Monday, September 21, 2015

Rules of Language

Language is a tool with mutliple functions:

establish identities
form relationships
comfort others
helps us to make sense of the world
primary means of connecting with others

In order for communication to take place via language, those involved must all share "symbols," "referents," and "thoughts."

A symbol might be a written letter/character of the language, a vocal sound, a nonverbal cue, etc.

The referent means that we know what the symbol (or combination of symbols) refers to...

For example, if the symbol is "cat," then we should all share a common referent of a 4-legged, long-tailed animal with long whiskers and short pointy ears (excuse my horrible description of a cat).

That's the referent.

A thought is an abstract idea developed in our minds.

Meaning takes place when we understand the symbols, understand the referent, and understand the thoughts the sender of the message intended.

Altogether, we call this "The Triangle of Meaning."

Different types of communication

inherited communication-- genetic codes tell us what to do

learned communication-- via experience, we learn what to expect

What separates us is "language"-- the ability to use symbols to represent ideas/objects we want to share with others.

Language doesn't imply "words"-- Morse Code, ASCII, sign language, etc.

Language is a game, and like any game, we first have to learn the rules. Once we do, we quit paying conscious attention to them.

There are five sets of rules:

1. Phonemic rules (sound rules)-- sounds we produce… we produce about 44 different sounds with 26 letters.

2. Semantic rules (meaning rules)-- meanings for sounds, words, or letters. The smallest unit of meaning in a language is called a morpheme.

Difficult to learn-- especially for those just learning the language (kids and people learning English)

General Semantics-- field of comm study that deals with getting rid of misunderstandings between people.

3. Syntax rules-- putting meanings together in coherent patterns… If the patterns aren't followed, there is no meaning-- even if all the elements are there. For example….

I would like a large, chocolate milkshake please.

Please chocolate a I milkshake like large would.

4. Pragmatic rules-- how ordinary people actually "use" language… Do you know what time it is? ; Is Sarah there? Can I speak to her? Etc.

-- Speech Act Theory-- explains the pragmatic rules for accomplishing tasks like requests, commands, promises, questions, compliments… Kathi, do you want some eggs?" It's more than just a question, it's an "offer" and the answer "Yes, that sounds great" is not just an answer, it's an acceptance. "Hey, how's it goin'?" is actually a greeting-- not really a question…

In addition, we must all follow societal norms. If you violate a language rule, people might politely correct you; if you violate a a societal norm, people will not want to associate with you.

Types of Communication: Mass and other kinds

The basics of communication

Communication:
Mass and Other Forms
___________________________________________________________________
THE COMMUNICATION PROCESS

At a general level, communication events involve the following elements:

. a source
. a process of encoding
. a message
. a channel
. a process of decoding
. a receiver
. the potential for feedback
. the chance of noise

Transmitting the Message

The Source. The source, or sender, initiates the communication process by having a thought or an idea that he or she wishes to transmit to some other entity. Sources can be individuals, groups, or even organizations.

Encoding the message. Encoding includes all the activities that a source goes through to translate thoughts and ideas into a form that can be perceived by the senses. It can take place one or more times in any given communication event. In a face to face conversation, the speaker encodes thoughts into words; if a telephone is used, subsequently encodes sound waves into electrical energy

Message. The message is the actual physical product that the source encodes which may range from the short, simple and inexpensive to the long, complex and costly. Humans usually have a large number and wide range of messages at their disposal that they can choose to send. Messages can be directed to an individual or to millions.

Channels. Channels refer to the ways in which the message travels to the receiver. These include sound waves, light waves, air currents, and touch. Some messages may go through multiple channels.

Decoding the message. Decoding the message is the opposite of the encoding process. It's the process by which a message is translated into a form the receiver can understand. Both people and machines can be message decoders. Some messages can involve many decoding stages.

Receiver. The receiver is the target of the message. The target can be an individual, a group, or an anonymous collection of people. Most people receive far more messages than they send. Receivers can be targeted for a message (a phone call) or they can self-select themselves (choosing which movie to watch). Receivers and senders can be in immediate contact (talking on the phone) or they can be separated by space and time (reading a Shakespearean play).

