Monday, November 18, 2013

Research Reports_Carey_Mann


James W. Carey

This piece of work by James W. Carey, gives us a look into two forms of communication.  The first form of communication is called transmission view.  This view of communication deals with giving large amounts of news to an audience and not giving much background and digging deeper into the story.  The other form of communication is called the ritual view of communication.  This form of communication is “more like attending a mass: a situation in which nothing new is learned but in which a particular view of the world is portrayed and confirmed.” (Carey, pg. 8)  Carey is credited with inventing and coming up with the term ritual view of communication. Now we have a background of what Carey discussed, lets learn more about Carey.

James William Carey was born in Providence Rhode Island on Sept. 7, 1934. When he was little he was diagnosed with a rare heart disease that had a huge risk of being fatal. This caused his mother to not let him attend school. James was not allowed to go to school and interact with his friends.  He spent his days reading books and talking to older adults in his neighborhood. He finally got to go to school and went on to the University of Rhode Island where he majored in Marketing and Advertising.  After getting his doctorate from the University of Illinois he said “(I) concentrated on "a field yet to be invented, the economics of communications." (Martin , 2006)   After graduation he ended up teaching at the University of Illinois in the college of communication and worked his way all the way up to being the dean of the college of communication. He also worked at Columbia University and died at the age of 71 in 2006.
It is also important to look at what type of media and where this article is published.  It is an essay from a book of essays published by Carey called Communication as Culture: Essays on Media and Society.  This book was published in 1989 and discusses more than just the facts of communication.  It reveals topics and ideas that have never been discussed before this time.  “Though you may not know his name, Jim’s ideas about communication as culture, journalism as conversation, his reading of journalism history, and many other insights in his writings and speeches have inspired and influenced some of the most important ideas in the media culture today. He anticipated the rise of citizen media, inspired public journalism, and changed modern press criticism.” ("Remembering james carey," 2006) This piece of work by him may not be very famous or well know but it has played a huge part of what we know about media and communications today.
A theme that is seen a in a great amount of Carey’s writings, is that people study communication in order to better understand the world around them. This theme can be seen clearly in the reading, A Cultural Approach to Communication.  Carey argues for the ritual form of communication, which is about more than just getting information but understanding and using that information to help others out.  This piece of work was very influential in changing and shaping the landscape of communications and the media.
 Word Count 534

Reference
Carey, J. W. (1975). A cultural approach to communication. Communication 2(2), 1-22.
Martin , D. (2006, 05 26). James w. carey, teacher of journalists, dies at 71. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/26/nyregion/26carey.html?_r=0
Remembering james carey. (2006, 05 26). Retrieved from http://www.journalism.org/2006/05/26/remembering-james-carey/


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