CMN 140 Final Study Guide

Describe behavioral-type effects

*Behavioral-type effects* trigger actions! Behavioral type effects can be immediate (for example, watching an ad for a product and then buying that product online) or long-term (such as long term patterns of buying). Behavioral type effects can lead to behavioral habits and even addiction.

Describe cognitive-type effects

*Cognitive-type effects* plant ideas in our mind. Cognitive type effects are the most pervasive and overlooked and consist of factual and/or social information. For example, by observing role models in the media, we gather social information about what it takes to be successful and happy (or like what our body image is "suppose" to look like).

Describe Concentration Among Ad Agencies

*Concentration Among Ad Agencies* explains that agencies are growing and are focused on national markets rather than local companies. In fact, half of all advertising placements in the US are handled by one of four international advertising conglomerates: WPPC plc, Omnicom Group Inc., IPG, and Publicis Groupe. Because manufacturers keep buying each other up, there is more power in the marketplace and as advertisers (Proctor and Gamble). Also note, products that appear very different may be marketed by same company

Define Efficiency

*Efficiency* values concentration of power in the hands of those who can make decisions well and quickly. Efficiency is the trend towards concentration, consolidation, and centralization. Efficiency leads to increased barriers to entry and oftentimes, small companies go out of business or are bought out by conglomerate as a result. In 2004, five companies owned most US media properties: Bertelsmann, Disney, News Corp., Time Warner, and Viacom. The danger of efficiency is that there is a narrowing range of voices.

Describe emotional-type effects

*Emotional type effects* make us feel things and they consist of immediate effects and long term effects. Immediate emotional type effects can trigger strong emotions (such as rage and fear) and weak emotions (such as sadness and boredom). For example, horror movies can make us feel fear and magazine pictures can make us feel lust. Long-term emotional type effects can lead to desensitization after years of exposure to media violence, for example, we may gradually come to lose the ability to feel sympathy for victims of violence in media portrayals (and real life).

Describe intentionality of effects

*Intentionality of effects* explains that we expose ourselves to media for certain reason, and these are intended effects. However, effects are unintended often when we are in state of automaticity. We simultaneously take in intended and unintended effects. We should actively analyze and evaluate messages in order to gain more control. An example of an intentional effect includes going to an action/horror movie because you are bored and want to feel some excitement. An unintentional effect would include developing a belief that the world should be more exciting after years of watching action/horror movies.

what are the effects of localism and the mass media

*Localism in the mass media* states that media voices should be kept local to best serve the public. Localism in the mass media fosters teh development of broadcasting industries and creates regulations based on spectrum scarcity, public interest and promotion of diversity. Over time, the FCC has allowed more ownership concentration due to pressure from broadcasters

Define localism

*Localism* values sharing of power among many. Localism believes control of important institutions should be spread out. There is considerable power at the local level. In addition, localism is closest to individuals and best serves society. Localism believes that each person is a rational being with equal say and is a proponent of American tradition

Describe macro-type effects

*Macro-type effects* have an influence on larger institutions (such as organizations, institutions, society, etc). Macro type effects are direct influences that can lead to a heightening of social pressures. For example, the institution of the family has changed in the last several decades: the number of two parent families has decreased radically, and the number of single parents and childless couples has increased. In other words, the concept of what a "traditional American family" looks like is changing.

What is net neutrality

*Net Neutrality* calls for no blocking, no throttling and no paid prioritization. 1.) no blocking refers to the idea that internet providers can't prevent you from accessing "legal content, applications, services, or non-harmful devices" when you're on the internet. This is intended to prevent censorship and discrimination of specific sites or services. 2.) no throttling refers to the idea that internet providers can't deliberately slow down data from applications or sites on the internet. That means, for instance, that a broadband company have to let all traffic flow equally, regardless of whether it's coming from a competitor or a streaming video service like Netflix that uses a lot of data. 3.) no paid prioritization refers to the idea that internet providers can't charge content providers extra to bring their data to you faster. That means no internet "fast lanes," because regulators fear they will lead to degraded service for anyone not willing to pay more.

