Mass Comm. Exam 3
George Carlin
-"Seven Dirty Words" comedy routine -FCC v. Pacifica Foundation: Fined radio station for bad language -Established that the FCC has the power to regulate indecent speech in broadcast media
Mutual Film Corp v. Ohio
-1915 -Films don't have 1st Amendment protection b/c they're a business, not an art -Allowed states and cities to censor film
War of the Worlds radio broadcast
-1938 reading of the sci-fi novel War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells read by Orson Welles created panic among listeners -Media effects can be dramatic but not uniform
Television in the Lives of Our Children
-1960 landmark investigation on the impact of television on children in North America -Conducted by Wilbur Schramm, Jack Lyle, and Edwin Parker -Some children under some conditions exhibit some negative consequences -Thus developed various limited-effects models
New York Times Co. v. Sullivan
-1964 -Media historians and legal scholars tend to view as most important legal decision to establish a free press in US -Ruled that public figures and officials may not sue for libel unless they can prove "actual malice" -Private citizens: standard for libel requires that the plaintiff show that a "reasonable person" knew or should have known the defamatory statement was false -Citizen's right to criticize government officials is too important to be intolerant of even falsehoods -Protected commercial speech
Agenda-setting theory
-1972 -Maxwell Combs and Donald Shaw -The news doesn't tell us what to think, but what to think about AND how much importance to put on each topic
Uses-and-gratifications research
-A branch of research on media effects that examines why people use media; what they do to media rather than what media does to them -Popular in 1970s-80s -3 basic claims: 1) People use the media actively for their own purposes 2) People know what those purposes are and can articulate them 3) Despite individual differences in media use, basic common patterns exist among people -Molded on an audience more active than passive -Criticized for being hard to test empirically and for using circular reasoning
Postmodernism
-A broad category of viewpoints that rejects grand narratives attempting to explain the world and absolute truths because truth is relative and unknowable -Many variants -Avoids "metanarratives" -Questions the formation of knowledge
Hays Code
-A code established in 1930 by the movie industry to censor itself regarding showing nudity or glorifying antisocial acts -Officials for the Hays Office had to approve each film distributed to a mass audience -3 general moral principles: 1) The sympathy of the audience should never be thrown to the side of crime, wrongdoing, evil, or sin 2) Present correct standards of life, subject only to the requirements of drama and entertainment 3) Not to ridicule natural or human law -Significantly revised in 1960s -Replaced by current rating system in 1968
Ideology
-A comprehensive and normative body of ideas and standards held by an individual or group
Shield law
-A law intended to protect journalists from legal challenges to their freedom to report the news -34 states have enacted laws to protect journalists from having to answer every subpoena; need not testify or produce materials obtained from confidential sources -Evidence suggests they have limited effectiveness -Hard to define a "journalist"
Preferred-position balancing theory
-A legal theory that says that a balance must be struck between speech and other rights, although speech has a preferred position -Described by Don Pember -Limitations on freedom of speech in press are usually illegal -Gov. must demonstrate speech threatens national security rather than journalists having to prove it does not
Quantitative research
-A method of inquiry favored in the physical sciences that focuses on numerical data and statistical measures to describe phenomena -Researchers often attempt to prove or disprove a hypothesis through the empirical method, particularly controlled experimentation -Tend to have a positivist perspective -Experiments, surveys, statistical analysis -Sampling error -Use of random sample
Qualitative research
-A method of inquiry favored in the social sciences that explores typically unstructured phenomena through interviews, focus groups, and participant observation among other techniques that produce descriptive rather than predictive results -Generally not trying to make predictions but focusing on description to gain a better understanding of the world as the participants see it -In-depth interviews, focus groups, ethnography
Hypodermic-needle model
-A model of media effects, also called the "magic bullet", that claims media messages have a profound, direct, and uniform impact on the public -Derived from learning theory and behavioral psychology -Designed by political scientist Harold Lasswell during WW1
Universal service
