COMM 1300 (Chapter 5-10)

regulation of mass media

laws and guidelines that influence that way media companies produce, distribute, or exhibit materials for audiences

1st Amendment

Congress shall make no laws abridging the freedom of speech or press

however, government restrictions/limits are legal if they

* are applicable to everyone
* are without political bias
* serve a significant government interest
* leave ample alternative ways for communication to take place

prior restraint

government restriction of speech before it is made (regulating content before it is distributed)

areas that warrant prior restraint:

* obscenity (offensive to accepted standards of decency or modesty)
* during military operations (for national security)
* copyright (the legal protection of a creator’s right to a work

embeds

reporters who receive special permission from the military to travel with a military unit across the battlefield (help control and shape wartime reporting)

Copyright Act of 1976

a law that recognizes that rights of an individual creator (in any medium) from the time he or she has created a work and that protects a creative work for the lifetime of that author plus another 70 years

fair use

* exception that allow use of small portions of copyrighted work without permission
* use must be transformative (when use of copyrighted material presents the work in a way that adds interpretation to it so that some people might see it in a new light)

parody

a work that imitates another work for laughs in a way that comments on the original work (could be fair use or copyright violation)

defamation

a highly disreputable or false statement about a living person or an organization that causes injury to the reputation enjoyed by the person or organization among a substantial group of people

slander (spoken defamation)

spoken communication that is considered harmful to a person’s reputation

libel (written defamation)

written communication that is considered harmful to a person’s reputation

libel per quod

words, expressions, and statements that, at face value, seem to be innocent and not injurious but that may be considered libelous in their actual context

public figure vs. private figure

it is much more difficult for public figures to win theoretical libel claims

actual malice

reckless disregard for truth or knowledge of falsity

simple malice

hatred or ill will toward another person

simple negligence

lack of reasonable care

privacy

the right to be protected from unwanted intrusions or disclosures

false light

invading a person’s privacy by implying something untrue about him or her

appropriation

an invasion of privacy that takes place via the unauthorized use of a person’s name or likeness in an advertisement, poster, public relations promotion, or other commercial context

intrusion

an invasion of privacy that takes place when a person or organization intentionally invades a person’s solitude, private space, or affairs

public disclosure

an invasion of privacy that occurs when truthful information concerning the private life of a person (which would be highly offensive to a reasonable person and is not of legitimate public concern) is revealed by a media source

predictive analytics

a term that encompasses a gamut of statistical techniques that look for patterns in facts about individuals and, based on those patterns, calculate how the individuals will act

economic regulation

rules set by the government about how firms are allowed to compete with one another

antitrust laws

prevents one firm from controlling the market (monopoly) or a select few firms from controlling the market (oligopoly)

Federal Trade Commission (FTC)

a federal agency whose mission is to ensure that the nation’s markets function competitively; its coverage can include any mass media—print or electronic—as long as the issue involved is related to the smooth functioning of the marketplace and consumer protection in that sphere

Federal Communications Commission (FCC)

a federal agency specifically mandated by Congress to govern interstate and international communication by television, radio, wire, satellite, and cable

self-regulation regimes

codes and agreements among companies in an industry to ensure that employees carry out their work in what industry officials agree is an ethical manner

external pressure on the media to self regulation:

* members of the public
* advocacy organizations or pressure groups
* advertisers

internal pressure on the media to self regulation:

* editorial standards (written statements of policy and conduct)
* ombudsperson (an individual who is hired by a media organization to deal with readers, viewers, or listeners who have a complaint to report or an issue to discuss)
* codes of ethics
* journalism reviews (publication that report on and analyze examples of ethical and unethical journalism)
* content rating and advisories

ethics

a system of principals about what is right that guides a person’s actions

principle

guidelines we derive from values and ideals that are precursors to codified rules

General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)

