Mass communication, by definition, is the process in which professionalcommunication using technological devises share messages over great distancesto influence large audiences. The technology of modern mass communicationresults from the confluence of many types of inventions and discoveries, some ofwhich ( the printing press, for instance) actually preceded the Industrial Revolution.
Technological ingenuity of the 19th and 20th centuries has developed the newer meansof mass communication, particularly broadcasting, without which the present near-global diffusion of printed words, pictures, and sounds would have been impossible.
The steam printing press, radio, motion pictures, television, and sound recordings-as well as systems of mass production and distribution- were necessary before publiccommunication, in its present form, might occur.
What I would like to discuss now is the actual process of mass communication andhow it works. In mass communication, a professional communicator is the source, someone who shares information, ideas, or attitudes with someone else. The source maybe an author, a newspaper reporter, a television reporter, or an announcer. The technological devices are the channels, or the means by which the message was sent.
An example of this would be that radio and television messages are transmitted via cableand satellite systems. The message is whatever the source attempts to share with anotherperson. In mass communication, the large audience comprises the receivers, the peoplewho are the attended recipients of the message. Occasionally a receiver of the messagewill sent feedback to the source, that is, a response that allows the source to determine if the message was correctly understood. In mass communication feedback can beconveyed through a letter to the editor, for instance, or a telephone call to a televisionstation.
There are several reasons why it is important to understand the process off mass communication. Probably the most important is that by understanding the process ofmass communication we will learn to think critically about the messages the mediasend us. We will become more thoughtful media consumers. As a consumer of the media, and as a citizen of the world in which technology seems to be bringing peoplecloser together, our responsibility is to understand how the media function and to develop the skills to interpret the significance of the products they offer. By understanding the nature and function of mass communication, we can begin torecognize the significance of the media and the role they play in shaping ourunderstanding of the world.
