Mass Communication & Media Theories: Key Concepts and Models

Mass communication

the process of designing cultural messages and stories and delivering them to increasingly large and diverse audiences through mass media channels like newspapers, magazines, movies, radio, and television.

Mass media

mass communication the process of designing cultural messages and stories and delivering them to increasingly large and diverse audiences through mass media channels like newspapers, magazines, movies, radio, and television.

Selective Exposure

the phenomenon whereby people expose themselves to the media messages that are most familiar to them.

Convergence

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

Gatekeeper

newspaper editors, network TV managers, record executives, and other media leaders who have traditionally decided which messages get circulated.

Narrative

the structure underlying most media products, it includes two components: the story (what happens to whom) and the discourse (how the story is told).

Modern Era

the term describing a historical era spanning from roughly the 1800s to the 1950s; coincided with the rise of mass communication industries, which were bound up with the era's faith in expertise, rationalism, and progress.

Postmodern Era

the term describing a contemporary historical era spanning from roughly the 1950s to the present; a period marked by growing skepticism about expertise and the idea of progress.

Media Literacy

an understanding of mass communication developed through the critical process—description, analysis, interpretation, evaluation, and engagement—that enables a person to become more engaged as a citizen and more discerning as a consumer of mass media products.

Affordances

the features or capabilities of a technology that help establish how we use it.

Consensus Narratives

stories that reflect certain values and assumptions about what the world is and should be like; for much of the twentieth century, the impact of the mass media helped establish these stories as well as a mainstream American culture and identity.

AI

stories that reflect certain values and assumptions about what the world is and should be like; for much of the twentieth century, the impact of the mass media helped establish these stories as well as a mainstream American culture and identity.

Correlation

observed associations between two variables.

Hypodermic Needle Model

an early model in mass communication research that attempted to explain media effects by suggesting that the media figuratively shoot their potent effects into unsuspecting victims; sometimes called the magic bullet theory or the direct effects model.

Scientific Method

a widely used research method that studies phenomena in systematic stages; it includes identifying a research problem, reviewing existing research, developing working hypotheses, determining an appropriate research design, collecting information, analyzing results to see if the hypotheses have been verified, and interpreting the implications of the study.

Survey Research

in social science research, a method of collecting and measuring data taken from a group of respondents.

Pseudo Polls

typically call-in, online, or person-in-the-street nonscientific polls that the news media use to address a "question of the day."

Experiments

in regard to the mass media, research that isolates some aspect of content; suggests a hypothesis; and manipulates variables to discover a particular medium's effect on attitude, emotion, or behavior.

Content Analysis

in social science research, a systematic approach to categorizing and measuring media content in order to identify and quantify different types of media texts.

Minimal Effect Model

a mass communication research model based on tightly controlled experiments and surveys; it argues that people generally engage in selective exposure and selective retention with regard to the media; also known as the limited model.

Cultivation Effect

in media research, the idea that heavy television viewing leads individuals to perceive the world in ways that are consistent with television portrayals.

Uses and Gratifications Model

a mass communication research model, usually employing in-depth interviews to supplement survey questionnaires, that argues that people use the media to satisfy various emotional desires or intellectual needs.

Third Person Effect

People tend to believe that media messages affect others more than they affect themselves.

Social Learning Theory

a theory within media effects research that suggests a link between the mass media and behavior; later modified and renamed social cognitive theory.

Agenda Setting Theory

a media-research argument that says that when the mass media focus their attention on particular events or issues, they determine—that is, set the agenda for—the major topics of discussion for individuals and society.

Spiral of Silence

a theory that links the mass media, social psychology, and the formation of public opinion; the theory says that people who hold minority views on controversial issues tend to keep their views silent.

Political Economy Studies

an area of academic study that specifically examines interconnections among economic interests, political power, and how that power is used.

Textual Analysis

in media research, a method for closely and critically examining and interpreting the meanings of culture, including architecture, fashion, books, movies, and TV programs.

Audience Studies

cultural studies research that focuses on how people use and interpret cultural content. Also known as reader-response research.

Monopoly

in media economics, an organizational structure that occurs when a single firm dominates production and distribution in a particular industry, either nationally or locally.

Oligopoly

a business situation in which a few firms control most of an industry's production and distribution resources.

Limited Competition

A market has many producers, but only a small number of them dominate, and they offer products that are very similar but not identical.

Hegemony

a condition that is established when most of the public accepts or buys into a way of thinking about how the world works that favors the dominant class.

Horizontal Integration

a corporate strategy that involves owning companies involved in a wide array of media businesses.

Vertical Integration

in media economics, the phenomenon of controlling a mass media industry at its three essential levels: production, distribution, and exhibition; the term is frequently used in reference to the film industry during the studio system era.

Synergy

in media economics, opportunities to generate profits that come from interaction and cooperation among a conglomerate's different subsidiaries.

Cultural Imperialism

the phenomenon of American music, movies, and TV shows dominating international markets and shaping the cultures of other nations.

Fourth Estate

the notion that the press operates as an unofficial branch of government, monitoring the legislative, judicial, and executive branches for abuses of power.

Prior Restraint

the legal definition of censorship in the United States; it prohibits courts and governments from blocking any publication or speech before it actually occurs.

Defamation

False statements presented as fact that damage someone's reputation

Slander

in law, spoken language that defames a person's character.

Libel

in law, the defamation of character in written or broadcast form.

Right to Privacy

addresses a person's right to be left alone, without the person's name, image, or daily activities becoming public property.

Gag Orders

legal restrictions prohibiting the press from releasing preliminary information that might prejudice jury selection or cause an unfair trial.

Shield Laws

laws protecting the confidentiality of key interview subjects and reporters' rights not to reveal the sources of controversial information used in news stories.

FCC

an independent U.S. government agency charged with regulating interstate and international communications by radio, telephone, television, wire, satellite, cable, and the Internet.

Net Neutrality

the principle that all data being sent across the Internet should be treated the same—that is, it should have the same access to the network and travel across it at the same speed.

Section 230

part of the 1996 Communications Decency Act; it protects any company operating an "interactive computer service" from liability for anything published on their service by a third party.

Licensing

The process where a media company gives permission to another company to use, distribute, or sell its content for a fee or under certain conditions.

Back Catalog

All the older movies, TV shows, or music owned by a media company that are no longer new releases but can still generate revenue.

Exclusivity

When content is made available only on one platform or network, not shared with competitors.