week 6

This week we talked about the trinity of government (reason), the people (passion) and the military (uncertainty). This model emerged from the French revolution. The passions of the people would get out of hand and the miltary's purpose was to deal with those threats or opportunities that resulted. The government's job was to balance the two by not being dismissive of what the people want, but also not caving in to every whim. The new model of the trinity, however, asserts that there are splits within all three group. They aren't efficient and don't reflect unanimity. We then discussed how mass media is an extension of the individual human senses. Mass media is also the sum total of media aimed deliberately or otherwise at specific, collective, target audiences or a combination of specific target audience. Different types of media also rely on each other, since people get their information from multiple sources. We must also realize people are not blank slates and no matter how a media source frames an event, it never forces someone to accept it 100%. We then examined psyops and its importance. It is manipulative as are all other forms of communication. It's a tool of foreign policy and the state that is used to influence the actions and ideas of other groups in favor of the sender.

1. What sort of media rely on each other
2. What happens when mass media reaches an unintended audience

2. When mass media reaches an unintended audience, it may result in the same desired effects as in the target audience. It is more likely, however, the undesired consequences may arise as a result of differing beliefs from the target audience, leading to negative consequences for the originators of the message.