MassMedia: Info & Interactive Media Tech: Comm/Media Technology & Theory (U9-P2) [VID] Fa14

Where do media technologies come from?  How do they develop?  How and why do they spread in a society?  A variety of technology theories help provide some insight.

What are some key theories related to communication/media technology?

• Diffusion of Innovations
• Social Construction of Technology
• Technological Determinism
• Winston’s Model Communication Technology Development

Here we'll cover specifically diffusion of innovations and Winston's model


Everett Rogers' Diffusion of Innovations

Diffusion of innovations is “the process by which an innovation is communicated through certain channels over time among the members of a social system.”(Rogers).

We can hear of about a new technology through face-to-face or through mass-mediated channels and when we do, we may decide to adopt (get, purchase, etc.) that new technology.  Adopted any new tech recently?

More and more people in a society may adopt the new technology/innovation and the graph of the number of adoptions will grow (see below).

The graph above shows how people in a society over time adopt an innovation.

At first nobody had a TV in the U.S., but over time...

Any thoughts on why a person adopts of new technology or not?

How does this theory help us understand how media technologies develop?  Does it help us understand the future of media technologies?




Winston’s Model of Communication Technology Technology Development

Winston's model explains how media technologies develop from ideas to diffusion.  The story begins at the bottom left of the figure and ends at the upper right of the figure.

According to Winston's model a new technology starts (1) as an idea based on science and then (2) develops into early prototypes.  As a technology develops it faces some social pressures ((3) does society see a need for it and (4) will powerful competitors or the government attempt to repress the technology?).  The technology will then (5) diffuse through a society and may (6) spin-off related technologies.

How does this theory help us understand how media technologies develop?  Does it help us understand the future of media technologies?



Let's focus on the development of an early communication technology, the telegraph.

Winston's model can be applied to the telegraph.  Did you see the process in the video clip above?

Let's highlight certain parts of this process.

See the Winston process in the Empire of the Air?


Source: Media Technology and Society: A History From the Telegraph to the Internet















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MassMedia: Info & Interactive Media Tech: What is Communication? What is Technology? (U9-P1) [VID] Fa14

What is Communication?
“Human communication is the process through which individuals – in relationships, groups, organizations, and societies – respond to and create messages to adapt to the environment and one another” (Ruben & Steward).

What is Technology?
“a design for instrumental action that reduces the uncertainty in the cause-effect relationships involved in achieving a desired outcome”(Rogers).

What exactly does that mean?  Break it down.  Piece by piece.

"Tech" in the Dictionary: (Dictionary.com and Merriam-Webster...)

How's the term "technology" used on Twitter right now.


So, given the above definitions, what is communication technology? Media technology?  

OpenClipArt.org

Is a pencil a technology? Is it a communication technology?


There is some interesting communication technologies out there, especially some of the communication technology being developed in other countries. Have you heard of these new communication technologies?



: )

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MediaTech: Internet/New Media: History of the Internet (U9-P3) [VID] Fa14

What would a timeline (a list of events) look like for the development of the Internet as a communication tool?  Starting with the late 1960s, what new communication tools appeared on the Internet?  Examples: What year did email first appear?  What year did blogs appear?

Zuckerman gives a good timeline (or list) in his brief talk.



What would you add to this timeline for more recent years?

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MediaTech: Internet/New Media: Winston's Model and the Internet (U9-P2) Fa14

How much do you know about the development of the Internet and the use of computers as communication tools?  What do you recall from previous readings, notes and discussion?

Can you trace the development of the Internet using Winston's model?

Source: Media Technology and Society: A History From the Telegraph to the Internet







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MediaTech: Internet/New Media: The Internet Explained (U9-P1) [VID] Fa14

So, how does the Internet work?  What are the steps in the process?  The parts?




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InterculturalCom: Effective Intercultural Com: Stereotypes and Ethnocentrism (U9-P4) Fa13

If you were looking for clip art for "Native Americans" and all that you found were images like the top two images above, would this be an example of stereotyping?  How?  Use the definition.   How does the bottom image break the stereotype?  What exactly is the stereotype?

How do you tear down this brick?

