University of Florida Mass Communications

These are the famous opening lines to the 1967 Beatles song A Day in the Life . According to Rolling Stone , the first verse was loosely inspired by the untimely death of a friend of the band. John Lennon, who often turned to the newspapers for inspiration, worked his habit into writing this verse, combining English tragedy with a Buddy Holly verbal tic . This song is an observation on how people go about their lives; often worrying about things that seem petty and insignificant (like the the roads in Lancashire as noted in the third stanza ) compared to things that have a greater impact like global conflicts, election results, or the tragic death of a friend. So, what does a famous Beatles song have to do with how we share information in the 21st Century? A recent Pew Research Report states that the top two issues Americans are concerned about are high inflation and health care costs. Although these concerns should not be discredited, they are often exagger...

Introduction Mass communication, as a discipline, has a relatively short history. Its theories and ideas, however, can be traced back to its roots in psychology and sociology. In psychology, the principles of behaviorism explains that the actions of most individuals are influenced by external stimuli (e.g., media messages). Whereas on the sociological side, the principle of functionalism explains that the dominant social structures and societal norms determine how a society operates. So, per the functionalist principle, mass media instituions are a part of the overall social structure, and they can either maintain the status quo or alter it. These underlying principles led scholars at the time to conclude that mass media institutions have the potential to influence their audience in ways that are powerful, direct, and uniform. This pervasive view eventually led to the development of the Hypodermic Needle/Bullet Theory. Hypo...