CMAF 1010 Chapter Notes - Chapter 2: Medieval Commune, Ion, Communication Studies
27 Jun 2018
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Mass Communication in Canada, Eight Edition
© Oxford University Press Canada, 2016
Chapter Overview
The purpose of this chapter is to convey the complex relationship between communication, society,
and culture and consider some of the social roles of media and mass communication. It opens with
defining several key terms—society, culture, and media—and goes on to consider the ways in which
communication and communication media are integral elements of the social and cultural fabric, as
well as key dimensions of politics, economics, and processes of identity formation.
The chapter then focuses on two Canadians, Harold Innis and Marshall McLuhan, who were the
first scholars to bring serious attention to the idea that the ways in which people communicate might
actually shape a society and its culture. In this context, it discusses how oral, literate, and various
modes of electronic communication may affect social development, processes, and structures. The
structures of different forms of these kinds of media are also examined, including prose and poetic
literary forms and broadcast, point-to-point, and network forms of electronic communication.
A central point to be made here is that the relationships between communication media and social
form are a key focus of communication studies. Human affairs cannot be divorced from the com-
munication system used to represent or discuss them, and the design of our communication systems
impinges on every element of our present and future lives. While ICTs have played an important
role in society, we must also be careful not to overemphasize their transformative effects, as this can
lead to an unquestioning acceptance of technological determinism. Analyzing the role of ICTs in
society can assist us in developing an informed view on the complex ways in which media and
communications affect social change and social action.
Related Websites
Association of Canadian Advertisers
www.acaweb.ca/en
Canadian Journal of Communication
www.cjc-online.ca
MIT Center for Collective Intelligence
http://cci.mit.edu/
Council of Canadians
www.canadians.org
Harold Innis Research Foundation
2
Communication: Social
and Cultural Forms
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
The purpose of this chapter is to convey the complex relationship between communication, society, and culture and consider some of the social roles of media and mass communication. The chapter then focuses on two canadians, harold innis and marshall mcluhan, who were the first scholars to bring serious attention to the idea that the ways in which people communicate might actually shape a society and its culture. In this context, it discusses how oral, literate, and various modes of electronic communication may affect social development, processes, and structures. The structures of different forms of these kinds of media are also examined, including prose and poetic literary forms and broadcast, point-to-point, and network forms of electronic communication. A central point to be made here is that the relationships between communication media and social form are a key focus of communication studies.