-A notion central to the FCC -An evolving level of telecommunications services that the commission shall establish periodically -6 key principles: 1) Quality service at reasonable and affordable rates 2) Access to advanced telecommunications and information services throughout the US 3) Access in rural and high-cost areas 4) Equitable and nondiscriminatory contributions to the preservation and advancement of universal service 5) Specific, predictable, and sufficient federal and state mechanisms to preserve and advance universal service 6) Access to advanced telecommunications services in elementary and secondary schools and classrooms, health care providers, and libraries
Participant-observation
-A qualitative research technique in which researchers participate as members of the group they are observing -Variant of ethongraphy -Ex: Fan club, online video game
Clear and present danger
-A restriction on speech when it meets both of the following requirements: 1) It is intended to incite or produce dangerous activity (ex. falsely yelling "Fire!" in a crowded theater) 2) It is likely to succeed in achieving the purported result -"Imminent lawless action" -Originally emerged from Schenck v. United States (1919)
Random sample
-A sample in which every person has an equally probable chance of being selected, intended to represent the entire population of the study -Difficult to achieve; quantitative flaw
Pragmatism
-A school of thought affirming truths found in actions that work and rejecting the possibility of overarching or purely objective notions of truth -Related to constructivism and postmodernism
Alien and Sedition Acts
-A series of 4 acts passed by US Congress in 1798 that, among other things, prohibited sedition, or spoken or written criticism of the US government, and imposed penalties of a fine or imprisonment on conviction -Although they expired in 1801, other sedition acts have been passed periodically, especially during times of war -Meant to silence Jeffersonian Republicans in favor of France
Focus group
-A small group of people assembled by researchers to discuss a topic -Interactions are closely observed, recorded, and analyzed to determine people's opinions
Information society
-A society where information production has supplanted industrial production, dramatically transforming cultural, economic, and political activity -Sometimes also labeled: the network, knowledge, or postindustrial society -Prominence of communications and media has ushered in a new era that breaks drastically from the industrial society -Networks bring world closer together and knowledge is key for workers
Epistemology
-A study or theory of the limitations and validity of knowledge -A way of or framework for understanding the world
Critical theory
-A theoretical approach broadly influenced by Marxist notions of the role of ideology, exploitation, capitalism, and the economy in understanding and eventually transforming society -Created by Frankfurt School scholars in 1930s/40s in Germany -Originated cultural studies normative focus
Cultivation Analysis
-A theory of media effects that claims television cultivates in audiences a view of reality similar to the world portrayed in television programs -Developed by George Gerbner -Stresses cumulative effects rather than individual programs on individual viewers
Ethnography
-A variety of qualitative research techniques that involve immersion of a researcher in a particular culture to allow interaction with participants through observation, participation, interviews, or a combination of methods -Enter a setting and remain for a period of time to directly observe and document media behavior -Qualitative method
Social constructivism
-A view that claims much or all of what we know and understand about the world, including scientific knowledge, is constructed through social interactions and language -Language creates the world as we know it -Meanings are relativistic and change with context
Postpositivism
-A view that largely agrees with positivism but also recognizes knowledge that may not be revealed through scientific inquiry -Ex: Religious faith
Positivism
-A view, common among scientists in the physical or natural sciences and many social sciences, that affirms an objective reality to be discovered and explained through rigorous scientific research -Rigorous testing and experimentation following the scientific method can prove or disprove hypotheses based on observations
Fairness Doctrine
-Adopted by FCC in 1949 -Required broadcasters to seek out and present all sides of a controversial issue they were covering -Discarded by FCC in 1987
Negative effects of media violence
-Aggressive stimulation theory -People are inspired to violence by media depictions -Depends who you ask
Uses and Gratifications studies
-An approach to understanding why and how people actively seek out specific media to satisfy specific needs -Audience-centered approach -Positivistic -Why do people use media and for what
Political economy
