Exam 1 Review
How do addressable technologies affect audience unity?
They make audiences increasingly fragmented.
By the mid-1700s, printing and libraries of information were among the engines driving the ______ Revolution.
Industrial
New technologies that have changed the way we interact with mass media have caused a great deal of turmoil for the established media industries.
True
How is Schramm's Mass Communication Model different from the Osgood-Schramm Model of Communication?
Unlike the interpersonal model, the mass communications model offers many identical messages. The new model also specifies "feedback" . Things are not nearly as simple in mass communications.
Gutenberg's contribution to mass communication
With the spread of printing, written communication was available to a much larger portion of the population, and the need for literacy among the lower and middle classes grew. More material from various sources was published, and people were freer to read what they wanted when they wanted. New understandings of the existing world flourished (cross-pollination of ideas)
metaethics
a culture's fundamental values
genre
a form of media content with a standardized, distinctive style and conventions
oligopoly
a media system whose operation is dominated by a few large companies; a concentration of media industries into an ever smaller number of companies
mass medium
a medium that carries messages to a large number of people ex: radio, television, books, magazines, newspapers, movies, sound recordings, and computer networks
basic communication process according to Laswell
a source sends a message, through a medium, to a receiver, producing some effect
Valentine v. Christensen (1942)
ad content- advertising, or commercial speech, enjoys 1st Amendment protection; just because expression was commercial did not necessarily mean it was unprotected
narrowcasting
aiming broadcast programming at smaller, more demographically homogeneous audiences
niche marketing
aiming media content or consumer products at smaller, more demographically homogeneous audiences
targeting
aiming media content or consumer products at smaller, more specific audiences
normative theory
an idea that explains how media should ideally operate in a given system of social values
meme
an online idea or image that is repeatedly copied, manipulated, and shared
music licensing company
an organization that collects fees based on recorded music users' gross receipts and distributes the money to songwriters and artists
noise
anything that interferes with successful communication ex: biases
Which of the following refers to the process by which the audience becomes less of a mass audience and its individual segments become more narrowly defined?
audience fragmentation
appointment consumption
audiences consume content at a time predetermined by the producer and distributor ex: your fav tv show at 9:00 p.m. on Tuesdays
audience fragmentation
audiences for specific media content becoming smaller and increasingly homogeneous; individual segments of the audience are becoming more narrowly defined; the audience itself is less of a mass audience
Print helped foster the Industrial Revolution
because it helped build and disseminate bodies of knowledge that led to scientific and technological development and the refinement of new machines.
Miller v. State of California (1973)
brought forth the test for obscenity that holds today; the issue: what is patently offensive to one person may be quite acceptable for others.
The major challenge facing media industries today is that of
capturing a mass audience that has become fragmented.
Culture is constructed and maintained through
communication
In its simplest form, ______ is the transmission of a message from a source to a receiver.
communication
interpersonal communication
communication between two or a few people
news deserts
communities starved for news vital to their existences due to a lack of journalistic resources
When Dan Rather stated that "The larger the entities that own and control the news operations, the more distant they become," he was alluding to the idea that
conglomeration has made news outlets more responsible to the profit motive than to news reporting.
We can think of mass communication as a giant courtroom where, as a people, we discuss and debate our culture—what it is and what we want it to be. This view sees mass communication as a
cultural forum
In general, the courts have ruled that the FCC should be able to
decide if broadcasters are serving the public interest.
Osgood-Schramm Model
demonstrates the ongoing and reciprocal nature of the communication process, all participants are "interpreters", no source, no receiver, and no feedback
Time, Inc v. Hill (1967)
entertainment content- the 1st Amendment grants the same protection to entertainment content as it does to nonentertainment content
pornography
expression calculated solely to supply sexual excitement; protected by the 1st Amendment
Today's top-rated TV show draws how many television viewers compared to Cheers, the top-rated program in 1990?
fewer
The application of media ethics involves which of the following?
finding the most morally defensible answer to a problem
As the characteristics of media consumption have changed, media industries are adjusting to be able to cater to an audience that is
fragmented into a great number of niches.
