SPC3210 Exam 3 (Incomplete)

Intro to Agenda Setting Theory

Media play an important part in shaping social and political reality The pubic learns how much importance to attach to an issue by the attention given to it by the media (the number of times they report on a story) The media may determine what issues are important (features of the story) However, the public may also influence the media

Expansions and Refinements

Merged with ideas of uses and gratifications theory Who sets the media agenda? Intermedia influence and pack journalism

Resonance

-The ability to evoke or suggest images; TV images coincide with viewers' lived experiences -Process by which congruence of symbolic violence on television and real-life experiences of violence amplifies the fear of a mean and scary world -Amplifies mainstreaming when things on television are congruent -Heavy viewers grow more apprehensive through process of resonance

Mainstreaming

-When television's symbols dominate other sources of information about the world; labeling what you see on TV as the norm -Blurring, blending, and bending process by which heavy TV users develop a common socially conservative outlook through constant exposure to the same images and labels -Heavy viewing moves people's social realities closer to mainstream reality -Saturation viewing seems to bend TV types toward political right, but viewers support greater funding of social security, health services, education, etc. -Gerber labeled the mix of attitudes and desires the new populism

Antecedent Conditions of Groupthink

1) Group cohesiveness: -Cohesiveness in groups has many advantages, but it also may lead to groupthink -Highly cohesive groups may exert pressure on their members to conform to group standards -The euphoria of cohesion tends to stifle other opinions and alternatives -Cohesiveness frequently leads to conformity, a primary route to groupthink -Cohesion does not automatically lead to groupthink, but groups more concerned with cohesion than the consequences of their decisions are prone to groupthink 2) Structural factors: -Group insulation refers to a group's ability to be unaffected by the outside world -A lack of impartial leadership means the group is led by people with a personal interest in the outcome -A lack of decision-making procedures means the group has not established norms for solving group issues (groups must not only identify the problem, but also evaluate its cause and extent, and groups often follow the decision-making procedures of other groups without considering the differences in the goals of various groups) -Homogeneity of members' backgrounds makes agreement with the leaders' ideas more likely 3) Group stress: -Stress occurs when group members are influenced by issues, resources, or events both inside and outside of the group -When group members are under great stress, they may not see any reasonable solution and rally around their leader -Stress imposed by external and internal forces may lead to faulty decision-making

5 Canons of Rhetoric: Designing a Persuasive Speech

1) Invention: -Development of content -Finding ways to persuade; in order to generate effective enthymemes and examples, speakers draw upon both specialized and generalized knowledge known as topics 2) Arrangement: -Organization of content -Putting together the structure of a coherent argument. Aristotle recommended a basic structure 3) Style: -Language selection -Aristotle emphasized the pedagogical (relating to teaching) effectiveness of metaphor; presenting arguments to stir emotions 4) Delivery: -Nonverbal presentation -Naturalness is persuasive; making effective use of voice, gestures, etc. 5) Memory: -Storing information -Speaking without having to prepare/memorize a speech

2 Levels of Agenda Setting

1) Media framing: -Size of headlines -Photographs included with story -Story's overall length and placement -Visuals accompanying the story 2) Priming*

Assumptions of OCT

1) Organizational members create and maintain a shared sense of organizational reality, resulting in a better understanding of the values of the organization: -Employees, supervisors, and employers share in creating and maintaining organizational reality -Organizational values are used to inform members about important standards and principles -People share in the process of discovering an organization's values 2) The use and interpretation of symbols are critical to an organization's culture: -Symbols are verbal and nonverbal representations of meaning in an organizational culture -Members of an organization create, use, and interpret symbols in order to create and sustain their sense of organizational reality -Organizational values may be communicated through a variety of symbols: physical (buildings, decor, material objects, logos), behavioral (ceremonies, rituals, communication patterns, rewards or punishments), and verbal (jokes, jargon, nicknames, stories, metaphors) 3) Cultures vary across organizations, and the interpretations of actions within these cultures are diverse: -Organizational cultures vary greatly -How members interpret organizational communication differs as they move from one organization to another

