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partisan press
a press typically aligned with a particular political party and presenting information to help its cause, with no sense of objectivity or balance in news coverage
media bias
a real or perceived viewpoint held by journalists and news organizations that slants news coverage unfairly, contrary to professional journalism's stated goes of balance coverage and objectivity
news leak
secret information deliberately given to journalists with the hope they will publish the item
trial balloon
leaking information to the press about a proposed plan or idea to see how the public will respond
public opinion
the notion that the public, as a group, can form shared views or ideas about topics and that these ideas guide the public's action
sound bites
the length of time a news subject is allowed to speak without editing. It also has come to refer to short, catchy or outlandish utterances designed to capture media attention
opinion polls
usually conducted by a profession polling organization, a list of questions asking members of the public their opinions on issue or political candidates
push poll
a type of advertising that appears to be a telephone poll but is actually a telemarketing campaign to sway voters by making favored candidate look good or by misrepresenting the opposition
going viral
the phenomenon in which a media items spread rapidly from the person to person via the internet
meme
a media item of cultural interest that spreads through repetition and replication via the internet
smart mobs
a term coined by Howard Rhinegold to define a group of people communication with each other via text messaging or wireless networks to coordinate their activities
Fourth Estate
the fourth branch of government
straw donor
give money to donate by someone else who has already hit their limit
PAC
political action committee; unlimited amounts of money to donate
stonewalling
a candidate refusing to speak to members about a subject or speaking to certain publications/journalists
news blackouts
not publishing information that might harm active troop actions
Communication Act of 1934 - Section 312
radio and TV stations must allow candidates to purchase "reasonable amounts of time" for ads
Communication Act of 1934 - Section 315
equal access; equal prices for all parties; cannot censor ads; only applies to ad buys
Tornillo opinion
print publications do not have to provide "equal time" in news coverage, but they do in advertising
527 Financing
independent PACs can raise unlimited funds
The Federal Trade Commission does not regulate the content of
political ads. They are not fact-checked by the government, but should be by the press, and cannot be prosecuted by the FTC for making "false claims"
propaganda
the regular dissemination of a belief, doctrine, cause or information with the intent to mold public opinion
hypodermic-needle model
a model of media effects, also called the "magic bullet", that claims media messages have a profound, direct, and uniform impact on the public
Bobo doll studies
media-effects experiments in the 1950s that showed children who watched TV episodes that rewarded a violent person were more likely to punch a bobo doll than children who saw episodes that punished a violent person
cultivation analysis
a theory of media effects that claims television cultivates in audiences a view of reality similar to the world portrayed in television program
mean-world syndrome
a syndrome in which people perceive the world as more dangerous than it actually is, the result of viewing countless acts of media violence
spiral of silence
a theoretical construct that explains why people may be unwilling to publicly express opinions they feel are in the minority
third-person effect
the tendency for people to underestimate the effect of a pervasive message on themselves while overestimating its effects on others
uses-and-gratifications research
a branch of research on media effects that examines why people use media, what they do with media rather than what media does to them
encoding/decoding
a theoretical model that states media producers encode media products with meaning, decoded in various way by various audiences
framing
the presentation and communication of a message in a particular way that influences our perception of it
cultural studies
an interdisciplinary framework for studying communication that rejects scientific approaches while investigating the role of culture in creating and maintaining social relations and systems of power
critical theory
a theoretical approach broadly influenced by Marxist notions of the role of ideology, exploitation, capitalism and the economy in understanding and eventually transforming society
cultural industry
a term coined by Frankfurt School to describe how media companies produce or "make" culture in the same way that other companies produce products
ideology
a comprehensive and normative body of ideas and standards held by an individual or group
information society
a society where information production has supplanted industrial production, dramatically transforming cultural, economic and political activity
digital divide
the gap between regions and demographics that have access to modern, digital communications technology and those that have limited or no access
political economy
an area of study inspired by Marxism that examines the relationship between politics and economics with media ownership and the influences that all have on society and perpetuating the status quo
media ecology
the study of media environments and their effects on people and society
technological determinsim
the belief that technology causes certain human behavior
agenda-setting
medias role in deciding which topics to cover and consequently which topics the public deems important and worthy of discussion
longitudinal study
a study that gathers data on subjects over a long period of time
cross-sectional study
a study that gathers data on subjects at a specific point in time
epistemology
a study or theory of the limitations and validity of knowledge; more simply, a way of, or framework for understanding the world
positivism
a view, common among scientists in the physical or natural sciences and many social sciences, that affirms an objective reality to be discovered and explained through rigorous scientific research
post positivism
a view that agrees largely with positivism but also recognizes knowledge that may not be revealed through scientific inquiry
social constructionism
a view that claims much or all of what we know and understand about the world, including scientific knowledge, is constructed through social interaction and language
postmodernism
a broad category of viewpoints that rejects grand narratives attempting to explain the world and absolute truths because truth is relative and unknowable
pragmatism
a school of thought affirming truths found in actions that work and rejecting the possibility of overarching or purely objective notions of truth
quantitative data
numerical data
qualitative data
observation
sampling error
error is statistical analysis that results from selecting a sample that does not represent the entire population
random sampling
a sample in which every person has an equally probable chance of being selected, intended to represent the entire population of study
ethnography
a variety of qualitative research techniques that involve immersion of a researcher in a particular culture to allow interaction with observation
participant-observation
a qualitative research technique in which researchers participate as members of the group they are observing
focus group
a small group of people by researchers to discuss a topic. Their interactions are closely observed, recorded, and analyzed to determine people's opinions
what are powerful effects models?
