MC421 Exam 2

Twiplomacy

(aka "Social Media Diplomacy") A tactic that involves using social media to reach foreign audiences.

The CNN Effect

A The notion that the news media (e.g., CNN) receives news as quickly as (if not sooner than) government officials. • CNN first developed the 24-hour global TV news cycle in the 1980s. • This had a major impact in shaping international relations & foreign policy in the late Cold War period. • Since the development of this 24-hour news cycle, the news is everywhere!

Propoganda

A form of communication in which governmental leaders have near or total control over the transmission of information, typically relying on mass media deception to influence masses of people.

Integrated Public Diplomacy

A holistic, strategic communication approach that merges PR practices & techniques with PD goals & outcomes. • Combines short-term & long-term perspectives on PD.

Mediatization

A long-term process through which the importance of the media & their spill-over effects on political processes, institutions, organizations, & actors have increased. o Focuses on how news media have transformed the structural relations of politics in society.

Thematic Frames

A macro-level focus that places public issues in a broader context by focusing on general outcomes or trends. • Ex: A news story about a nation's (or community's) problems with school shootings & steps to prevent future shootings.

Episodic Frames

A micro-level focus on distinct events that illustrate issues & involve specific individuals at a specific place/time. • Comprise the majority of a TV newscast & depicts specific issues or events in terms of concrete instances. • Ex: A news story about a school shooting at a specific high school.

Hard Power

A nation's ability to force (e.g., economically, militarily, etc.) others into certain actions.

Agenda Setting Theory

A process through which the mass media communicate the relative importance of various issues and events to the public. • The media control the public agenda by selecting certain broad issue topics to cover, and this prominent coverage determines which issues are judged as important. • Claims that the news media does not tell the public what to think, but it does tell them what to think about. • Media coverage sets public discourse.

Agenda Building Theory

A process through which the policy agendas of political elites are influenced by a variety of factors, including media agendas and public agendas. • Policy Agenda-Building: The process by which some problems come to command the attention of government as prospective matters of public policy. • Claims that the political issues that are the most covered in the news media inevitably become #1 policy issues among the public. • Media coverage and public discourse sets public policy.

Case Studies

An empirical inquiry (or analysis) that uses multiple sources of data to systematically investigate individuals, groups, organizations, or events. Uses a wide spectrum of observed evidence.This research technique is often used when researchers need to comparatively assess a phenomenon in order to better understand or explain a problem.

Public Sphere

An interpersonal or virtual domain concerned with societal & political topics that transcend private, individual issues. o Some claim the public sphere stimulates reasoned debate. Others claim the public sphere stimulates bitter arguments

Content Analysis

An objective and systematic procedure devised to examine recorded information in the multimedia context. Analyzes words, imagery, subliminal messages, thematic elements, etc.

Aldous Huxley

Brave New World (1932) • Set in the far future (2540 A.D.) • No need for a "Big Brother" type of Government • People accept their Oppression • Addicted to materialistic things & technologies • These things are enough to keep us satisfied • Worried that societies and the masses would lose all hope of influencing the government and political action • "Huxley feared no one would want to read them."

National Traits

Characterized by a nation's size, power, & geopolitical standing.

Spiral of Science Theory

Claims that people want to view themselves as having a majority opinion. • If opinion is perceived to be in the minority, people tend to remain silent. • Maintains social approval • Often makes the minority opinion seem less popular than it really is • This leads to a "death spiral" of diverse ideas that might challenge the majority's views. Ex: • Solomon Asch's Conformity Experiment (1951) • German citizens' opposition to the Nazi regime • How is this applied to Mass Comm? Poli. Comm?

Steven Johnson

Everything Bad Is Good for You (2005) • Claimed pop culture and entertainment has become more complex • Which has resulted in an increase of critical-thinking • Primarily critical of Postman's (1985) work because it's outdated • Broadened scope to other mediums (i.e. Internet and video games) • Overall, technology has more pros than cons •**The Sleeper Effect (or Curve) - notion that there are delayed (and positive) effects of mass media on consumers. • (Pop Culture > Traditional Culture) • More sophisticated TV shows make us smarter • Far more cognitive benefits than just reading books

Global News Flow Theory

Examines how news travels from one country to another. • Tries to better understand why some countries are more newsworthy than other countries.

