The real media

Automaticity

a mental state where our minds operate without any conscious effort from us

Personal Locus

high drive for personal control over filtering and meaning-construction decisions

Advantages of improving our Media Literacy

o Appetite for wider variety of media messageso More power over mental codes o More control over media/how you let it influence you

Reasons for Accelerating Rate of media production

oMore people alive today than ever before to produce mediaoMore tech exists to facilitate more media production

filter bubble

restriction of a user's perspective created by personalized search technology

Selective exposure

tendency to favor information which reinforces pre-existing views and avoids opposing information

4 states of exposure

automatic, attentional, transported, self-reflexive

automatic

physically exposed, but not aware of / processing the messages

attentional

aware of the message / actively engaged with the message

transportation

lose sense of separateness from the message; "lost in the media"

self-reflexive

aware of message and its effects on you; fullest degree of awareness

Mass Audience

outdated notion of audiences as a homogeneous group with same information needs

Niche Audience

small audience that is defined by a shared interest or need

Convergence

blurring and merging of what had previously been different types of media; i.e. the internet

1934 Federal Communications Act

FCC created to regulate mass media; replaced federal radio commission

media deregulation during the 1980s

-1981: Reagan appoints Mark Fowler as chairman of the FCC-the FCC began overturning existing rules regarding the regulation of the mass media industries-1981-1985: period of mass deregulation-led to massive media conglomeration and concentration of ownership

1996 Telecommunications Act

Overhauled the 1934 Federal Communications Act (deregulatory) to include the internet. oGoal: Open markets to competition through deregulationoResult: Massive increase in media conglomeration and consolidation

Lowest common denominator (marketing strategy)

in the past, media companies would try to attract as large an audience as possible by creating messages that would appeal to as many people as possible while offending as few people as possible

Long tail marketing (marketing strategy)

Appeal to as many small, niche audiences as possible; newest media marketing strategy

talent

the ability to attract an audience

Advertising as the engine

drives the growth of media industries, informs consumers about new product, makes those product markets available

Direct support

when you pay for media services/subscriptions

indirect support

when you give your attention and time to media messages; when you buy advertised products

Horizontal Mergers

one media company buys another of the same type

vertical merger

by suppliers and distributers to streamline production and distribution

Elaboration likehood model: Central vs. Peripheral routes

o Explains how media messages persuade us through central routes and/or peripheral routeso Motivation and/or ability to determine which route we take

central routes

careful about messages we are exposed to

peripheral routes

pay attention to message cues, not their use of persuasion ex: pay attention to use of celebrity spokesperson

3rd person effect

believing others are affected by media but that you are not

next step reality

we want messages that resonate with us and are realistic; we also want messages that are more exciting than our everyday lives

magic window theory

Outdated notion that children view TV as a magic window; everything they see on the screen they believe to be real

host selling

using a character from a show to be a product spokesperson

4 parental media regulation styles

-imposing restrictions -co-viewing -active mediation-use of program ratings/v-chips

imposing restrictions

regulate how much, when, what types of media is watched

co-viewing

parents watch media with children

active mediation

having conversations with children about media content; positive/negative mediation

social learning

natural tendency to look to others for appropriate social behavior

para-relationships

feeling like we have a relationship with the characters we view in media

4 dimensions of media literacy

1. Cognitive2. Emotional3. Aesthetic4. Moral

cognitive

raw data and info, facts

emotional

what emotions are being conveyed and how are they being conveyed to me

moral

what moral messages are being conveyed

aesthetic

hting, camera shots, costuming, music choices

age compression

making children older, faster

purchasing power of children: Nag factor

getting their parents to spend money certain ways

symbolic advertising

product is pushed on the basis of its social meaning and what is cool and what defines you; "you are what you buy"

4 reasons for rise in popularity of newspapers around industrial revolution

o Industrializationo Urbanizationo Mass Immigrationo Increasing Literacy Rates

Missing White Woman Syndrome

The media's unnecessary focus on young missing white women

CNN effect

remote international crisis become immediate domestic concerns; pressures politicians to respond

