legacy.
Publishing
Museum currator shows a child early printing processes
Publishing is the industry concerned with the production of literature or information – the activity of making information available for public view. In some cases, authors may be their own publishers.
Traditionally, the term refers to the distribution of printed works such as books and newspapers. With the advent of digital information systems and the Internet, the scope of publishing has expanded to include websites, blogs and the like.
Publication is also important as a legal concept;
(1) as the process of giving formal notice to the world of a
significant intention, for example, to marry or enter bankruptcy, and;
(2) as the essential precondition of being able to claim defamation; that is, the alleged libel must have been published.
Software publishers often license software from developers with
specific limitations, such as a time limit or geographical region. The
terms of licensing vary enormously, and are typically secret.
Developers may use publishers to reach larger or foreign markets,
or to avoid focussing on marketing. Or publishers may use developers to
create software to meet a market need that the publisher has
identified.
Internet Based Professions
A YouTuber is anyone who has made their fame from creating and promoting videos on the public video-sharing site, YouTube.
Many YouTube celebrities have made a profession from their site through
sponsorships, advertisements, product placement, and network support.
History
Early wooden printing press, depicted in 1520
The history of mass media can be traced back to the days when dramas
were performed in various ancient cultures. This was the first time when
a form of media was "broadcast" to a wider audience. The first dated
printed book known is the "Diamond Sutra",
printed in China in 868 AD, although it is clear that books were
printed earlier. Movable clay type was invented in 1041 in China.
However, due to the slow spread of literacy to the masses in China, and
the relatively high cost of paper there, the earliest printed
mass-medium was probably European popular prints
from about 1400. Although these were produced in huge numbers, very few
early examples survive, and even most known to be printed before about
1600 have not survived. The term "mass media" was coined with the
creation of print media, which is notable for being the first example of
mass media, as we use the term today. This form of media started in
Europe in the Middle Ages.
Johannes Gutenberg's
invention of the printing press allowed the mass production of books to
sweep the nation. He printed the first book, a Latin Bible, on a printing press with movable type
in 1453. The invention of the printing press gave rise to some of the
first forms of mass communication, by enabling the publication of books
and newspapers on a scale much larger than was previously possible. The invention also transformed the way the world received printed
materials, although books remained too expensive really to be called a
mass-medium for at least a century after that. Newspapers developed from
about 1612, with the first example in English in 1620;
but they took until the 19th century to reach a mass-audience directly.
The first high-circulation newspapers arose in London in the early
1800s, such as The Times,
and were made possible by the invention of high-speed rotary steam
printing presses, and railroads which allowed large-scale distribution
over wide geographical areas. The increase in circulation, however, led
to a decline in feedback and interactivity from the readership, making
newspapers a more one-way medium.
The phrase "the media" began to be used in the 1920s.
The notion of "mass media" was generally restricted to print media up
until the post-Second World War, when radio, television and video were
introduced. The audio-visual facilities became very popular, because
they provided both information and entertainment, because the colour and
sound engaged the viewers/listeners and because it was easier for the
general public to passively watch TV or listen to the radio than to
actively read. In recent times, the Internet become the latest and most
popular mass medium. Information has become readily available through
websites, and easily accessible through search engines. One can do many
activities at the same time, such as playing games, listening to music
and social networking, irrespective of location. Whilst other forms of
mass media are restricted in the type of information they can offer, the
internet comprises a large percentage of the sum of human knowledge
through such things as Google Books. Modern-day mass media includes the internet, mobile phones, blogs, podcasts and RSS feeds.
During the 20th century, the growth of mass media was driven by technology, including that which allowed much duplication of material. Physical duplication technologies such as printing, record pressing and film duplication allowed the duplication of books, newspapers and movies at low prices to huge audiences. Radio and television
allowed the electronic duplication of information for the first time.
Mass media had the economics of linear replication: a single work could
make money. An example of Riel and Neil's theory. proportional
to the number of copies sold, and as volumes went up, unit costs went
down, increasing profit margins further. Vast fortunes were to be made
in mass media. In a democratic society, the media can serve the electorate about issues regarding government and corporate entities (see Media influence). Some consider the concentration of media ownership to be a threat to democracy.
Mergers and acquisitions
Between 1985 and 2018 about 76,720 deals have been announced in the
media industry. This sums up to an overall value of around US$5,634
billion.
There have been three major waves of M&A in the mass media sector
(2000, 2007 and 2015), while the most active year in terms of numbers
was 2007 with around 3,808 deals. The United States is the most
prominent country in media M&A with 41 of the top 50 deals having an
acquirer from the United States.
The largest deal in history was the acquisition of Time Warner by AOL Inc. for US$164,746.86 million.
