JOUR 4240
Normative theories of the press add these two theories to the classic "Four Theories" of the press
Free press and alternative media
What financial remedy does Gans propose for improving media in the United States?
Public (i.e., taxpayer-supported) funding for journalism.
Who introduced the concept of cultural hegemony?
Antonio Gramsc
Which of these is considered an example of "weaponizing the media"?
Attacking foreign news bureaus
The First Filter: Size, Ownership, and Profit Orientation of the Mass Media
Basically, the larger a media corporation becomes, the more difficult it is for smaller competitors to match them in terms of increased capital costs (for startup, production, and output for reaching large audiences). The largest (and most successful and dominant) media corporations are "owned and controlled by quite wealthy people.
CNN Myths
CNN makes life more difficult for foreign policy makers. CNN dictates what's on the foreign policy agenda Pictures of suffering force officials to intervene. There is nothing of icials can do about the CNN Effect. The CNN Ef ect is on the rise. https://learn.unt.edu/bbcswebdav/pid-5293361-dt-content-rid-110339292_1/courses/JOUR.4240.801-NT752.1181.1/Strobel_TheCNNEffect%281%29.pdf
Which of these cultural news values refers to our tendency to judge other societies and cultures by the standards of our own society and culture?
Ethnocentrism
The Second Filter: the Advertising License to Do Business
"an advertisingbased system will tend to drive out of existence or into marginality the media companies and types that depend on revenue from sales alone. With advertising, the free market does not yield a neutral system in which the final buyer choice decides. The advertisers' choices influence media prosperity and survival [emphasis authors'].
When media news coverage of issues is bias in favor the status quo, these are the results
1. ownership of media is held by major corporations with interests and goals similar to power elite elements of society 2. people with different views, "dissenting voices," are not heard much 3. the breadth of debate is limited 4. the official stance and institutional memory prevail and become history 5. people's interest and attention are often diverted away from issues about which they could become concerned These attributes come to limit a society in part because mainstream mass media play their part by imposing what Chomsky calls Necessary Illusions, Which make certain the masses of the populace won't become curious and involved in the political process and will continue submitting to the "civil rule" of the power elite (maintaining the status quo) -- thus, the masses (80%) are marginalized and diverted while the political class (20% who vote and participate in democracy) are indoctrinated into the status quo.
At the time of this week's reading's publication, how many viewers did Al Jazeera have around the world?
35 million
main oppositions
Adopting a neutral versus a participant role vis-a-vis the surrounding society Concentrating on facts versus setting out to interpret and provide commentary Acting as a gatekeeper for all voices in society versus being an advocate for a chosen cause or interest Serving the media organization versus trying to follow an idealistic conception of the journalistic task Choosing between social and nonprofit purposes and the criteria of the marketplace
Which of the following is one of the reasons the authors gave as to why we must look beyond the original four theories of the press when trying to understand/organize citizens' participation in public discourse?
All of these are correct.
LIBERTY AND EQUALITY
All types of democracy embrace the principle of "equality of liberty," but in practice liberty and equality often denote very different, even competing, perspectives on power, participation, and responsibility.
The Media and Democracy: Key Concepts
Among the many terms and concepts that have been used over the years to develop accounts of democracy and democratic practice, six stand out as particularly relevant to our interest in understanding media roles in democratic societies: liberty, equality, public opinion, popular consent, community, and communication. Rather than describing each separately, we pair them in a way that highlights some of the tensions and differences in democratic thought.
According to RSF, what is the key reason that the United States is not at a higher spot on the press freedom index?
Correct B & C are correct. The practice of government crackdown on information "whistleblowers" like Edward Snowden. Corporate ownership
Chapter 4
Democracy means popular sovereignty. Four Models of Democracy pluralist democracy, administrative democracy, civic democracy, and direct democracy.
Which of the 4+1 theories of the press is used to advance a country's industry and/or address that country's special needs?
Developmental
The news media's use of voices critical of U.S. official policy is an example of:
Elite manufacturing consent
What is one major criticism of Al Jazeera as a network?
It is not "objective."
conclusions
It should be clear from this account that the very notion of a media or journalistic role remains open to debate and alternative versions are inevitable. Expectations from the media are often inconsistent and also open to continuous change, redefinition, and negotiation.
Which of these best describes "the Al Jazeera effect"?
New media's ability to impact global politics.
