Mass communication is all around us. But, the context in which we interact with mass media directly impacts the message. Context in communication is the circumstances surrounding the communication or in other words the setting of the communication that is taking place.  Contexts can be physically based, for example your place of employment or with friends at a coffee shop. For example, the way your business might use social media is different than the way you and your friends use social media at the coffee shop.   Contexts can also be temporal or based in time.  For example, advertisements that are considered appropriate now, would not be allowed back in the 1960’s. Context can also be culturally based meaning appropriate communication in one culture is not always the same as another.  

Just as there are different kinds of context, there are also many different mediums of communication that can be used within each context.  Mediums are methods of delivering communication.  Mass Media are the many different mediums for delivering Mass Communication.  For this assignment you will be choosing a specific context and then telling us about how Mass Media is used in that context. 

In this assignment, you will create a PowerPoint presentation as if you were going to present it to an audience. In the presentation, you will distinguish between mass communication and mass media. You will choose either a personal context or a professional context and look at how mass media is used in that context now as well as consider how it will be in used in the future. 

To prepare for this Application:

• Read the "Communication Program Professional Writing Guidelines."
• Read “Weeding Out BS (Bad Sources),” and research your topic for sources to use for your presentation.
• Choose a personal or professional context for your presentation. Think about which of these mass media you interact with the most.
• For help with PowerPoint presentations, please review “Microsoft PowerPoint Resources” in the Walden University Academic Skills Center at https://academicguides.waldenu.edu/ASC/software/PPT.

By Day 7

Create a 5-slide PowerPoint presentation. You should create this as if you were giving a class presentation on the topic.  The slides should have short bullets and graphics as PowerPoint is a visual medium. Everything that you would say to give the presentation should be written out in your speaker notes.  Speaker notes should go in the notes section under each PowerPoint slide.  All sources used should be cited in your slides and in your speaker notes.  Each slide should include the following:

• Slide 1 – Title Slide – Please indicate your chosen context here
• Slide 2 – What are Mass Communication and Mass Media?
• Slide 3 – How is Mass Media currently used in your chosen context?
• Slide 4 – How do you see Mass Media being used in the future in your chosen context?
• Slide 5 – Bibliography

Please Note: For the presentation, be sure to reference at least one scholarly or popular source to support answer
Refer to the Week 1 Assignment Rubric for specific grading elements and criteria. Your Instructor will use this Grading Rubric to assess your work.
Questions about this Assignment? Post them in the Contact the Instructor area. That way, everyone in the class will see, and benefit from, the Instructor’s response.

Submission and Grading Information