COMM 150: Assignment for Monday

Come into class ready to write a page on the following question: How does the subject matter of Chapters 1, 2 and 3 of John Vivian's "Media of Mass Communication" - i.e. media literacy, media technology and media economics - fit together in your mind? Taking the three-chapter introduction as a whole, which ones seem most important to you? Which ones surprse you? Which ones are unclear to you?

Here, to help you out in case you've ordered the book but it hasn't come yet, is a set of "Learning Objectives" from the companion website to an earlier edition (the 7th) of the same book. (I couldn't find the 10th on line, but this one will do.) Its introduction wasn't divided into three chapters like ours is, but it covered some of the same ideas. Here they are:

In this chapter you will learn:

The mass media are pervasive in our everyday lives.

Mass media's culturally binding role is diminishing.

The primary mass media are built on print, chemical, and electronic technologies.

Integration of mass media technologies has transformed their impact.

Traditional mass media products are being supplemented and replaced.

Scholars have devised models to explain the mass media.

Most mass media organizations must be profitable to stay in business.

Mass media ownership is consolidating.

This list is no substitute for reading the book, of course, but it will give you some idea of the main themes or trends in Vivian's book. What do they mean to you? What surprises you? What confuses you without further study?