Principles of Mass Media Exam 1

UNL Dr. Sharon Baldeneli

opinion leaders

influential community members who invest substantial amounts of time learning about their own area, such as politics. less well-informed friends and family members usually turn to them for advice.

geographics

the study of where people live, a method typically used to analyze potential markets for products and programs

legacy media

the traditional media, often owned by large corporations. they may include newspapers, magazines, book publishers, and television networks

communication

How we socially interact at a number of levels through messages

intrapersonal communication

communication you have with yourself; how you assign meaning to the world around you

interpersonal communication

communication, either intentional or accidental, between two people. It can be verbal or nonverbal.

group communication

communication in which one person is communicating with an audience of two or more people. The roles of the communicator and audience can change constantly

mass communication

when an individual or institution uses technology to send a message to a large, mixed audience, most of whose members are not known to the sender

media literacy

audience members' understanding of the media industry's operation, the messages delivered by the media, the roles the media play in society, and how audience members respond to these media and their messages

mass media

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

Sender Message Channel Receiver (SMCR) or transmission model

a dated model that is still useful in identifying the players in the mass communication process

sender

the source of messages that go out through mass communication

message

the content being transmitted by the sender to the receiver

encoding

the process of turning the sender's ideas into a message and preparing the message for transmission

channel

the medium used to transmit the encoded message

receiver

the audience for the mass communication message

decoding

the process of translating a signal from a mass medium into a form that the receiver can understand and then interpreting the meaning of the message itself

noise

interference within the transmission of a message. this can take the form of semantic, mechanical, or environmental noise

ritual model

a model of the mass communication process that treats media uses as an interactive ritual engaged in by audience members. it looks at how and why audience members consume media messages

publicity model

a model of the mass communication process that looks at how media attention can make a person, concept, or thing become important, regardless of what is said about it

reception model

a critical theory model of the mass communication process that looks at how audience members derive and create meaning out of media content as they decode the messages

Demographics

the study of audience members' gender, race, ethnic background, income, education, age, educational attainment, and the like; a method typically used to analyze potential markets for products and programs

psychographics

a combination of demographics, lifestyle characteristics, and product usage; a method typically used to analyze potential markets for products and programs

surveillance

how the media help us extend our senses to perceive more of the world surrounding us

status conferral

the process by which media coverage makes an individual gain prominence in the eyes of the public

correlation

the process of selecting, evaluating, and interpreting events to give structure to the news. the media assist the process by persuasive communication through editorials, commentary, advertising, and propaganda and by providing cues that indicate the importance of each news item

socialization

the process of educating young people and new members about the values, social norms, and knowledge of a group or society

entertainment

media communication intended primarily to amuse the audience

agenda-setting theory

a theory of media effects that says that the media tell the public what not to think but rather what to think about- thus the terms of public discourse are set by what is covered in the media

social learning theory

the process by which individuals learn by observing the behaviors of others and the consequences of those behaviors

uses and gratifications theory

an approach to studying mass communication that looks at the reasons why audience members choose to spend time with the media in terms of the wants and needs of the audience members that are being fulfilled

Symbolic Interactionism

the process by which individuals produce meaning through interaction based on socially agreed-upon symbols

cultivation analysis

an approach to analyzing the effects of television viewing that argues that watching significant amounts of television alters the way an individual views the nature of the surrounding world

mean world syndrome

the perception of many heavy television watchers of violent programs that the world is a more dangerous and violent place than facts and statistics bear out

critical theory

a school of thought that grew out of the time period between World War 1 and 2 that addressed the connection between ideas and values, the context of the development of ideas and the commodification of culture

critical/cultural approach

examining how meaning is created within society who controls the media and the roles the media play in our lives

plus-sized model

a female fashion model who wears a larger clothing size

penny press

Inexpensive, widely circulated papers that became popular in the nineteenth century. They were the first American media to be supported primarily through advertising revenue

synergy

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

local cable television systems

the companies that provide cable television service directly to consumers' homes

long tail

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

short head

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