What does Gans mean when he refers to "multiperspectival journalism"?
News that considers multiple sources of authority and stories for diverse audiences.
Which of these best describes the cultural news value of individualism?
News that focuses on triumph or success by a single person without considering context of community or circumstances.
How does manufacturing consent contribute to the CNN Effect?
Over-reliance on official sources allows the government to influence social norms about humanitarian crises.
Which of these best describes a "virtual community"?
People of common cultural, religious or political characteristics connected via online media
Which of these is a "myth" of the CNN Effect, according to Strobel?
Pictures of suffering force official U.S. intervention in humanitarian crises
THE PLURALIST MODEL OF DEMOCRACY
Pluralist democracy, sometimes called "liberal-pluralism" or "interest-group" democracy, derives its legitimacy from the proposition that individuals can most effectively assert their interests and preferences by coming together in the form of groups, small and large, that compete with other groups in an effort to find or forge mutually satisfying policies and programs.
According to the readings, what is the name of the model that describes how the CNN Effect works?
The policy-interaction model
The Al Jazeera Effect involves which one of these "flatteners"?
Steroids
functions and services for the political system
Surveillance of the sociopolitical environment Meaningful agenda setting Platforms for an intelligible and illuminating advocacy by politicians Mechanisms for holding officials to account Incentives for citizens to learn Principled resistance to efforts of forces outside the media to subvert their independence
Which of these is not one of the five filters of the propaganda model?
Technology
Which TV network, based in Venezuela, was developed based on Al Jazeera's model?
Telesur
The social responsibility theory of the press was developed as part of a series of hearings referred to as
The Hutchins Commission
What was wrong with the U.S. government's anti-jihadist strategies of creating media channels Radio Sawa and TV Hurra?
The channels attempted to foster diplomacy via pop culture
Historical periods of public communication
The classical period, from 500 BC to 1500 AD, in which the major concern of theorists was the truthfulness of public discourse within a corporatist order The early modern period, from roughly 1500 to 1800, in which the major concern was the freedom of participants in the public sphere within a libertarian order The period of modern populist democracies, from 1800 to 1970, in which the major concern has been the social responsibility of participants The contemporary "postmodern" period, since the 1970s, in which a major concern is citizen participation in the public sphere
Collaborative role
The collaborative role specifies and values the tasks for media that arise in situations of unavoidable engagement with social events and processes. Typical situations where this role is appropriate are those of new nations, with their intense pressure toward economic and social development under conditions of scarce resources and immature political institutions. However, collaboration between media and the state is often advocated, if not mandated, under unusual conditions of crisis or emergency, or threat to the society, from external or internal causes.
facilitative role
The facilitative role— as we have chosen to conceptualize it— is not prominent in the literature, although it is implicit in functionalist theories of media and society. role is not only in tension with individualism but also hard to reconcile with many of the practices of a press driven by profit and competitive instinct. It may require some subordination of typical professionalism.
In Soviet Communist press systems, the media is a function of.
The government
Horizontal dimension
The horizontal dimension records varying degrees of neutrality or intervention in the channeling task, affecting gatekeeping, access, and processing of whatever is carried in the channels.
Four main types of news media according to the two dimensions discussed.
The internally pluralist and secular media that seek to maximize circulation or audience in their chosen market (not necessarily a mass market), partly by appealing to a wide range of political and social groups The externally pluralist commercial media that also seek a high circulation but also adopt a particular ideological or political line to appeal to a like-minded audience The partisan media, usually noncommercial and small in scale (local or national) and dedicated to the interests and ideas of a particular (political) group The minority media of opinion and debate, dedicated to the expression and exchange of new and diverse facts and opinions
COMMUNITY AND COMMUNICATION
The liberal community works as a voluntary association that furthers its members' aims and interests. One important characteristic of the liberal community, then, is an unqualified faith in the individual to understand the world and to decide how best to live within it.
monitorial role
The monitorial role is probably the most widely recognized and least controversial in terms of conventional ideas about what the press should be doing, as seen by the press itself, its audiences, and various sources and clients.
What does "the CNN Effect" refer to?
The news media's ability to evoke a response to a humanitarian crisis
Radical role
The radical role is also familiar in accounts of normative expectations from media, even if it has been downgraded in the typical development of press institutions because of its potential clash with journalistic professionalism and market forces.