Feedback. Feedback refers to responses from the receiver that shape and alter later messages from the source. Feedback represents the reversal of the communication flow (sender becomes receiver). It answers the source’s unstated question, “How am I doing?”
. positive feedback: encourages current communication message or pattern
. negative feedback: tries to change the communication or even terminate it
. feedback can be immediate or delayed

Noise. Noise is anything that interferes with the delivery of the message.

. Semantic noise occurs when people have different meanings for different words

. Mechanical noise occurs when there is a problem with a machine being used for
communication

. Environmental noise occurs when noise external to the communication process
interferes with communication

. As noise increases, message fidelity (how closely the message sent resembles the
message received) degrades

. The more immediate and better the feedback, the more chance a source has to reduce
or eliminate noise interference with the message

COMMUNICATION SETTINGS

Interpersonal Communication

Interpersonal communication involves one person (or group) interacting with another person (or group) without the aid of a mechanical device. The source and receiver are in the immediate physical presence of one another. Characteristics of interpersonal communication include the following:

. source and receiver can be individuals or groups
. encoding is usually a one-step process
. a variety of channels are usually available for use
. messages are relatively difficult for receiver to terminate
. produced at little or no expense
. messages can be private or public
. message can pinpoint highly specific targets
. decoding is usually a one-step process
. feedback is immediate
. noise can be semantic or environmental

Machine-Assisted Interpersonal Communication

Machine-assisted interpersonal communication involves one or more people communicating by means of a mechanical device or devices with one or more receivers. It combines characteristics of interpersonal and mass communication situations and blurs the line between the two types of communication, especially when involving the Internet and World Wide Web. Machines can give communication permanence and/or extend its range. The source and receiver can be separated by time and space. A great deal of modern communication falls into this category. Characteristics of machine-assisted interpersonal communication include the following:

. source may be an individual or group; may or may not be easy to identify
. source may or may not have first-hand knowledge of the receiver
. the encoding process can range from the simple to the complex
. Two encoding stages:

(1) source translates his/her thoughts into words or other symbols
(2) machine encodes the message for transmission or storage

. channel options are more restricted than interpersonal communication
. machine-assisted messages have at least one machine between source and receiver
. message customizability varies; messages can be private or public
. messages relatively inexpensive to send
. decoding requires one or more stages depending upon the encoding process
. receiver may be an individual or group; may or may not be easy to identify
. receivers can be selected by the sender for a message or they can self-select themselves
. feedback can be immediate or delayed; may be difficult or limited to one channel
. noise can be semantic, environmental, and mechanical
. use of mechanical-assisted interpersonal communication will continue to grow

Mass Communication (What we emphasize in this course).

Mass Communication is the process by which a complex organization produces and transmits public messages directed at large, heterogeneous and scattered audiences with the aid of one or more machines. Many communication situations will fall in a gray area between machine-assisted and mass communications, especially when considering the Internet and World Wide Web. Characteristics of mass communication include the following:

. source can be a group of individuals who usually act within the predetermined roles
of an organizational setting, or, since the advent of the Internet, one person
can become a mass communicator

. sender usually has little detailed information about particular audiences

. encoding is always a multi-stage process

. channel options are more restricted than interpersonal communication

. mass media channels characterized by the imposition of at least one and usually more
than one machine in the process of sending the message

. messages are public, and the same message is sent to all receivers

. message termination is easiest here

. typically requires multiple decoding

. message flow is generally one-way, from source to receiver

. feedback is usually harder to initiate than in interpersonal communication

. noise can be semantic, environmental, and mechanical

A prime distinction between mass communication and interpersonal and mechanical communication is that audience members are:

. large
. heterogeneous
. geographically dispersed
. largely anonymous to one another
. almost always self-defined

Defining Mass Media

A medium is the channel through which a message travels from source to receiver (“medium” is singular; “media” is plural). Mass media include not only the mechanical devices that transmit messages, but also the institutions that use these devices. A media vehicle is a single component of the mass media, such as a newspaper, radio station, or magazine, web site, video game, television station, etc.

