In this document I discuss all key concepts as mentioned in the lectures for the course the Media Landscape, at the University of Amsterdam. This makes the summary of the course very clear, since it is easy to find information simply by looking up the key concept. I used this summary during my take...
Week 1
5 Characteristics of mass media (media in the traditional sense):
1. One-way communication. There is a sender and the audience only receives, they can’t
interact. In the past everyone would also listen to the same station, no individual choices.
2. Experiential goods. The value of media is not tangible, it is immaterial. We put value on the
quality of the content of media, but we can’t grasp it. (Social constructionism).
3. High fixed/first copy costs. Economies of scale.
4. Potential for (cheap) re-versioning. Economies of scope.
5. High risk. Producing mass media costs quite a lot and your success purely depends on the
consumers. If your consumers don’t like the product then you won’t get your fixed costs
back.
Economies of scale The first copy/fixed costs of a product are usually high, but for every unit you
produce after that the marginal (extra costs) decrease. So, the more you produce, the less each new
individual item will cost.
Economies of scope When you offer your product on multiple different platforms, your average
production costs decrease. For example, when a movie is offered in the cinema, on DVD and on
Netflix and it has merchandise then there are a lot of different profit sources.
Dual product market Typical for the mass media market (unlike other commercial markets). The
media market actually sells two things. It sells content to its audience, but it sells the
‘eyes’/attention of that audience to advertisers. (Attention economy).
Result: Tension between creative needs of a media outlet and its commercial/financial needs.
Mass media is changing which has four main outcomes:
1. Convergence Channels of communication that were first separated are now converging
together. Like a newspaper now also has apps and a website. Three C’s: Content, channels
and computing are fusing together. Example: On social media, mass media and interpersonal
communication are used at the same time.
2. Interactivity Mass communication is not just one-sided anymore. Instead, we can interact
with the media and also create media content ourselves more easily.
3. Diversification There are more and more different media outlets. So, as an audience we
get fragmented because the content is also fragmented across more different media. We
can access media whenever we want (on demand) so we are not tied to the schedule of the
mass media anymore.
4. Mobility We are in an ‘Always on’ society, because with our phones and laptops we can
now take the media with us on the go. We can access it not only whenever, but also
wherever we want now.
Media’s core responsibilities (Media organizations have a lot of influence and therefor a lot of
responsibilities towards society):
1. Forum for exchange of ideas and opinions.
2. Integrative influence for diverse societies They should unite people and not drive them
apart. Give the audience the feeling that they are ‘one’.
3. Protection of core values/vulnerable audiences Initially referring to values of journalism,
but with the increased different media outlets it can also be applied to others.
, McLuhan’s optimism A positive reaction to (electronic) media changes. ‘The medium is the
message.’ New media extend our senses and increase the different ways in which we can
communicate. The traditional ‘hot’ media (print media or focused on one sense; high intensity)
allowed for a one-way communication from one centralized sender. The new ‘cool’ media
(television, focusing on more senses and allowing for more creativity; low intensity) allow people to
interact more, this causes decentralization and a global village.
Postman’s pessimism Negative reaction to (electronic) media changes. The quality of media
content has decreased and it now focused on superficial messages that arise from all over the world.
Nowadays, we want all our senses to be activated when we consume media and we care less for the
quality of the media. We also don’t focus as much on content that is important in our direct
community and we think less critically about the content. We just want to be superficially
entertained.
Technological determinism This is overstating the power of new media. People tend to think that
the new medium itself is the main cause for societal changes, but it forgets to take the broader
context of society into consideration. To determine the effect of a new medium, you should also
look at the context and environment in which it is created. This is the main critique on both
McLuhan’s optimism and Postman’s pessimism, they are too technologically deterministic.
Circuit of culture p.9 To understand the true influence of a new medium on society, we must
examine it through the five steps of the circuit of culture:
1. Production: Circumstances under which the new technology is invented and produced.
2. Representation: How is the new technology exposed in the media. This can give people
important ideas on what the new technology is and how they are ought to use it.
3. Regulation: To what extent is there any control over how the technology is allowed to be
used (for example by legislation of the government).
4. Consumption: In what context does the consumer engage with the medium/technology?
5. Identity: In what way does the technology allow people to develop their identities?
Media life (Deuze) Nowadays, we don’t just live with media, but we live ‘in’ media. It has such a
crucial and central role in our lives nowadays that we sometimes don’t even notice them anymore.
It has become a part of us and is a tool to create our own understanding of our mediated reality.
This causes people to live in a more personal information space than ever before. We have an
‘always on’ mentality and this makes the boundaries between work and private life less clear. Our
lives are changing to exploit the media, we want to share everything we do.
Week 2
7 key media milestones (timing + key features):
1. The printing press (1400): Easier to share content in mass. More people became literate,
this gave people more empowerment and the ability to be critical. Less interpersonal
communication, more mass communication.
2. Telegraph (1837): Information could travel all over the world almost immediately. The
downside of this is that people all over the world could now be confronted with the same
information (homogenization), which may not even be important to them (Postman’s
pessimism.)
3. Sound recording (1878): Intended for text dictation but, was mainly used for music. This
changed the way that music was performed and received. People could now listen to music
also when it was not live. Many songs became three minutes, because that was the capacity
of a phonograph.
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