Political Partisanship

Exists when political party members only adhere to their party's policy views and stances, and are, subsequently, reluctant to compromise with their political opponents • A clear divide between Democrats and Republicans • Nearly all propositions from the opposing political party are ignored or discredited • Forced to pick a side (i.e. Dem. or Rep.) on every political issue • Little room for bi-partisanship or overlap • "Us" v. "Them" dynamic ("Either you're with us, or you're against us")

3 Major Agents of Political Socialization

Families School Media

Emphasis Frames

Focus on qualitatively different, yet potentially relevant, considerations. • A direct trade-off exists that enable different issues to be discussed in similar contexts. • Ex: A news story about national security or public safety turned into a conversation about free speech & civil liberties.

Mediated PD Dimension

Focuses on a government's short-term efforts to shape & influence how it is framed in the global news media. • These efforts often have a direct impact on global public opinion.

Reputational PD Dimension

Focuses on a government's short-term, tactical efforts to link issues & attributes to its nation-brand through PR & marketing strategies. • Bridges the short-term, mediated PD & the long-term, relational PD.

Indexing

Focuses on the dependency of mass media sources on government officials and predicts that this dependency affects the subsequent news coverage

Relational PD Dimension

Focuses on the long-term relationship management efforts of governments, corporations, & NGOs to build & maintain mutually-beneficial relationships with foreign publics. • Traditionally emphasizes aid, development, & exchange programs.

Public Diplomacy

Global PR on behalf of govs. The reaching out to global publics/governments directly. • Official efforts to convince targeted foreign publics to support or tolerate a gov.'s strategic objectives. • Attempts to win the hearts & minds of foreign govs./peoples. • PD Methods/Tactics: Statements by key decision-makers, purposeful gov. campaigns, & persuading global media to portray official policies favorably to foreign audiences.

Blog Triumphalism

Heralds the advent of the plethora of bloggers as the beginning of the end for the mainstream media

In-Depth Interviews

In-depth interviewing: (aka intense interviewing or depth interviewing) An open-ended interview technique in which researchers encourage respondents to discuss an issue or problem, or answer a question, at length and in great detail. In-depth interviews provide detailed information that is very beneficial. However, in-depth interviews often result in small, non-probability sample sizes that are not generalizable. The unstructured format of in-depth interviews is also problematic.

Prejudice

Making judgements & having feelings toward a person based on their perceived affiliation to a social group.

The Global Village

Marshall McLuhan's term which predicted the world as being closely connected by modern telecommunication & mass media technologies. • Discussed how multimedia technologies are globally beneficial.

Conflict Frames

Most often found in news coverage involving contentious subject matters. • One of the most recurring themes in political news. • Ex: New stories on political campaigns, debates, elections, etc.

Multimedia Monitoring

Multimedia analytics technologies. •Online and social media platforms. •Media tracking and digital monitoring services can provide a wide range of information about target audiences and/or publics. •Clip counts are a less formal way to track media coverage of an organization or client.

3 Key Variables for a Nations Global News Coverage

National traits Relatedness Events

Horse Race News Coverage

News coverage that focuses on which candidates are ahead, political polling results, & the strategic game of political campaigns in the manner of a classic horse race.

George Orwell

Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949) • Only the elite ruled the nation • Extreme Government Surveillance & Strict Control • "Big Brother" • Public Manipulation dominates Society • Oppression of the Masses (loss of personal freedoms & individualism) • Thoughtcrime - independent thinking which challenged the State • Worried that authoritarian states would rule in the future • "Orwell feared those who would ban books."

Socio Oriented Families

Parents emphasize harmony & respect to adults • Often intolerant to dissenting views & encourages children to adopt their parents' views

Concept Oriented Families

Parents emphasize open exploration of issues • Exposes children to diverse views & encourages them to challenge others' views

Mean World Syndrome

Perception that the world is more dangerous than it really is • Common among heavy TV watchers • Common in many news media stories • Examines the feelings generated by media content • Arousal is a major psychological effect of media content. • Especially in violent or erotic content • Increased heart rate, adrenaline, or sexual response

Frontloading

Primaries & caucuses are pushed to the "front" of the political nominating system.

