Gary Gumpert

Mediated Interpersonal Communication: Toward a New Typology.

Traditional conceptualizations of communication have excluded media or relegated them to a minor role as components of channel. Furthermore, the exclusive identification of media with “mass communication” has restricted understanding of the symbiotic relationship of media and interpersonal communication. This essay argues that media pervade all dimensions of human communication and must be considered in all research. It examines the category “mediated interpersonal communication” and suggests that it be added to the communication typology.

Media grammars, generations, and media gaps

This essay argues that the traditional concept of the “generation” as the signifier of separate human time relationships be replaced by the concept of human groups based on media relationships. It takes the position that today people are connected or separated more by media experience than by chronological years. This position is developed through an examination of how new media develop their own grammars, the way individuals acquire media literacy, and the effects of media literacy on ways people relate to the world and each other. It concludes that people develop different states of media consciousness based upon the order of acquisition of media grammars, and that particular media consciousness produce media gaps which separate people.

From the agora to the electronic shopping mall

From the agora, to the market, to “main street,” places of commerce have been traditional sites for interpersonal interaction. With the development of strip malls, shopping malls, mail order alternatives, and the electronic options provided by the computer, telephone, and fax, the life and commerce of the street have been altered radically. Shop‐at‐home television has become a billion‐dollar industry in the United States. This paper examines the nuances and implications of the electronic transformation of the marketplace.

Cybercrime and punishment

Each medium we know of is defined by 1) the grammar which defines it and 2) the regulatory approach which defines it. Yet Cyberspace has introduced new harms and new crimes which have never before existed while some crimes have pre‐existing antecedents. Regulation over the Internet may be based upon new harms. Rather than physical harm per se, the realm of psychological violation may provide the basis for a cause of action, yet we still speak in terms of physical or corporeal impact. What is the nature of punishment when liability or guilt is found to exist and who metes out such punishment? This article proposes a typology of criminal behavior in cyberspace.

The regulation of public social life: Communication law revisited

A complex arena of legal regulations governing public space and the built environment shape the opportunities for and nature of social interaction. This article develops a taxonomy of the indirect or accidental, intentional, or unintended regulations which influence social interaction in public spaces and suggests an expansion of the scope of communication law. The taxonomy developed through a case study of a suburban municipality and encompasses zoning laws (which address signage, facade, parking, display windows, take‐out and delivery service, and vending machines, the segregation of functions, design districts), penal codes, minimum drinking and driving ages, and the regulation of smoking in public places. These form the regulatory web around which communication in public life revolves.

Public boundaries: Privacy and surveillance in a technological world

Surveillance cameras placed in public places by security forces and police departments and cameras linked for transmission via the Internet represent variations on the theme of private connection and public life illustrating the difficulty in fixing boundaries of publicness and privateness. Theoretically, the awareness of cameras is though to foster a sense of safety and therefore intended to serve as a means of revitalizing public spaces, making them more inviting as sites of public social life and political activity. Privacy rights and communication freedoms are among those areas particularly intertwined with psychological and functional expectations in using a public space but these rights and freedoms are entangled with conflicting interests in safety and security offered by the surveillance industry.

I am a camera: The mediated self

This paper argues that an individuals self image is in large part media dependent. The case is made for this position by first establishing George Herbert Meads theory of self and the role of interpersonal communication in the formulation of self image. The concept of mediated interpersonal communication is then explained and linked to Meads position that the self can be known only through communication, thereby expanding the crucial function of communication to include medias role in the formulation of a self image. Specifically, the role of the photographic media in the formulation of a self image is analyzed and a new research paradigm for studies of the self is suggested.

The Rise of Uni-Comm.

“Uni‐comm” is defined as communication from one to many of values prescribed by associations in the environment through non‐electronic media. “Uni‐comm” refers to mediated interpersonal behavior.

Models, metaphors, and other scholarly meanderings: Renovating models of communication

The construction of models have followed a piecemeal approach emphasizing segmentation and specialization. The authors argue that while prior models contribute by delineating and mapping the discrete components of the communication act, they fail to provide for an understanding of communicative acts within the context of a larger converging landscape. Each communicative act must be seen within the context of past, present, and future channel choices (or the lack thereof). A model of communication convergence is proposed which is rooted in a systems analysis of face‐to‐face and mediated forms of communication used in a definable area or by a definable population.

The urban dilemma and research gaps: Explorations into scholarship and identity

This essay addresses the difficulty communication scholars have in addressing public policy regarding urban life which results, in large part, from the disciplines fractionalized, turf‐bound nature. Recommendations for future directions in research and academic responsibility will be offered and linked to concurrent developments in the technology of mediation.