COMM 281 Final

Animism

the idea that non-human objects possess souls or spiritual essence

Parasocial communication

an audience member’s sense of intimacy with a persona they encounter only through the media

Surplus aggression

an abundance of aggression that builds up in the individual psyche in an affluent society that demands much of us and gives us little outlet for expressing our own needs

The two major research methods used in this research:

1)     Content analysis: a systematic study of media messages

2)     Survey: a questionnaire-based measure

Mainstreaming

an effect of watching a lot of television, where the individual believes they are in agreement with the political mainstream though their views are very authoritarian

Lowest-Common-Denominator television

television designed to reach as many people as possible

Four major components of the cultivation differential (what makes heavy viewers different from light viewers)

1)     they rate their likelihood of involvement with violence as relatively high

2)     they are more likely to fear walking alone at night

3)     they are more likely to overestimate the proportion of society that is involved in law enforcement

4)     they are less likely to trust people

3 major features of the political economy perspective

1)     a focus on structural features of the media

2)     a tendency to perform systemic analyses’

3)     a focus on history

Commodification

the process of turning anything into something that can be bought and sold

Economy of scale

the cost advantage experienced by a firm when it increases its level of output

Cultural homogenization

the process by which, through the workings of the media, all cultural differences globally are watered down

Four levels of selectivity

1)     Selective exposure: we choose the media content that is most in agreement with our ideas

2)     Selective attention: we pay the most attention to the media content that is most in agreement with our ideas

3)     Selective interpretation: we interpret ambiguous information in a manner that is consistent with our ideas

4)     Selective retention: we remember media content that is most in agreement with our ideas

Gatekeeper

the person in a media organization who determine what will and won’t be included in media content

Two metaphors for framing

1)     Picture frame: a news story involves a frame determining what is inside and outside the story

2)     Building frame: a news story involves a frame that gives the story its basic underlying structure

Partisan Press

the press that existed during early US history, when political parties owned and operated the newspapers

Professionalized journalism

journalism designed to be objective and to tell us what elites have to say

Public Journalism

journalism designed to construct a public around understanding of shared problems

Lasswell’s three social functions of the media (and Wright’s fourth)

1) surveying the environment:  telling us what is going on

2)  correlation of environmental parts:  giving us interpretive frames for the world

3)  transmission of social norms and customs

4)  entertainment

4 major assumptions of Uses & Gratifications theory

1)     The audience is goal-directed

2)     Media usage is derived from choices the audience member makes

3)     Response to media depends on individual social and psychological factors

4)     Media outlets compete with each other, so our preferences do matter

Ethnography

the study of a shared culture

Interpretive community

a group of audience members who share interpretive strategies

2 parts of the mass media process

1)     Encoding: the process of assembling a message for mass consumption

2)     Decoding: the process of interpreting a media message

Three processes of decoding:

1)      Dominant: interpreting the message in a manner that is consistent the interests of the powers that be

2)      Negotiated: taking for granted the major assumptions of the dominant interpretation, but reserving a space for local differences

3)      Oppositional: ignoring the preferred reading and accepting none of the assumptions that go along with it

Symbolic Creativity

the tremendous amount of creative work that goes into everyday cultural experience

Adaptability

the capacity for individuals and communities to use popular culture to help them to adapt to their living situations

Transculturation

the extension of cultural forms across national borders

Two views of communication:

1)     transmission view: an understanding of communication that is focused on sending, transmitting, and giving information to others

2)     ritual view: an understanding of communication that is focused on sharing, participation, belonging, and preservation of togetherness

3 problems with the idea of globalization

1)     The problem of meaning: globalization has a lot of meanings, and it’s hard to corral them.

2)     The problem of evidence: it’s difficult to establish when globalization is actually occurring.

3)     The problem of evaluation: it’s hard to tell what the costs and benefits of globalization are.