Mass Communication Exam 1: Key Terms & Definitions

social marketing

applies lessons learned from years of advertising activities and theories of persuasive communications to encourage public to transform behaviors positively through public info campaigns

Consolidation

process where mergers and acquisitions cause traditional media companies grow fewer and larger over the past 50 years

Peer-to-peer

file sharing program
-shows how an internet audience can shift balance of power from media organizations to consumers

produsers

active media producers, we use and produce content not just consume it
people are now more critical of media

Risks to the media

narrow the scope of news/info/entertainment you get by actively choosing your media
- cause like-minded individuals that only talk to people with their same beliefes

citizen journalism

audience respond and interact with journalists and provide their own news coverage

FOMO

fear of missing out

behavioral targeting

tracking consumers through mobile devices means we can personalize our media content but, also companies can create detailed profiles of us as consumers without our permission

interpersonal communication

communication between two or more persons
-interactive, not anonymous, immediate respnse

Medium

communication channel
-example: phone, mic, internent

synchronous media

require audience to be assembled at the same time for the broadcast, transmission, or event
--example: live tv or broadcast radio

surveillance

role that journalism plays in providing info about processes, issues, events, and other developments in society
--weakness: the large amount of news of tragic events can skew the audience's perception of what is normal in society

correlation

ways the media interprets events and issues and give meanings to help people understand their roles within the larger society and culture

superstation

local tv station that reaches a national audience by beaming its programming nationwide through satellite to local cable systems and then gets transmitted to local subscribers

semiotics

the study of signs and symbols

signs

images and words

media myth aka moral panic

each new media form inspires its own moral panic

media oligopoly

marketplace where media ownership and diversity are very limited and the actions of any media group affect its competitors a lot, like determining content and price of media for consumers and advertisers

mean world syndrome

people who watch more tv and have lower media literacy levels, tend to believe the world is more violent and scary than it really is

rating

number of audience members a media outlet has and how much they price (broadcasting)

fairness doctrine

US supreme court gave antismoking group equal air time to reply to tobacco commercials

spam

first email marketing message - annoying, didn't ask for it

classified/display advertising

commercial messages by individuals and organziations to sell specific goods or services

rate card

various cost of display ads that may be negotiated by people who advertise multiple times in a competitive market - created by publishing companies

5 trends that characterize mobile advertising

geolocation capability, mobile commerce, real time billing, video ads, consumers willing to accept free ads with free apps

viral marketing

promotes a product, service, or brand through natural online channels - people spread a message because they want to, not because they're being paid

Edward Bernays

PR professional, rehab people's image by telling the truth
- known for the torches of freedom parade where a bunch of female models showed up in public smoking to make cigarettes more acceptable for women

Arthur Page

Came up with the 6 principles of PR
-tell the truth
-prove it with action
-listen to the customer
-manage for tomorrow
-conduct pr as if the whole company depends on it
-remain calm, patient, and good humored

viral advertising

ads go viral and is seen by a larger audience than it normally does

Advertising vs Pubnlic relations

Advertising
- create quick sales
- non-dialogic
- no management role
- messages included in paid for time media
Public Relations
- win favor over time
-dialogic
-plays a management role
- hopes their messages play out throughout media texts, include feelings about an org or person as a whole

Enlightened self-interest

Coined by Paul Garrett during the Depression -- convince corporations to work within the community (scholarships,
donate to charity, etc) and convince consumers that good corps. are in favor of progress and social change

astroturfing

creating fake grassroots organizations to try to sway public opinion

alliance for audited media

make sure that the print media is being honest about size of circulation

Convergence

-the coming together of computing, telecommunications, and media in a digital environment
-never fully occurs because it's an ongoing phenomenon that keeps shaping media

Technological Convergence

Types of media like print, audio, and video converging into a digital media form
--example: news-journalists tell stories using text, audio, and video media
-digital media changes the experience and nature of its traditional counterpart
--with everything in one place, it is convenient and changes how we interact with the media

Economic Convergence

merging of internet or telecommunications companies with traditional media companies
--example: comcast with NBC Universal
-occurs when previously independent media companies further the success of one another because they're under the same umbrella
Repercussions:
--control what content is being shown
--show more of their content and slow down their competitors

Oligopoly

economic structure where analog and digital media are owned by a few large, powerful, and rich owners who now have centralized control of the consumption of media

hyperlinks

clickable pointers to other online content

Digital natives

postmillennial generations that has grown up with digital and social media

Digital Immigrants

older generations that have more trouble adapting to everything in the digital media world even if they use digital media

digitization

process that makes media computer readable
---transforming how media organizations distribute their content since content is now available whenever we want and there is a worldwide audience
--digital technology transforms the production cycle
--digital media challenges understanding of media content as static or unchangeable

Wiki

website that can be edited by anyone, hybrid of encyclopedia and breaking news updated by users

viral marketing

online equivalent of word of mouth advertising where a product can get extremely popular and reach millions without corporate promotion or advertising dollars

