Massmediavs.socialmedia
fromtheperspec3veofmedia
studies
MitarcaMonica
Lecturer,“DimitrieCantemir”
Chris3anUniversity
Massmedia
•  Itsevolu3onwasdeterminedbytechnological
advancesallthewaythroughhistory.
•  Itsprac3ceswerestructured,theprocesses
becamemoreandmorepredictableforreasons
ofproduc3vityandeconomicefficiency.
•  Themediains3tu3onfunc3oned,inthe20th
century,justlikeanycommercialbusiness.
•  Adualapproachtoinforma3on:thejournalis3c
codeofethicsandthebusinessapproachto
publicinforma3on,underthelegalframework.
Mediastudies
•  Concernedwith:
•  –theins3tu3ons(mediains3tu3ons,their
func3oningandhierarchies,thestate)
•  -thepublic(mediainfluence,mediaeffects)
•  -theproduct(genres,classifica3ons,other
aspects,includingcommercialones)
…andtheirinter-rela3ons.
Theins3tu3ons
•  Theauthoritythejournalisthadduringthe
20thcenturystemsfromthepressins3tu3on’s
authorityandprivilegedrela3onshiptothe
state,onlyrecentlychallengedbythefree
accesstopublicinforma3onlaws.
•  Thejournalisthasasortofrepresenta3veness
(thefourthestatemetaphor,Burke,the
Bri3shexpressionthatinFrenchbecame“the
fourthpowerinthestate”).
Theins3tu3ons
•  Duringthe20thcentury,thepressins3tu3on
slowlybecameestablishedforopera3ng
accordingtoaschemewell-representedinthe
fic3onfilm(thenewsroomanditsfunc3oning)
•  Inadualapproachtoinforma3on,themedia
ins3tu3onsarefacedwithanambiguity.
Informa3onisnottobeboughtorsold,yetonce
packagedandprocessed,theyaresold.
•  The“dualmarket”oftheinforma3onasa
compromisejus3fiedsolelybythe“public”
interestofpayingasliVleaspossibleforthe
mediaproduct(final,visiblecost)
Thepublic:Mediaeffects
•  Mediaeffects:thesocial,cultural,and
psychologicalimpactofcommunica3ngvia
themassmedia(BryantandZillmann)
•  Onecanchoosetoenhancethem(poli3cal
communica3on);understandthem(research)
ormi3gatethem(variousac3vists)
Mediaeffectstheories
Whosayswhattowhomandinwhatcontext?
becomes:
Mediaeffectsresearchersstudywhattypesof
content,inwhattypeofmedium,affectwhich
people,inwhatsitua3ons.
Cuilenburgetal,1998,206:
•  “theensembleofprocessesandconsequences
entailedbytherecep3onofthe(media)
messages;processesandconsequencesone
cannotaVributedbuttothecommunica3onact”
‘Mediaeffects’theories
Massmediacanactupontheindividual,the
groups,theins3tu3onsandtheen3resociety.
•  Theycanaffectthecogni3ve,affec3veand
behavioraldimension
•  Micro-effects,mezo-effects,macro-effects
•  Shorttermvs.longtermeffects
•  Centrifugalvs.centripetaleffects
•  (DenisMcQuail,SteveWindahl)
Theoriesconcerningmediaeffects
Ahistoricaltake(chronological)
-Powerfulmediaeffectsphase(ini3al,forthe
incipientexposuretomediamessages);the
audiencesarepassive,massive;generalizingtheories
–  Limitedmediaeffectsphase(wheremediaeffects
werecounteredbyotherfactors;firstempirical
studies
–  Rediscoveredpowerfulmediaeffectsphase
–  Nego3atedmediaeffectsphase
–  Newmediaenvironmentanditseffects
•  1920-1935,POWERFULMEDIAEFFECTS
Themagicalbullettheory,theS3mulus-Responsetheory,thehypodermicneedletheory,theone-stepflow
theory(H.D.Lasswell)
Theideologicaldominance–FrankfurtSchool(Horkheimer,Adorno)
Theculturalhegemonyofthemedia(AntonioGramsci)
