The Process And Effects Of Mass Communication

Media as communication institutions;Mass media as social systems; The structure and function of communication in society; The medium is the message; From news-gathering to news-making; A flood of pseudo-events; The negro and the news: A case study.

Mass Communication Theories: Explaining Origins, Processes, and Effects explores mass communication theories within the social and cultural context that influenced their origins. An intimate examination of the lives and times of prominent mass communication theorists both past and present bring the subject to life for the reader.

This book is "primarily a collation of the findings of published research. Part I deals with mass communication as an agent of persuasion. Part II deals with the effects of specific kinds of media content." A new orientation is suggested: the "Phenomenistic" approach which "is in essence a shift away from the tendency to regard mass communication as a necessary and sufficient cause of audience effects, toward a view of the media as influences, working amid other influences, in a total situation."