Message Testing

Real-time message testing is achieved using various types of multimedia technologies to allow practitioners to instantly collect participant reactions. Positive and negative reactions to media content and/or messages. Collects participants' moment-by-moment responses to media (e.g., advertisements, political speeches, political debates, etc.). Ex: Dial testing groups during political debates. C&IS @ UA.

Relatedness

Refers to a nation's proximity (e.g., geographically & demographically) to the nation(s) in which it receives news coverage.

Reliability

Refers to the ability of repetition (or duplication) of your research method(s) and findings.

Validity

Refers to the credibility (or believability) of your research method(s) and findings.

Framing

Selecting and highlighting some facets of events or issues, and making connections among them so as to promote a particular interpretation, evaluation, and/or solution. • Frame: Conceptual tools which media and individuals use to convey, interpret, and evaluate info. • News Media Frame: A cognitive device used in encoding, interpreting, and retrieving info. • Agenda-Setting: News Media tells us what issues/events to think about. • Framing: News Media tells us how to think about them. Ex: (Casey Anthony)

Qualitative Research

The scientific method of observation to gather non-numerical data in order to discover underlying meanings & relationship patterns/trends. • Seeks in-depth, open-ended responses, NOT simple "yes" or "no" answers. • The researcher tries to get people to share their thoughts & opinions on a topic. • Often takes longer to collect than quantitative data • Typically does not have large sample sizes • Exploratory in nature: • Elicits in-depth, subjective responses • Not statistically generalizable • Forms impressions • Uses open-ended questions • Qualitative research generates ideas, aids quantitative studies, follows up on prior studies (i.e., shows trends), & tests concepts/theories.

White Privilege

The societal advantage(s) that benefit white people over non-white people, particularly if they are otherwise under similar social, economic, or political circumstances

White Flight

The sudden or gradual migration of white people from areas where there is an influx of racial minorities. • In other words, when white people move because more minorities are moving into their neighborhoods.

Quantitative Research

The systematic empirical investigation & numerical representation of observed phenomena through computational, mathematical, and/or statistical procedures. • Seeks structured responses that can be summarized in numbers, such as: basic descriptive percentages, averages, & other statistical tests. • Quantitative research provides closed-ended response choices & assigns a numerical value to each response choice. • Ex: The responses to "Yes or No" Survey Questions are assigned a number to quantify & test for statistical significance among the collective responses. • "Yes" = 1 & "No" = 0 • Quantitative research provides numerical representations, manipulates observations, stems from qualitative studies' findings, describes/explains phenomena, & accounts for longitudinal trends/patterns.

Segregation

The systemic separation of people into racial or other ethnic groups in daily life. • De Jure Segregation ("by law") v. De Facto Segregation ("in actual fact")

Selective Perception

The tendency of individuals to perceive info. so that it aligns with their pre-existing political beliefs. • People who have strong, partisan views often interpret factual evidence in support of their beliefs. • The same evidence can be seen in diametrically opposing ways.

Selective Retention

The tendency of individuals to remember belief-congruent info. better than belief-incongruent info. • More likely to retain info. that reinforces pre-existing political beliefs • Less likely to retain info. that challenges pre-existing political beliefs

Selective Exposure

The tendency of individuals to tune in to certain news media outlets & to prefer info. that supports their pre-existing political beliefs. • Most often view contradictory info. as attacking or mocking one's political views • Subjective/Biased News > Objective/Unbiased News

Latent Content

The underlying meaning of the communicated content (or data).

Dependent Variable

The variable researchers measure to see if it depends on (or is caused by) the independent variable.

Political Socialization

The way in which a society transmits political orientations (i.e., knowledge, attitudes or norms, & values) from generation to generation. • Helps a society communicate its political history/tradition to new generations.

Nation Brand Image

The ways in which individuals & societies perceive a nation. It includes a combination of factors that influence one's mental representations of a nation. • Factors include: Personal experiences, word-of-mouth, mass media portrayals, pre-existing stereotypes, quality of national products, citizens' behaviors, political environment, & sports teams.