Ask me about "Zhong Guo."

Watch the following images.

What was your reaction to the images?  What does your reaction have to do with ethnocentrism?  Anything?

How do you "tear down" this brick?

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InterculturalCom: Effective Intercultural Com: Discrimination, Prejudice and Racism (U9-P3) Fa14

How do you tear down this brick?

How do you tear down this brick?

Note that there are two definitions of racism given here.

Notice any connection between racism and prejudice as previously defined?

Also, what is the differences among racism, prejudice and discrimination?  They are related terms, but they are not the same thing.

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InterculturalCom: Effective Intercultural Com: Intercultural Communication Model (U9-P2) Fa14

Recall the Intercultural Communication Model?

There is a brick wall between us and effective intercultural communication. 
What are the names of the bricks in this wall?  What specifically stops us from getting to effective intercultural communication?

---

Before moving on to anxiety and uncertainty (Brick #3), I should point out that we've already covered Bricks 1 and 2.

What are they?  What are thing we've already covered that lead to difficulty in intercultural situations?

They are difference in language (Brick #1) and differences in nonverbal communication (Brick #2).

Before moving to the next bricks, one last question: How do you tear down this part of the wall, how do you fix differences in language and nonverbal communication?

And now, anxiety and uncertainty.

How does uncertainty lead to anxiety?  Got an example?

How do you "tear down" these brick?   Which one would you fix first and once you fixed it would you have the second problem?

How do you "tear down" this brick?  How do you fix this possible problem?

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InterculturalCom: Effective Intercultural Communication (U9-P1) Fa14

I use to call this lecture unit "Dealing with Difference." 
However, now I've switched to calling it "Effective Intercultural Communication."

See any reason why I changed it?  Does "Dealing with Difference" imply anything?  A negative connotation?

Whatever you call it, in intercultural situations, how do we deal with or become more effective?

One place to start is to have a clear sense of exactly what is causing an intercultural misunderstanding.  Is it a language thing?  Is it prejudice?  What exactly is causing the intercultural ineffectiveness?  If we understand where exactly the problem is, then we can move on to hopefully fixing the problem.  

---

However, before we look specifically at intercultural communication, let's address some basic skills that should be in all types of interpersonal communication.

Even before developing effective intercultural communication skills, we need to learn and practice the basic interpersonal skills below.  These are fundamental.

Some Basic Interpersonal Skills Helpful in ICC

Core Skills

• Positiveness: Expression of positive attitudes toward self and others.
• Other-Orientation: Attentiveness, interest, and concern for others.
• Empathy: Feeling as the other feels.

Meta Skills

• Mindfulness: Being consciously aware of the above skills and carefully monitoring them.
• Metacommunication: Being aware of what is happening in the communication. Being able to think and talk about the talk.

Now, with some basic interpersonal skills out of the way, let's return to intercultural communication.  To get a better understanding of intercultural communication effectiveness, it would be helpful to have a model that helps us spot where the potential problems that may arise in intercultural encounters.



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GlobalMedia: International Journalism: Journalists in War (U9-P2) Sp14

Let's set aside the cognitive/intellectual aspects of being an international journalist.  Let's go to the emotional side of things and look at the experiences of journalist who cover war, you may want to watch and listen to the clips below.


1. A trailer for "Restrepo" 
This documentary, co-directed by journalists Tim Hetherington and Sebastian Junger, won the 2010 Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival and was nominated for an Academy Award.


2. An interview with Tim Hetherington.


3. Journalist, Sebastian Junger, talks about his experiences in covering war and about his friend Tim Hetherington. [Note: Thanks Terry for sharing this audio clip.]


4. AC360 - Photojournalists Tim Hetherington & Chris Hondros...







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GlobalMedia: International Journalism: Being a Journalist in a Foreign Place (U9-P1) Sp14

Imagine being a journalist in a far off land.

Wouldn't be easy, would it?

First, you may, depending on where you are and what you are covering, be physically harmed or killed.  See Anderson Cooper clip below, for just one example.  

And, if you are curious, check out some recent news about about foreign journalists being hurt or killed in the past year month.

