Untitled Flashcards Set

1. The Medium is the Message:

Coined by Marshall McLuhan, this means that the form of a medium (e.g., TV, social media) influences how the message is perceived. For example, a news story on Instagram feels different than the same story in a newspaper.

2. Media History:

The study of how media has evolved over time, such as the transition from print newspapers to online platforms or the impact of television on culture.

3. Media Historiography:

The methods used to study and write about media history, focusing on how events, technologies, and institutions shaped media over time.

4. Media Materiality:

Focuses on the physical or technological aspects of media, such as the role of cameras, printing presses, or smartphones in shaping how media is created and consumed.

5. Reliable Sources:

Sources that are credible, accurate, and trustworthy, often used in journalism to ensure factual reporting.

6. Media Life:

The idea that media is embedded in everyday life, influencing how people interact, communicate, and understand the world.

7. Self-Presentation Theory:

In media, this explores how individuals or organizations curate their image to control how others perceive them, such as influencers crafting perfect Instagram posts.

8. Supply and Demand:

In media, this refers to how consumer interest (demand) drives the production (supply) of content, such as blockbuster movies being made because audiences crave them.

9. Political Economy:

Examines how power, money, and politics shape media industries, such as the influence of corporate ownership on news reporting.

10. Production Culture:

Looks at the working practices, values, and creative processes of media professionals, like how Hollywood studios operate or how journalists gather stories.

11. Platform Capitalism:

Focuses on how platforms like Google, Facebook, and Netflix dominate the media industry by monetizing user data and controlling content distribution.

12. Hegemony:

Explains how dominant ideas (e.g., capitalism, gender roles) are reinforced by media to maintain societal power structures.

13. Discourse:

Refers to how media shapes the way topics are talked about or understood, like how immigration is framed in news stories.

14. Propaganda:

Media used to manipulate public opinion, often by governments or organizations, to promote a particular political or ideological agenda.

15. Rhetoric:

The art of persuasion in media, such as how advertisements use emotional appeals or logic to convince audiences.

16. Mediation:

The process by which media interprets and presents reality, often shaping how events or issues are understood by audiences.

17. Stereotype:

Oversimplified representations of people or groups in media, like racial or gender clichés in movies.

18. Visibility:

How and why certain people, issues, or stories are seen in media while others are ignored, shaping public attention.

19. Genre:

Categories of media content based on common features, like horror, comedy, or documentaries in film or TV.

20. Narrative:

The storytelling structure of media, including characters, plots, and conflicts that shape how a story is told.

21. Realism:

Media that aims to portray life as it truly is, such as realistic films or documentary-style content.

22. Low and High Culture:

A distinction where high culture refers to elite, intellectual media (e.g., opera), while low culture refers to popular, accessible content (e.g., reality TV).

23. Public Sphere:

The space where people discuss and debate societal issues, often facilitated by media platforms like news channels or social media.

24. Subculture:

A smaller group within society with unique interests and values, often expressed through specific media, like punk music or anime communities.

25. Advertising:

Paid media content aimed at persuading audiences to buy products, support ideas, or take action.

26. Media Effects:

The study of how media content influences people’s behavior, attitudes, or beliefs, such as how violent video games might affect aggression.