Exam 1

Chapter 1 Chapter 3

What is Media Literacy?

to become critical consumers of media products AND reflective users of media technologies by understanding how media construct meaning.

*Also understanding audience members; understanding of the media industry’s operation, the messages delivered by the media, and the roles media play in society.

What is Mass Communication?

When an individual or institution uses technology to send a message to a large mixed audience, most of them not being known to the sender

What is Mass Media?

the technological tools or channels used to transmit the messages of mass communication

*songs, video games, movies, novels, news, internet services, & other cultural products to a large number of people.

Why does culture matter?

forms and systems of expression that individuals, groups, and societies use to make sense of daily life, communicate with other people and articulate our values

How do we know if something is new (culturally)?

• Is it new to you?

• Is it something that you have not experienced before?

• Have others experienced it?

• Have you researched it?

• Have you analyzed WHY you have not been exposed to it?

What is communication?

social interaction through messages and is how we socially interact at a number of levels through messages

What are the 4 levels of communication?

• intrapersonal

• interpersonal

• public speaking

• mass communicating

What are the steps of the critical process?

1. Description

2. Analysis

3. Interpretation

4. Evaluation

5. Engagement

What is the description stage of the critical process?

• describing segments or articles

• identifying their reporting strategies

• who is interview subjects

  • Central characters

  • conflicts

  • topics

  • themes

What is the analysis stage of the critical process

• isolate patterns that call for closer attention

• HOW to focus the critique

• reporters shown at medium distance, interview subjects are generally shot in close ups

What is the interpretation stage of the critical process?

• try to determine the meanings of the patterns we have analyzed

• Must answer the “so what?” question

• visuals change the way the shot is interpreted

What is the evaluation stage of the critical process?

• making an informed judgement

• better able to evaluate the fairness of a group

• can grasp the strengths & weaknesses of news media

• Make critical judgements using own frames of reference

What is the engagement stage of the critical process?

• writing a formal letter or email to offer a critical take on news narratives

• participating in various productions

• media literacy forums

• learning to construct forms of media ourselves.

What are the 7 secrets about media?

1. the media are essential components to our lives

2. There are NO mainstream media (MSM)

3. Everything moves from the margin to the center

4. Nothing is New: Everything that happened in the past will happen again

5. All media are social

6. Online media are mobile media

7. There is NO they

Why are different affordances important when it comes to media technologies?

they are different features or capabilities of a technology that help establish how we use it

How is media measured?

• Who has ownership?

• Who is being influenced?

• How is it being used?

• Who is controlling media?

• How much money is being brought in?

• How much profit is being made?

• How many audience members are being served?

• How engaged is the audience?

What makes the US Media industry special

• owned almost entirely privately

When did the Mayflower leave for the new world (Plymouth,Massachusetts)?

1620

How much time is in between the pilgrims and the first printing press in the colony?

18 years

How much time occured between the printing press and the salem witch trials?

54 years

What was the first book printed by the colonists?

The Whole Book of Psalms (Bay Psalm Book)

What is Globalization Media?

the worldwide integration of media (print, digital, and electronic means of communication) through the cross-cultural exchange of ideas.

Who are the major exporters of media content (besides the US)?

India, Nigeria, South Korea, Brazil

Why is media related to economics?

media economics is concerned with a range of issues including international trade, business strategy, pricing policies, competition, and industrial concentration as they affect media forms and industries

Why does the connection between media and economics lead to concerns?

• enormous media conglomerates

• Potential Negative impacts

  • Monopoly: one company dominates production and distribution

  • Oligopoly: Most Common Structure, a few firms dominate an industry

  • Limited Competition: (common in radio and newspaper industries) there are many producers and sellers but only a few products

What is a Conglomerate?

several different things or parts that are put or grouped together to form a whole but remain distinct entities (EX: Amazon was originally just for books)

Examples of Legacy Conglomerates

• Disney

• News Corporation (FOX)

• Warner Media

• ViacomCBS, Paramount+

• Bertelsmann

What is legacy Media?

traditional media, often owned by large corporations. May include: Newspapers, Magazines, Book Publishers, and Television networks

What is Synergy?

Where the combined strength of two items is greater than the sum of their individual strengths. In the media business, this means that a large company can use the strengths of various divisions to successfully market its content

What is the Long Tail?

The portion of a distribution curve where a number of people are interested in buying a lot of different products

Who wrote the long tail?

Chris Anderson

T/F Our Mass Communication is becoming less mass

True

What is the short head?

the portion of a distribution curve where a large number of people are interested in buying a limited number of products

T/F Big medias like to live in the short head?

TRUE

What is an example of Long Tail?

Being able to choose multiple cheap items at Taco Bell.

What is an example of Short Head?

Deciding to go to one fancy restaurant that costs more.

What are some key acts put into place (Antitrust Rules)?

• 1890 Sherman Antitrust Act

• 1914 Clayton Antitrust act

• 1950 Celler-Kefauver Act

What is the 1890 Sherman Antitrust act?

outlawed monopoly practices that often fixed prices

What is the 1914 Clayton Antitrust Act?

prohibited manufacturers from selling only to dealers and contractors who agreed to reject the products of business rivals

What is the 1950 Celler-Kefauver Act?

limited any corporate mergers and joint ventures that reduced competition

The Telecommunications Act of 1996

• single company could now own many radio and TV Stations

• phone companies could now own TV and Radio Stations

• Cable Companies could now compete in the local telephone business

• cable companies could freely raise rates

What was the affect of the Telecommunications act?

instead of lowering consumer prices, the prices raised significantly due to mergers and acquisitions occuring

What are the 5 eras of development within media and communication?

• oral

• written

• print

• electronic

• digital

What is the oral and written era?

• began about 3000 BCE

• differed between cultures

What are some issues within the Written Era?

• expensive

• time-consuming

• Allowed powerful & rich companies to gain centralized control over production and manuscripts

  • Re-enforced lack of balance of power between working class and rulers

What is the print era

• replaced scribes doing hand-copied texts

• allowed mass production

• availability lowered the costs

Who shaped modern printing?

Johannes Gutenberg (15th century)

How did the printer era impact society?

• resistance to authority (religion, people)

• Literacy

• Focus on individualism

What was culture like prior to the 1800s

• people (Europe + America) lived in rural communities

• Neighbors were likely to be similar to each other

  • Religion, Race, Ethnic backgrounds

• Limited opportunities to change station in life

What caused the electronic era?

The industrial revolution

What did the Industrial Revolution do?

• impacted Europe + US

• In 1880s, 70% of Americans lived on farms and in small towns

• By 1920s, more than 50% were living in urban areas

What did the industrial revolution lead to?

• new media technologies

• corporate control of media

• widely shared media experiences

When did the Industrial Revolution occur?

1760- 1840

What was the fear?

People were leaving Mass Society and were reliant on Mass Media to learn about other belief systems

• learned through newspapers, magazines, and paperback novels