normative ethics
generalized theories, rules, and principles of ethical or moral behavior ex: how far a reporter must go to ensure fairness
Mass communication can be considered similar to a
giant courtroom in which our culture is discussed and debated
taste publics
groups of people or audiences bound by little more than their interest in a given form of media content
platform agnostic
having no preference where media content is accessed
editorial policy
identify company positions on specific issues
copyright
identifying and granting ownership of a given piece of expression to protect the creators' financial interest in it
moral agent
in an ethical dilemma, the person making the decision
indecency
in broadcasting, language or material that depicts sexual or excretory activities in a way offensive to contemporary community standards (guilty until proven innocent if accused)
public domain
in copyright law, the use of material without permission once the copyright expires
ad hoc balancing of interests
in individual First Amendment cases, several factors should be weighed in determining how much freedom the press is granted; less-than-absolutist
conventions
in media content, certain distinctive, standardized style elements of individual genres
mass communication feedback
in the mass com process, feedback is typically indirect and inferential; typically comes too late to enable corrections or alterations in failed communication
hypercommercialism
increasing the amount of advertising and mixing commercial and noncommercial media content
Code of Ethics
industry professional codes of conducts that help with decision making
decoding
interpreting sign/symbol systems
According to critics of technological determinism, technology is ______ economic and cultural change.
just one of the many factors that shape
shield law
legislation that expressly protects reporters' rights to maintain sources' confidentiality in courts of law, or court precedent upholding that right; not in place in federal courts
The Gutenberg revolution, which caused printing to become widespread, also had a direct impact on the spread of
literacy, education, and ideas
Alien and Sedition Acts
made it illegal to print criticism of government or its leaders
Johannes Gutenberg changed the world forever when, in or around 1446, he invented
movable metal type
Critics of technological determinism maintain that technology is ______, and that what really matters is how humans ______ technology.
neutral; use
social responsibility theory
normative theory asserting that media must remain free of government control but, in exchange, must serve the public
The concentration of control of the media industries into ever-smaller numbers of companies is
oligopoly
concentration of ownership
ownership of different and numerous media companies concentrated in fewer and fewer hands.
globalization
ownership of media companies by multinational corporations
Libertarianism
philosophy of the press asserting that good and rational people can tell right from wrong if presented with full and free access to information; therefore, censorship is unnecessary
pornography v.s obscenity
pornography is sexually explicit until a court rules it illegal; then it becomes obscene and unprotected.
prior restraint
power of the government to prevent publication or broadcast of expression
digital rights management (DRM)
protection of digitally distributed intellectual property
access journalism
reporters acting deferentially toward news sources in order to ensure continued access
ascertainment
requires broadcasters to ascertain or actively and affirmatively determine the nature of their audiences' interest, convenience, and necessity; no longer enforced
ethics
rules of behavior or moral principles that guide actions in given situations
who?
says what? through which channel? to whom? with what effect?
Roth v. United States (1957)
sex and obscenity were not synonymous, a obscenity was seen as unprotected expression.
One problem with Lasswell's simple model of communication is that it fails to account for the fact that there must be a(n) ______ of meaning in order for communication to take place.
sharing
media multitasking
simultaneously consuming many different kinds of media
day-and-date release
simultaneously releasing a movie to the public in some combination of theater, cable, DVD, and download
When a media company has content that it can use across a number of its different holdings, this is
synergy
Groups of demographically targeted people who share an interest in a specific form of media content are called
taste publics
zonecasting
technology allowing radio stations to deliver different commercials to specific neighborhoods
Chandler v. Florida (1981)
television cameras in the courtroom were not inherently damaging to fairness. Today, all 50 states allow cameras in some courts—47 permit them in trial courts—and the U.S. Congress periodically debates opening federal courts, including the Supreme Court, to cameras.
Gitlow v. New York (1925)
the 1st Amendment is "among the fundamental personal rights and 'liberties' protected by the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment from impairment by the states". Given this, "Congress shall make no law" should be interpreted as "government agencies shall make no law." Today, "no law" includes statutes, laws, administrative regulations, executive and court orders, and ordinances from government, regardless of locale.
consumption of demand
the ability to access any content, anytime, anywhere
applied ethics
the application of metaethics and normative ethics to very specific situations
third-person effect
the common attitude that others are influenced by media messages, but we are not
"Communication is a symbolic process whereby reality is produced, maintained, repaired, and transformed" is
the cultural definition of communication
abridgment
the curtailing of rights
convergence
the erosion of traditional distinctions among media
social responsibility
the ethical environment in which media professionals must work as they strive to fulfill their socially responsible obligations.