TRADITIONAL MEDIA ORGANIZATIONS

Traditional defining characteristics of mass communicators include the following:

. complex and formal organizations
. multiple gatekeepers
. need large amount of money to operate
. exist to make a profit
. highly competitive

Formal Organizational Structure

Mass media typically have a well-defined organizational structure characterized by specialization, division of labor, and focused areas of responsibility. Communication is generally the product of a bureaucracy, with decisions made on multiple levels, often within highly formalized channels (group decisions and committees, for example)

Many Gatekeepers

A gatekeeper is any person (or group) who has control over what material eventually reaches the public; the more complex the organization, the more gatekeepers will be found.

High Operating Expenses

It often costs millions of dollars to buy and maintain a mass media organization, which is one reason for the current trend towards media consolidation of ownership.

Competition for Profits

Most media organizations in the US exist to make a profit; if they don’t they will soon go out of business. Most profits are usually made by selling audiences to advertisers; hence media organizations compete with one another to attract audiences.

THE INTERNET
AND MASS COMMUNICATION

The Internet created a new channel for machine-assisted and mass communication, and brings the cost of mass communication to a level at which many can afford it. In addition, the personal ability to publish online creates new definitions of what it takes to be a “mass communicator,” many of which are at variance with the traditional defining characteristics of mass communicators. For example:

. Web sites can be produced by a single individual, so there’s little need for large staffs
or formal organizational structure;

. Web sites may bypass gatekeepers; creativity reigns (although there are, conversely, no
safeguards that what is “published” is tasteful, worthwhile, or even accurate);

. Web sites are characterized by low start up and maintenance costs;

. Web sites may or may not exist for profit;

. Competition for audiences, typical of traditional mass media, often doesn’t play a vital
role in individual web sites

The Internet has evolved into both a mass medium (we watch TV, movies, read newspapers, read books online, play video games, etc.) and an interpersonal medium (we go online to communicate with others via Facebook, Twitter, email, etc.).

MODELS FOR STUDYING
MASS COMMUNICATION

The Traditional Mass Communication Model

This one-way model of mass communication is adapted from an early model presented by Wilbur Schramm. In it, communication flows from left to right. According to this traditional model, information (news and entertainment) comes from the environment and is filtered through a mass media organization. The information is decoded, interpreted, and encoded. Messages passing through the gatekeepers are reproduced multiple times and sent through the appropriate channel. Each copy of the message is identical. Audience members are not passive; they decode, interpret, and encode messages themselves. They are socially connected to others, and the messages may be discussed, reinterpreted, and acted upon. Some audience behavior is observed by the media organization and serves as feedback to shape future messages. There is little direct interaction between sources and receivers.

An Internet Mass Communication Model

This model allows several levels of communication:
. one to one (email, Facebook message, IM, etc.)
. one to many (CNN.com, NYtimes.com, gawker.com, huffingtonpost.com, etc.)
. one/few to few (Facebook posts, blog posts, Twitter posts, online discussions groups, etc.-- though, admittedly, Facebook and Twitter posts CAN be one to many, most are one to few)
. many to many (e-Bay, Craigslist.org, etc.)

This is not a left-to-right model; communication flows inward. In this model, content can be provided by organizations and by individuals. There are no organizational gatekeepers. One person decodes, interprets, and encodes the content. The receiver initiates the process, choosing the time and manner of the interaction.

Messages flowing through the model are not identical, nor are they linear. The Internet’s use of hypertext (a means of presenting information that allows you to jump between one source of information or another in whatever order you choose) allows the receiver to access information in any order he or she sees fit. Some writers have characterized the traditional mass communication model as a “push” model (wherein the sender pushes the information to the receiver) whereas the Internet model is a “pull” model (wherein the receiver pulls only the information that he or she wants to receive).

Individuals and organizations are linked in a computer-mediated environment. This makes interaction and feedback easier, and supports totally new forms of interaction.

THE FUTURE OF MASS MEDIA

Segmentation

Mass communication has become less mass and more selective over the past few decades. This process is called fractionalization or segmentation of the mass media audience. Causes include:

. an increase in one-parent families
. an increase in the number of media vehicles from which to choose
. more time spent with media alone, as opposed to with friends or family members
. an increase in demand for special interest content
. commercial organizations are turning from mass-marketing to target-marketing

Despite these changes, the definition of mass communication given earlier still applies. Organizations are still complex, audiences still large. The channels of mass communication remain the same, though more mass media are using those channels to reach more selective audiences. Specialization is evident, but the potential for reaching a mass audience still exists.

