Communications midterm

structure vs agency

all media is constructed (poorly or carefully), doesnt make it bad

radio

ability to transmit date w/o wires, displaced telegraph, utilized for point-to-point instant comms

sound recordings

ability to record sounds circa the 19th centuy. used to record and playback music

film

louis lumiere credited as inventor, short silent films for 1st 20 years, expressed fear & fascination on the screen

media literacy

ability to access, analyze & produce variety of media

produce

very contextual

C.M.L

Critical media literacy, focused on interrogation of power, looking for BTS of media (rooted in change making, big or small)

critical

to ask questions from media we like or dislike (being thoughtful)

protectionism

all media is bad for young people & should be turned off

celebrationism

all media is fine, we already know so much about it.

protectionism vs celebrationism

both povs focus on content, neglects that media is accessed differently throughout the world, every pieve of media can’t be described with just one word.

humans

inherently social people/storytelling species (learn about ourselves through others)

socialization

our sense of self, develops through relations w/ others/media

media

plural of medium; channels of info, primary socializers/story tellers, tells us what to do or who to be, all media is constructed

media coorparate

more content owned by fewer coorps, everything we watch/listen is cooparate operated

social interaction

process where we learn social norms & beliefs of our culture, develop our sense of self by doing so

structure

constraint on human activity, recurring pattern of social behaviour

agency

independent action, intentional & undetermined human action

structure & agency

work in tension w/ each other, depending on how you view the world you’ll believe one has more power than the other

culture

most complicated word in english language, most used to indicate artifacts (things) & discourses (thoughts, behaviors, conversation)

new/old tech

exist alongside eachother sometimes in harmony, most times in tension, old tech works to adapt to new introduced tech

tech determinism

tech is the cause of social change

social constructionism

people determine how to use tech

marshall mcluhan

canadian scholar, understands the influence of media (argues media disrupts tradition, reshapes social life)

print culture

nothing good or valuable about it, has lofty rep.

illiteracy

deemed a deficiency in all societies

print

place where all secrets are kept, valued over time globally, evolved by massive changes in tech

books

ability to mass produce contributed to massive changes in society (speed)

newspapers

vital to american culture, freedom of the press newspapers began to take on a central role in national affairs

magazines

only read by upper class till 1800s, used to be very expensive due to the printing tech, and post offices carried to short distances for high cost

telegraph

nearly instant comms. over great distances (connected wires) began a concept of national news, no longer bound to our geography

telephone

not a mass medium, thought of as a way to make telegraph more convenient for everyday users, grew into semi private point-to-point comms, now in every house (mass media)

print media

#1 goal is profit

tv

followed radios model and adapted relatively quickly, made its way into 65% of american households in 10 years, episodic style came from radio, nation’s storyteller

cable

started as a way to bring tv to rural areas (where attenne ineffective), started the paying for access to content idea.

computers

used for humans doing math calculations, switched noun to machine. grew from mschines that performed math calculations,

internet

started by dept. of defense, vast network interconnected computer networks, developed so computers could communicate regardless of disabilities

internet boom

ppl & buisnesses getting involved w/ connection boost

internet bust

ppl still not sure how to use internet for economic gain, companies made websites but no one was shopping online at the time

algorithm

process that determines what we see, more we interact, the more refined it grows, embedded with biases of its creators

action economy

following through all our digital media use

products

content we watch read and listen to

platforms

sites & services that host what we watch read and listen to

pipes

what brings our content to us

concetration

a small # of large coorps oqn a significant percentage of media products,platforms, and pipes

conglomeration

a # of diff companies all owned by the same coorp. parent

sinclair broadcasting

gives all local news the same exact script

advertising

tells stories as brief as 15 seconds, in print or on bodies, only gives products side of the story

streaming/dvds

pay not to see adverts, still see them via product placement or IP

ratings

producers self-censor so they dont get externally censored, used by tv music videogames