Media and Society Midterm Exam

Affiliate Station

A local station that broadcasts national network programming.

Affordances

features/capabilities of a technology that helps establish how we use it to enable or constrain

Analog

One device can measure, record, capture to another device (og source -> copy -> copy)

Antitrust

government intervention to alter market structure or prevent abuse of market power

APRAnet

the original Internet, designed by the U.S. Defense Department's Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA)

Auteur

a filmmaker whose personal influence and artistic control over a movie are so great that the filmmaker is regarded as the author of the movie.

Big Three (TV)

ABC, CBS, NBC

Blockbuster

a film that is a big commercial success

Broadcasting

the transmission of radio waves or TV signals to a broad public audience

Convergence

Technological merging of once distinct and incompatible formats into a single format, which can then be accessed through one device; the trend of media companies merging together in order to better position themselves for a world in which all media can be digital.

Copyright

the exclusive legal right, given to an originator or an assignee to print, publish, perform, film, or record literary, artistic, or musical material, and to authorize others to do the same.

Decentralized Network

A network that contains several nerve centers

Digital Era

Information is broken down into digits, the digits are transmitted, then the information is reassembled by computing machines, or computers; interactive content/info; devices are more interconnected and networked

Electronic Era

Era starting in the 1840s with the invention of the telegraph; disembodies communication; instant connection across great distances

Episodic

in television, a narrative format in which the main characters remain the same from week to week

Fair Use

the conditions under which you can use material that is copyrighted by someone else without paying royalties

FCC

(Federal Communications Commission) regulates the television and radio industry, grants licenses to television and radio stations, and blocks monopolies.

Franchise

in television, programs created when producers leverage the name recognition of a popular television show to brand other series

Infrastructure

The underlying foundation or basic framework of a system or organization; the physical and organizational structures, systems, and facilities needed to function.

Internet

A group of computers and servers that are connected to each other.

Intellectual Property

any product or invention that results from creativity, including movies, music, video games, and other outputs from media industries.

Legacy Media

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

Linear TV

Television service where the viewer has to watch a scheduled TV program at the particular time it's offered, and on the particular channel it's presented on

Least Objectionable Programming;

a strategy aimed at attracting as big a television audience as possible by not turning off any viewers.

Mass Media

Forms of communication, such as newspapers and radio, that reach millions of people.

Mass Media Era

1840s-1920s; several technologies that use electrcity were used during this time (phonograph, radio, motion pictures, TV, photograph)

MP3

A standard format for music files sent over the Internet that compresses music.

MPA

The Motion Picture Association

- International Arm of the MPAA

- Represents studios' interest abroad

Napster

Transformed PCs into servers for exchanging music files over the Internet

Network Era

- 1950s-1980s

- audiences watched the show at time it aired

- networks determined the schedule

- shows had multiple advertisers instead of just one

- tv seen as most important medium

Nielsen

Service primarily used in determining television ratings

Oligopoly

A market structure in which a few large firms dominate a market

Oral era

Information and knowledge circulates slowly through spoken traditions by poets, teachers, and tribal storytellers

Phonograph

record player; a device that turns the writing on records into sound

Prime Time

the time period when the TV or radio audience is the largest

Print Era

age when gaining information through the printed word was customary, and seeing continued as the dominant sense

Production Code

The industry-imposed rules that controlled the content of movies from the 1930s until the current movie ratings system came into use in 1968

Rating

in TV audience measurement, a statistical estimate expressed as a percentage of TV households that watched a particular program

Read-only

an early state of the web, in which websites were places people went to view information

Read-write

when the web became interactive, a place where users could read information, contribute their own digital content, and directly engage with other users

Remix Culture

a society in which people are able to create and communicate by mixing, editing, combining, manipulating, or repurposing existing texts

RIAA

Recording Industry Association of America

Royalties

The share of earnings given by a franchisee as payment to the franchiser

Section 230

No provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be treated as the publisher or speaker of any information provided by another information content provider.

Serialized

episodic series in which story lines continue across episodes, such as soap operas

Share

Piece of ownership in a company, mutual fund or other investment

Spin-off

type of TV program in which the lead character was originally on another TV series

Star System

the film studios' use of stars' popularity to promote their movies

Studio System

an arrangement in which five powerful movie studios took control of multiple aspects of the film industry, transforming an industry that had previously included many small competitive firms into an oligopoly during the 1920s.

Syndication

leasing TV stations or cable networks the exclusive right to air TV shows

Talkies

Movies with sound

Technological Determinism

the idea that machines and their development drive economic and cultural change

Telegraph

A device that used electrical signals to send messages quickly over long distances

Tentpole Film

Big box office hits whose profits help to support the production of a studio's other films and projects.

Text

anything that conveys meaning or communicates information; anything people read/interpret

Trademark

A brand that has exclusive legal protection for both its brand name and its design

Web 1.0

a term to refer to the World Wide Web during its first few years of operation between 1991 and 2003

Web 2.0

a new way of using the internet for collaboration and sharing of data among individual users

Web 3.0

future vision of the web where all digital information is woven together with intelligent search capabilities

World Wide Web

a system of linked pages, programs, and files