Convergence

Convergence means coming together or uniting in a common theme or focus. It has become common in discussions of media trends. There are several levels of convergence.

Corporate convergence. Originally referred to in the 1980s as "synergy," corporate convergence occurs when companies acquire assets that extended the range of their activities. For example, a movie studio might acquire a distribution channel such as cable TV. The biggest example of corporate convergence was the 2001 merger of AOL and Time Warner. It looked like a good idea, but it didn't work, and in 2003 AOL was officially dropped from the company name. The current trend in corporate circles seems more toward divergence than convergence.

Operational convergence. Occurs when owners of several media properties in one market combine their operations. For example, a newspaper, a Web site, and a local cable news channel might operate a joint (converged) news department. Currently, about 50 instances of this kind of convergence are operating. Critics worry whether this will result in fewer independent and diverse forms of journalism.

Device convergence. One mechanism contains the functions of two or more devices. Examples include laptop computers that can play DVDs; smart phones that come equipped with digital video cameras, etc.

Disintermediation

Disintermediation refers to the process whereby access to a product or service is given directly to the consumer, thus eliminating the intermediary, or “middleperson,” who might typically supply the product or service. This phenomenon is particularly evident now on the Internet and on the World Wide Web. Disintermediation is of special concern to traditional media organizations because any large disruption of the distribution process can wreak economic havoc in the traditional distribution and production processes.

American TV System (Overview)

Television System Overview

There are three TV systems in the United States—

1) Commercial broadcast system;
2) Commercial cable/satellite system; and
3) Public system.

The differences between the three lie primarily with how each produces revenue. The commercial system relies solely on advertising, the cable/satellite system relies on a combination of subscription fees + advertising, and the public system relies on funding from the CPB (Corporation for Public Broadcasting—a private corporation funded by tax dollars), donations from “viewers like you,” and contributions from foundations.

The dominant system over the past 50+ years has been the commercial broadcast system. This system has five components and they are:

1) networks
2) affiliate stations

3) television production houses
4) syndicators
5) advertisers

NETWORKS—

“A network is not much more than several office building in New York and Los Angeles where highly paid executives package programs they do not own, sell commercial time over airwaves they do not possess to advertising executives they have not met, and provide the programs and ads to a nationwide audience through local stations they do not operate.”

NBC—now owned by Comcast-Universal(affiliated with Universal Studios)

CBS-- owned by CBS (affiliated with Paramount Pictures)

ABC -- owned by Disney (affiliated with Walt Disney Pictures)

FOX-- owned by 21st-Century FOX (affiliated with 20^th-Century FOX Pictures)

CW—owned by CBS and Warner-Bros. (affiliated with Paramount and Warner Bros.).

Networks purchase programs from TV production houses to air on their affiliate stations. They then sell commercial time and insert those commercials into the programs they transmit to their affiliates. The affiliate stations receive payment in two ways from the network. They receive cash payments and they also receive payment in the form of a couple of blank commercial slots in the network programming. They can sell these commercial spots locally to make additional money.

AFFILIATE STATIONS

Affiliate stations-- receive much of their programming from the network. Other programming is provided via the purchase of syndicated programming or they make their own programming (news programs, public affairs, sports specials, etc.) Affiliated stations have signed exclusive contracts with one of the TV networks.

They promise to broadcast a network's programming line-up-- including
prime time;
morning and evening news programs;
sports (some); and
late-night programming.

The programming from the networks comes with national commercials already inserted. The affiliates receive direct payments from the networks (the amount is dependent on market size) along with some advertising spots to sell.

TV PRODUCTION HOUSES

They make TV shows… (Networks today produce their own news, newsmagazines, sports programming and some scripted programs)…

TV Prod Houses sell/lease their shows to the networks…

Studio Production houses--- huge businesses—they’re the film studios… their shows today dominate the market-- Disney, 20^th-Century Fox, Universal, Paramount, Warner Brothers…

Most TV production houses lose money for shows that are leased by the networks. In other words, it costs more to produce each episode than they can recoup from the network. So why do they bother? Because if they are fortunate enough to get a show into off-network syndication, they get their investment back + enough additional revenue to bankroll all of their other projects.

