Posted: August 9th, 2022

Journalism and Mass Communication

Journalism and Mass Communication
Part 1
Which comes first between medium and message?
Messages come first before the mediums when it comes to the content strategy. The message determines the mode of communications be used to ensure that passing of the message is effectively done. Different modes of communications determine the speed, formats and content variation of the message communicated. The parties passing the message need to determine and consider the destination of the message, recipient of the message and the form of message reception to make decisions on the medium to be used in passing the message.
The features to be revealed in the message determine the medium used; thus, the message needs to be drafted before making decisions on the medium to use. Different mediums convey messages differently; thus, the sender of the message must consider their intention and the impact they wish the receiver of the message to have (Baran and Davis, 2009). The intention and impact of the message are determined by the understanding that occurs differently based on the medium used. Therefore, the purpose of increasing rankings and impressions from the message determines the medium of transmission of the message.
The aspects of traffic and ranking in the content being transmitted inclines one to develop message and content then decides on the medium to have the desired speed and ranking (Vivian, 2010). In this regard, the urgency of a message facilitates decisions on medium to be used since various modes have differences in the traffic, thus determining the speed of the messages. On the ranking aspect, the quality of the message received determines the medium be used in transmitting the message.
Part 2
Media literacy among the people determines their ability to understand media issues, media effects, media dynamics and the general operations and aspects of the media. The aspect of media literacy can be assessed and evaluated through interactions with different parties. In this regard, I evaluated media literacy through interaction with a neighbour.
The neighbour argued that media literacy is the ability to navigate through different mediums of communication with the interest of finding factual information. The neighbour argues that different forms of media have differences in the conveying of messages, and thus one needs to have the skills and knowledge to navigate through different media forms to retrieve facts and objective information. Therefore media literacy enables people to understand messages reported and passed from one point to another. The neighbour considers himself as a media literate person as he can navigate different media platform to assess and evaluate messages from the different platforms.
The neighbour argues that children at elementary and secondary school levels need to be taught media literacy to enhance their fact-finding operations. The neighbour considers the media literacy aspect to enhance the conduct of research through a gathering of information from different sources to make solid conclusions.
Students need to know that the transmissions of messages from one point to another distort the contents depending on the medium used. In this regard, the students need to have relevant skills and knowledge in the gathering of information from different medium thus enhancing fact-finding and objectivity derived from different content. Teachers need to direct time and resources in enhancing media literacy among their students for the correct understanding of information and message contents.

References
Baran, S.J. and D.K. Davis (2009). Mass communication theory: Foundations, ferment, and future. 5th ed. Boston:
Vivian, J. (2010). The mass media of communication, 9th ed. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.

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