New Function and Consequence of Mass Media
“Mass media are not media in the sense of conveying information from those who know to those who do not know. They are media to the extent that they make available background knowledge and carry on writing it as a starting point for communication.” (Luhmann,Niklas.2000:p. 66)
In the above paragraph, Luhmann provides a different definition of mass media according their function and the process of communication. To understand this, we should identify information and background knowledge.
Information means something with curiosity value, referring to the present. Therefore, it can draw the attention of audiences and there are countless media providing news for the curious people. Taking the newspaper as an example, in 2014, there are 1,912 kinds of newspaper publishing in China and the total number of sheets is 192 billion 230 million[1].
Once you hear about the information, it changes into your non-information/background knowledge, loses its curiosity value and finally refers to the past. The system of mass media has its own function in the area of news, advertising and entertainment. Among the three, news is the typical information with obvious gene of curiosity and present. [a] “NEWS” is identified as “something previously unknown to somebody that he or she is surprised to hear about” and “new information about something that has happened recently”[2] at Bing.com, which means that we are unfamiliar with news at the first time we hear about it. During receiving the news, we satisfy our curiosity and the news also loses its curiosity gene and becomes the history. The[b] newspaper, the broadcasting and the TV are reporting news every day and we are surrounded by the various news. There are some characteristics that can help us to recognize news and the widely spreading news usually contains some of them. One of them is quantities, which are innately informative for the reason that they inform audiences the new number and take the place of the outdated ones. Another one is norms violation. It represents the opposite side, the example of the known rules and can easily lead to public discussions as well as the further communication.
With this in mind, we can see the creativity of Luhmann’s definition by looking through the process how mass media take effect. When something happens, the mass media, one of the three ways to describe and observe the society(mass media, values and social activities) (Luhmann,Niklas,2000)have to convey the reality to the public in an indirect form. At first, mass media are providing background knowledge (also called non-information) for the sake of reminding audiences of the memory that has been forgotten due to the function of memory itself (Our memory is limited so in order to make room for the information, we will forget some non-information.) Once we are ready for the communication, mass media will continue to carry on information to reduce the uncertainty in our mind. At the same time, information with something new spreads, brings changes and provides the foundation of the next communication. As a result, mass media connect the society with the past, present and future. The society is persistent on the dimension of time.
Mass media don’t operate as science system. The latter provides the truth. The function as conveying information and non-information ensures mass media to confirm that you have a concept of the present and connect you with the past and future, which can be called as norms of in the area of cognition, regulation and evaluation. In this way, the present is endowed with meaning because it serves references for the past and future which are both everlasting while the present is just a blink of the eye. Advertising, influenced by the mass media system, can actively explain the conformity of past, present and future. Advertising is generated on the purpose of persuading its target audiences to buy the items exhibited in the advertising. With the emotional or rational appeals, advertising creates a special desire, arouses the eager dissatisfaction and motivates the further action from the media carrying the advertising to the audiences’ real life. In addition, applying the norms of cognitive psychology into practice, advertising maintains “the stabilization of a relationship of redundancy and variety in everyday culture” (Luhmann,Niklas.2000:p. 105) Redundancy is the multiplied choices of things to be sold while variety is to distinguish one’s products in the market.