5 Types of Performances in Organizations

1) Ritual performances are communication performances that occur on a regular and recurring basis: -Personal rituals include the behaviors members routinely do every day in the workplace (ex: checking voicemail) -Task rituals include routinized behaviors that are associated with a person's job (ex: balancing the cash register) -Social rituals include the verbal and nonverbal routines that involve interactions with others (ex: happy hour with co-workers each Friday) -Organizational rituals include routinely occurring company events (ex: team meetings, annual company picnics, monthly employee birthday parties) 2) Passion performances are organizational stories that members enthusiastically share with one another, often telling the stories numerous times 3) Social performances are the common extensions of civility, politeness, and courtesies used to encourage cooperation among the organization's members (ex: smiling, greeting each other each morning) 4) Political performances involve members' communicative attempts to influence one another in the organization: -Acquiring and maintaining power is central in any organization -Most organizations are hierarchical, and someone must be in a powerful position in order to accomplish goals 5) Enculturation performances are the ways members obtain the necessary information and skills to perform their jobs within the organization

Assumptions of Cultivation Theory

1) Television is essentially and fundamentally different from other forms of mass media: -Requires no literacy -Often free -Ageless -U.S. culture's primary storyteller 2) Television is powerful and shapes our society's ways of thinking and relating: -Stabilizes social patterns and cultivates resistance to change -Paints a convincing picture of what the world is like 3) The influence of television is limited: -Observable, measurable, independent contributions of television are small but cumulative effects of television viewing may be large

Assumptions of Agenda Setting Theory

1) The media establish an agenda and in so doing are not simply reflecting reality but shaping and filtering it for the public 2) The media's concentration on the issues that comprise their agenda influence the public's agenda, and these together influence the policymaker's agenda 3) The public and the policymakers have the possibility to influence the media's agenda as well

Groupthink

A method of group deliberation used when members' desire for unanimity overrides their motivation to assess all available plans of action Janis contends that group members frequently engage in a style of deliberating in which consensus seeking outweighs good sense Janis analyzed foreign policy to develop the theory of groupthink: Historical examples: -U.S. Navy preparedness at Pearl Harbor -President Eisenhower's decision to pursue the North Korean army on its own territory -The Bay of Pigs invasion -The decision to escalate U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War -Watergate

Aristotle's View of Rhetoric

A neutral tool with which one could accomplish either noble or fraudulent ends Truth is inherently more acceptable than falsehood, however unscrupulous persuaders may fool an audience unless an ethical speaker uses all possible means of persuasion to counter the error Speakers who neglect the art of rhetoric have only themselves to blame for failure

Syllogisms

A set of propositions that are related to one another and draw a conclusion from the major and minor premise Major premise: all people are mortal Minor premise: Aristotle is a person Conclusion: Therefore, Aristotle is mortal

The Rhetorical Tradition

Aristotle was a student of Plato's who disagreed with his mentor over the place of public speaking in Athenian life Plato's negative view of public speaking was based on his assessment of the Sophists (corrupt teachers of philosophy in ancient Greece)

Pathos

Aristotle was skeptical of the emotion-laden public oratory typical of his era, however he attempted to help speakers use pathos ethically He catalogued a series of opposite feelings, then explained the conditions under which each mood is experienced: -Anger vs mildness -Love or friendship vs hatred -Fear vs confidence -Shame vs shamelessness -Indignation vs pity -Admiration vs envy

Ethics: Aristotle's Golden Mean

Aristotle's work begs the question of the ethicality of altering a message to make it more acceptable to an audience For Aristotle, ethics was an issue of character rather than conduct He elevated moderation to a theory of virtue and saw wisdom in the person who avoided excess in either direction This middle way is known as the golden mean While the middle way may be the most effective, for Aristotle it was advocated not for its outcome but because it was the most virtuous