libel
the false or malicious publication of material that damages a person's reputation
self-righting principle
the free flow or trade of ideas, even bad or uncomfortable ones, will inevitably produce the truth because a rational and good public will correct, or right, any errors; introduced by John Milton
technological determinism
the idea that machines and their development drive economic and cultural change
hostile media effect
the idea that people see media coverage of important topics of interest as less sympathetic to their position, more sympathetic to the opposing position, and generally hostile to their point of view regardless of the quality of the coverage
conglomeration
the increase in the ownership of media outlets by non media companies
product placement
the integration, for a fee, of specific branded products into media content
Today, how long does copyright remain with creators of media?
the life of creator plus 70 years
medium
the means by which messages are carried
platform
the means of delivering a specific piece of media content
slander
the oral or spoken defamation of a person's character
communication
the process of creating shared meaning
feedback
the response to a given communication
actual malice
the standard for libel in coverage of public figures consisting of "knowledge of its falsity" or "reckless disregard" for whether or not it is true
confirmation bias
the tendency to accept information that confirms one's beliefs and dismiss information that does not
synergy
the use by media conglomerates of as many channels of delivery as possible for similar content
culture
the world made meaningful; it is socially constructed and maintained through communication.
encoding
transforming ideas into an understandable sign/symbol system
obscenity
unprotected expression determined by (1) whether the average person, applying contemporary community standards, would find that the work, taken as a whole, appeals to the prurient interest; (2) whether the work depicts or describes, in a patently offensive way, sexual conduct specifically defined by the applicable state law; and (3) whether the work, taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value
embedding
war correspondents exchanging control of their output for access to the front (reporters accepting military control over their reporting in exchange for close contact with the troops)
brand entertainment
when commercials are part of and essential to a piece of media content
First Amendment
"Congress shall make no law . . . abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press."
distinction between slander and libel
"published defamation, whether it is in a newspaper, on radio or television, in the movies, or whatever, is regarded since the 1990s as libel. And libel rules apply"
free press (1st amendment) v.s. free trial (6th amendment)
Irvin v. Dowd (1961) - the Court reversed the death sentence conviction of accused killer Leslie Irvin because his right to a fair trial had been hampered by extremely prejudicial press coverage; 370 out of 430 potential jurors already thought he was guilty due to pretrial publicity
Which of the following best describes the Fairness Doctrine?
It required broadcasters to fairly cover issues that are important to the public.
Which of following best describes Canon 35
It was a rule that prohibited cameras and radio broadcasting of trials.
Which of the following statements about cameras in the courtroom today are true?
-Cameras are prohibited in federal trials. -All 50 states allow cameras in some courts.
Which of the following statements about culture are correct?
-Culture provides us with guidelines for how to behave in specific situations. -Cultural traditions and values can be seen as patterned, repetitive ways of thinking, feeling, and behaving. -Culture limits our options by equipping us with knowledge of what is the "right" and "wrong" way to respond to a situation.
Which of the following were decided in the 1925 U.S. Supreme Court case Gitlow v. New York?
-Government agencies can make no law regarding free expression. -The First Amendment is protected from state governments by the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.
Which of the following are true of Gutenberg's invention of movable metal type?
-Gutenberg's invention allowed mass communication. -Prior to Gutenberg's invention, literacy had been reserved for the elites.
Which of the following statements about social responsibility theory are true?
-It believes that both the media and audiences have an obligation to use media responsibly. -It recognizes the need for some form of control on the media.
Which of the following are general concerns when large, multinational conglomerates make the majority of media acquisitions?
-Local media industries and local cultures will be overwhelmed by the programs of large, multinational conglomerates. -With an eye toward an expanding worldwide market, media companies may tailor their content to the widest possible global audience. -Foreign corporations may try to influence media content to suit their own purposes.
Which of the following statements about cultural traditions and values are correct?
-Not everything that a culture teaches is helpful, and sometimes it can be downright harmful. -Thanks to these traditions and values, we know that it would usually be inappropriate to tell jokes at a funeral. -Depending on the situation, cultural traditions and values can either liberate or limit us.
In what ways is the concentration of ownership of media companies a disaster for democracy, according to Senator Bernie Sanders?
-Owners do not feel bound to the idea of providing diverse opinions on an issue. -The function of media companies that control the news has become to make as much money as they possibly can. -Major media conglomerates are not focused on educating the American people.
