Binary Models

On September 2nd, we had a class lecture on binary models in communication. We learned of the different models and what they each entail. I personally was very interested with the elitist/populist model. The populist side of the model shows just how truly greedy a huge part of our society is. The television industry is primarily a populist industry today, and with each decade it is becoming more and more so. It's sad really, that these companies will play whatever on their network just as long as it attracts a large audience. 

The elitist side of the model, however, shows that we do still have people that honestly don't care how much attention they get from the shows they air; they just want to get a message important to them across to others. It is extremely hard for a company to be elitist because, as everyone does, they still have to pay bills to keep their company out of debt. In 50 years or so, I bet there will be very few elitist companies just because money controls our world. 

The other 3 binary models are hot/cold, content/distribution, and information/entertainment. Hot media is media in which you do not have to devote all of your attention. For example, I could be listening to music while cleaning my room; I do not have to just be sitting at my desk listening to the music. Cold media, on the other hand, is media in which you do have to devote your entire attention. An example of this is a novel; I could not be reading a novel while doing my math homework!

A content-based media is a media that shows their own content, while a distribution-based media is a media that, put simply, distributes other's content. Netflix is an example of both these models because they not only create their own shows and movies, they also show others programs. As you can see, sometimes a company can fall in two contrasting binary models.

Information and entertainment media is pretty self explanatory. Informational media shows only educational and fact-based programs while entertainment media, such as Disney, show things people want to watch for the fun of it; they are not in any way educational and are just for laughs or to put you at the edge of your seat.

Mr. Miller also touched on conglomeration, and demassifcation in this lecture. Conglomeration, also know as consolidation, is when a huge company (think Disney, Comcast, etc.) buys a lot of smaller companies. A major disadvantage of this is the lack of choice us consumers have. About 6 or 7 big companies are controlling just about everything we watch and listen to. It's kind of a scary thought. Thankfully, monopolies are illegal, so a bigger company can not buy every company in the industry. 

Demassification is when a media company stops trying to reach a mass, or wide, audience and instead tries to reach a tinier, or niche, audience. This often occurs when the audience for a program drops or when talent is lost.

This lecture really opened my eyes to the world of mass communication and how really only a few companies control everything we see. Because of this lecture, I now fully understand the four binary models, along with conglomeration and demassification.