Overview
Mass communication (or communications) is the process of creating, sending, receiving, and analyzing messages to large audiences via verbal and written media. It is an expansive field that considers not only how and why a message is created, but also the medium through which it is sent.
These mediums are wide-ranging and include print, digital media and the Internet, social media, radio, and television. Mass communication is multi-disciplinary in nature, incorporating elements of related fields such as strategic communication, health communication, political communication, integrated marketing communications, journalism, and more.
Mass communication professionals use their knowledge of rhetorical principles and strategic media practices to develop, share, and evaluate effective messages targeting large audiences. Public relations specialists, journalists, broadcast professionals, advertisers and marketers, content writers, graphic designers and illustrators, public health educators, corporate media managers, and other media professionals use mass communication strategies on a daily basis to craft and launch strategic communication plans — from broadcast news to online marketing campaigns and public health announcements — across nearly every industry.
In addition to being an impactful field of applied professional practice, media and mass communication is also a research area within academia. Scholars in the field study and research subjects such as how media is used and its corresponding effects; the processes behind media production; regulatory, ethical, and legal issues in mass communication; mass media theory; and related cultural and gender issues. For example, researchers might study the lingering effects of how news outlets report violent and tragic events, or how advancements in information technology and emerging media are reshaping interpersonal communication and relationships. They might also explore the relationship between social media and political voting patterns, or the role that social and mass media platforms play in political and social justice advocacy.
For current and prospective undergraduate students who know they want to work in large-scale media development, whether in journalism, marketing, public relations, or political and/or social justice communication, a bachelor’s degree in mass communication can provide the important foundational training to step into a role within one or more of these areas. Bachelor’s degree programs in mass communication generally feature core courses on topics such as mass communication theory and history, mass media writing, editing and publishing for mass audiences, and media law and ethics, as well as electives in specific areas of mass communication, such as writing and research for journalists, public relations writing, digital advertising, video production, television broadcasting, and documentary production.