COMM101 Media Industries – Comprehensive Vocabulary

Vocabulary flashcards summarizing key media history, technology, and industry terms from the lecture video covering books, newspapers, and film.

Acta Diurna

Ancient Roman ‘daily acts’; considered the earliest recorded newspaper.

Alien and Sedition Acts

1798 U.S. laws that made it illegal to criticize the government, limiting press freedom.

Aliteracy

Ability to read but lack of the desire to do so.

Audiobook

Spoken-word recording of a book, streamed or downloaded for listening.

Bay Psalm Book

The first book printed in the American colonies (1640s).

Bibliotherapy

Use of reading, especially fiction, for therapeutic benefit.

Big Five (Book Publishing)

Penguin Random House, Hachette, HarperCollins, Macmillan, and Simon & Schuster—the largest U.S. trade publishers.

Black Maria

Thomas Edison’s rotating, black-tar–covered film studio (1893).

Blockbuster Mentality

Studio focus on high-budget, high-profit films with formulaic content and low risk.

Book Club Edition

Special printing sold through membership clubs rather than retail stores.

BookTok

TikTok community devoted to recommending and promoting books.

Broadsides (Broadsheets)

Single-sheet colonial announcements that evolved into early newspapers.

Calotype

William Henry Fox Talbot’s 1830s paper-negative photographic process enabling multiple prints.

Censorship

Official restriction on the publication, distribution, or access to a book or other media.

Ciné​matographe

Lumière brothers’ 1895 camera-projector that allowed group film viewing.

Common Sense

Thomas Paine’s 1776 pamphlet urging American independence; early mass-market bestseller.

Concept Film

Movie easily described in a single sentence, often effects-driven and globally marketable.

Convergence (Publishing)

Blending of print, digital, and mobile technologies in book production and distribution.

Copyright

Legal protection granting creators exclusive rights to reproduce their work.

Corporate Independent Studio

Subsidiary of a major studio that produces films with an indie look, e.g., Searchlight Pictures.

Corantos

Early 17th-century Dutch one-page news sheets imported into England.

Cottage Industry

Term for the small, craft-oriented structure of early book publishing houses.

Daguerreotype

Louis Daguerre’s 1839 metal-plate photographic process, a precursor to film.

Digital Rights Management (DRM)

Technologies controlling use and copying of ebooks and other digital media.

Dime Novel

10-cent 19th-century paperback featuring adventure or frontier stories; democratized reading.

Disinformation

Deliberately false information spread to deceive the public.

Disintermediation

Eliminating gatekeepers so authors sell directly to readers, often via e-publishing.

E-publishing

Production of books initially or exclusively in digital form.

E-reader

Portable digital device designed specifically for reading ebooks.

Ebook

Digital version of a book downloadable to computers, tablets, or e-readers.

Feature Syndicate

Agency that sells columns, cartoons, and other features to multiple newspapers.

First Amendment

U.S. constitutional protection of freedom of speech and the press.

Firewall (Journalism)

Traditional separation between a newsroom’s editorial content and advertising sales.

Franchise Film

Movie planned as part of a series with recurring characters and worlds.

Freedom’s Journal

First African American newspaper, launched in 1827.

Graphic Novel

Lengthy, book-format narrative told through sequential art, often tackling mature themes.

Hard News

Timely, factual reporting on events such as politics, crime, and disasters.

High-Concept (IP-Based) Movie

Film derived from existing intellectual property with broad, instant audience recognition.

Hypercommercialism

Excessive dependence on profit-driven practices such as product placement and front-page ads.

Imprint

Brand name under which a publishing house issues works; large publishers own many imprints.

Infotainment

Blend of information and entertainment in news media.

Kinetograph

Edison/Dickson motion-picture camera (1891) capturing 40 fps on celluloid film.

Kinetoscope

Edison’s peep-show viewer for individual film viewing; precursor to projection.

Lending Library

Facility lending books free or cheaply; cornerstone of social infrastructure.

Linotype

1880s machine that set type mechanically, revolutionizing printing speed.

Little Free Library

Grass-roots book-sharing boxes promoting community reading worldwide.

Montage

Editing technique joining separate shots to create new meaning or heightened emotion.

Motion Picture Patents Company (Trust)

Edison-led 1908 cartel controlling film production and exhibition patents.

Motion Picture Production Code (Hays Code)

1930–1968 industry moral guidelines restricting movie content.

Movie Platform Rollout

Strategy of opening a film on a few screens, then expanding based on buzz.

Muckraking

Progressive-era investigative journalism exposing corruption and injustice.

Nickelodeon

Early 1900s storefront theater charging five cents for short films.

Offset Lithography

Printing from photographic plates, reducing cost and time for books and newspapers.

Penny Press

1830s one-cent newspapers targeting mass audience through ads and sensational news.

Persistence of Vision

Optical principle causing sequential images to appear as continuous motion.

Platform-Agnostic Publishing

Making books available in all formats—print, ebook, audio—simultaneously.

Pocket Books

First mass-market U.S. paperbacks (1939), popularizing low-cost books.

Print on Demand (POD)

Digital storage and one-off printing of books only when ordered.

Product Placement

Paid inclusion of branded goods within film or book content.

Product Tie-In

Merchandise (toys, games, meals) created to promote and profit from a movie or book.

Pulp Novel

Cheap fiction printed on low-quality wood-pulp paper; synonym for dime novel.

Red Scare / McCarthyism

1950s U.S. anti-communist movement that blacklisted Hollywood talent.

Remainders

Unsold books returned to publishers and discounted heavily.

Search Inside the Book

Amazon feature allowing full-text searches of scanned in-print titles.

Serial Rights (Subsidiary Rights)

Sale of a book’s content to other media such as film or merchandising.

Sho-Ban News

Example of contemporary Native American tribal newspaper.

Social Infrastructure (Libraries)

Physical spaces like libraries that foster community interaction and democracy.

Soft News

Human-interest or entertainment-oriented journalism, less time-sensitive.

Stamp Act (1765)

British tax requiring use of stamped paper; united colonial printers against censorship.

Subsidiary Rights

Licensing a book for film, audio, foreign editions, or merchandise.

Talkies

Early sound films beginning late 1920s; ended silent era.

Tentpole Film

High-budget blockbuster expected to support a studio’s annual slate.

Testing / Test Screening

Previewing a film with sample audiences to guide editing and marketing.

Trust (Film)

See Motion Picture Patents Company.

Vertical Integration (Studios)

Studio control of production, distribution, and exhibition; outlawed by 1948 Paramount Decision.

Wire Service

News agency (e.g., AP, Reuters) supplying stories to media outlets; originated with telegraph lines.

Yellow Journalism

Late-1800s sensational newspaper style featuring scandal, crime, and large headlines.

Zoopraxiscope

Eadweard Muybridge’s 1879 projector displaying sequential photographs to simulate motion.