User-generated-content (UGC)

original drawing, videos, and songs
-easy/basic capability to produce professional quality content and widely distribute it at a low cost
-media companies are threatened by the internet because they can't control the media distribution like they used to

cookies

computer program, installed on hard drives, that provides identifying information
-how mass communication organizations keep detailed records of their audiences

Mass communication

communication to a large group or groups of people who don't know who sent the message

asynchronous media

don't need the audience to be assembled at the same time
--example: newspapers, magazines, recorded tv

time shift

media can be recorded and watched anytime
-- turns synchronous media into asynchronous media
--example: recording concerts or sports games

Functions of mass communication

surveillance, correlation, cultural transmission, entertainment

Cultural Transmission

transference of dominant culture and subculture from one generation to the next
--criticized for creating a homogenized culture that promotes mindless scrolling instead of appreciating diversity and multiculturalism

Entertainment

part of all functions of media
-raises artistic and cultural taste
-encourages escapism and diminishes high art
-introduces new ideas to audiences in a way that they will listen

TV affects

positive and negative
--influences government regulation and kinds of commercial
--powerful tool to teach people culture and social/idealized norms
--tensions between film and tv industries because they are a threat to each other

binge-watching

watching many episodes of a series over several hours

Media Literacy

process of critically analyzing media content by considering its particular representation, its underlying political or social messages, and its media ownership or regulation that may affect the type of content we receive
--ongoing process not a simple goal

What are the 3 types of media literacy

visual literacy, film literacy, digital/technological literacy

visual literacy

what the visual images mean what they represent

film literacy

understanding how film/tv/internet video work

digital/technological literacy

can you use the technology to access the media text? How to use a type of technology

signifier and signified

signifier: form
signified: what the form represents

framing

we classify, organize, and interpret things into certain frameworks to simplify the complex
- placing a particular point of view around a particular person/idea/event

media grammar

underlying rules, structures, and patterns by which a medium presents itself and is used and understood by the audience

media bias

how info may be skewed toward a particular viewpoint

message form

the same message plays out very differently in one on one communication and mass communication
--media limitations

levels of media literacy

high media literacy vs low media literacy

Dimensions of media literacy

cognitive - can i intellectually process this info?
emotional - how does this make us feel?
aesthetic - does this media text succeed on an artistic level
moral - what are the value systems imparted by this media text

Marshall McLuhan

considered how complex effects of the media affect our perceptions

Advertising

ancient form of communication

Cpm

cost per thousand - number of audience members for print and online media

performance-based advertising

advertisers pay for the results like how many people actually click on the ad

Volney Palmer

created first advertising industry in 1841 and business model for industry

ad-agency commission

advertising publication fee as compensation for agencies efforts

infomercial

30 or 60 minute program of just commercial content

banner ad

advertisement form

branding

creates for the consumer a clear identity for a particular company's product or trademark, intertwined with advertising
-differentiate between the same items that different brands produce
-brand identical items and makes them different in some way

fear appeals

shock people into changing behaviors

public service announcements

crime prevention ads

advertorial

display ad made to look like an actual article in the publication

outdoor advertising

billboards, taxis, buses, and bus stops

opt in

people choose to receive emails - shows willingness to hear from certain companies

interstitial ads

unpopular, ads take up most of the page with a small x somewhere

superstitial ads

ads go across a screen or in a corner, less obtrusive, made with many multimedia

static ad

displayed in background or during a pause in the game

advertising agencies 4 main areas of operation

creative, client management, media buying, research

rhetoric

how to persuade an audience

Johannes Gutenberg

invented the movable type printing press

William Caxton

issued the first printed ad to promote one of his books

John Campbell

Ran the first US newspaper ad in the Boston News-Letter

Benjamin Day

Started the New York Sun, the first penny newspaper primarily funded by ads

Madam C.J. Walker

Black American entrepreneur who sold hair and beauty products, early advertising/branding genius

ivy lee

invented the modern field of PR, stressing the importance of truth and avoiding puffery
- helped Rockefeller reshape his image after Ludlow Massacre

George Creel

had a pr firm that used propaganda, US asked him to sway public opinion in favor of going to war

Doris Fleischman

Partner of Bernays, did PR for NAACP

National ad

indirect action message
- creates and reinforces the brand image of that product

local ads

directed action messages

public information campaign

designed to encourage the public to transform behaviors positively

Public service announcment

promotes the messages of a non-profit or government agency

Business-to-business advertising

businesses advertising their services to other businesses

Lowest common denometer

an ad to make us laugh/goes a little too far
-might be offensive, but controversy means people will talk about it and gets nationwide coverage

Unique selling proposition

brand is special/unique, it's not a repetitive manufactured good that everyone makes

positioning

finding the correct demographic for your product and focusing in on that demographic