It is also not easy being a foreign journalist because you may misread/misunderstand what you are covering in that foreign land.  It is a challenge.

P. Eric Louw, in his chapter "Journalist Reporting from Foreign Places" in Global Journalism: Topical Issues and Media Systems (4th Edition), writes about the challenges of being a foreign journalist.

Thesis of chapter:

• “Journalist coverage of foreign places increasingly influences the governance of those places.” (e.g., CNN effect.)
• “The emergence of international governance based on foreign news-driven mediated realities has inherent dangers."

“Double Misreadings”?

• “Relying on the news media to understand distant places inherently produces a double misreading because…”
• Journalist can misread the news event and
• We (the audience) can misread what the journalist is saying.
• “journalists generally are not equipped to read distant contexts, and neither are their audiences."

Journalist misread for several reasons.

1. “First, journalists arriving in a new context are foreigners [who don’t know the history, the religions, etc.]
2. “Misreadings also occur because journalists carry their cultural biases with them when reporting in a foreign context.”
1. e.g. American values/ways of doing things being seen as normal. Seeing foreign ways as “incomprehensible” or “despicable”.
3. “…the journalistic practice of deploying simplistic labels.” 
1. Taking a complex, sometimes chaotic situation/place and putting into 20 words or less and putting it in a way that U.S. audience will relate to.  “ethnic cleansing” label “white supremacy” label used in coverage of S.A.
4. “…journalists routinely use binary oppositions when describing foreign contexts”   Related to #3  
1. Common characters in a news story: “good guys” vs. “bad guys” Other characters?  Common plot?  Again, oversimplification.
5. “…when sent to report on foreign contexts, journalists tend to (subconsciously) select contacts with whom they feel comfortable working…”
6. “…foreign issues are read in terms of ‘home’ understandings and agendas.” 
1. e.g., S.A. anti-apartheid struggle = U.S. civil rights struggle.  Similar to # 3

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InterculturalCom: Mr. Nice Guy Re-Do: (U9 Activity) [VID] Fa13

Using the ICC model (the brick wall model) how would you analyze the Mr. Nice Guy situation again? Is there a problem? What's the problem?

This is a clip that I edited and posted on YouTube. I use this clip in my Intercultural Communication course to introduce students to the difficulties of intercultural communication.

In the clip Jackie's fiancé has just arrived in the U.S.

Is there intercultural miscommunication? What is the problem exactly? Whose fault is it? Is it right to blame somebody?

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MediaTech: TV Tech: How HDTV Works (U9-P6) [VID] Fa13

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MediaTech: TV Tech: The Evolution of TV (U9-P5) [VID] Fa13

How has TV evolved?  When watching this what changes do you spot?  What features change?
Is it helpful to think of media technology evolving?
Along with Winston's model, Diffusion of Innovations, etc., we'll add the evolution of tech as another theory that helps explain how and why media tech develops and spreads throughout society.


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MediaTech: TV Tech: How Cable TV Works (U9-P4) [VID] Fa13

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MediaTech: TV Tech: How TV Works (More Recent) (U9-P3) [VID] fa13

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MediaTech: TV Tech: Pixels, Persistence of Vision, etc.--- (U9-P2) [VID] Fa13

Clipped from: www.colorado.edu (share this clip)

Pixels and Persistence of Vision
Black and White TV Screens
Bright and Dark



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MediaTech: TV Tech: How Early TV Worked (U9-P1) [VID] fa13

How does/did TV work/worked?  What is the process?  What are the steps?



For next video start at about 40 seconds in.


If you are interested: "The Origins of Television" Discovery Channel clip

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InterculturalCom: Effective Intercultural Com: Racism (U9-P10) Fa13

Note that there are two definitions of racism given here.

Notice any connection between racism and prejudice as previously defined?

Also, what is the differences among racism, prejudice and discrimination?  They are related terms, but they are not the same thing.


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InterculturalCom: Effective Intercultural Com: Ethnocentrism (U9-P9) Fa13

Ask me about "Zhong Guo."

Watch the following images.

What was your reaction to the images?  What does your reaction have to do with ethnocentrism?  Anything?

How do you "tear down" this brick?



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