Sophists

Citizens hired sophists to understand the principles of persuasion Sophists created public speaking handbooks Aristotle criticized these handbooks: -Too much focus on the judicial system -A lack of attention to logic

Summary of Rhetoric

Communication tradition: -Rhetorical Communication context: -Public/rhetorical Approach to knowing: -Positivistic/empirical (based on observation/experience rather than logic) Evaluating rhetoric: Logical consistency: -Contradictions regarding audience's emotions -Disorganized discussion of topics (notes) -Problematic terminology like enthymeme and syllogism -Views of the audience as passive Heurism: -Generated practical and empirical research -Applied to various disciplines Test of time: -Over 2,000 years

OCT Summary

Communication tradition: -Socio-cultural Communication context: -Organizational Approach to knowing: -Interpretive/hermeneutic Evaluating OCT: Logical consistency: -The theory possesses a high degree of logical consistency because it commits to the concept of organizations as rich and diverse cultures -Some critic's question the theory's reliance on shared meaning -The theory maintains that stories contribute to the culture, but they may not have shared meaning among all organizational members -Different organizational narrators contribute to differing meanings Utility: -The theory is applauded for its usefulness in explaining the experiences of nearly all employees in an organization -The concepts are directly relevant to how employees work in and identify with a work environment Heurism: -OCT is heuristic, as it has been applied far and wide -It has framed research in a variety of contexts and on a variety of topics, including Muslim employees, law enforcement officers, teaching approaches, and how college students "fit in"

Summary of Agenda Setting Theory

Communication tradition: -Socio-psychological Communication context: -Mass/media Approach to knowing: -Positivistic/empirical Evaluating agenda setting theory: Scope: -May be too large or too small -Media framing should be a separate theory Utility: -May not apply in new media environment Heurism: -Hundreds of studies -Employed in studies on many topics in different countries

Summary of Cultivation Theory

Communication traditions: -Socio-cultural -Critical Communication context: -Mass/media Approach to knowing: -Positivistic/empirical Evaluating cultivation theory: Logical consistency: -Research methods do not match conceptual reach (self-report may not be best/most accurate indicator of actual behavior) Utility: -Does not explain the phenomenon of interest -Ignores perceived realism Heurism: -Concepts applied to various studies -125 studies between 2000 and 2010 Test of time: -Some studies fail to find results consistent with cultivation theory -Times and media use are changing

Groupthink Summary

Communication traditions: -Socio-psychological -Socio-cultural Communication contexts: -Small group -Organizational Approach to knowing: -Positivistic/empirical Evaluating groupthink: Scope: -Groupthink principles can be applied to several types of groups, but Janis was clear in originally defining the theory for decision-making groups in crisis situations -Due to its focus on decision-making groups, the theory can be considered narrow in scope Testability: -Some scholars have questioned the testability of theory, pointing to some validity problems -Longley and Pruitt (1980) argue that half of the symptoms of groupthink are not associated with concurrence seeking, a key feature of the theory Heurism: -Groupthink has great heuristic value, as it has been researched in a variety of group contexts -The theory has generated understanding about group behavior Test of time: -The theory's continued presence in research suggests it has stood the test of time -Given that government policy decisions will always exist, the future applicability of groupthink is high

The Mean World Index

Consists of a series of statements: -Most people are just looking out for themselves -You can't be too careful in dealing with people -Most people would take advantage of you if they got the chance Findings: -Different responses to these statements from heavy and light viewers -Heavy viewers see the world as meaner -Amount of television viewing is the best predictor of people's answers

Assumptions of Rhetoric

Effective public speakers must consider their audience: -Communication is a transactional process -The audience is a group of individuals -Audience analysis -The audience determines the speech's end object (receiver emphasis)

Cultivation as a Critical Theory

Learning from television produces perceptions of a mean world and warps perceptions Warped perceptions breed an atmosphere of mistrust Television is powerful because of the 3 B's: 1) Blurring traditional distinctions 2) Blending realities 3) Bending the mainstream reality to benefit the elite Proportional Representation of Diversity (PROD) index: -Examines the representation of co-cultures in the media -Minorities are underrepresented