Describe ownership rights

*Ownership rights* assert that copyright owners have "sole and exclusive right to reproduce the work in any form for any reason". Ownership rights last for the life of the author plus 70 years. Fair use of copyrighted material includes news reporting, criticism, teaching. However, copyright has its limits. Today, copyright is becoming more ambiguous with digitization of messages and free exchange through computers

Describe physiological-type effects

*Physiological-type effects* have an influence on our automatic bodily systems and are beyond conscious control. For example, our pupils dilate when we look at a bright light. Physiological type effects can lead to arousal (such as elevation of blood pressure, heart rate, sweaty palms, etc.) or relaxation (such as lowered rate of breathing and reduced heart rate). Over time, reactions can change. For example, when watching a suspenseful mystery movie, our blood pressure rises and our heart rate increases, but after years of watching suspenseful mystery movies our physiological responses may wear down.

What is Piracy?

*Piracy* is the unauthorized use of things owned by other people. Note, *copyright* is a method to register ownership of intellectual property and mass media can act as a tool and threat to authors. *Types of piracy* include bootlegging, counterfeiting and sharing copyrighted messages without paying for access. 1.) *Bootlegging* is the unauthorized recording of a live delivery of a message 2.) *counterfeiting* is the duplication of a copyrighted message along with its packaging, and then selling it as real product 3.) *Sharing copyrighted messages without paying for access* involves individuals who make copies available to others for free

Describe producer's faulty beliefs about violence

*Producer's faulty beliefs about violence* include violence is necessary for storytelling and that producer's are not at fault (i.e blame others). 1.) The idea that violence is necessary for storytelling is a faulty belief. Violence is widespread throughout storytelling and while certain audiences like stories with violence, others don't. Violence decreases enjoyment for most but some people selectively expose themselves to violent media. 60% of mainstream programs contain violence 2.) Many people blame the media for high profile acts of violence. Media producers try to shift blame, even though blame should be shared (not one person at blame).

Who are the players in the money cycle

*The players in the money cycle* is the athletic talent, owners and leagues, the networks, advertisers and the public 1.) . Athletic talent demands higher salaries plus bonuses each year. To help control the rise of salaries and to try to create parity among teams, several professional sports have established salary caps for teams in their leagues. These caps are often ignored because star players increase the value of franchise. 2.) Owners of teams are willing to bid high for athletic talent so that they can field a competitive team that will attract fans to their games as well as fans to telecasts of their games. For example, the NFL controls all television rights to its games and distributes that money equally among all teams, so that teams in the smaller television markets can afford to be competitive. However, the NBA allows its teams to negotiate their own regional TV deals. Teams can also get money from stadium naming rights 3.) Television networks compete against one another to attract fans so they drive up the fees they pay for the right to telecast the games. There has been a shift from focusing on sports to an entertainment formula. Over the years, the professional sports leagues have changed the rules of their games to make them more exciting for fans 4.) Advertisers of certain products find sports fans an especially desirable audience. In fact, they pay huge fees to television networks to get their messages to their target audiences and have also turned stadiums into advertising vehicles. 5.) the *public* receives a lot of satisfaction in following our favorite sports teams, so we follow the games on television, tolerate the commercial interruptions, and buy the advertised products. For the money cycle to grow, the number of fans has to grow each year. In order to build new stadiums, non-fans must support the money cycle too.

Describe timing of effects

*Timing of effects* is WHEN evidence of effects begins to show. Immediate effects are easier to notice and occur during or immediately after exposure, for example, becoming happy when you find out your favorite sports team won. Long-term effects are slow and gradual and show up after many exposures, for example, after years of being exposed to ads for all kinds of products, we become more materialistic.

Describe the types of concentration

*Types of Concentration* include horizontal mergers, vertical mergers and conglomerate mergers. 1.) Horizontal merger is a merger of a media company of same type. An example includes one newspaper company buying another newspaper company. 2.) Vertical merger is a merger with suppliers and/or distributors; Vertical mergers integrate production and distribution. An example would be if a newspaper company bought a paper supply company. 3.) Lastly, a *conglomerate merger* is a combination of media companies and/or non-media businesses. For example, a film studio buys a newspaper, several radio station, a talent agency and some restaurants. Note, *megamergers* are a special case! As mergers become more and more popular, resources are consolidated into fewer and fewer sources. No signs of slowing down because the number of mergers among media companies has more than doubled from 2011 to 2012

Describe valence of effects

*Valence of effects* are value-laden meaning they can have a positive or negative direction. There is an individual and societal perspective. A positive valence effect helps you achieve a personal goal or satisfy your needs. For example, if your goal is to acquire information about penguins to satisfy your curiosity, then finding facts in a book or on the internet has a positive effect and you move closer to your goal of achieving more knowledge.