-An area of study inspired by Marxism that examines the relationship between politics and economics with media ownership and the influences they all have on society and perpetuating the status quo -Robert McChesney: argues that since the 1990s corporate interests that influence government regulations and policy decisions have controlled the Internet at the expense of public interests -Examining media production reveals the underlying forces that inform power relations and dominance -Can explore areas where an audience does not yet exist
Cultural studies
-An interdisciplinary framework for studying communication that rejects the scientific approach while investigating the role of culture in creating and maintaining social relations and systems of power -Developed in 1970s and envelops several studies -Seen tremendous growth from 1990s-21st century -Reject media-effects research tradition and examine how meaning is produced among audiences and producers -Critical eye towards issues of power, dominance, and subordination -Less critical/celebratory of consumer culture and media (North America) vs. Marxist (Europe) -Seeks to improve society rather than describe it
Fourth estate
-Another term for the press, or journalism, which acts as a fourth branch of government, one that watches the other branches -Press must be free from gov. censorship or control -Inhibited by concentration of ownership and media companies' commercial interests
Children's Television Act
-CTA -Created in 1990 -Limits the amount of commercial content that programming can carry, forces stations to carry certain amounts of educational programming for children 16 and under, and includes other provisions to protect children -4 criteria: 1) Designed primarily to address children's educational and informational needs; can't be primarily entertainment 2) Broadcast between 6am and 10pm, hours when children are likely to be viewing 3) Scheduled regularly each week 4) Runs at least a half hour -Programs aimed at children 12 and younger cannot have more than 10.5 minutes of advertising/hour on weekends, 12 min on weekdays
Positive aspects of media violence
-Cathartic effect -Ex: Aristotle, Seymour Feshbach -Sometimes produces social effects
Culture industry
-Coined by Frankfurt school -Describe how media companies produce or "make" culture in the same way that other companies produce products -Media businesses create mass-produced "cultural products" that are consumed by the masses -Distinguished between high art and popular art -Artistic snobbery
Mean World Syndrome
-Coined by George Gerbner -A syndrome in which people perceive the world as more dangerous than it actually is as a result of viewing countless acts of media violence -Tv programs are powerful instruments of socialization
Spiral of Silence
-Developed by Elizabeth Noelle-Neumann -Theoretical construct that explains why people may be unwilling to publicly express opinions they feel are in the minority -Based on 3 premisses: 1) People have a natural fear of isolation 2) Out of fear of isolation, people are reluctant to publicly express views that they fear are in the minority 3) A "quasi-statistical organ", a sort of sixth sense, allows people to gauge the prevailing climate of opinion and determine majority views on matters of public opinion -In some instances a majority opinion if perceived to be a minority opinion may not be expressed publicly
Two/multi-step flow model
-Developed by Paul Lazarsfeld in 1944 -Ideas flow from mass media to opinion leaders to wider population -Voters are motivated by opinion leaders rather than the media -Personal contact is more important than media contact
Harold Lasswell
-Developed hypodermic-needle model -Powerful effects -Model of Communication: Who says what, In which channel, To whom, With what effect -WWII Propaganda era
Criticisms of media-effects research
-Direct-effects and hypodermic-needle discredited by other studies -Many citizens and policy makers still believe -Easy to blame media at times of tragedy -Flawed by belief the audience has no will of its own -Difficult to measure media exposure -Examining the wrong dimension; some claim we need to understand the processes and economics of media products
Powerful Effects flaws
-Doesn't give people enough credit -Says that people are stupid "passive dupes" -Doesn't account for people's agency; ability to think and act for themselves -Strong direct effects have never been proven to occur -Used by people w/ low media literacy and those that want to exploit their fears
Sociohistorical frameworks
-Draw on a variety of schools of thought and disciplines -Tend not to emphasize audiences as much -Examine entire media system within larger social, political, and historical contexts
Sampling error
-Error in a statistical analysis that results from selecting a sample that does not represent the entire population -Quantitative flaw
Federal Communications Commission
-FCC -Established in 1934 -The principal communications regulatory body at the federal level in the US -Consists of 5 commissioners appointed by the president for 5-year terms confirmed by the Senate -Nonpartisan nature -Regulates: 1) Electromagnetic Spectrum Allocation 2) Common Carrier 3) Broadcast media content 4) Internet service providers (??)
