Mass communications are a unique and predominant feature of modern society. Since the advent of the radio, through the early years of television, and continuing into the era of the video, mass media has become an intractable part of society. The media serves to inform, entertain, and link members of society with each other and the world around them. It has allowed individuals to visit and learn about places and events that they would previously have been able to hear about only sporadically, but most of all media has become the companion and influence of a large part of contemporary society.
My own personal media use comprises almost 40 hours per week. The predominant usage is the reading of books, perhaps because I am in school at this time, even though that compromises only 8 10 hours per week on the average. However, radio, at 13 hours per week, is the major way I am informed and entertained. Following these two forms, I find that I see an average of 2 films per week, watch television about 5 hours, read the newspaper and magazines from 6 7 hours per week, and play the stereo only about two hours per week. On the particular week charted, I did not use the video recorder at all. This is the only atypical occurrence, since I usually tape interesting programs, etc. for viewing at a more convenient time, or often have friends over to watch a film rather than attending a movie theater. Otherwise, the week was a fairly typical week for the school year. Of course, during the summer and vacations the numbers change slightly.
My dominant form of media usage is with the radio. Typically, I listen to the radio between 12 and 15 hours per week, this particular week I charted my usage at 13 hours. I listen to the radio while I am in the car, often switching between stations to find the most interesting programing or news information. If I am in the car in the late afternoon, I sometimes turn the dial to National Public Radio a...