How has the piracy problem been addressed?

1.) A lot of *legislation* has attempted to address the piracy problem. The *Audio Home Recording Act of 1992* allowed for a Serial Copy Management System, a royalty tax paid to copyright owners and allowed in-home noncommercial recording. The *Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998* was also passed. However, the*Consumer Broadband and Digital Television Promotion Act proposed in 2002* would have required new digital media devices to be encoded with security technology however, this technologically is not feasible. 2.) In addition, *law enforcement* has cracked down on pirates using old anti-piracy legislation. In fact, in 2004, the U.S. Justice Department investigation found more than 100 people in 27 states and abroad responsible to $50 million in theft of media messages and software. 3.) *Legal Action* has also been taken to address the problem. Civil lawsuits by industries, such as the RIAA vs. Napster led to the shut down of Napster. In fact, there are 21,000 lawsuits against people downloading illegal music 4.) *Anti-Piracy Technology* is also being used to address the problem. Currently, music labels are experimenting with anti-piracy technologies that combat file sharing. Digital rights management companies are developing solutions but these solutions are only temporary because technology keeps changing. 5.) The *New Business Model* is also being used to address piracy problem. Because approaches to addressing piracy are limited, industries are re-thinking their marketing strategies. For example, in the music industry, experimenting with only buying one song rather than entire album.

Describe belief-type effects

A *belief* is faith that something is true or real, for example, most humans have beliefs about the meaning of life and the existence of a supreme deity. *Belief-type effects* show us values used by people in news and with fictional characters. Sometimes belief type effects are explicitly expressed by a specific character and other times, it evolves over time (with many characters and situations). Belief type effects consist of beliefs about attractiveness, relationships, success, etc.

What factors influence fluctuation effects

A spike in the baseline results in a fluctuation effect. There are many *factors that influence fluctuation effects*, such as content of messages, context of portrayals, cognitive complexity of content, motivations, states and degree of identification. 1.) *content of messages* refers to what you expose yourself to in a given session. 2.) *context of portrayals* states that the meaning of messages arises from the way the messages are portrayed. For example, when characters are highly attractive and their actions are being rewarded, then the audience will likely identify with those characters and experience those actions and learn from those experiences. 3.) *cognitive complexity of content* states that having fewer cognitive demands leads to easier processing, for example, TV news is easier to understand (less cognitively complex) than print. In addition, cognitive complexity refers to degree to which information is central around narrative and the presence of emotional cues. 4.) *motivations* show that we learn when we actively seek information. When we have a higher education and higher intelligence we have more motivation. Content with the highest utility is selected. 5.) *states* are temporary drives or emotional reactions that can interact with media content and lead to certain effects. Media can alter our psychological and cognitive states. 6.) Lastly, *degree of identification* is when we identify with characters. We pay more attention to those who we identify and the stronger the attraction, the increased probability of effect. Degree of ID leads to judgements and "as if" experiences.

Describe attitudinal type effects

An *attitude* is an evaluative judgment based on standard. *Attitudinal type effects* is when we simply accept an attitude of a media figure or character. For example, you may listen to a new song and decide its one of the best songs you have ever heard. Because the media can influence our standards, when we make our own judgements, we look at our standards for "popular music" and these standards have most likely been shaped by the media. Attitudinal type beliefs rely on beliefs and influence is stronger at general level (opinions about society) than specific level (opinions about your friend). For example, after years of observing glamorous celebrities in fashion magazines and Hollywood movies, we come to believe that we need to be tall, skinny and fit in order to be attractive.

Compare manifested effects vs. processed effects

Media effects are constantly occurring. *Manifested effects* are effects that can be observed and *processed effects* gradually influence how we think, feel, and act over time. Processed effects have a baseline and fluctuation effect.