SYNDICATORS—

“Middlemen”—an exclusive agent who represents a producer’s show to all the TV stations that are constantly shopping around for a product.

They get their money by 1) a cut of the station license fee (the sum a station pays for the right to air the show); and 2) barter sales (the minute or two of commercial time syndicators sell directly to national advertisers)…

3 types of syndicated programs—

1) first-run or original syndication

2) off-network syndication

3) old movies

The FCC made syndication companies rich by passing the Prime Time Access Rule. The PTAR simply states that one hour of prime-time programming each evening (with Sunday being the exception) must be non-network programming. The networks chose to give up the 7-8 p.m. hour of prime-time. The Prime Time Access Rule has since been disbanded, but the networks have decided not to air programs between 7-8 p.m., except on Sundays.

ADVERTISERS--

Advertising income finances broadcast media content and supports the commercial broadcast industry…

Dayparts—in TV, dayparts determine advertising rates. The basic dayparts are as follows:

afternoon,
early fringe,
prime time,
late fringe,
late night,
overnight.

The most expensive parts of the day for advertisers are prime time and fringe. Afternoon and overnight are the cheapest.

Types of program sales for syndicators—

1) barter—meaning that a local station agrees to air a syndicator’s program in exchange for some commercial slots.

2) cash—meaning that a local station agrees to pay a syndicator cash for the rights to air a certain program.

3) cash + barter—meaning that a local station agrees to pay some cash (less than in a cash deal) for a program + the station gets a few commercial slots. The syndicator delivers the program with national commercials already inserted (making sure to leave some empty slots for the local station).

Cash + barter is the most common type of sale.

“O & O” stations—an affiliate that is owned and operated by the network. Networks are allowed, per FCC rule, to own a certain number of their own stations. WABC in NYC, for example, is both owned and operated by ABC.

HUT—“households using television”

Station line-up—a list of the TV markets and the individual TV stations in those markets

Upfronts—refer to when the networks invite advertisers (often media buyers) to preview their new shows in an effort to drum up advertising interest. If the advertisers like a show, they will commit to supporting that show (by buying ads) for a certain amount of episodes. For example, Modern Family was quite popular with advertisers and, consequently, ABC’s upfronts for the show were solid—all before the program aired.

Sunday, September 20, 2015

Extra-credit opportunity

Students who complete the following survey (takes less than 2 minutes to complete) will earn +3 points of extra-credit:

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/IthacaCollegeViewingHabits

Thursday, September 17, 2015

Where are you from?

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2013/12/20/sunday-review/dialect-quiz-map.html?_r=0

Wednesday, September 16, 2015

Reaction #2 Prompt

Good evening,

For reaction #2, please read the article posted on the blog titled "The Golden Age for Women on TV is Actually a Rerun" and write a 250-500-word reaction.

What's your opinion of the article? Did any of information surprise you? What, if anything, should the industry (Hollywood Entertainment companies) do about the state of women and television?

If you were consulting to a major studio that produced TV shows, what advice would you give the executives?

Would more female showrunners/executive producers help? Why or why not?

Please post your responses on Sakai, under Assignments- Reaction #2

'Golden Age for Women in TV'

The ‘Golden Age for Women in TV’ Is Actually a Rerun

By NELL SCOVELLSEPT. 12, 2015

FROM OUR ADVERTISERS

Los Angeles — NOT long ago, I recommended a young woman for a job in late-night TV and when we met face to face to celebrate her getting hired, we made a charming discovery: She was born in 1987, the same year that I got my first job on a late night show.

Our talk turned to next Sunday’s Emmy Awards, and we shared our excitement that Amy Schumer received multiple nominations and that two of the seven shows nominated for Outstanding Comedy Series were created by women: Tina Fey’s “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt” (created with Robert Carlock) and Jill Soloway’s “Transparent.”

“We’re living in a golden age of women in comedy,” my friend gushed.

I nodded and asked whether she thought female creators would ever make up half of the comedy series nominations. Her smile froze.