Federal Trade Commission
-FTC -Established in 1914 -The principal commerce regulatory body at the federal level in the US -Enforces antitrust and consumer protection laws -Enforces COPPA -Regulates deceptive practices over the Internet, but difficult to enforce
Commercial speech
-Generally been afforded less First Amendment protection -1942: Purely commercial advertising not protected by First Amendment -1976: Speech that does no more than propose a commercial transaction is entitled to at least some protection
First Amendment
-Guarantees that Congress shall make no law restricting freedom of speech, press, or religion -Some level of regulatory and legal restriction -Full protection only extended to print media -Regular typed text online is treated like print -Hyperlinks are treated as "acts" and not covered -Not sure how to treat programs
Intellectual property
-Ideas that have commercial value, such as literary or artistic works, patents, trademarks, business methods, and industrial processes -Creations of the mind -4 main rights' protections: 1) Copyright 2) Patents 3) Trademark 4) Trade secrets
Indecent speech
-Language or material that, in context, depicts or describes, in terms patently offensive as measured by contemporary community standards for the broadcast medium, sexual or excretory organs or activities -Not prohibited but subject to federal regulation -Prohibited on air from 6am-10pm (safe harbor period) -Lower standard than obscenity -Ex: Damn still allowed
Subtle means of government control
-Licensing laws for journalists -Special taxes on printing equipment, paper, or ink -Government censors; bodies that examine and approve all printed material
Effects
-Lifestyle: Socialization -Attitude: Role modeling -Stereotyping -Status conferral (similar to agenda-setting) -Cultural: Cultural imperialism
Fighting Words Doctrine
-Limitation on freedom of speech -Words that inflict injury or tend to incite an immediate breach of the peace -1942
Time, Place, Manner
-Limits the government can impose on the occasion, location, and type of individual expression in some circumstances -Time: Restrictions on certain hours i.e. protesting in rush hour -Place: Public vs. non-public forums -Manner: Limits on symbolic speech, how you communicate -Courts can limit as long as it's content-neutral
Reception analysis
-Major break in audience research -Assumed audiences actively make meaning from the media they consume -Researchers looked at popular entertainment such as soap operas, woman's magazines, and romance novels rather than traditional news or "serious" programming -Areas of study allowed feminist and other scholars to study women in media and as active consumers of media -1980s findings showed women actively and freely chose a variety of meanings from supposed "sexist" content -Attempts to fill the holes in previous theorizing and research by looking at cultural and social patterns of media production and power relations between different groups -Some critics object to the active audience nature b/c it makes media seem almost powerless
Medium theory
-Marshall McLuhan coined the phrase "the medium is the message" -Medium itself is more critical to our perception of the message than its content or its manner of production -Electronic media had transformed the world into a "global village"
Limited-effects models
-Media are a component in a much larger and more fundamental system of influences to which we are all subject -Institutions such as the family, school, and religion are much more influential forces that shape individuals -Media exposure contributes but is secondary
Libel insurance
-Media organizations utilize to protect journalists -Often not extended to freelance journalists -Journalists can be imprisoned for contempt in libel or other cases such as not divulging the identity of a source or not releasing one's notes -Minimize chances: 1) Engage in thorough research and use reliable sources 2) Confirm the identity of the target of your report 3) Use quotations whenever possible and attribute statements to sources 4) Report only facts and avoid language that draws conclusions 5) Avoid bias in reports, and strive for balance
Catalytic theory
-Media violence can be among factors that cause violence -Other factors include: 1) Whether media violence is rewarded 2) Whether media exposure is heavy 3) Whether a violent person fits other profiles (income, education, class, intelligence, parenting) 4) Whether media violence is: -Realistic and exciting -Succeeds in righting a wrong -Includes characters or situations relatable to the viewer
Agenda setting
