Understanding Mass Media, Scientific, and Legal Language

Mass Media

Mass media are channels used to transmit messages to large groups of people. They include the press, radio, cinema, and television.

Characteristics of Mass Media

Despite their differences, mass media share four common characteristics:

• Complex technology
• Specialized professionals
• Large receiver group
• Unidirectional messages

The media are a powerful instrument of social influence with three primary purposes:

• Report information
• Form opinions
• Provide entertainment

Relationship Between Verbal and Nonverbal Codes

Each medium has its unique features, but they all use different communicative codes. For example:

• Press: Emphasizes image, headlines, and text layout.
• Media sets: Emphasizes music and gestures.

Television

Television communicates through visual and acoustic stimuli. Transmission occurs via waves from a transmitter station through an antenna, satellite, or cable.

The Press

The term 'press' refers to regularly published informative publications in writing. Newspapers are published daily and deal with immediate information. Magazines are published weekly, biweekly, or monthly and focus less on raw immediacy. The press includes news, advertising, and humor.

The Radio

Radio communicates using acoustic stimuli, relying on the spoken word, music, sounds, special effects, and silences.

Internet

The internet is a social phenomenon of the '90s and is deeply rooted in youth culture, making it a significant medium.

Scientific and Legal Language

Scientific-Technical Language

Scientific-technical language is used to transmit knowledge related to scientific disciplines.

Morphosyntactic Features

• Prevalence of simple present indicative with intertemporal value
• Use of impersonal and passive sentences
• Use of adjectives to specify reflexes
• Abundant presence of appositions
• Nouns modified by several additions

Lexical Features

• Use of acronyms
• Use of words from other languages
• Use of jargon to refer precisely to concepts and realities

Administrative Legal Language

Administrative legal language is related to science, law, and administration.

Main Features

• Conventional form and character with established textual forms
• Expressively complex
• Conservative character

Morphosyntactic Characteristics

• Using the future with the value of office
• Abundance of impersonal constructions
• Complex syntactic structures
• Limited personal forms
• Extensive use of adverbial and prepositional phrases

Lexical Features

• Use of specialized language
• Presence of obsolete words
• Use of abbreviations