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Mass communication is a suitable phrase that 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
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 journalism departments evolved 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.

Interest in "New Media" and "Computer Mediated Communication" is growing much faster than educational institutions can assimilate it. So far, traditional classes and degree programs have not been able to accommodate new shifts of the paradigm in communication technologies. Although national standards for the study of interactive media have been present in the U.K. 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. The Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication is the major membership organization for academics in the field, offering regional and national conferences and refereed publications. The International Communication Association 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

The terms 'Mass' and 'Communication'
The term 'mass' is misleading (Thompson, 1999).

First of all, it denotes great volume, range or extent (of people or production) and reception of messages. The important point about 'mass' is not that a given number of individuals receives the products, but rather that the products are available in principle to a plurality of recipients.

In addition,the term 'mass' suggests that the recipients of media products constitute a vast sea of passive, undifferentiated individuals. This is an image associated with some earlier critiques of 'mass culture' and Mass society which generally assumed that the development of mass communication has had a largely negative impact on modern social life, creating a kind of bland and homogeneous culture which entertains individuals without challenging them. However, with the advancement in Media Technology, people are no longer receiving gratification without questioning the grounds on which it is based. Instead, people are engaging themselves more with media products such as computers, cell phones and Internet. These have gradually became vital tools for communications in society today.

The aspect of 'communication' refers to the giving and taking of meaning, the transmission and reception of messages. The word 'communication' is really equated with 'transmission', as viewed by the sender, rather than in the fuller meaning, which includes the notions of response, sharing and interaction. Messages are produced by one set of individuals and transmitted to others who are typically situated in settings that are spatially and temporally remote from the original context of production. Therefore, the term 'communication' in this context masks the social and industrial nature of the media, promoting a tendency to think of them as interpersonal communication. Furthermore, it is known that recipients today do have some capacity to intervene in and contribute to the course and content of the communicative process. They are being both active and creative towards the messages that they are conveyed of. With the complement of the cyberspace supported by the Internet, not only that recipients are participants in a structured process of symbolic transmission, constraints such as time and space are reordered and eliminated.

'Mass communication' can be seen as institutionalized production and generalized diffusion of symbolic goods via the fixation and transmission of information or symbolic content. It is known that the systems of information codification has shifted from analog to digital. This has indeed advanced the communication between individuals. With the existence of Infrared, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, cell phones are no longer solely a tool for audio transmission. We can transfer photos, music documents or even games and email at any time and anywhere. The development of media technology has indeed advanced the transmission rate and stability of information exchange.

Characteristics of Mass Communication
Five characteristics of mass communication have been identified by Cambridge University's John Thompson. Firstly, it "comprises both technical and institutional methods of production and distribution". This is evident throughout the history of the media, from print to the Internet, each suitable for commercial utility.

Secondly, it involves the "commodification of symbolic forms", as the production of materials relies on its ability to manufacture and sell large quantities of the work. Just as radio stations rely on its time sold to advertisements, newspapers rely for the same reasons on its space.

Mass Communication's third characteristic is the "separate contexts between the production and reception of information", while the fourth is in its "reach to those 'far removed' in time and space, in comparison to the producers".

Finally, Thompson notes a fifth characteristic of mass communication, which involves "information distribution". This is a "one to many" form of communication, whereby products are mass produced and disseminated to a great quantity of audiences.

The reordering of space and time


All technical media relate to spatial and temporal aspects of social life.However, the development of telecommunication technology in the second half of the nineteenth century was especiallly significant (Thompson, 1999). As John Thompson (1999) has noted,'With the development of early forms of telecommunication, such as the telegraph and telephone, significant spatial diatanciation could be achieved without physically transporting symbolic forms'.

The transformations of space and time were caused by the development of quicker means of transport and the development of new communication technologies and so on ( Thompson, 1999).

With the development of mail-coach services and the construction of the railways, the introduction of the standardized railway timetable gradually adopted GMT as the uniform standard of time in every part of Britain.The standardization of world time associated with the uncoupling of space and time, of speed and simultaneity and of a growing interest in the personal experience of time and space (Thompson,1999).

The growth of the media industries
The transformation of media institutions into large-scale commercial concerns is a process that began in the early nineteenth century.The scale of commercialization had a significant increase during nineteenth century.It emerged in the printing industry and the financial basis of the media industries (Thompson, 1999).

The origins of the process of globalization of communication can be found on mid-nineteenth century.The media communication on nineteenth century become much more extensive than the earlier centuries because of the international flow of information and communication(Thompson, 1999).

The use of electrical energy for the purposes of communication related to the great discoveries of the nineteenth century.Marconi successfully sent signals across 23 km of sea in 1898 and sent across the English Channel in 1899.Fessenden and others developed the technology for transmitting speech via electromagnetic waves during the first decade of the twentieth century.As a result of the First World War,Westinghouse and Marconi started experimenting with broadcasting (Thompson,1999).