Ethos

Ethos emphasizes a speaker's credibility, which is manifested in intelligence, character, and goodwill Aristotle was primarily interested in how the speaker's ethos is created in speech The assessment of intelligence is based on practical wisdom and shared values Virtuous character has to do with the speaker's image as a good and honest person Goodwill is a positive judgement of the speaker's intention toward the audience

Jordan, Chapa, Lee, and Davis

Examined how old and new media consumption affects body dissatisfaction and eating disorders Compared Asian, Black, and Latina women Method: -Self-report on media consumption: type and amount -Traditional media includes magazines, television, radio -New media includes social media (all types) -Body image (dissatisfaction): compared current and desired body contours by choosing 3D figures (thin to heavy) -Over 1300 participants Results: -Black women consumed more television -Asian and Latina women read more magazines -Asian and Latina women had more negative self-image (body dissatisfaction) -Asian and Latina women were more likely to suffer from disordered eating Currently analyzing: preliminary results: -Television more influential on self-perceptions than social media -Similar results as above with ethnic groups

Ethnographic Understanding

Geertz (1973) believes that one must experience a culture from the members' viewpoint in order to understand it Ethnography is a qualitative methodology that uncovers and interprets artifacts, stories, and practices to reveal meaning in a culture Different methods of investigation may be employed in ethnography: direct observation, interviews, and participant observation Ethnography relies on field journals, or notes taken during and after interactions, to record the experiences of an organization's members: -The goal of ethnography is to provide a thick description or an explanation of the various layers of meaning within an organization's culture -A balance must be struck between naturally observing and recording behavior and integrating a researcher's values into the process; Geertz insists that "the trick is to figure out what the devil they think they are up to." OCT is rooted in ethnography

The Cultural Metaphor: of Spider Webs and Organizations

Geertz (1973) used the analogy of a spider web to explain culture from a symbolic-interpretive approach: Cultures are intricate, much like the design of spider webs, and they require constant maintenance Pacanowsky and O'Donnell-Trujillo (1983) apply the web metaphor to organizations: -People are critical to the organization, just as spiders are to the web -It is important to examine members' interactions with one another to determine the impact on the organization -Various types of communication are used to create the "web" (gossiping, joking, romantic involvement, backstabbing, social media)

Intro to Cultivation Theory

George Gerbner (1970s): -Consumptions of media messages shapes perceptions of the world -Media messages alter traditional notions of time, space, and social groupings -Challenged the limited effects paradigm: the mass media cannot directly change most people's strongly held attitudes or opinions

Assumptions of Groupthink

Groupthink is a theory associated with small group communication Problem-solving and task-oriented groups are susceptible to groupthink Group activities include decision making, information sharing, socializing, relating to external systems, welcoming new members, defining roles, and telling stories 3 Assumptions: 1) Conditions in groups promote high cohesiveness: -Cohesiveness is the extent to which group members are willing to work together -Cohesion arises from a group's attitudes, values, and patterns of behavior -Cohesion is easy to recognize but hard to measure 2) Group problem solving is primarily a unified process: -People are not predisposed to disrupting decision making in small groups -Members strive to get along -Groups are susceptible to affiliative constraints like group members withholding their input rather than risking rejection, or when group members do participate, they are likely to prioritize group preservation over consideration of the issues 3) Groups and group decision making are frequently complex: -Small groups must understand the many alternatives available to them and be able to distinguish among these alternatives -Members must understand both the task at hand and the people who provide input into the task -Zajonc (1965) noted that the mere presence of others has an effect on us -Cottrell et al. (1968) found that knowing others will judge us leads to task accomplishment -Shaw (1981) and Fulk and McGrath (2005) observed the influence of demographic variables on group dynamics 4) Despite all these challenges, groups are better at problem solving than individuals 5) Groups with high levels of homogeneity, or similarity, are more inclined to fall victim to groupthink 6) Quality of effort and quality of thinking are essential in group decision making