World Press Freedom Index (2020)

United States rated 45th (Norway ranked #1 and North Korea ranked #180)

Human Interest Frames

Use emotional appeals in order to bring a human face (or an emotional angle) to an event, issue, or problem. • Can often lead to sensationalized news coverage, but can also increase viewer ratings. • Ex: News coverage of a natural disaster that focus on first-hand accounts from those affected by the storm.

Information Subsidies

When PR specialists push ready-to-use newsworthy information to the news media in order to gain access to media time and space

Game Frames

When news outlets present elections as a contest (or game). • Focus on who is going to win rather than focusing on substantive political issues & policy. • Ex: News coverage that tracks polling results to predict the election's outcome(s).

Ethnocentrism

When one judges other cultures, norms, behaviors, beliefs, values, & people solely based on one's own cultural & ethnic frame of reference. • Because these judgements are often negative, the term is mostly viewed as a negative connotation. • Largely regarded as the "belief that one's culture is the best" (Hurst, 2010, p. 171).

Media Gray Zone

a media-centric understanding of the GZ, where a nation's news media play a major role in constructing reality for its citizens. • In a Media GZ, the perception of reality becomes more important than reality itself. • Involves the news media's presentation & framing of news stories with the goal of shaping long-term public opinion & attitudes about another nation(s). • Propaganda is an effective tool used to engage in media warfare.

Crisis Communication

a specialization within PR that is designed to protect & defend an individual a client facing a public challenge to its reputation The "collection, processing, and dissemination of information required to address a crisis situation" (Coombs, 2007

Formal Research

Formal research is scientific & empirical in nature. • Formal Research Methods: • Provide results that are objective, unbiased, & values-free. • Require researchers to follow a systematic set of procedures in order to collect & analyze data. • Produce results that are high in external validity (i.e., projectable or generalizable). • Enable researchers to replicate (or reproduce) the results of other formal research projects. • The results from formal research help poli. comm. specialists & their political campaigns to more effectively understand target audiences & predict campaign outcomes. • However, formal research methods are often used less frequently than informal research. • This depends upon the size, scope, & financial support for a political campaign. • Formal research methods are usually more expensive than informal methods.

4 Case Study Characteristics: Inductive

develop general principles from specific observations

3 Key Players in Political Communication

1. Leaders (or Opinion Leaders) 2. Media (or Communicative Technologies 3. The Public (or Audiences/ Message Recipients)

Focus Groups

A qualitative research technique for understanding people's attitudes, beliefs, and opinionsin a group interview setting. This research is conducted by a research moderator (or interviewer) and the recruitedresearch participants (or respondents) in a face-to-face, interactive setting.The moderator asks a variety of questions, often loosely structured to encourage the respondents tovoice their own views and opinions.The moderator should try to get everyone engaged in the group responses.In other words, a focus group is not useful if only a few of the participants dominate the discussion. 4 Characteristics of Focus Groups:Involves participants who are recruited because they share a similar characteristic(s).Comprised of small sample sizes (10-12 participants).Almost exclusively provide qualitative data/results.Focused, structured discussions directed by the moderator.

Surveys

A structured, systematic procedure used to assess research respondents' attitudes, beliefs, and opinions on a given topic using questionnaires. •Pre-testing: To conduct a preliminary study (or mini-study) with a small sample size to determine whether the study approach is correct and to help refine the questions

Experiments

A structured, systematic procedure which uses various manipulations and controls to test research subjects' views and opinions.

Media Diplomacy

A tactic that utilizes news media channels to conduct open diplomacy. This is used by govs. who have major incentives for shaping media narratives.

Public Affairs Frames

Aka: "Political Strategy Frames." • Specifically emphasize the actions of political leaders, public officials, governments, & other public authorities. • Often emphasize & reflect institutional power. • Ex: News coverage of political & policy debates.

Equivalency Frames

Aka: "Valence Frames." • Involve distributing the same info. to an audience in a different light (e.g., positively or negatively). • Often effective in changing people's perceptions or views. • Ex: Differences in news coverage of the George Zimmerman/Trayvon Martin shooting (i.e., FOX News v. MSNBC News).