-  1945-1960,LIMITEDMEDIAEFFECTS
Two-stepflowmodel(opinionleader,PaulLazarsfeld)
Klapper’sselec3veexposuretheory
•  REDISCOVEREDPOWERFULEFFECTSTHEORIES
Usesandgra3fica3ons(Katz,BlumlerandGurevitch)
Framingtheory
TheculturalthesisoftheBirmingham’sCenterforCulturalStudies)
-thetheoryofamplifyingthecogni3vegap(Tichenor,Donahue,Olien)
cul3va3ontheory(GeorgeGerbner,Anneberg)
thesilencespiraltheory(ElisabethNoelle-Neumann)
•  1965-1990,COMPLEX/NEGOTIATEDEFFECTSTHEORIES
technologicaldeterminism(Innis,McLuhan)
thesociallearningtheory(AlbertBandura)
themediaaddic3on/dependencytheory(SandraBall-Rokeach,M.DeFleur)
thetheoryofdiffusingthetechnologicalinnova3on(EvereVRogers)
theagendaseqngtheory
Theethnographictakeontherecep3onstudies
NEWMEDIAEFFECTSTHEORIES
socialinforma3onprocessing(Walther)
Mediarichnesstheory(DarandLengel)
Mediastudies:theproduct
•  Acon3nuouseffortofclassifyingand
establishinggenres,ofbothjournalis3cand
fic3onmedia,withbothprescrip3onsand
finelyclassifiedcharacteris3cs(suchas,types
ofleads,typesofheadlines)
•  Also,taxonomiescreatedtoexcludenonjournalis3cgenres(PR,adv.)
Technologicalprogressandits
challengespriortotheInternet
•  Eachnewmediumwassupposedto/expectedto
threatentheexistenceoftheoldermedia(radio)
•  Communica3onsatellitesbroughtonanwiderTV
offer(fragmenta)onofthetradi3onalmass
audiences)
•  TheremotecontrolchangedthewayTVaudience
wasmeasuredandturnedintoadver3singmoney
(share,ra3ng)
•  VCRthornthe3mecon3nuumoftheTVflow,by
allowingviewerstowatchashowlaterthanit
wasprogrammed
“Fragmenta3on”
•  Themostmen3onedterm,fragmenta3on,
doesnotapplyonlytopublic(s)and
audiences.
•  Theprac3cesarefragmentedand
individualized,gadget-oriented
•  Thedissemina3onisfragmented.
•  PIXEL:thewordthatdescribesbestthe
currentcommunica3on:fromthemillionsof
differentpixelswegetanoverallpicture.
Adjus3ngtothechallenges.TV
•  TVaudiencesstartedtobeingassessedbythe
minute,insteadofquarterofhour(now,by
thesecond)
•  TVshowsaremoredynamicandsegmented
•  Lostinprominenceofthena3onalgeneralist
sta3ons(thatgaveupbroadcas3ngsuch
contentthatwastakenoverbyspecialized
sta3ons–music,films,cartoons,fishing,
religiousservices,etc.)
Adjus3ngtothechallenges.
Printmedia
•  Nichemagazinesmone3zingeachandevery
humaninterestpossible
•  Alterna3vefinancingmodels,includingfree
distribu3on(metropapers)
Theonlinechallenge
forthe“tradi3onal”media.Stage1.
•  Tobeornottobe(also)online?The“mirror”websites
appear,doublinguptheprintcontent.
•  Onlinetelevisionstarttoappear,oncethetechnical
condi3ons(IPTVprotocol,Overthetopprotocol,
streamingtechnologies)allowedforit
•  Newsaggregators,portalsandotherformsfor
gatheringpreviouslyprintedjournalism
•  Theins3tu3onalwebsitesmadeinstrumental
informa3onobsoleteinthemedia(exchangerates,
variousins3tu3ons’program,etc.)
•  Theillusionof‘freeofcharge’useofjournalismand
othercontent(online=free),soldtotheaudiences
oncewiththeonlineversionofthepaper
Ins3tu3onalsolu3onstothe
challenges
•  Printmediacameupwiththeirownwebsites,
mirroringthecontentinprintandcameto
updateitasquickasitposedathreattothe
televisionitself.