* European notion that privacy is a human right
* regulates businesses


* requires “opt-in” instead of “opt-out”
* requires rectification of data if a person ask
* allows for data erasure
* have right to request a copy of the data collected
* require appointment of data protection officer

dark pattern

hidden creative techniques to get a person to click on a button

internet

a global system of interconnected private, public, academic, business, and government computer networks that use a standard set of commands to link billions of users worldwide

* breaks messages into packets
* transmission lines can carry more that one data conversation at a time

world wide web (www)

allow users to go to the materials by typing in a specific world wide address or by clicking on a link in a document that contains the address

hyperlinks

highlighted words or pictures on the internet that, when clicked, will connect the user to a particular file, even to a specific relevant part of a document

Hypertext Markup Language (HTML)

a computer language system that allowed people to access a system of interlinked documents through the internet. HTML is used to define the structure, content, and layout of a page by using what are called tags

user-generated content (UGC)

creative products, such as videos and music, generated by people on websites and apps

net neutrality

proposition that ISPs should treat all traffic on the internet equally

social media site (SNS)

an online location where people can interact with others around information, entertainment, and news of their own choosing and, often, of their own making (ex. Facebook, Instagram, etc.)

search engine

websites that allow users to find sites relevant to topics of interest to them (ex. Google, Bing, Safari)

web crawlers (web spiders)

programs used by search engines that search the internet to retrieve and catalog the content of websites

search algorithms

a complex set of mathematically based rules that search engines use to come up with sites that relate to your search terms

natural or organic search results

websites that come up based on a search engine’s algorithm without any influence from advertisers

social search

a search that is carried out to find what people in a person’s social circle say about an item (ex. searching up a movie on Facebook to read comments)

product search

allows a person to find information on a specific product

funding online content:

* advertising revenue (ads on a webpage)
* sites involved in image making (encourage people to purchase the good or service offline)
* sites selling products or services (e-commerce)
* content sites selling subscriptions

metrics used to track advertising

* CPM (cost per thousand, cost per mille): the amount advertisers need to pay for 1000 impressions or views
* PPC (pay per click): the amount of money advertisers need to pay for one click
* PPA (pay per action): the amount of money advertisers need to pay for one action

pitch websites make to advertisers

certain advantages and access to best potential customers with personalized messages

keyword advertising

when software uses the words in the search box to send the person ads for products that advertisers consider related to the topic

contextual advertising

when software determines what a person is reading and sends the person ads for products that advertisers consider related to the topic

profiling

creating a description of someone based on collected data

behavioral targeting

the process of following people’s behavior and then sending them material tailored to what was learned about them

cookies

information that a website puts on your computer’s hard drive so that it can remember something about you at a later time; more technically, it is information for future use that is stored by the server on the client side of a client/server communication

data mining

the process of gathering and storing information about many individuals—often millions—to be used in audience profiling and interactive marketing

big data

information about audiences that can be described by high levels of the 3Vs

* volume: large number of data points collected about individuals and populations
* variety: different forms of data that are collected
* velocity: speed at which the information comes to the firm collecting it

applications (apps)

software that uses the Internet, but not the web system, to bring material to audiences

feature phone

a mobile telephone that carries extras unrelated to calling (“features” such as texting, calendars, cameras, and media players) but does not have the sophisticated web-browsing, app-importing operating system of a smartphone

smartphone

a mobile telephone that uses a special computer operating system to offer connections to the internet through a web browser, as well as through special applications (apps) that are compatible with that operating system

ad network

a collection of many websites that a company knits together to sell ads on them

ad exchanges

electronic auctions in which various publishers and ad networks offer advertisers the ability to reach specific types of people, often at exactly the moment those people are entering certain sites

media ethic concerns on the internet

* privacy (is our personally identifiable information protected?)
* extremist rhetorics (algorithms allow people to be surrounded by extremist views and misinformation)
* polarization

data provider

companies that sell extra information about you (ex. Axicom)

first-party cookie

a cookie a website uses to collect data about people who visit that site

third-party cookie

a cookie a company other than the website places into a browser that visits the website