Uses and Gratifications Intro

In the early days of mass media, mass society thinking was prevalent in theories of mass communication: 1) Mass society theory argues that people are helpless victims of powerful media 2) Although it was the predominant way of thinking about media effects, social science and observation could not confirm the view of media as all-powerful Mass society thinking was replaced by "limited effects" theories, which hold that aspects of audience members' personal and social lives minimize media effects: 1) In the individual differences perspective, the media's power is shaped by such personal factors as intelligence and self-esteem 2) The social categories model views the media's power as limited by audience members' associations and group affiliations 3) These positions still position the audience as passive, however In response to unflattering views of typical audience members, Katz, Blumler, and Gurevitch (1974) presented a systematic and comprehensive articulation of audience members' role in the mass communication process: 1) UGT argues that people actively seek out specific media and specific content to obtain specific gratifications or results 2) This theory views people as active because they are able to examine and evaluate various types of media to accomplish communication goals 3) Instead of asking, "what do media do to people?" UGT researchers ask "what do people do with media?"

Ways to Prevent Groupthink

Janis encourages groups to engage in vigilant decision making, which involves 5 strategies: 1) Looking at the range of objectives members wish to achieve 2) Developing and reviewing action plans and alternatives 3) Exploring the consequences of each alternative 4) Analyzing previously rejected action plans when new information emerges 5) Having a contingency (provision for unforeseen events) plan for failed suggestions Hart (1997) questions whether Janis's recommendations have unintended negative consequences and offers 4 general recommendations for groups who may be prone to groupthink: 1) Groups should require oversight and control: -Groups may create oversight committees to monitor the procedures associated with the decision-making process -Monitoring may involve challenging the collective rationalizations and perceptions of the group 2) Groups should embrace whistle-blowing (exposing information about illegal activity): -Group members should be encouraged to voice their concerns -Groups should protect whistle-blowers because groups usually need dissenting voices when decisions have lasting and significant consequences 3) Groups should allow for objections by individual members: -Conscientious objectors are individuals who refuse to participate in the decision-making process because it violates their conscience -Groups should permit conscientious objectors to express their moral or ethical dissent as part of the decision-making process 4) Groups should strive for a balance between consensus and majority rule -Consensus requires that all group members agree on a decision, which increases the pressure to conform -Groups should be willing to work toward majority support, which allows some group members to disagree with the decision being made

Intro to Organizational Culture Theory (OCT)

Organizational life is characterized by change Change often results in excitement, anxiety, uncertainty, frustration, and/or disbelief Pacanowsky and O'Donnell-Trujillo developed OCT has a way of understanding organizational life, including an organization's values, stories, goals, practices, and philosophies OCT suggests that organizational researchers are limited when following the scientific method; instead it proposes that researchers "observe, record, and make sense of the communicative behavior of organizational members" Pacanowsky and O'Donnell-Trujillo state "culture is not something an organization has; a culture is something an organization is" Culture is communicatively constructed by organizational practices, and culture is distinct to each organization: -Understanding individual organizations is more important than generalizing across several ones -Organizational culture is created over a period of time Organizational culture is the essence of organizational life: -Culture is a way of living in an organization -Culture includes the emotional and psychological climate , involving employee morale, attitudes, and levels of productivity, competition, autonomy, and cooperation -Culture also includes symbols such as (actions, routines, and conversations) and the meanings people attach to these symbols -Cultural meaning and understanding are achieved through the interactions employees and management have with one another

The Communicative Performance

Pacanowsky and O'Donnell-Trujillo propose that organizational members act out certain communicative performances that create a unique organizational culture "Performance" is a metaphor that represents the symbolic process of understanding human behavior in an organization

History of Agenda Setting Research

Pre-theoretical conceptualizing: -Park: media are gatekeepers -Lippmann: mass media connect "the world outside and the pictures in our heads" -Lasswell: surveillance, correlation* Establishing the theory: -McCombs and Shaw (1972) -Measured and compared the public and media agendas in the 1968 presidential elections