Which of the following explain the current state of hypercommercialism?
-Reaching fragmented audiences is more costly than reaching mass audiences. -Media conglomerates need to find ways to pay for large media acquisitions.
Which of the following statements are true about a television network's products and customers?
-The television network sells its programs as a product to its audience. -The television network sells its audience as a product to advertisers.
Which of the following statements about the impact of media are accurate?
-We may respond to media on an emotional or intellectual basis, or both. -Media both delight and annoy. -Media are so all-pervasive in our lives that we often fail to notice their presence.
Which of the following are examples of mixing genre conventions?
-a film that employs fictional elements while presenting itself as a documentary -a show that focuses on celebrity gossip presenting itself as a serious news program -a TV show that's really one long commercial for its sponsor
Which of the following fall under First Amendment protection?
-advertising -television -violence in movies
Which of the following have fueled media convergence?
-high-speed connectivity -the digitization of information -continual advancement in technology
Which of the following are types of formal controls, external to the industry, aimed at ensuring media professionals operate in an ethical manner?
-laws and regulations -codes defining permissible content
Which of the following are among the informal controls, external to the industry, aimed at ensuring media professionals operate in an ethical manner?
-pressure groups -advertisers -consumers
As our cultural storytellers, the mass media have a responsibility to tell their stories in the most ______ manner possible.
-professional -ethical
When a receiver gives feedback to a source,
-the receiver now becomes the source -the source now becomes the receiver
libel and slander tests
1. Truth (protected) 2. Privilege (protected) -press cannot be deterred from covering these important news events for fear that a speaker's or witness's comments will open it to claims 3. fair comment (protected) -the press has the right to express opinions or comment on public issues.
Which of the following explains why the media literacy skill of having a knowledge of genre conventions and the ability to recognize when they are being mixed is important?
Knowledge of genre conventions direct our meaning making.
How has concentration of ownership of media companies impacted the information that is available to consumers?
Media mergers have limited the range of information available to consumers.
Which of the following influenced the American Bar Association to adopt Canon 35?
Newspaper photographers intruded on the 1935 trial of Bruno Hauptmann.
Why is it that people rarely question their own role in the mass communication process?
People participate almost without conscious effort.
Gutenberg's contribution to the Industrial Revolution
Print was responsible for building and disseminating bodies of knowledge, leading to scientific and technological developments and the refinement of new machines. Leisure time.
Which of the following statements describes how cable copyright issues are currently handled?
Cable copyright issues are handled by several different arbitration panels under the Library of Congress.
financial conflict of interest
Should they accept speaking fees, consulting contracts, or other compensation from groups that may have a vested interest in issues they may someday have to cover?
cultural forum
TV reflects and comments on culture's hopes/dreams/values/conflicts
A reporter's commitment to equity is how well he or she affords the subjects in a story as much self-respect as possible.
False
From the beginning, newspapers have been an advertiser-supported medium.
False
The "day-and-date release" experiment has been largely unsuccessful, as it makes it seem like the producers already know the program will fail.
False
The general decline in revenues for the traditional media can be traced to overall declines in media consumption.
False
When media professionals are faced with ethical dilemmas, they are moral agents.
False
Which of the following best describes what happened when early newspaper publishers began selling advertising space based on their readership?
The newspapers were, in effect, selling their readers to their advertisers.
fair use
1. limited noncommercial use, such as photocopying a passage from a novel for classroom use 2. use of limited portions of a work, such as excerpting a few lines or a paragraph or two from a book for use in a magazine article 3. use that does not decrease the commercial value of the original, such as videotaping a daytime football game for private, at-home evening viewing 4. use in the public interest, such as Consumer Reports's use of pieces of drug company television commercials to highlight its media literacy efforts
The Fairness Doctrine was dissolved during the deregulation of broadcasting in what decade?
1980s
clear and present danger
1st Amendment rights are NOT protected in this case because the level of protection is one of degree; "the words used are used in such circumstances and are of such a nature as to create a clear and present danger that they will bring about the substantive evils that Congress has a right to prevent." - Oliver Wendell Holmes
What are the two biggest music licensing companies?
ASCAP and BMI
What is the difference between actual malice and libel?
Actual malice is intended to hurt a person, and libel is false or malicious published material that damages a person's reputation.