Mass media is a very broad term, and can be analyzed from many different perspectives. However, I deem the term mass media to be any form of media that is received or distributed on a large scale. Let me explain. If only 100 people in the world owned a television, I would not consider T.V. as “mass media”. However, if 100,000,000 people owned a T.V., I would definitely consider it as mass media, as mass media targets a large market. With the invention of the printing press, books could be mass-produced, and in return, be sold to a mass market.
The concept of mass media holds that a large number of people will receive the exact same information, which suggests that mass media shapes culture to an extent. For example, McDonald’s is known all across the world, including America. If an American were to ask, “what’s MacDonald’s”, they would probably be laughed at. This is because they are not on the same page as the rest of society, who is exposed to mass media. If every American knows MacDonald’s, it is part of American culture.
Mass media can be any form of large-scale media including the internet, television, radio, literature, advertisements etc. These new technologies create what Marshall McLuhan calls the “global village”; where the world is all connected through different media, as if everyone were at arms length from each other. For example, one can pick up a phone, and talk to a person across the world as if they were standing right beside them. Mass media helps shape this global village, which we ultimately rely on for daily function.
“The modern age is the age of the electric media, which forge environments and cultures antithetical to the mechanical consumer society derived from print” - Marshall McLuhan
Works Cited
"What is Mass Media?." Wise Geek. 2009. 9 Oct. 2009. <http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-mass-media.htm>.
Marshall McLuhan, “The Playboy Interview"
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