An elementary discussion of media, with a comparison of traditional and emerging media and an overview of careers in media. Designed for students in an introductory college class in mass media, also appropriate for high school level.

1. TALKING ABOUT MEDIA
Some DEFINITIONS
MEDIUM: A channel of communication, involving some technology.
TELEVISION is a medium
A BOOK is a medium
THE INTERNET is a medium.
MEDIA = Plural of medium.
“Television, books and the Internet are examples of media.”
CONTENT: The message carried by a medium.
FOX NEWS is media content.
PANDORA is media content.
MEDIA in the United States are privately owned, but owners aren’t media.

2. OLD AND NEW MEDIA
Some Characteristics
 Scarcity – Little choice  Abundance – Lots of choice
 Media-Centric  Audience-Centric
 Expensive to produce.  Cheap to produce.
 First copy expensive, more  On-demand manufacturing
copies cheap. (CreateSpace).
 Mass audience – one to  Networks of Networks
many (CBS/NBC). (Facebook).
 Professionally generated  User-generated content.
content.

3. OLD AND NEW MEDIA
Examples
 Twentieth-Century Fox  Oscilloscope Pictures
 Sony Music  Yep Roc Records
 NBC, ABC, CBS  YouTube, Vimeo, Hulu (?)
 HBO, Showtime  Netflix Instant
 McGraw-Hill Publishers  Lulu.com
 Washington Post  Huffington Post
 Inception  Paranormal Activity

4. OLD AND NEW MEDIA
More Characteristics
 Getting your work made  Digital technology makes
(production) used to be production more accessible
difficult/expensive. and less costly.
 Distribution channels still  Do-It-Yourself (DIY)
somewhat under control of distribution is starting to
major media companies. open up.
 Synergies among media  The hard part is getting
owned by the same anyone to pay attention –
companies help channel the glutted distribution
audience. channels.

5. OLD AND NEW MEDIA
More Characteristics
 Major media companies  New Media producers are
have tried to retain control constantly trying to find
of distribution through P.R. new distribution channels
campaigns and lawsuits. and technologies.
 In music, digital technology  Online distribution of
has led to the collapse of the video/films lags about 10
distribution system. years behind music.
 Major media companies  DIY producers are more
have retreated, try to inclined to give away
control CONSUMPTION product for free, but have
through digital rights trouble making money.
management.

6. TOMORROW’S MEDIA:
Convergence
 CONVERGENCE: Fewer owners, but more distribution
channels. Ownership of content becomes crucial.
 PHYSICAL GOODS (like DVDs) are diminishing in
importance. Netflix CEO predicts the company will quit
mailing DVDs in 2012.
 BROADBAND INTERNET is becoming the most important
distribution stream for media content. WIRELESS
BROADBAND is slow in developing, but is coming.
 STREAMING and DOWNLOAD-TO-OWN are the
distribution channels most likely to be successful after 2010.

7. TOMORROW’S MEDIA:
Careers
 CAREERS IN MEDIA are changing rapidly. Traditional
media companies are laying off workers and outsourcing
content creation.
 TO BE SUCCESSFUL in media is going to involve some
degree of entrepreneurial skill: identifying audiences,
developing ideas, attracting investment, finding
distribution.
 TECHNOLOGY is democratizing access to media, but
altering the job market for media workers. Technical skills
alone are not enough to ensure success.