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The Impact Of Media On Mass Communication Essay

Satisfactory Essays

Media Communications
Question 3a.

Mass commuincation is the exchanging of information or messages on a large scale to a wide range of people, from individuals to organizational bodies simultaneously. The way in which mass communication is effectively accomplished is a very complex study. These days there are various methods and outlets used to circulate mass media. Particularly the last couple of decades, the Internet has predominantly played a massive role in mass communication, this used in conjunction to newspapers, magazines, radio, television, books and film. Mass media industry was in for significant change post World War Two, researches found mass communication a promising tool to aid change in society. Paul Lazafeld initially developed the ‘Two Step Flow of Communication’ during this time, which was to be later defined by Elihu Katz. The two-step flow is essentially the idea that the majority of society forms their opinions from leaders, who have previously been influenced by mass media. (Lazarsfeld & Katz, 1955) According to this model, leaders viewpoints have a flow on effect, dispersing from the mass media itself to opinion leaders, then progressing onto the wider population. There have been multiple studies into mass communications which all give evidence how the ‘Two Step Model’ was a signifcant advance in the role of mass media , this essay will particularly look into three studies, The Peoples Choice study (1944), the War of Worlds (1938) and the Decatur

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