•  Televisionadaptedwithanincreaseinnews
channelsandareformingofgeneralistcontent
•  Linkingtoins3tu3onsascontentproviders
•  Crea3ngonline‘accounts’onthenewsplauorms
fortheuserstobuilduptheirown‘desk’spaces
Ins3tu3onalresponse
•  Achangeinthejobsandhierarchies,dueto
thedigi3sa3onofmediaprocesses
•  Aconcentra3onofmediaownershipand
goingtowardscorporateprac3ces
FurtherchallengedfromWeb2.0
•  UGC(usergeneratedcontent)ledtoachangein
readership:
-Blogs(mainlytextandphoto)–readersgettoques3on
theauthorityofthecolumnistsandmovefocusfrom
themtowardsthetheme/subject
-Videoandaudiocontent(YouTube,trilulilu)changed
focusfromlegi3macytopopularity
(Affordabilityofprosumerequipmentandaccessofthe
audiencestoplauormofpersonalexpression)
-  Admoneydirectedalmosten3relytoonline
adver3sing
Mediaadjustedby
•  Communica3ngthewillingnesstoaccept
reportsfromthemembersoftheaudiencesas
validsourcesofinforma3on
•  Changingfocus,fromthe‘voicesof
authority’(televisual‘apparel’)towardsthe
‘commonpeople’,whobecomethenewstars
(seeneotelevision)
•  IncludingamateurmaterialsintheTVflowor
inonlinenewssites.
Otheraspects
•  Adap3ngthemessagetovariousdevices(one
ofthesocialmediadebatefocusesonissocial
mediacontes3ngthefamous‘mediaisthe
message’andpoin3ngtowardsanerawhere
themessagefindsitway,‘’regardlessthe
device”?)
•  Crea3ngforums,communi3esofpeoplewho
readandcomment,likeandshare
Socialmediaanditschallenges
•  Geqnguserstoretainloyaltytowardsthe
mediasourcesandvisitthenewssource/page,
depar3ngfromthesocialmediapage
•  Clickbait,sharebait–foulprac3cesfrom
websitesthatre-circulatecontentoreven
stealcontentfromothersources
•  Ashirfromreading,understandingtoliking
andsharing
Whatdidchange:
•  Theapproach(oftheuser)
•  Thecontent(thejournalis3cgenres,the
headlineasanins3tu3on)
•  Thehumanresource(andthejobs)
•  Theins3tu3onalscheme/hierarchy
•  Thefinancialflow(seelongtail)
•  Themeasurementofsuccess
•  Theprofessionalstatusofthejournalist
Whatdidchange:
•  Massmediabecomestabloidmedia
•  Formertaxonomiesofthepress(accordingtostrict
criteria)arereplacedbyone:
qualityvs.tabloidmedia
•  Riseofmarke3ngtermsintheassessmentofinstant
success:journalis3cgenresarereplacedbytheword
“content”;mediains3tu3onsbecome,intheFacebook
era,“contentpublishers”,circula3onbecomes“clicks”,
“comments”,“likes”and“shares”.
•  Anewformof‘socialcapital’relatedtoacarefully
constructedselfthroughonlinemarke3ngtechniques
Whatdidchange:
•  Agreater,morepervasivediffusionof
informa3ononadifferentmodel(thenetwork
society)–seeFacebookconnec3onmapas
opposedtothehierarchicmodel
•  Thewell-equippeduserturnsintoajournalist
(informa3ongathererorinfo.processor)
•  Thepropaga3onoftheinforma3onfollowsa
differentmodel(similartothatoftherumor,due
towebsitessuchasTwiVerandFacebook;
Kapferer)
Mediatheories
•  Ashirfromtotal“control”ofthemedia
ins3tu3onassenderofthemessage(neoMarxisttheories,culturalstudies,feminist
studies)tothetheoriesgran3ngtheusers
somecontrol(usesandgra3fica3ontheories
andthelike)aspartoftheconsciousactof
reading,listening,viewing,andalsoofcocrea3nganddissemina3nginforma3on.
Challengesforthemediatheories
•  Mediachanges,theorieschange.Didthey?