Limited-effects theory, originally tested in the 1940s and
1950s, considers that because people usually choose what media to
interact with based on what they already believe, media exerts a
negligible influence. Class-dominant theory argues that the media reflects and projects the view of a minority elite, which controls it. Culturalist theory,
which was developed in the 1980s and 1990s, combines the other two
theories and claims that people interact with media to create their own
meanings out of the images and messages they receive. This theory states
that audience members play an active, rather than passive role in
relation to mass media.
There is an article that argues 90 percent of all mass media including radio broadcast
networks and programing, video news, sports entertainment, and others
are owned by 6 major companies (GE, News-Corp, Disney, Viacom, Time
Warner and CBS).
According to Morris Creative Group, these six companies made over $200
billion in revenue in 2010. More diversity is brewing among many
companies, but they have recently merged to form an elite which have the
power to control the narrative of stories and alter people's beliefs.
In the new media-driven age we live in, marketing has more value than
ever before because of the various ways it can be implemented.
Advertisements can convince citizens to purchase a specific product or
have consumers avoid a particular product. The definition of what is
acceptable by society can be heavily dictated by the media in regards to
the amount of attention it receives.
The documentary Super Size Me describes how companies like McDonald's
have been sued in the past, the plaintiffs claiming that it was the
fault of their liminal and subliminal advertising that "forced" them to
purchase the product. The Barbie and Ken dolls of the 1950s are
sometimes cited as the main cause for the obsession in modern-day
society for women to be skinny and men to be buff. After the attacks of
9/11, the media gave extensive coverage of the event and exposed Osama
Bin Laden's guilt for the attack, information they were told by the
authorities. This shaped the public opinion to support the war on
terrorism, and later, the war on Iraq. A main concern is that due to
this extreme power of the mass media, portraying inaccurate information
could lead to an immense public concern. In his book The Commercialization of American Culture,
Matthew P. McAllister says that "a well-developed media system,
informing and teaching its citizens, helps democracy move toward its
ideal state."
In 1997, J. R. Finnegan Jr. and K. Viswanath identified three main effects or functions of mass media:
The Knowledge Gap: The mass media influences knowledge
gaps due to factors including "the extent to which the content is
appealing, the degree to which information channels are accessible and
desirable, and the amount of social conflict and diversity there is in a
community".
Agenda Setting: People are influenced in how they think about
issues due to the selective nature of what media groups choose for
public consumption. After publicly disclosing that he had prostate
cancer prior to the 2000 New York senatorial election, Rudolph Giuliani,
the mayor of New York City (aided by the media) sparked a huge priority
elevation of the cancer in people's consciousness. This was because
news media began to report on the risks of prostate cancer, which in
turn prompted a greater public awareness about the disease and the need
for screening. This ability for the media to be able to change how the
public thinks and behaves has occurred on other occasions. In mid-1970s
when Betty Ford and Happy Rockefeller, wives of the then-President and
then-Vice President, respectively, were both diagnosed with breast
cancer. J. J. Davis states that "when risks are highlighted in the
media, particularly in great detail, the extent of agenda setting is
likely to be based on the degree to which a public sense of outrage and
threat is provoked". When wanting to set an agenda, framing can be
invaluably useful to a mass media organisation. Framing involves "taking
a leadership role in the organisation of public discourse about an
issue". The media is influenced by the desire for balance in coverage,
and the resulting pressures can come from groups with particular
political action and advocacy positions. Finnegan and Viswanath say,
"groups, institutions and advocates compete to identify problems, to
move them onto the public agenda, and to define the issues symbolically"
(1997, p. 324).
Cultivation of Perceptions: The extent to which media
exposure shapes audience perceptions over time is known as cultivation.
Television is a common experience, especially in places like the United
States, to the point where it can be described as a "homogenising agent"
(S. W. Littlejohn). However, instead of being merely a result of the
TV, the effect is often based on socioeconomic factors. Having a
prolonged exposure to TV or movie violence might affect a viewer to the
extent where they actively think community violence is a problem, or
alternatively find it justifiable. The resulting belief is likely to be
different depending on where people live, however.
Since the 1950s, when cinema, radio and TV began to be the primary or
the only source of information for a larger and larger percentage of
the population, these media began to be considered as central
instruments of mass control. Up to the point that it emerged the idea that when a country has reached a high level of industrialisation, the country itself "belongs to the person who controls communications."
Mass media play a significant role in shaping public perceptions
on a variety of important issues, both through the information that is
dispensed through them, and through the interpretations they place upon
this information.
They also play a large role in shaping modern culture, by selecting and
portraying a particular set of beliefs, values and traditions (an
entire way of life), as reality. That is, by portraying a certain
interpretation of reality, they shape reality to be more in line with
that interpretation.