Neil Postman

Amusing Ourselves to Death (1985) • Primarily focused on Television • Turns everything into entertainment • Claimed TV turns our brains into mush ("Zombify") • Decrease in critical-thinking, rationality, and logical reasoning • Postman did not hate technology, but he was most concerned with the effects of technological innovations on society. • Technology replaces the desire to learn: • Sesame Street example: "does not encourage children to love school or anything about school. It encourages them to love television." • Entertainment's Effects on Reading: • Dewey, Lippmann, & Bernays all commented on how Americans never read • NPR's "Why Doesn't America Read Anymore?"

Gray Zone

Any international relations, & especially conflicts/contentious relations, that fall outside of the traditional peace-or-war construct. • Two or more nations are in a GZ when it is unclear who are allies or enemies. Aka: "hybrid wars," "unrestricted warfare," or "new generation wars" to distinguish modern practices from traditional, conventional wars

The Bell Curve (1994)

Compared IQ Test Scores. • Are racial minorities genetically inferior to whites in terms of intelligence? • There are many factors that effect these results: • Quality of Education. • Access to Quality Public Education. • Validity of IQ tests as a true measure of intelligence. • Socioeconomic Status.

Model of Country Concept (MCC)

Comprehensive model that conceptualizes (or maps-out) how global citizens form opinions about other countries. • Attempts to understand the ways in which a nation-brand image is shaped.

Events

Consists of a nation's major events (e.g., conflicts, natural disasters, protests, & wars).

Bernay's View

The Public - holds the same view as Lippmann, but more profoundly adds that the public is easily persuaded (especially through the use of flashy imagery and pandering rhetoric). · "The Father of Public Relations" · Nephew of famous neurologist, Sigmund Freud a. "The Father of Psychoanalysis" b. The Unconscious Mind c. Claimed people most often make decisions based on irrationality · Worked alongside Walter Lippmann on the Committee for Public Information a. During WWI (1914-1918) b. Hired in 1917 by President Woodrow Wilson c. Gained many ideas from Lippmann · Their job was to dispense the idea that it was the duty of the United States to promote democracy to all of Europe a. Maintain public morale and support for the war effort · Persuaded the public by instilling a sense of national pride and democratic virtues · Used visual stimulation to his advantage a. Influence and motivate audiences/consumers through imagery b. Ultimate goal was a mass imitation of the imagery and rhetoric

Lippmann's View

The Public - is composed of a nation's citizens (i.e. entire population). These citizens are characterized as irrational, self-interested, and largely unintelligent. · The common citizen was not rational and intelligent enough to benefit society. a. Enter Political/Intellectual Elites · The public was influenced, completely, by media messages. · Citizens could never fully understand the complexities of the world, because of various limitations.

Dewey's View

The Public - is composed of groups of citizens sharing common interests as a result (either directly or indirectly) of a particular event or action. a. These groups work together to solve the problem(s) that arise from this event/action. · Education was the key component to the betterment of society. · Importance of Critical-Thinking: a. No Child Left Behind Act (2001) b. Was this successful? · Collectivism v. Individualism. · The Great Community a. Emphasis on social-cohesion and unity within communities. i. (Ex: Nationalism, Communalism)

Nicholas Carr

The Shallows (2010) • Carr's views are more aligned with Postman • Admits there are many benefits of technological innovations • Primarily focused on the Internet and online search engines • Claims the cons outweigh the pros • Neuroscience and Cognitive Approach • Mainly focuses on the effects of the Internet on attention span and concentration: • "What the Net seems to be doing is chipping away my capacity for concentration and contemplation. Whether I'm online or not, my mind now expects to take in information the way the Net distributes it: in a swiftly moving stream of particles"

Soft Power

The ability to get what you want through attraction rather than coercion or payments. It arises from the attractiveness of a country's culture, political ideals, & policies. • When a government's policies are viewed by others as legitimate, its soft power is enhanced.

Nation Branding Theory

The application of PR & marketing techniques to a country in order to enhance the country's global reputation. • Examines how gov. officials measure, build, & manage a nation's reputation.

Racism

The belief that racial groups possess different traits based on physical features, and that certain races are more superior to other races.

Participatory (or Citizen) Journalism

The collection, dissemination, & analysis of news/information by the general public • Most commonly done by means of the Internet and through social media

Media Transparency

The concept of determining how & why information is conveyed through various means. • Measures the levels of accountability, credibility, & openness among the mass media.