“Well, I don’t know about that …”

I do. Because it happened a quarter of a century ago. In 1990, Susan Harris’s “The Golden Girls,” Linda Bloodworth-Thomason’s “Designing Women” and Diane English’s “Murphy Brown” squared off for Outstanding Comedy Series. “Cheers” and “The Wonder Years” rounded out the field, and when the envelope was opened, I was sitting in the audience cheering as they announced “Murphy Brown.”

As a newly hired writer on “Late Night With David Letterman,” I was kindly invited to tag along to the Emmys even though I wasn’t a nominee. I felt a little nervous because no one told me if I was supposed to go onstage if the show won, but it turned out to be moot. The “Late Night” writing staff lost to a tie between a Billy Crystal special and “The Tracey Ullman Show,” whose staff of 11 writers included four women. (In comparison, “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert” debuted last week with 19 credited writers, only two of whom are female.)

Women were on a roll that night in 1990, but it didn’t seem like I was witnessing a golden age. It just seemed obvious that women could compete at the highest levels of comedy and win. Only decades later did I realize it was a spike, not a trend.

Like leggings, comedies created by women came into vogue in the late 1980s, exploded in the early ’90s, went mainstream in the mid-90s and were shoved into the back of the closet around 1997. It took another decade before the next show solely created by a woman — Tina Fey’s “30 Rock” — made it back into the elite Emmy inner circle. Perhaps not coincidentally, leggings made a comeback around the same time.

Still, the rebound has been wobbly. A recent Variety article trumpeted an “unprecedented” number of female showrunners, while also reporting that in 2013-14, only 15.1 percent of executive producer credits went to women, “down noticeably from 18.6 percent in the 2011-12 season.” That sounds less like a march to equality and more like a moonwalk, giving the illusion of forward motion when, in fact, the dancer is sliding backward. Progress for female directors has been even more elusive, which has prompted the American Civil Liberties Union to seek an industrywide investigation.

Still, whenever I mention that continuing gender imbalance in the entertainment industry, I’m met with two responses: One: Tina Fey. And two: It’s getting better, right?

To answer the first: Yes, Ms. Fey’s monumental career has matched her monumental talents. But one individual’s success does not translate to an entire class. (See Obama, Barack; re: racism.) The narrative of “woman as phenomenon” has persisted since TV started. Long before Ms. Fey’s birth, Gertrude Berg created, wrote, produced and starred in the long-running hit “The Goldbergs.” She even nabbed the first Emmy for Best Actress in 1951. Thirty years ago, Susan Harris owned NBC’s Saturday night just as Shonda Rhimes now owns Thursday on ABC. There have always been women who were successful against the odds. Now we need to change the odds so more women can be successful.

As for the claim that things are getting better, the numbers fall short. This year’s Writers Guild of America West TV Staffing Brief showed that women’s share of employment has basically flatlined since 2001 and now hovers around 29 percent. The staffing share for minorities dropped to 13.7 percent after a peak of 15.6 percent during the 2011-12 season. The writing staffs for other types of programming, like late night, were even less welcoming to women, who held 18 percent of the staff positions, while minorities had only 3.5 percent.

Wishful thinking does nothing to solve the problem. In fact, it may make it worse. If you believe things are getting better, you won’t feel the need to do anything. And you certainly won’t feel the need to do anything now. If necessity is the mother of invention, urgency is the uncle of change. Without it, progress slows and then stops and then reverses.

In this sense, gender inequality resembles a bacterial infection two days into a 10-day course of antibiotics. The patient’s temperature may be down, but the Mayo Clinic’s website warns: “It is tempting to stop taking an antibiotic as soon as you feel better. But the full treatment is necessary to kill the disease-causing bacteria. Failure to do so can result in the need to resume treatment later.”

Gender inequality is still in our bloodstream, and when we stop fighting it, the bacteria multiply. We need aggressive treatment that leads to more than incremental progress.

I fantasize about the networks’ making a rule that each show’s writing staff needs to reflect the gender and racial makeup of its audience. So if the target viewership of “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” measures around 56 percent female, the show’s current mix of three women and 16 or so men would require a major rebalance.

In every field and every industry, let’s agree that the goal is not just “getting better” but “getting equal.” And we might as well keep wearing leggings, just in case it turns out that they are the key.