Fourth Estate

the idea that the news industry constitutes an additional unofficial branch of government that wields significant social, economic, political power

5 perspective of news

-political philosophy perspective -traditional journalistic perspective-news-economic perspective-consumer personal perspective

political philosophy perspective

news has a responsibility to focus on important events to keep people up to date

traditional journalistic perspective

journalists have a responsibility to inform rather than to persuade and to not editorializeNews-Working Perspective: Considers how news

economic perspective

the purpose of news companies is to generate profits

consumer personal perspective

people using internet to gather news that is important to them

audience fragmentation

audiences becoming more niche as to what they look for in news

hyper-localism

audiences fragmenting/becoming more niche; advertisers must adapt

most significant form of bias in News (absence of context)

absence of context

representations of crime in news: violent vs non-violent crime

Violent crimes shown more often than nonviolent, even though white-collar crime is the most common form of crime

agenda setting

news media have the power to select and emphasize what is covered and how it is covered

honest broker

PR Facilitates a useful and necessary conversation between the companies and the public

defense lawyer model of PR

PR people are "defense lawyers in a court of public opinion"

press release

official statement on a company's behalf

advertising

sell products, make profits

public relations

protect/enhance public image; reputation management

internal public relations

PR within company; newsletters; retreats; suggestion outlets

external public relations

Press release; public outreach; political lobbying

technological determinism perspective

technology changes us; people are passive agents, unable to resist the shaping force of technology

social construction of technology perspective

the theory or perspective that argues that social forces shape the way we use, regulate, and even develop new technology

social shaping perspective

technology shapes society, but society also shapes technology

technological domestication

this notion, that over time, technology that was once considered marvelous, strange, or dangerous eventually becomes accepted into our daily lives and largely "invisible"

latent ties

Potential relationships that have not been activated

weak ties

relationships with acquaintances; lack intimacy, contact, emotional depth; help us live in a practical way

strong ties

relationships with close friends, intimate, personal, frequent contact, deep emotional connections; give our lives meaning

sip model

model which argues that people are intrinsically motivates to reduce uncertainty about others and to find commonalities with them

side model

platform/medium determines level of identity manipulation

media multiplexity

most relationships are conducted through multiple mediums. the closer the relationship, the more mediums of communication used

impression management and our idealized selves

strategic crafting online identity; idealized selves

switching cost

what we sacrifice when task-switching: time, attention, quality, safety, etc.

chronic multitaskers

the worst at multitasking

Supertasters

persons who are exceptionally good at switch-tasking

5 deceptive health patterns/themes in media

1. most characters have poor health habits yet appear healthy2. lots of violence, very little suffering3. everyday illness rarely depicted 4. mentally ill folks portrayed as violent and dangerous5. massive over-representation of doctors

primary value in entertainment media

emphasis on material possession, wealth; parents are absent, stupid, adulterous, criminal and useless

reasons for over representation of straight, white men in tv

the demographics of tv writers

3 ad agency responsibilities and tasks

o Counsel businesses about how to best sell products and serviceso Offer design services and create advertisements and advertising campaignso Offer expertise on placing ads in advantageous media

media plans

plan to strategically target potential customers with ads

CPM

cost per thousand; cost an advertiser pays for 1000 views or clicks of an ad; a measure of media reach

pass along circulation

tendency to be shared

shelf life

creating a product identity to appeal to a specific target audience

positioning

creating a product identity to appeal to a specific target audience

redundancy techniques

techniques used to reduce the cost of repeat advertising-barrages-bunching-trailing -multi-media trailing

barrages

advertisements scheduled in intense burst pr waves

bunching

promoting a product for a limited time period

trailing

running a condensed ad after the original has been showcased

multi-media trailing

using less expensive ads to reinforce more expensive ads

viral advertising

using novel/entertaining content to encourage viral online sharing

primary targets

established customer base; brand-loyal customers currently purchasing the product

secondary targets

consumers not currently using the brand; competitors possibly unaware of product or their need for that product

4 goals of advertising campaigns

-awareness -conviction-action-reinforcement

awareness

make audience aware of new product