What is (mass) communication?

Communication is simply the exchange of information from one source to another. The Shannon-Weaver model of communication offers a basic model in which a message is produced by an information source, encoded by a transmitter, sent through a channel, decoded by the receiver and arrives at its destination. This transmission of information is communication at its most basic level. This basic model of communication laid the groundwork for communication research. Unfortunately, this model proved too basic to keep up with the study of media and communication. The Shannon-Weaver model was developed not to study communication on the social level, rather to understand the maximum efficiency of telephone cables and radio waves (Chandler, 1994).

Hardt, addresses the shift from communication to mass communication. Mass communication is the transmission and exchange of information on a greater scale. The large scale nature of mass communication began with the invention of the printing press. The ability to distribute text provided a revolutionary shift from communication to mass communication and according to Hardt, the transition from authenticity towards inauthenticity. Hardt accuses mass communication of being manufactured and of representing flawed concepts and interests. In turn, Hardt states that mass communications implications lie further than the transference of information from a source to a receiver, but rather possesses social, political, and economic implications (Hardt, 2004).

Hardt’s definition of communication breaks down the word into its root of to make common. He addresses the difference between sharing and transference as two and one way communication respectively. His definition of mass communication, however, presents mass communication as the encouragement of compliance, rather than the unadulterated original idea of gathering, producing, and disseminating information (Hardt, 2004).

The internet has drastically changed mass communication and has distorted the original Shannon-Weaver model of communication. Instead, today the internet does not provide a one way street of communication from source to receiver, but provides multiple sources complied for multiple users. Internet as a medium provides an ever changing hodgepodge of data and information. The net is a gathering place for the entire world and the quantity of information and the quality of information reflects this. We find that the internet does not just present information but presents opinion, misinformation, and inaccuracies. Hardt’s definition of mass communication addresses the adulteration of fact and the internet is an example of a macro scale compilation of adulterated fact, fiction, and information.


Chandler, D. (1994). The Transmission Model of Communication. . January 5, 2011

Hardt, H. (2004). Myths for the Masses: An Essay on Mass Communication. Malden, MA, USA: Blackwell Publishing Ltd.