Chapter 1: Understanding Media and Culture in the 2020s

mass communication

communication transmitted to large segments of the population

media (medium)

an instrument or means of transmission (e.g., television, the internet)

mass media

those means of transmission that are designed to reach a wide audience (e.g., radio, film, newspapers, magazines, books, video games, internet blogs, podcasts, video sharing)

culture

the historically transmitted and expressed knowledge and shared values, attitudes, beliefs, and practices of a social group, organization, or institution

Johannes Gutenberg

the intentor of the printing press in the 15th century

Friedrich Koenig

enabled the industrializaiton of printed media by hooling the steam enging up to a printing press, helping lead to the rise of the daily newspaper

Samuel Morse

the inventor of the electrical telegraph in the U.S. in 1837

Joseph Niepce, Louis Daguerre, and William Henry Fox Talbot

contributed to the innovation of photography

George Eastman

the inventor of the Kodak camera in 1888

Guglielmo Marconi

the inventor of the first practical wireless radio

Telecommunications act of 1996

attempted to foster competition by deregulating the broadcast television industry

Federal Communications Commission (FCC)

loosened broadcast television regulations even further by allowing a single company to own 45% of a single martet (compared to 25% in 1982)

Advanced Research Projects Agency Newtork (ARPAnet)

a network used by the U.S. military in its attempt to decentralize information and share it among multple computers over a network

Tim Berners-Lee

the creator of the World Wide Web

public forum

an inclusive social space for the discussion of important issues

the medium is the message (Marshall McLuhan)

the idea that each medium delivers information in a different way and that content is fundamentally shaped by that medium

cultural period

a time marked by a particular way of understanding the world through culture and technology

modern age

the post-Medieval era, beginning roughly after the 14th century, a wide span of time marked in part by technological innovations, urbanization, scientific discoveries, and globalization

early modern period

began with the creation of technology (the printing press in the late 15th century, which greatly enabled the spread of knowledge) and ended in the late 18th century

late modern period

began with huge political, social, and economic changes, in addition to the Industrial Revolution

modernism

the artistic movement of 19th-20th centuries that arose out of the widespread changes that swept the world during that period

postmodern era

began during the second half of the 20th century, and was marked by skepticism, self-consciousness, celebration of difference, and the reappraisal of modern conventions

grand narratives (Jean-Francois Lyotard)

large-scale theories that attempted to explain the totality of human experience

micro narratives

a multiplicity of small, localized understandings on the world, none of which can claim an ultimate or absolute truth

media convergence

the process by which previously distinct technologies come to share content, tasks, and resources

economic convergence

the horizontal and vertical integration of the entertainment industry, in which a single company has interests across and within many kinds of media; marked by constant buying and selling

organic convergence

when someone is watching television while chatting online and also listening to music

cultural convergence

stories flowing across several kids of media platforms

participatory culture

the way media consumers are able to annotate, comment on, remix, and otherwise talk back to culture in un precedented ways

global convergence

the process of geographically distant cultures influencing one another

cultural imperialism

the downside of global convergence in which less powerful nations lose their cultural traditions are more powerful nations spread their culture through their media and other forms

technological convergence

the merging of technologies

popular culture

the media, products, and attitudes considered to be part of the mainstream of a given culture and the everyday life of common people

tastemakers

people or institutions that shape the way others think, eat, listen, drink, dress, and more

influencer

someone with knowledge, authority, position, or power who can influence—affect—the action of others in areas such as purchasing, voting, eating, playing, traveling, and more

gatekeepers

the people who help determine which stories make it to the public.

filter bubbles

occurs when people get information that conforms to what they believe

crowd sourcing

taking tasks traditionally performed by an individual and delegating them to a (unusually unpaid) crowd

media literacy

the skill of being able to decode and process the messages and symbols transmitted via media; the ability to access, analyze, evaluate, and communicate information

disinformation

information created purposely to misinform

misinformation

information created as an honest mistake