Symptoms of Groupthink

Preexisting conditions lead to concurrence seeking, or a group's effort to reach consensus in its final decision Janis identifies 8 symptoms of groupthink, divided into 3 categories: 1) Overestimation of the group is the erroneous belief that the group is more than it actually is: -Illusion of invulnerability refers to a group's belief that it is special enough to overcome obstacles -Belief in the inherent morality of the group refers to the belief that the group members are thoughtful and good; therefore, the decisions they make will be good 2) Close-mindedness of the group is the willingness of the group to ignore differences in people and warnings about poor group decisions: -Out-group stereotypes are held by a group about its adversaries or rivals. Often, groups assume these "enemies" are not intelligent enough to impact the decisions that are made -Collective rationalization refers to the group's commitment to ignore any warnings that might cause group members to reconsider their thoughts and actions before making the final group decision 3) Pressure towards uniformity occurs when group members go along to get along: -Self-censorship refers to the minimization of personal doubts and counterarguments by individual group members. Individuals refrain from expressing opposing views -Illusion of unanimity refers to the group's perception that silence equals agreement. For instance, members often remain silent when asked if they have additional information or comments and the silence is perceived as consensus -Self-appointed mind guards are group members who protect or shield the group from adverse information -Pressures on dissenters refers to the pressure placed on individuals who express opinions or viewpoints contrary to those held by the majority

3 Part Process of Agenda Setting

The media agenda affects the public agenda, which in turn impacts the policy agenda Complicating factors: -Salience (most noticeable or important) -Credibility -Conflicting evidence -Shared values -Relevance -Uncertainty

Minds Plowed by Television Grow Fearful Thoughts

Survey targeted 4 attitudes: -Chances of involvement with violence -Fear of walking alone at night -Perceived activity of police -General mistrust of people -The cultural indicators evidence suggests that the minds of heavy TV viewers become fertile grounds for sowing thoughts of danger

Heavy Viewers

TV viewers who report they watch at least 4 hours per day

Rhetoric

The art of discovering all available means of persuasion Persuasive speakers should support that probability of a message by: -Logical (logos), ethical/credible (ethos), and emotional (pathos) proofs -Accurate audience analysis -Effective invention, arrangement, style, delivery, and memory -Focus on the audience -Rhetorical syllogisms (deductive reasoning)

Proofs

The available means of persuasion are based on three kinds of proof: 1) Logical proof (logos): comes from the line of argument in the speech: Aristotle focused on 2 kinds: 1) Enthymeme: an argument in which one premise is not explicitly stated -The strongest proof 2) Example 2) Ethical proof (ethos): the way the speaker's character is revealed through the message 3) Emotional proof (pathos): the feeling the speech draws from the hearers

Intro to Rhetoric

The books on rhetoric focus on: -Speaker -Audience -Speech Aristotle is credited with drawing attention to public speaking

Conclusion of Cultivation Theory

The primary proposition of cultivation theory states that the more time people spend "living" in the television world, the more likely they are to believe social reality portrayed on television It is one of the core theories of media effects

Enthymemes

Typical enthymemes leave out the premise that is already accepted by the audience The audience helps construct the proof by supplying the missing premise The enthymeme uses deductive logic---moving from global principle to specific truth

Message System Analysis

Uses content analysis to study what exactly are the messages that TV projects Gerbner studied violence but this type of analysis can be used to study any type of TV content

Intro to Groupthink

We belong to many groups throughout our lives Irving Janis's 1972 book Victims of Groupthink discusses the outcomes of participating in groups whose members are highly agreeable with one another

Groupthink is all around the U.S.

While most of Janis's work focuses on the political sphere, groupthink occurs in many contexts: Large-scale examples: -The Columbia and Challenger tragedies -The cover up of child sexual abuse at Penn State University Small-scale examples: -Everyday decisions like choosing whether to attend college