Mass communication involves the transfer of information to a large number of people through various types of media such as internet, television, and newspapers. The concept of mass communication is based on the idea of information exchange from one person to another. The media greatly influences the way people undertake their day to day commitments (Baran and Davis 35).
The relationship between the media and the audience seems to be influenced by the changes that occur in the former. The emergence of digital media is the main change that appears to shift the balance between the media and the audience (Dewdney and Ride 253). It is evident that the media serves a crucial role in the society and the changes that occur in it have a great impact on the audience.
The mass media, in particular, is seen as a group of media organizations. The media organizations are known for their ability to send mediated information through various channels, mainly television and radio. The information sent through mass communication is organized according to the mass media industries such as books and newspapers.
The information sent through mass communication also must conform to subsidiary industries that carry out public relations and advertisement practices. This is one of the facts that affect the balance of the power, which resides in the relationship between the media and the audience (Baran and Davis 262).
The mass media platforms also affect the society through many ways. Their limited number and vastness of the available mass media imply that just a few individuals can make decisions on the kind of content that is transmitted through mainstream media. Since the information is meant for a large population, it should not be regulated by just a handful of people.
In addition, the fact that the information is produced in a large-scale implies that such information can have mass persuasion on its audience. Although mass production and mass persuasion can be used by a company to control market trends such as competition in a particular industry, it is used by a few organizations to create monopolies in certain sectors (Chaffee and Metzger 366).
The vulnerability of the audience is considered one of the main issues that result from the inability to regulate media institutions effectively. The problem seems to be worsened by the emergence of industrialization. The audiences, especially those of the mass media, do not have the power to resist the kind of information that is dispensed by media messages.
The audiences of mass media are considered dependent and powerless. It is believed that mass media is likely to continue exploiting the audiences since they do not have an alternative source where they can obtain the information they need (Chaffee and Metzger 366).
Mass communication also influences the audience through obtrusion. Mass media, such as television and radio, are unprecedented and conspicuous. This problem emanates from the pervasive effect of broadcast media.
The fact that broadcast media reaches audiences right in their homes makes it difficult for them to control the consequences it has on them. The content shown through mass media, especially the one that consists of violent and obscene scenes significantly affects the morality and safety of the audiences (Chaffee and Metzger 367).
The end of mass media instigated the emergence of a number of new developments in the field. One of these new developments is the digital media, which has brought a lot of changes in the field of communication. The changes brought by digital media assist the audiences to free themselves from the entanglement that the mass media has brought them (Baran and Davis 361). One of the main changes that have been brought by digital media is faster speed in sending information from one point to another.
Before the emergence of digital media, companies mostly passed their information to the intended audience through print media, which took a lot of time to get delivered. Currently, companies can disseminate the information they deem important and urgent through social media, emails, internet ads, or their websites, which are extremely faster compared to print media (Dewdney and Ride 255).
The use of digital media also assists the audience to have full control over what they do with it. Digital media provides audiences with numerous options from which they can choose from. Unlike in the past when audiences could only use one form of media at a go, they can now effectively create and use a combination of several forms including interactive, visual and audio platforms. Such a combination helps the audiences to use the media in a way that is beneficial to them (Dewdney and Ride 256).
The issues that are seen in the media, especially in the digital type, as addressed in Chaffee’s and Metzger’s article can be compared to what was outlined in the story of the Obama Hope campaign poster.
Both the story of the poster and the one narrated in Chaffee and Metzger magazine article reinforce the fact that digital media, which marks the end of mass media, brings about the use of new and effective technology to create and promote communication.
The new technology can be used to create media that in turn can be useful in expanding businesses as well as the economy (Chaffee and Metzger 372).
Works Cited
Baran, Stanley J., and Dennis K. Davis. Mass Communication Theory: Foundations, Ferment, and Future. 6th ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Pub., 1995. Print
Chaffee, Steven H., and Miriam J. Metzger. “The End of Mass Communication?” Mass Communication & Society 4.4 (2004): 365-379. Print.
Dewdney, Andrew, and Peter Ride. The New Media Handbook. New York, NY: Routledge, 2006. Print.