Communication is more complex than the Shannon-Weaver Mathematical Model of Communication illustrates. This is because the arrows should be more than directions; a lot takes place during the travel of information. Especially with mass communication, information does not travel unscathed. It is warped and mangled by the medium itself. “Every medium shapes and controls the conditions of human association… that yields fashionably narrow explanations at the expense of a much broader cultural perspective…”[1] An example of this is when recently Republicans attempted to fast-track a renewal of the Patriot Act. This is only done if they are sure that they can get two-thirds of the House to vote yes. However, 26 Republicans voted against the bill. This was initially reported as a sign that Tea Party Republicans are independent from the party, but really only eight out of the fifty-two Tea Party members in the House voted against the bill.[2] This situation is a reminder that the media attempts to communicate with its audience by creating a simple, flat picture that is easily explainable.
Mass communication is about the image. “Photographs introduced a new language of mass communication which transcended the written or spoken word; they offered illustration and explanation of nature and humanity…”[3] Information travels must faster, and with much more momentum, if it can be captured by an image. Perhaps this is why Internet memes spread like wildfire; they are jokes where words are only secondary to the image they accompany. Many Internet memes such as insanity wolf feature the image in the center, with words sprinkled around it. The structure of the meme as a medium really makes the message.
Images also determine who communicates and what is communicated. “Images are the new vocabularly of a postmodern society in which the individual is dazzled by the spectacle.”[4] News sources set their agendas based on what they can pair with an image, and if that image will cause a spectacle. For example, when Lance Pressl ran for Congress against a longtime yet unpopular incumbent, the press gave him little attention because they assumed he wouldn’t win. They only interviewed him hoping for snide remarks against the incumbent, and didn’t use any of Pressl’s issue-based concerns. However, it’s a vicious circle; if the media had payed more attention, perhaps he would have had a shot. [5]
The Internet is changing the way users communicate as it combines the roles of sender and receiver. However, one could be skeptical when Hardt says the Internet “extends the availability of information… to individuals… to conduct independent research and draw their own conclusions…”[6] The sheer speed of the Internet results in the duplication of images and ideas, as publications are desperate to be first, or at least not left in the dust, even if the information is not proved to be factual. The race to the top that the 24-hour media cycle on television and the Internet creates result into something more similar to what Horkheimer and Adorno say: “Culture today is infecting everything with sameness.”[7] Communication on the Internet is great for spreading novel information, but it also slumps into sameness.
[1] Hardt, Hanno. Myths for the Masses: an Essay on Mass Communication. Malden, MA: Blackwell Pub., 2004. Print.
[2] Krasno, Jonathan. Congress and American Politics. Lecture Hall 10, Binghamton, NY. 10 Feb. 2011. Lecture.
[3] Hardt, Hanno. Myths for the Masses: an Essay on Mass Communication. Malden, MA: Blackwell Pub., 2004. Print.
[4] Hardt, Hanno. Myths for the Masses: an Essay on Mass Communication. Malden, MA: Blackwell Pub., 2004. Print.
[5] Sidlow, Edward. Challenging the Incumbent: an Underdog's Undertaking. Washington, D.C.: CQ, 2004. Print.
[6] Hardt, Hanno. Myths for the Masses: an Essay on Mass Communication. Malden, MA: Blackwell Pub., 2004. Print.
[7] Horkheimer, Max, and Theodor W. Adorno. "The Culture Industry: Enlightenment as Mass Deception." Dialectic of Enlightenment. [New York]: Herder and Herder, 1972. 94-136. Print.
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