COMM Mass Media & Society Exam 2 Chapter 7

What three things cause media to repeat inequality in society, and what does each mean?

Control- White, well-off men long ran media industries

Activism- Movements pushed media to tell more stories

Abundance- More outlets leave room for more voices

What is the transformation between sci-fi’s social commentary from 1968 to 2018?

1968- Kirk and Uhura share one of TV’s first interracial kisses

2018- Black Panther imagines an African nation never colonized

Why is counting children on TV an easy comparison with real life?

Because you can count the children shown on TV and compare it to real life to see if they are represented fairly.

What makes some other comparisons hard?

real life is complicated, and it is difficult to measure what is normal or fair

What are the four ways to explain media content?

Producers, Industry, Audience, The text itself

What are examples of media content?

Producer- Editors sign books that reflect their own lives.

Industry- Budgets, technology, and laws shape the product.

Audience- Newspapers lean toward their readers’ politics.

The text itself- Some scholars decode content on its own terms

What three questions do scholars ask about any group on screen?

Inclusion, roles, control

What are the specific questions that scholars ask about any group on screen?

• Are different groups on screen at all?

• When they appear, how are they shown?

• Who writes, directs, and owns the story?

What is the difference between the shares of leads of color, Latino leads, and writers of color in 2025's top films with the U.S. population?

Leads of color- 23% vs 45% of Americans

Latino Leads- 2.8% vs 20% of Americans

Writers of color- 20% vs 12.5% of Americans

When did progress peak in the shares of color, latino leads, and writers of color?

in 2023 and has slipped since

What three forces pushed media toward inclusion?

Market, activists, outlets

What happened to the number of scripted series between 2002 and 2022?

it grew from 182 in 2002 to a peak of 600 in 2022

What two ways does abundance "cut both ways"?

More room & split audiences

What did the 2017 data show about Black and white viewers' top shows?

Black and white viewers shared no top-five shows

What is the timeline of early media stereotypes from the 1830s to 1940?

1830s- White actors in blackface mock Black people on stage

1940- Hattie McDaniel wins an Oscar as an enslaved maid

Who made the images of early media stereotypes, and who were they made for?

white producers made these images for white audiences

What three stereotypes does the Media Action Network for Asian Americans target?

Forever foreign, sidekick only, model minority

What fix does each stereotype targeted on Asian Americans suggest for each?

Forever foreign- show Asian Americans as part of everyday U.S. life.

Sidekick only- Give Asian and Asian American actors lead roles.

Model minority- Let characters have flaws we can relate to.

What subtler form of racism did Robert Entman find in local TV news?

Black people were often shown in a more negative way than white people, even when the racism wasn't obvious.

What were the three patterns of a subtler form of racism found in local TV news?

Special interests, crime coverage, The anchor desk

What two ways have left-out groups used to fight back in media?

Build your own, change from within

What is the tradeoff of each way left-out groups used to fight back in media?

• Freedom’s Journal (1827), the first Black
  newspaper. Full control, small reach.

• Huge reach, but little control. White men still
  own most media.

What are the three forms of subtle sexism in sports coverage?

Marked gender, first names, gender bland

What is marked gender in sexism in sports?

Women play women’s basketball. Men just play basketball

What is first names in sexism in sports?

Called by first name far more than men

What is Gender bland in sexism in sports?

Women’s games get flat, dull play-by-play

What did Richard Butsch find when he counted the class and jobs of sitcom families from 1946 to 2000?

Working class- 14% are drivers, clerks, servers

Middle class- 68% are mostly professionals

Doctors to nurses- 9 to 1 are on TV, not in real life

How are working-class TV dads written differently from middle-class TV dads?

Working-class dads- Homer, Peter, and Al Bundy are lovable fools

Middle-class dads- Good at work and wise at home.

What does the difference between how middle class and working class TV dads are depicted on screen, suggest about why people struggle?

people struggle because they aren’t smart

How does class connect advertisers, producers, and audiences?

Advertisers- Want viewers with money to spend

Producers- Deliver them and avoid upsetting sponsors

Audiences- Matter, but advertisers matter more

What happened to “Murder, She Wrote”, and why?

CBS canceled Murder, She Wrote in 1996 because it was chasing younger viewers.