Manifest Content

The concrete terms contained in the communicated content (or data).

Nation Brand Identity

The cultural context(s) that make up a nation's cultural diversity/heritage, economy, modernization, moral values, national interests, & pop culture. • Focus on the economic & political competition in nation branding strategies & their impact on global reputation.

Media Dependency

The extent to which a news outlet depends on other news outlets for stories

Brand Equity

The financial value of a brand. • Measurements: Brand awareness, response(s) to marketing, accounting methods, & valuation procedures.

Primary Research

The gathering of information (i.e., data) through actual human interaction with other people (i.e., your research subjects). • UA's Institutional Review Board (IRB) • Data can be collected through many primary research methods, such as: • Experimental Designs, Focus Groups, In-Depth Interviews, Surveys/Polling, etc.

Secondary Research

The gathering of information (i.e., data) through previously published resources, literature, publications, multimedia platforms, & other non-human sources. • Secondary research does not involve human interaction. • Generally much easier to collect data than primary research data. • Less time consuming • Less Expensive

Political Polarization

The growing divide between polar-opposite political ideologies, not necessarily between political parties • Increase on the Far Left and the Far Right • Decrease of Moderates' and Independents' ideological views • An even more radical "Us" v. "Them" dynamic

Nation Brand

The multi-dimensional blend of culturally unique features that distinguish a nation from other nations. • Indicates a nation's importance & relevance to the rest of the world.

Crisis

The perception of an unpredictable event that threatens important expectancies of stakeholders and can seriously impact an organization's performance and generate negative outcomes. • Any situation that the public perceives as being damaging to an organization's image or reputation • Even if the information is false, crises can significantly damage one's image/reputation.

Gatekeeper

The person(s) who decides which information will go forward and which information will not. • A gatekeeper decides which specific commodities (e.g., information, goods, materials, etc.) may enter the social system. • Media gatekeepers are able to control the public's knowledge of actual issues and/or events by letting some stories pass through the system while simultaneously keeping other stories out.

Priming

The process in which the media attend to some issues (and not others) and thereby alter the standards by which people evaluate the subject matter. • What stories the news media presents (or does not present) and how often. • Occurs when a given message activates a mental concept, which for a period of time increases the probability that the concept, and thoughts/memories connected with it, will come to mind again. • Media Agenda Priming Voters' Agenda Voting

Globalization

The process of spreading (primarily Western) cultures, industries, technologies, & philosophies throughout the rest of the world.

Media Gatekeeping

The process through which information is filtered and carefully selected before it is disseminated to the public through various mass media platforms (e.g., broadcast news, print news, online news sites, social media sites, etc.)

Inductive Coding

This approach generates codes from the data as you analyze it.

Deductive Coding

This approach operates from a well-developed coding scheme.

4 Case Study Characteristics: Descriptive

final product is a detailed description of the topic under study

4 Case Study Characteristics: Particularistic

focuses on a particular situation, event, program, or phenomenon

4 Case Study Characteristics: Heuristic

helps people to understand what is being studied (gives fresh insights)

3 key players in political communication

leaders, the media, and the public

Independent Variable

the variable researchers manipulate to see if it changes the dependent variable.

Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)

• Homer Plessy. • Louisiana law mandated segregation on trains. • Plessy was an Octoroon. • A person with 1/8 African/Aboriginal ancestry. • Supreme Court Ruled "Separate but Equal." • Segregation becomes legalized.

Informal Research

• Informal research often provides quick & inexpensive ways for poli. comm. specialists to listen to target publics/voters. • However, informal research is less scientific than formal research. • Subsequently, informal research is more likely to produce unreliable (and sometimes inaccurate) results. • Informal Research Methods frequently lack: • Systematic research processes. • Objectivity in interpreting results. • Generalizability due to the use of smaller sample populations. • Informal Research Methods are often useful for: • Gaining a broad, nonscientific understanding of public opinion & voter insights. • Exploring various problems (or potential problems) facing a political campaign. • Pretesting campaign ideas & strategies.

Brown v Board of Education (1954)

• Linda Brown. • Topeka, Kansas. • The negative effects of school segregation on children (i.e., The Doll Test). • Supreme Court rules school segregation as unconstitutional. • But history repeats itself...