Flourishingoftheoriesonthesocialmedia,but
considerablefeweracademicar3clesonthe
socialmediaimpactonthe‘tradi3onal’media
•  The“mass”model(massmedia,masssociety,
massculture)disappears
•  Fragmenta3onoftheaudiences/readership
•  Thedisappearanceoftheconceptsfrom
journalismintheore3calapproachesandtherise
ofmarke3ng-relatedtermstojudge“journalis3c”
products
Exampleofprac3cesofthe‘new’
media
• 
• 
• 
• 
Secondhandandthirdhandcontent
Headlines(click-bait,samplingcontent)
Fishingforinforma3onfromtheaudience
Amplerinforma3onfromgeographicaland
socialareaswherejournalisthavenoaccess
to,underthenewerfinancialschemesthat
excludetheexpenseof3meandeffortfor
inves3ga3vejournalism
Networksocie3es
•  ManuelCastells,TheRiseoftheNetwork
Society(vol.I),2010
•  IndustrialismturnsintoInforma>onalism
•  Globalfinancialmarketschangetheformer
modelofdissemina3nginforma3onthrough
tradi3onalmediachannelsinadifferent
paVern
•  Theendofthemassaudiences
•  Informa3onalci3es
“Networkstates”
•  IngridVolkmer,TheGlobalPublicSphere:Public
Communica5onintheAgeofReflec5veInterdependence
•  Transna3onalpublicengagementledtothenewnetwork
states,asopposedtothena3onalstates
•  Newpublicspaces,unaVachedtona3onalstates,appear
•  Centralitynetworks:differentspa3ali3es
•  Post-territorialspheresofdelibera3onandlegi3macy
(followinglegi3macyandpowercrisis)
•  Symoultaneoustemporalityspaces
•  Publicactorstransformedfromdiscoursesourcesin
discoursemediatorsandspheresofconnec3vity
•  Publicloyal3esaredispersedandchanged
Ar3cles:contentpublishersonsocial
media
•  hVp://phys.org/news/2016-07-social-mediaecho-chambers.html#jCp
•  hVp://ro.ejo-online.eu/arii-de-acoperire/seschimba-modul-care-masuram-audientele
•  Whatissocialmediafrommarketers:
•  hVp://heidicohen.com/social-media-defini3on/
•  hVp://ideagrove.com/blog/2005/10/
understanding-the-long-tail-theory-of-mediafragmenta3on.html/
Variousnon-academic
coveringthefield
•  hVps://www.washingtonpost.com/news/theintersect/wp/2014/08/27/forget-click-bait-wereliving-in-the-world-of-share-bait-now/
•  hVps://www.washingtonpost.com/news/theintersect/wp/2015/06/03/if-you-use-facebookto-get-your-news-please-for-the-love-ofdemocracy-read-this-first/?3d=a_inl
•  hVps://www.washingtonpost.com/news/theintersect/wp/2016/05/20/what-we-really-seewhen-facebook-trending-picks-stories-for-us/
Variousnon-academicar3cles
coveringthefield
•  hVps://www.washingtonpost.com/news/theintersect/wp/2016/06/15/you-dont-need-tofind-the-news-anymore-it-will-always-findyou/
•  hVps://www.washingtonpost.com/news/theintersect/wp/2016/06/16/six-in-10-of-youwill-share-this-link-without-reading-itaccording-to-a-new-and-depressing-study/
Variousnon-academicar3cles
coveringthefield
•  SocialmediaoutstripsTVasasourceofnewsfor
youngpeople
•  hVp://www.bbc.com/news/uk-36528256?
SThisFB
•  hVp://www.recode.net/2016/6/14/11926124/
facebook-ads-track-store-visits-retail-sales
•  hVps://medium.com/swlh/how-technologyhijacks-peoples-minds-from-a-magician-andgoogle-s-design-ethicist-56d62ef5edf3#.
6goenwpwh
Bibliography,CastellsandCardoso
•  Castells,Manuel,Cardoso,Gustavo(eds.),The
NetworkSocietyFromKnowledgetoPolicy,
•  hVp://www.umass.edu/digitalcenter/research/
pdfs/JF_NetworkSociety.pdf
•  ADermath.TheCulturesoftheEconomicCrisis,
2012
•  PiracyCultures.HowaGrowingPor>onofthe
GlobalPopula>onisBuildingMediaRela>onships
ThroughAlternateChannelsofObtaining
Content,2013
Bibliography
•  Lovink,ed.,2008,VideoVortexReader:
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