Mass Media

Mass media is the umbrella term used to describe the communication outlets that deliver information to a mass audience. Traditionally, these entities have included books, newspapers, magazines, telephones, motion pictures, radio, television, and cable. Currently, there is much debate regarding whether or not such new media forms as the Internet, video games, and cellular phones should also be included. Regardless of the entity's classification as traditional or new, mass media have played an integral and obvious role in the transmission and dissemination of both culture and ideology in society for nearly 200 years.

As a result of the industrialization and urbanization of society, traditional socializing agents such as families, churches, and schools were unable to fully integrate members of the public into society in a systematic and uniform manner because of the diverse nature of the populace. What was needed, then, were alternate socializing entities that could successfully unify the public, thus creating a culturally homogeneous sociocultural group. Because the traditional agents of socialization were unable to promote the dissemination of culture adequately in an increasingly urban and industrialized society, mass media—possessing a wide reach and appealing to a broad base of individuals—became the new cultural transmitters.

In sharp contrast to families, churches, and schools, mass media could address the multitudes in a quick and efficient manner. For example, schools and churches were physically limited in their space. Mass media, however, were not physically bound and, for all practical purposes, were omnipresent, meaning that they were everywhere at all times. Whereas one had to be physically present at a school or a church to hear the message being transmitted, mass media could be and were attended just about anywhere at any time; newspapers could be purchased on street corners; movie theaters are a familiar site in most cities; and radios, televisions, and eventually the Internet, video games, and [Page 197]cellular phones are, in some combination or other, to be found in nearly every home. This ubiquitous nature of mass media enables mass media to create a mass public that possesses a shared consensus about culture and society. As a result, the members of the public turn to media to learn about themselves and society, thus solidifying the homogenizing effect of the socialization process.