As a mass communication major, you may encounter a variety of different roles and/or professions throughout your career. These could include public relations, journalism, corporate communications, marketing, fundraising, and many other fields. As such, it is vital for mass communication majors to understand how people understand information in today's world, as that will be your primary goal: to communicate knowledge to interested (or uninterested) individuals on a massive scale previously unimaginable. To help you understand how people work and how our society functions, there are five books that can help everyone interested in mass communication understand the processes and dangers of information processing.

The Old Standby: 1984

Few books are as prophetic as George Orwell's 1948 British classic, 1984. Written in the wake of World War II, Orwell imagined a world where technology, including that used to communicate information, has infiltrated every aspect of our lives. This infiltration by government aligned corporate agents leaves dissent impossible to comprehend and enforces everyone to conform to the state sponsored message. Though we do not see that in our world yet, there are attempts to make it so from a variety of actors. That being said, as a corporate communications professional, for example, it is valuable to see how when there is only one rule maker, a company that has a monopoly on a certain industry, for example, it can be very easy to make sure that all messaging is similarly forced onto consumers and that it is believed. Likewise, in the age of so many social media platforms, news outlets, and so forth, alongside the “fake news” phenomenon (or fear thereof), one of 1984's main mantras, "2+2=5" comes into play more often than one might expect in regards to information processing.

An Alternative Outlook: Brave New World

Building off of the last point, Aldous Huxley examines what "truth" is in a world where people have so many options of how to fulfill their desires in the Brave New World that they no longer need to think about anything but those wishes. What makes this book interesting for readers interested in mass communication is the fact that Huxley perfectly illustrates what it means to stand out in a world of hegemony. The plot follows a man who works in a factory dedicated to "sleep-learning" (though the factory does other things as well, including producing children) but who has every physical need met at the snap of his fingers. Meanwhile, he suffers a lack of fulfillment, until he sees "natural-born" children on a Native American reservation in the southwest United States. As someone interested in mass communication, you will have to fight for a consumer's attention. The best way to do that is by giving them something they do not have and cannot find anywhere else. In this case, the protagonist, Bernard, and some of his friends, find a special kind of meaning in seeing the natural world as opposed to the world of machines and factories producing everything imaginable. As you embark on a life of communicating with others, be that professionally or in your personal life, try to ensure you have something unique to offer. That is the crux of Huxley's 1932 novel.

An Academic Approach: Amusing Ourselves to Death

In some ways, Neil Postman's 1985 work, Amusing Ourselves to Death, combines the world views of Aldous Huxley and George Orwell. While the beginning portion of Postman's book distinguishes the two dystopian worlds (an Orwellian world where the totalitarian government uses violence to infringe upon the rights of people and brainwash them, as compared to a Huxleian world where brainwashing happens as a precursor to the infringement of rights, given people's willingness to descend into “bliss” through entertainment), most of Postman's book actually describes how the two worlds come together, albeit indirectly. For those of you interested in mass media, it is important to realize that what Postman says is true on the surface: everything is entertainment, even things that are not supposed to be entertaining, like the news. Sensational headlines, attractive personalities, theme music, flashing lights, and so forth, all turn off a person's brain long enough to suck them into what is next on the screen. However, what Postman fails to pinpoint is where the entertainment is coming from. While there may not be a direct line connecting authority such as governments to news outlets and entertainment sectors, as a general rule, people still believe what they are told by the people seen on screen.

As such, it becomes vital for people seeking careers in mass media or communications to see how their work would impact the world. As mentioned in the previous point, the unique offerings are what draw people into consuming your media, but by attracting those people, you now have a responsibility to them, to guide them and not lead them astray. In short, you are their shepherd. It is vital that you know what to expect as a mass media or communications worker. Therefore, these three books, 1984, Brave New World, and Amusing Ourselves to Death, all may be incredibly valuable reads. Even those not considering said careers may find the works beneficial, as media consumption is something most do on a daily basis. As you look for your next interesting read, not too heavy but also serious enough to hold your attention, consider one (or all three!) of these classic works.