3 themes of the book industry

1. The modern book did not arrive in a flash as a result of one inventor’s grand change (invention of the printing press built off existing inventions)
2. The book as a medium of communication developed as a result of social and legal responses to technology during different historical periods (what was printed was influenced by the time period)
3. The book as a medium of communication existed long before the existence of the book industry (was made and sold by individual printers with apprentices)

books are divided into:

* educational and professional books
* trade books (consumer books)

educational and professional books

* focus on training
* use pedagogy (training/learning approaches)
* types: k-12 books and materials, higher-education books and materials, and professional books

trade books (consumer books)

* books that are aimed at the general public - adults, YA, children
* target readers in their private lives

trade hardback books

general interest titles, including both fiction and nonfiction books, that are typically sold to consumers through retail bookstores and to libraries

trade paperback

standard-sized books that have flexible covers

mass market paperbacks

smaller, pocket-sized paperback books

religious books

trade books that contain specifically religious content

university press books

titles publishes by universities, colleges, museums, or research institutions for those involved in primary research in academic, corporate, or government setting

imprints

a name of brand the publisher places on the book to signify a publishing firm or one of its divisions

production in trade publishing

* The acquisitions editor recruits and signs new authors and titles.
* Authors may be paid a flat fee or may earn royalties from the sale of the book.
* Literary agents market manuscripts to editors, publishers, or other potential buyers based on knowledge of the target market and the specific content of the manuscript.
* In the hardcover trade end of the industry, a bestseller achieves sales of 75,000 hardcover or 100,000 paperback copies; a blockbuster achieves sales of well over 100,000 copies.

production at a university press

* success = selling several thousand copies and gaining respect from other professors, who tell their students and university libraries to buy it
* editors target well-known professors and young professors
* publicize books at academic conferences, email, mail, brochures

reducing risk of failure

* conducting prepublication research
* using track records
* offering advance on royalties

distribution in the book industry

* big publishes can distribute books directly to bookstores or online
* others rely on wholesalers

exhibition in the book industry

* consumer books: brick-and-mortar stores, online markets
* textbooks: school board, instructors/professors

presold title

a book a publisher expect will sell well to specific audiences because it ties into material that is already popular across other media

ethical issues in book production

* plagiarism
* stealing ideas
* agents charging fees but not following through

newspaper

traditionally are printed products created on a regular (weekly or daily) basis and released in multiple copies

adversarial press

a press that has the ability to argue with the government

daily newspaper

* newspaper published everyday (with exception to Sunday)
* mix of local, national, and international news with lifestyle and entertainment features
* print circulation has dropped due to increase in online subscriptions
* don’t tend to have competition from other papers (occasionally there is chain ownership)
* relied on advertising

weekly newspaper

* newspaper published once or twice a week
* emphasize arts and culture
* print circulation may be up, but revenue is going down (most are given for free)
* aim to reach people in a geographical area (places that cannot support a daily newspaper)
* some target specific groups

ethnic weeklies

newspapers that target ethnic and/or racial groups

shoppers

deliver coupons and advertisements for local merchant

alternative weekly

a paper written for a young, urban audience with an eye on political and cultural commentary

pass-along rates

the amount of sharing between people of a newspaper copy

advertising in newspaper

* can show up next to actual stories or as freestanding inserts (preprinted sheets that advertise particular products, services, or retailers)
* advertisers evaluate purchasing ad space by looking at CPM

retail ads

persuade people to shop

classified ads

short announcement for a product or service grouped with announcements for other products or services of the same kind

national ads

placed by large national and multinational firms

circulation in newspaper industry

* generate less revenue than advertising but circulation number is important for getting ads
* concerns include whether young people will stop reading the printed edition and whether audience will pay enough for digital edition

advertising-editorial ratio

set by publisher, ratio determines the balance between the amount of space available for advertisement and the amount of space available for editorial matter in one issue of a newspaper

news hole

the number of pages left over and available for editorial matter (based on the number of pages needed for advertisements)

general assignment reporters

newspaper reporters who cover a variety of topics within their department

beat

a specific, long-term assignment that covers a single topic area