News Media Tasks and Types
The task of observing and informing, primarily as a service to the public The task of participating in public life as an independent actor by way of critical comment, advice, advocacy and expression of opinion The task of providing a channel, forum, or platform for extramedia voices or sources to reach a self-chosen public
How did cultural values emerge in the newsrooms that Gans studied?
The values emerged through newsroom practices and behaviors.
Vertical dimension
The vertical dimension contrasts the observer/ informant task with that of active involvement in political and social life.
According to the readings, U.S. intervention in which of these humanitarian crises was linked to the CNN Effect?
The war in Bosnia (1995)
Why are the ideologies that explain normative theories sometimes thought of as flawed?
They identify the beginning of normative theory as the rise of libertarian ideals, which ignored the philosophical contributions made by great thinkers such as Plato and Aristotle
Developmental theory
Third world theory developing nations, media can be owned and are mostly owned by the government, the media are used to promote the country's social and economic goals and to direct a sense of national purpose
THE ADMINISTRATIVE MODEL OF DEMOCRACY
This model of democracy rests on the premise that ordinary citizens lack the interest and expertise to effectively govern themselves.
THE CIVIC MODEL OF DEMOCRACY
This model of democracy stands in stark contrast to both the pluralist and administrative models, insofar as it rejects one of the core claims of the liberal-procedural tradition: that an aggregation of personal preferences constitutes a legitimate form of popular consent. Citizens convey consent in a civic democracy through a distinctively public judgment that may or may not coincide with the sum of the private choices individuals make in a pluralist or administrative democracy.
THE DIRECT MODEL OF DEMOCRACY
This model takes self-government literally by accentuating unmediated involvement in public affairs. In the version developed by Benjamin Barber, a widely cited advocate of "strong" democracies and the "wide popular participation in politics" they imply, direct democracy envisions a politics of cooperation and concord. In such a politics, "human beings with variable but malleable natures and competing but overlapping interests can contrive to live together
Filter of media- nefarious uses / manufacturing consent
This propaganda model is constructed of five "filters" through which the "raw material" of news must pass, successively, until only a narrow range of viewpoints and ideas is visible.
How is media hegemony reinforced?
Through the concentration of media ownership
This week's reading mentions that new media technologies help humanitarian groups bring additional attention to their causes. What's another term for these groups?
Trransnational advocacy networks
Your reading suggests that normative theory is actually a single, unified body of thought that can work to justify or just explain public policies, rather than a collection of competing press structures.
True
Executive manufactured consent:
Uses sources and information from the President, members of the Cabinet and other members of the executive branch.
alternative versions of these role descriptions, but the most typical list includes the following:
alternative versions of these role descriptions, but the most typical list includes the following:
Areopagitica is a landmark publication written by Puritan philosopher and writer John Milton that argued for the end of
censorship of the press
Roles in Context
community, the distribution of power, and issues of legitimation and accountability.
What two issues are at the root of the "clash of emotions" between the West and "the Arab and Muslim worlds"?
culture of fear vs. culture of humiliation
Normative theories are principally used to describe the organization of communication within a
democracy
Flatteners of the world
https://flatworldbusiness.wordpress.com/flat-education/previously/flatteners-of-the-world/
Four Key Roles for Journalism
monitorial, facilitative, radical, and collaborative.
The Third Filter: Sourcing MassMedia News
must feed continuously into the mass media producers, with the pressure of their deadlines. In order to ensure the greatest chance that this raw material will be constantly available, as reliable as possible (from "authoritative" sources), and of national significance, the mass media producers look to the press agencies of government and business corporations. These institutions have press departments, prestigious reputations which contribute to their ostensible credibility, and perform actions and transactions regularly that are considered "news." Relying on such institutions also cuts down on the cost of investigating facts and details from lesser known and potentially less credible sources, and again, the bottom line is everything.
The Fourth Filter: Flak and the Enforcers
order to carry the most weight with media corporations, flak (defined by the authors as "negative responses to a media statement or program") has to be produced "on a large scale, or by individuals or groups with substantial resources." [15] Those powerful individuals and groups, then, are likely to be the White House, ad agencies, corporate sponsors, applying (complaining) to the media companies, or putting pressure on stockholders and employees to then pressure the media companies.
The Fifth Filter: Anticommunism as a Control Mechanism
self explanatory, if you need more info go to nefarious uses
The Concept of Journalistic Role
words "duty," "responsibility," "task," "goal," or "function." pg 117