media has immediate, direct influence on audiences
what's the problem with powerful effects models?
vulnerable audiences like women, children, minorities; don't give people enough credit, direct effects have never been proven to occur
who uses powerful effects models
people with low media literacy and people who want to exploit the fears of those with low levels of media literacy
Walter Lippmann
pulitzer prize winning journalist; one of the founders of US media studies; book "Public Opinion"
Harold Lasswell
hypodermic needle model
Paul Lazarsfeld
Two-Step Flow model
Maxwell McCombs and Donald Shaw
agenda-setting
George Gerbner
mean world syndrome (uses cultivation analysis)
Elisabeth Noelle-Neumann
spiral of silence
Jay Blumler and Elihu Katz
uses-and-gratification theory
Stuart Hall
encoding and decoding
bell hooks
feminist media scholar who examined the media through the lens of race, class and gender
Frankfurt School: Theodor Adorno, Max Horkheimer, Walter Benjamin
believed in strong media effects
Marshall McLuhan
the medium is the message
narcotizing dysfunction
the feeling of being overwhelmed by information about world problems, so we feel we can do nothing
catalytic theory
media violence can be among other factors that cause violence
what are the possible positive effects of violence in the media?
cathartic effects: reduces aggression
what are the possible negative effects of media violence?
aggressive stimulation theory
first amendment
guarantees that Congress shall make no laws restricting freedom of speech, press or religion
chilling effect
the phenomenon that occurs when journalists or other media producers decide not to publish stories on a topic after a journalist has been punished or jailed for such a story
Alien and Sedition Acts
prohibited criticism of government
sedition
speech or action that encourages the overthrow of a government or that subverts a nation's constitution or laws
clear and present danger
a restriction of speech when it meets the following: (1) intended to incite dangerous activity, and (2) is likely to succeed in achieving that results
prior restraint
when the government prevents or blocks the publication, broadcasting, showing or distribution of media content
preferred-position balancing theory
a legal theory that says that a balance must be struck between speech and other rights, although speech has a preferred opinion
slander
a type of defamation that is spoken and that damages a persons reputation
libel
written defamation
shield laws
a law intended to protect journalists from legal challenges to their freedom to report the news
censorship
that act of prohibiting certain expressions or content
Hays Code
a code established in 1930 by the movie industry to censor itself regarding showing nudity or glorifying antisocial acts
indecent speech
language or material that depicts or describes, in terms patently offensive as measured by contemporary community standards for the broadcast medium, sexual or excretory organs or activities
Telecommunications Act of 1996
the first regulatory overhaul of telecommunications since 1934, designed to open the industry to greater competition by deregulating many aspects of it
obscenity
(1) must appeal to prurient interests as defined by community standards, (2) must show sexual conduct in an offensive manner, (3) must on the whole lack serious artistic, literary, political and scientific value
Radio Act of 1912
the act assigned frequencies and three and four-letter codes to radio stations and limited broadcasting to the 360-meter wavelength
Radio Act of 1927
created the FRC, intended to regulate the largely chaotic airwaves and ensuring that companies are using airwaves responsibly
network neutrality
the principle that broadband networks should be free of restrictions on content platforms, or equipment and that certain types of content should not get preferential treatment on the network
FCC
established in 1934, the principal communications regulatory body at the federal level in the US
Federal Trade Commission
the principle commerce regulatory body established in 1914, at the federal level in the US
equal-time rule
the requirement that broadcasters make available equal airtime to opposing candidates for election
Fairness Doctrine
adopted by the FCC in 1949, it required broadcasters to seek out and present all side of a controversial issue they were covering (ended in 1987)
Children's Television Act
created in 1990, it limits the amount of commercial content that programming can carry, forces stations to carry certain amounts of educational programming from children sixteen and under, and includes provisions to protect children
v-chip
a computer device that enables parents or any other viewer to program a TV set to block access to programs containing violent or sexual content based on programming ratings
intellectual property
ideas that have commericial value
copyright
a form of intellectual property law that protects the right to use, publish, reproduce, preform, display or distribute a literary or artistic work
