Intro to Communications & Media

Media

Plural form of medium, referring to forms of communication.

Imagined Communities

Identity building through media; examples include national identities.

Communication

The act of making something common between two people.

Mass Communication

Transmission and transformation of information on a large scale.

New Media

Digital media that differs from traditional mass media.

Old Media

Traditional media, such as newspapers and magazines.

Convergence

The merging of a wide range of previously separate and distinct media.

Transmedial Properties

Characteristics of media that exist in more than one form, such as movies and TV shows.

Social Role of Media

The way media can lead to political hegemonies and propagate biases.

Economic Role of Media

Media functions as a business and faces economic constraints.

Literary Criticism

The practice of analyzing literature for deeper meaning.

Structuralism

A critical approach focusing on underlying patterns or structures within texts.

New Criticism

A form of literary criticism that disregards authorial intention and focuses on the text itself.

Intertextuality

The relationship between texts and the meaning produced through those relationships.

Polysemy

The ability of a sign to have multiple meanings.

Agency

An individual's ability to act independently.

Discourse Analysis

Studying how language shapes perspective and positions.

Critical Political Theory

Analyzing the ownership and structures affecting news dissemination.

Representation

The encoding of ideas into a medium of communication.

Sign

Anything that conveys meaning.

Denotative Meaning

The literal meaning of a sign.

Connotative Meaning

The less obvious, more subjective meaning of a sign.

Semiotics

The scientific study of signs and symbols.

Mass Audience

An anonymous group of readers or receivers without immediate feedback.

Native Advertising

Ads designed to resemble actual content.

History of the Internet

The evolution of the internet from ARPANET to a commercial space.

Net Neutrality

The principle that all internet data should be treated equally.

Web 2.0

An era of mass interactive media that allows user-generated content.

Prosumption

The blending of production and consumption, enabling users to create content.

1% Rule

For every 1 person who creates online content, there are 99 who do not.

Mobility

The characteristic of digital media that allows for less restricted communication.

Individualization

The personalization of media and content for individual users.

Online Music Case Study

Examines the early business model shifts from physical to digital music.

Chronology of Tech History

A timeline of major technological advances, particularly in media.

Essay Section

Part of an exam where students answer questions with short essays.

Recent Theorists

Individuals who contributed to the understanding of media's impact on society.

Harold Innis

Theorist who argued that each medium has its own biases influencing culture.

Marshall McLuhan

Theorist known for the phrase 'the medium is the message', emphasizing the influence of media technology.

David Croteau and William Hoynes

Scholars who discussed the unpredictability of new media technologies.

Bruno Latour

Sociologist known for analyzing how technology shapes society.

Dallas Smythe

Argued that the audience is treated as a commodity in media.

Sut Jhally

Theorized that audiences function as laborers within the media system.

Marxist Analysis

Examines how media integrates audiences into the capitalist system.

Feminist Media Research

Studies how modern societies reflect fundamental gender inequalities.

Reception Analysis

Considers the social context in which audiences respond to media.