Flashcards History & Philosophy of Mass Media

Gutenberg printing press

Movable type system using a lead, tin, and antimony alloy to reproduce pages efficiently.

Movable type

Individual characters that could be arranged to print pages quickly on a large scale.

Incunabula period

Early period of European printing, generally referring to years before 1501.

Printing and Protestant Reformation

Made Bibles accessible in native languages and spread criticism of Church corruption.

John Peter Zenger

Printer tried for seditious libel in 1735 for criticizing New York's royal governor.

Significance of the Zenger trial

Early freedom of the press case that established truth as a defense against libel.

Fourth Estate

The press or news media as a watchdog holding powerful institutions accountable.

Penny Press

Inexpensive newspapers aimed at a mass audience featuring everyday human-interest stories.

Friedrich Koenig

Co-inventor of the steam-powered printing press that dramatically increased output.

Yellow journalism

Period of sensational newspaper coverage and circulation competition in the 1880s and 1890s.

Linotype machine

Mechanized machine for setting lines of type to speed up newspaper printing.

Muckrakers

Writers and reformers who investigated and exposed corruption and social problems.

First American colonial newspaper

Publick Occurrences Both Forreign and Domestick, published by Benjamin Harris in 1690.

Boston News-Letter

The first continuously published newspaper in the American colonies.

Hearst and Pulitzer

Major publishers associated with circulation wars and yellow journalism.

Stamp Act of 1765

British tax on printed materials that contributed to colonial resistance.

Prior restraint

Government action preventing information from being published before release.

Lumière brothers

Pioneers of early motion pictures using the Cinématographe device.

Eadweard Muybridge

Photographer who used sequential photographs to study movement.

George Eastman and Kodak

Pioneer who introduced handheld cameras pre-loaded with flexible roll film in 1888.

First 'talkie'

The Jazz Singer (1927), a Warner Bros. production starring Al Jolson.

Hollywood studio system (advantages)

Allowed studios to control and coordinate mass film production and distribution.

Hollywood studio system (disadvantages)

Gave studios excessive power and control over performers and creative decisions.

P.T. Barnum

Showman known for spectacle, publicity, and attracting mass audiences.

Ballyhoo

Loud, exaggerated publicity and promotion designed to attract attention.

Ivy Lee

Early pioneer in establishing modern public relations as a professional practice.

Edward Bernays

PR pioneer who applied psychology and persuasion to influence public opinion.

Bernays's PR approach

Used psychology, research, and strategic communication to shape public opinion.

Georges Méliès

Filmmaker who pioneered special effects and creative storytelling in A Trip to the Moon.

Significance of A Trip to the Moon

Demonstrated creative storytelling and early special effects rather than recording reality.

Hays Code

Moral standards restricting content in American films from the 1930s to the 1960s.

Hays Code restrictions

Restricted explicit material, sympathetic crime, anti-religious sentiment, and substance use.

Matthew Brady

Portrait and war photographer known for documenting Civil War casualties.

William Henry Fox Talbot

Photography pioneer who invented the calotype negative-positive process.

Daguerreotype

Early photographic process using mercury vapor to reduce exposure times.

First permanent photograph

Created in 1826 by Joseph Nicéphore Niépce using asphalt on a tin plate.

Camera obscura

Optical device projecting an inverted image through a small opening into a darkened room.

Adolph Ochs

Publisher who took over The New York Times in 1896 and made it the 'paper of record'.

Partisan press era

1780s period when newspapers were openly connected to political parties.

Four periods of investigative journalism

Yellow journalism, muckrakers, the Watergate era, and modern investigative journalism.

Focus of investigative journalism

Rigorous reporting systematically exposing hidden information of significant public importance.

Penny Press audience shift

Shifted newspapers toward a broader mass audience rather than elites or political parties.

Impact of steam-powered printing

Made printing much faster and dramatically increased newspaper and book output.

Advertising in newspapers

Allowed publishers to use ad revenue to support larger circulations and audiences.

Penny Press and media democratization

Reduced financial reliance on political parties and broadened subjects covered.

Yellow journalism vs. muckraking

Yellow journalism focused on sensationalism; muckrakers focused on exposing corruption.

Social impact of photography

Allowed people to bypass distance, illustrate history, and preserve memories.

Significance of Kodak roll film

Made photography accessible to ordinary people using pre-loaded handheld cameras.

Significance of the printing revolution

First mass medium driving the transition to the modern world and rising literacy.