JMC 101 Exam #1 Key Lecture Vocabulary & Concepts

Flashcards covering key vocabulary and concepts from JMC 101 lecture notes, including media literacy, free speech history, the evolution of print media, media conglomeration, and the 'Right to Be Forgotten'.

Narrative

The structure of storytelling; how media organizes events and ideas to convey meaning.

Media literacy

The ability to access, analyze, evaluate, and create media messages.

Selective exposure

Tendency to consume media that aligns with existing beliefs.

Mass communication

Sending a message to a large, diverse audience via media.

Close analysis

Step-by-step interpretation of media content to uncover meaning.

John Milton

Argued for free expression in 'Areopagitica' (1644).

John Locke

Enlightenment thinker whose ideas on natural rights influenced free speech.

James Madison

Author of the First Amendment.

Peter Zenger

His 1735 trial established truth as a defense in libel.

Medium

A channel of communication.

Media

The plural of medium, referring to various channels of communication.

Libel

A published false statement that damages a reputation.

Copyright

Legal protection for creators of original works.

Trademark

Protects brand names and symbols.

Censorship

The suppression of speech or press.

Partisan Press

Early American newspapers tied to political factions.

Publick Occurrences

The first colonial newspaper, published in 1690.

Marketplace of ideas

Concept that truth emerges from the free exchange of ideas.

High culture

Media products viewed as elite or artistic.

Low culture

Media products viewed as popular or accessible.

Media illiteracy

The inability to critically engage with media, often affecting marginalized groups.

First Amendment (1791)

Protects freedom of speech, press, religion, assembly, and petition.

Zenger trial (outcome)

Established truth as a defense against libel, a precedent for a free press.

Codex

An early form of a bound book.

Utopians

Optimists who embrace technology.

Luddites

Skeptics who resist technology.

Johannes Gutenberg

Inventor of the movable type printing press (1450s).

Manuscripts

Handwritten works produced before the invention of the printing press.

Manuscript culture

A period characterized by elite control over knowledge dissemination through handwritten works.

Printing press

A device that allowed for the mass production of texts.

Gutenberg’s Latin Bible

The first mass-printed book in the Western world.

Oral culture

A society where knowledge and information are transmitted primarily by speech.

Fourth Estate

A term for the press, viewed as a watchdog of governmental power.

Marshall McLuhan

A communication theorist known for the phrase 'the medium is the message' and concepts of hot vs. cool media.

Martin Luther

Used the printing press to spread the Protestant Reformation.

Benjamin Franklin

A prominent printer, innovator, and newspaper publisher in colonial America.

Penny Press

Cheap newspapers supported by advertising, making news accessible to mass audiences in the 1800s.

Hot media (McLuhan)

High-definition media that requires low audience participation (e.g., film).

Cool media (McLuhan)

Low-definition media that requires high audience participation (e.g., TV).

McLuhan tetrad

A framework for analyzing the effects of media, describing what a new medium enhances, obsolesces, retrieves, and reverses when pushed too far.

Pre-print culture

The period before the printing press, characterized by oral and manuscript traditions with limited knowledge circulation.

Steam press

An innovation in the 1800s that significantly sped up newspaper production.

Crusading Journalism

An era of journalism often associated with muckrakers investigating social issues.

Yellow Journalism

A sensationalistic and often exaggerated style of journalism popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Big 5 (2001 Media Conglomerates)

Included News Corp, Disney, Viacom, Universal (Vivendi), and AOL/Time Warner.

Cycle of cool

The process where a subculture trend is discovered, commercialized, loses its appeal, and is then reinvented.

Cool hunting

The practice of marketers scouting youth trends to repackage and sell them to a broader audience.

Media feedback loop

The dynamic interaction where media influences audiences, and audience signals in turn influence media content.

Mook/Midriff

Sexualized stereotypes of teenage boys and girls, respectively, often portrayed in media.

Right to Be Forgotten (RTBF)

The right to request the removal or delisting of outdated or irrelevant personal information from online search results.

EU model (RTBF)

Post-2014 ruling requiring search engines to delist links if personal information is inadequate or irrelevant, balanced by public interest considerations.