exam content

Who says what in which channel to whom with what effect?

Lasswell's core formula for communication.

Communicator

The sender of the message in a communication model.

Medium/Message

The channel through which the message is conveyed to the receiver.

Receiver

The audience or target of the communication.

Denotation

The literal or explicit meaning of a sign.

Connotation

The associated or implicit meaning that a sign carries.

Intertextuality

The reference or echoing of one text in another, adding layered meanings.

Encoding

The process by which producers create meaning in media artifacts.

Decoding

The process by which receivers interpret or make sense of media messages.

Dominant decoding

When the audience fully accepts the intended meaning of a message.

Negotiated decoding

When the audience accepts some aspects of the intended meaning but reinterprets others.

Oppositional decoding

When the audience understands but rejects the intended message due to different cultural frames.

Convergence Culture

A phenomenon where media, content, audience, and corporations converge across platforms, fostering participatory culture.

Algorithmic Culture

A critique of how algorithms create an illusion of choice while steering behavior toward commercial outcomes.

Spiral of Silence

A theory suggesting that individuals self-censor opinions perceived as unpopular, thus skewing public discourse.

Digital Panopticon

A concept describing the state of constant potential surveillance users feel online, affecting their behavior.

Surveillance Capitalism

A term describing the commodification of personal data to predict and influence behavior.

Kittler's Three Stages of Media

The historical evolution of media through symbolic, technical, and digital stages.

Agenda-Setting

The media's ability to influence the salience of topics in public discourse.

Semiotics

The study of signs and symbols, focusing on their interpretation and meaning.

Audience Labor

The unpaid work that audiences do by consuming content and creating data in media.

Power Dynamics

The relationship of power between different actors in communication and media representation.