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Mass communication is the term used to describe the academic study of the various means by which individuals and entities relay information through mass media to large segments of the population at the same time. It is usually understood to relate to newspaper and magazine publishing, radio, television and film, as these are used both for disseminating news and for advertising.

Field of study[link]

Mass communication research includes media institutions and processes such as diffusion of information, and media effects such as persuasion or manipulation of public opinion. In the United States, for instance, several university departments were remodeled into schools or colleges of mass communication or "journalism and mass communication".

In addition to studying practical skills of journalism, public relations or advertising, they offer programs on "mass communication" or "mass communication research." The latter is often the title given to doctoral studies in such schools, whether the focus of the student's research is journalism practice, history, law or media effects. Departmental structures within such colleges may separate research and instruction in professional or technical aspects of mass communication.

With the increased role of the Internet in delivering news and information, mass communication studies and media organizations tend to focus on the convergence of publishing, broadcasting and digital communication. The academic mass communication discipline historically differs from media studies and communication studies programs with roots in departments of theatre, film or speech, and with more interest in "qualitative", interpretive theory, critical or cultural approaches to communication study. In contrast, many mass communication programs historically lean toward empirical analysis and quantitative research — from statistical content analysis of media messages to survey research, public opinion polling, and experimental research.

Although national standards for the study of interactive media have been present in the United Kingdom since the mid-nineties, course work in these areas tends to vary significantly from university to university. Graduates of Mass Communication programs work in a variety of fields in traditional news media and publishing, advertising, public relations and research institutes. Such programs are accredited by the Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communication.^[1]

The Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication^[2] is the major membership organization for academics in the field, offering regional and national conferences and refereed publications. The International Communication Association^[3] and National Communication Association (formerly the Speech Communication Association) include divisions and publications that overlap with those of AEJMC, but AEJMC historically has stronger ties to the mass communication professions in the United States.

Notes[link]

See also[link]

• Collective intelligence
• Mass collaboration
• The Internet
• Think tanks

External links[link]

• Take One School of Mass Communication, New Delhi, India - School for Mass Communication and Journalism in delhi,India
• Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, New Delhi, India - School for Mass Communication and Media Management in India
• WLCI Media School, Noida - It imparts professional training in the field of Mass Media through various programmes for those of you who aspire to enter the Media Industry.

References[link]

• Hartley, J.: "Mass communication", in O'Sullivan; Fiske (eds): Key Concept in Communication and Cultural Studies (Routledge, 1997).
• Mackay, H.; O'Sullivan T.: The Media Reader: Continuity and Transformation (Sage, 1999).
• McQuail, D.: McQuail's Mass Communication Theory (fifth edition) (Sage, 2005). *Thompson, John B.: The Media and Modernity (Polity, 1995).
• Levy, Steven: Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution (Anchor Press/Doubleday, 1984).
• C. Wright Mills, The Mass Society, Chapter in the Power Elite, 1956