-Media's role in deciding which topics to cover and consequently which topics the public deems important and worthy of discussion -1948: Paul Lazarsfeld and Robert Merton proposed that conferring status is one of the primary functions of the media -Singling someone out from the masses bestows prestige and authority on the person so identified -Bernard Cohen: The press may not be successful much of the time in telling people what to think, but it is stunningly successful in telling its readers what to think about
Bobo doll studies
-Media-effects experiments in the 1950s that showed children who watched TV episodes that rewarded a violent person were more likely to punch a Bobo doll than children who saw episodes that punished a violent person -Could not confirm if children remained more aggressive after leaving the lab
Obscenity
-One of the forms of speech not protected by the First Amendment and thus subject to censorship -No exact definition -Generally a 3-part standard is applied for media content: 1) It must appeal to prurient interests as defined by community standards 2) It must show sexual conduct in an offensive manner 3) It must on the whole lack serious artistic, literary, political, or scientific value -Established in Miller v. California (1973)
Walter Lippmann
-Pulitzer Prize winning journalist -One of the founders of US media studies -1922 book Public Opinion: American Public is a "Bewildered herd" that needs careful shepherding by an intelligent elite
Qualitative concerns
-Should participants be informed of the researcher's true role -Do researchers intervene in event of risky or dangerous behavior -Avoid representing data like it came from a quantitative study
Political speech
-Speech that deals with the political process, government, elected officials, or elections -Heart of freedom of expression -Some believe sole intention of First Amendment -Federal regulations are most extensive
Payne Fund Studies
-Studied from 1928-1933 -12 volume report on the impact of film viewing on children -Same film influenced different children differently based on their demographics -Revealed positive lessons could also be learned via film -Created a "school of the air" that used radio to educate children on a variety of subjects
Joseph Burstyn, Inc. v. Wilson
-Supreme Court 1952 Miracle decision that first granted first amendment coverage to cinema -Film is art and film can be political
Actual malice
-Terms of either: 1) The defendant's intent being malicious 2) The defendant's knowing the statement is false but publishing it anyway
Censorship
-The act of prohibiting certain expression of content -Censors usually do not target the whole publication, program, or website but seek to prohibit some part of the content -Routine in authoritarian regimes -Not common in US unless: 1) During wartime, when content, especially that being reported from the battlefield, may threaten national security 2) With pornographic or obscene content, which can sometimes include graphic violence or detailed accounts of criminal behavior
Technological determinism
-The belief that technology causes certain human behaviors -Espoused by Marshall McLuhan -By celebrating technology he ignored the relations of power and dominance technological communication creates and perpetuates
Telecommunications Act of 1996
-The first major regulatory overhaul of telecommunications since 1934, designed to open the industry to greater competition by deregulating many aspects of it -Fosters competition and hopes to achieve lower prices and higher quality for Americans -Specifically targets violent or sexual programming and interactive services -Caused media ownership to become drastically more concentrated
Chilling effect
-The phenomenon that occurs when journalists or other media producers decide not to publish stories on a topic after a journalist has been punished or jailed for such a story -May anger public or damage government's reputation
Framing
-The presentation and communication of a message in a particular way that influences our perception of it -Frames emerge through our daily interactions with media and are shaped by our cultural and societal norms -Message framing can have a profound effect on behavior depending on whether a message is framed as a gain or a loss -Shown in 1984 by researchers Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky -Gain: Choose safer option -Loss: Choose riskier option
Propaganda
-The regular dissemination of a belief, doctrine, cause, or information with the intent to mold public opinion -Involves total control of the transmission of information without the audience knowing who is controlling the message -Important to early media-effects research during WW1
Equal-time rule
-The requirement that broadcasters make available equal airtime, in terms of commentaries and commercials, to opposing candidates running for election -Does not apply to candidates appearing in newscasts, documentaries, or news-event coverage -Part of 1934 Communications Act -Upheld in 1981