Mass media also play a crucial role in the spread of civil unrest
activities such as anti-government demonstrations, riots and general
strikes.
That is, the use of radio and television receivers has made the unrest
influence among cities not only by the geographic location of cities,
but also by proximity within the mass media distribution networks.
Early minstrel shows lampooned the assumed stupidity of black people. Detail from cover of The Celebrated Negro Melodies, as Sung by the Virginia Minstrels, 1843
A magazine feature from Beauty Parade from March 1952 stereotyping women drivers. It features Bettie Page as the model.
American political cartoon titled The Usual Irish Way of Doing Things, depicting a drunken Irishman lighting a powder keg and swinging a bottle. Published in Harper's Weekly, 1871
Mass media sources, through theories like framing and agenda-setting,
can affect the scope of a story as particular facts and information are
highlighted (Media influence).
This can directly correlate with how individuals may perceive certain
groups of people, as the only media coverage a person receives can be
very limited and may not reflect the whole story or situation; stories
are often covered to reflect a particular perspective to target a
specific demographic.
Example
According to Stephen Balkaran, an Instructor of Political Science and
African American Studies at Central Connecticut State University, mass
media has played a large role in the way white Americans perceive
African Americans. The media focus on African American in the contexts
of crime, drug use, gang violence and other forms of anti-social
behavior has resulted in a distorted and harmful public perception of
African Americans.
In his 1999 article "Mass Media and Racism", Balkaran states:
"The media has played a key role in perpetuating the effects of this
historical oppression and in contributing to African Americans'
continuing status as second-class citizens". This has resulted in an
uncertainty among white Americans as to what the genuine nature of
African Americans really is. Despite the resulting racial divide,
the fact that these people are undeniably American has "raised doubts
about the white man's value system". This means that there is a somewhat
"troubling suspicion" among some Americans that their white America is
tainted by the black influence. Mass media as well as propaganda tend to reinforce or introduce stereotypes to the general public.
Ethical issues and criticism
Lack of local or specific topical focus is a common criticism of mass media. A mass news media
outlet is often forced to cover national and international news due to
it having to cater for and be relevant for a wide demographic. As such,
it has to skip over many interesting or important local stories because
they simply do not interest the large majority of their viewers. An
example given by the website WiseGeek is that "the residents of a
community might view their fight against development as critical, but
the story would only attract the attention of the mass media if the
fight became controversial or if precedents of some form were set".
The term "mass" suggests that the recipients of media products
constitute a vast sea of passive, undifferentiated individuals. This is
an image associated with some earlier critiques of "mass culture" and mass society
which generally assumed that the development of mass communication has
had a largely negative impact on modern social life, creating a kind of
bland and homogeneous culture which entertains individuals without
challenging them. However, interactive digital media have also been seen to challenge the read-only paradigm of earlier broadcast media.
Whilst some refer to the mass media as "opiate of the masses", others
argue that is a vital aspect of human societies. By understanding mass
media, one is then able to analyse and find a deeper understanding of
one's population and culture. This valuable and powerful ability is one
reason why the field of media studies
is popular. As WiseGeek says, "watching, reading, and interacting with a
nation's mass media can provide clues into how people think, especially
if a diverse assortment of mass media sources are perused".
Since the 1950s, in the countries that have reached a high level of industrialisation, the mass media of cinema, radio and TV have a key role in political power.
Contemporary research demonstrates an increasing level of concentration of media ownership, with many media industries already highly concentrated and dominated by a small number of firms.
Criticism
When the study of mass media began the media was compiled of only
mass media which is a very different media system than the social media
empire of the 21st-century experiences.
With this in mind, there are critiques that mass media no longer
exists, or at least that it doesn't exist in the same form as it once
did. This original form of mass media put filters on what the general
public would be exposed to in regards to "news" something that is harder
to do in a society of social media.
Theorist Lance Bennett explains that excluding a few major events
in recent history, it is uncommon for a group big enough to be labeled a
mass, to be watching the same news via the same medium of mass
production.
Bennett's critique of 21st-century mass media argues that today it is
more common for a group of people to be receiving different news
stories, from completely different sources, and thus, mass media has
been re-invented. As discussed above, filters would have been applied to
original mass medias when the journalists decided what would or
wouldn't be printed.
Social Media is a large contributor to the change from mass media
to a new paradigm because through social media what is mass
communication and what is interpersonal communication is confused.
Interpersonal/niche communication is an exchange of information and
information in a specific genre. In this form of communication, smaller
groups of people are consuming news/information/opinions. In contrast,
mass media in its original form is not restricted by genre and it is
being consumed by the masses.
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