Media ecology
-The study of media environments and their effects on people and society -Examines how our media environment influences our thinking and how specific types of media affect our perceptions -Medium theory
Third-person effect
-The tendency for people to underestimate the effect of a persuasive message on themselves while overestimating its effects on others -Sometimes encourages one group to shield another from messages it thinks will harm them -First identified by W. Phillips Davison while examining WW2 records
Frankfurt School scholars
-Theodor Adorno -Max Horkheimer -Herbert Marcuse -Walter Benjamin
Encoding/decoding model
-Theoretical model that states media producers encode media products with meanings and are decoded in various ways by various audiences -Developed by Stuart Hall in 1970s -Launched the active-audience approach -Examines audiences in a larger sociocultural context -No guarantee the producer's preferred meaning will be accepted -3 basic options for audience decoding: 1) Dominant or hegemonic reading 2) Oppositional reading 3) Negotiated reading
Narcotizing dysfunction
-Theory that as mass media inundates people on a certain issue they become apathetic to it, substituting knowledge for action -Coined by Paul Lazarsfeld and Robert Merton -Superficial concern
Powerful effects models
-Theory that the media has an immediate, direct influence on audiences (particularly "vulnerable" audiences like women, children, minorities) -AKA "Hypodermic model" or "Magic Bullet model"
Minimal Effects models
-Two/multi-step flow model -
Libel
-Type of written defamation -A defamatory statement published to the public which the writer knew or should have known was false that causes injury to reputation -Extended to broadcasting on television or radio as well as to online communications -Zenger case helped define (1735) -Phipps v. Clark Oil & Ref. Corp. (1987): libel occurs when a publication "tends to injure the plaintiff's reputation and expose the plaintiff to public hatred, contempt, ridicule, or degradation"
Information society criticisms
-Utopian-picture -Claim it strengthens established relations of dominance as global media corporations control more media channels -Extrapolate from a small segment of world population
V-chip
-Violence chip -A computer device that enables parents or any other viewer to program a TV set to block access to programs containing violent or sexual content based on the program rating -Mandated by government as of Jan. 2000 that all television sets 13 inches or longer contain -News programming is exempt
Prior Restraint
-When the government prevents or blocks the publication, broadcasting showing, or distribution of media content, whether in print, over the air, in movie theaters, or online -Reversed Near v. Minnesota (1931) to allow anti-Semitic publication
Criticisms of cultural studies
-Writing style exclusive to academics -Hides muddled thinking and masks mundane ideas -Largely rejects scientific tenets such as the use of reason in finding truth
Zenger ruling
-Wrote an article featuring scathing statements on colonial governor William Cosby -Acquitted because of truth of statements -Helped define libel in America -1735
Cross-sectional study
A study that gathers data on subjects at a specific point in time
Longitudinal study
A study that gathers data on subjects over a long period of time
Slander
A type of defamation that is spoken, as opposed to written (libel), and that damages a person's reputation or otherwise causes harm
Radio Act of 1927
An act of Congress that created the Federal Radio Commission, intended to regulate the largely chaotic airwaves and based on the principle that companies had a civic duty to use airwaves, a limited public good, responsibly
Sedition
Speech or action that encourages overthrow of a government or that subverts a nation's constitution or laws
Media Effects
Studying media influence by identifying effects of media exposure; influenced creation of movie rating system, TV regulations, advertisements, etc. Prevalent idea that media affects us directly, especially negatively
Radio Act of 1912
The act assigned frequencies and 3 and 4 letter codes to radio stations and limited broadcasting to the 360-meter wavelength
Digital Divide
The gap between regions and demographics that have access to modern, digital-communications technology and those that have limited or no access
Network neutrality
The principle that broadband networks should be free of restrictions on content, platforms, or equipment and that certain types of content, platforms, or equipment should not get preferential treatment on the network