Describe how media violences leads to implications on individuals and producers

Media violence may have some implications for the individual. It is ironic that the violence that upsets people the most is the violence they need to be exposed to more- While people are complaining about too much violence, they are missing 99% of it. In addition, being media literate requires broader sensitivity to media violence. In addition, media violence may have some implications for producers. Media portrayals of violence are a contributing agent to harm thus producers should have economic obligation to allocate some resources gained through sale of violent messages to cleaning up the "byproducts"

What factors influence baseline effects

Our *baseline* is our typical degree of risk that continues over time. There are many *factors that influence baseline effects* including development maturities, cognitive abilities, knowledge structures, sociological factors, lifestyle, personal locus and media exposure habits 1.)Developmental maturities such as cognitive development, emotional development and moral development influence baseline. These maturities give us the ability to move our baseline closer to the manifestation level for the effects we want to experience and way from the effects we want to avoid. 2.) *Cognitive abilities* consist of several factors such as field independency, types of intelligence, types of thinking and conceptual differentiation. *Field independency* states that field dependent people pay attention to everything but retain less therefore there is an advantage to being field independent. There are different types of intelligence, such as *emotional intelligence* which is the ability to understand and control our emotions and includes tolerance for ambiguity and non-impulsiveness. On the other hand, *crystalline intelligence* is the ability to memorize facts and *fluid intelligence* is the ability to be creative and perceive things in novel ways. *Conceptual differentiation* refers to how people classify and group things. People who are more field independent, have more fluid and crystalline intelligence and are more likely to differentiate information conceptually have more control over their baseline. 3.) *Knowledge structures* influence baseline and with more knowledge structures, we are able to learn more from the media and are better at integrating information. With many topics, we must rely on media information because we have no real world experience on which to base evaluations, for example, very few people know what its like to be a professional athlete or a Beverley Hills housewife therefore it is impossible to make a valid judgment about how accurate these media portrayals are. 4.) *Sociological factors* explains that consistent socialization with particular values leads to a weighty baseline resistant to change. We learn norms through observing people in real life and the media and we are influenced by institutions, parents, friends, etc. 5.) *Lifestyle factors* explain that people with active lifestyles and high levels of interaction are generally less affected by the media. Groups that are particularly susceptible to media effects include the poor, low social economic class, minority, elderly and those with sociological and psychological isolation. 6.) *Personal locus* is a combination of goals and drives. Our personal locus may be the most important effect in resisting media because it reflects and activates power of previous factors and determines exposure habits. Those with a strong personal locus are more aware of effects process and is more aware of which effects one wants to achieve and avoid. 6.) Lastly, *media exposure habits* focus our attention on certain media and types of messages. Different messages have a different influence on baseline.

Describe the FCC Regulations rationale

The *FCC regulations rationale* states that the electromagnetic spectrum belongs to all Americans. Because the AM band allows only about 117 frequencies, after local markets are divided, each market is awarded some frequencies this way power of the signal to local markets is limited. The FCC rationale reflects localism, public interest, and promotion of diversity. In the 1940's the same thing happened with television by limiting ownership of a single company to up to 7 AM, 7FM and 7 TV stations. In the 1980's, the maximum number increased to 12. The 1996 Telecommunications Act was known for relaxing rules and led to mergers.

Describe International Perspective

The *International Perspective* explains that foreign companies buy and invest in American media companies and American companies market their entertainment services worldwide to increase revenue streams. Leads to US markets becoming saturated

Describe the Olympics example

The *Olympics* were revived in 1896 and networks pay the International Olympic Committee fees for broadcast rights. The IOC also sells rights to broadcast games in other countries and sells sponsoring or product placement to advertisers. IOC was unable to maintain prohibition of professionals due to commercial nature.

What is the key idea behind piracy in the media

The *fundamental issue/key idea with piracy* is ownership, that is, who owns a media message, and the key to addressing ownership is determining what constitutes a unique media message. Note that industry groups working hard to combat piracy but there is a fuzzy line between what is and is not piracy. Issue will grow as conflict deepens between old idea of copyright and newer idea of copyleft.

What is the key idea behind sports

The *key idea of sports* is that the money cycle drives sports. Some people think the money cycle is destroying sports while other people think that it is improving sports.

Describe the public's faulty beliefs about media violence

The *public holds many faulty beliefs* about media violence: such as there is too much violence in the media, focus on amount instead of context and media violence harms other people 1.) The notion that there is too much violence in the media is the most prevalent criticism because there are many portrayals of violence in mainstream media. The public actually underestimates amount and the public has narrow conception of what constitutes violence. Also note that the memory of an offensive act or two is what motivates public criticism, not an accumulation of acts reaching a certain number that surpasses people's value for tolerance. In addition, the judgment of violence is related more to the degree of graphicness than number of acts. Producers sanitize violence to avoid offending audience/interrupting flow. Humor appears to remove threat of violence. The public is not concerned with fantastical settings or with non-physical harm 2.) Focus on Amount Instead of Context is another faulty belief from the public and is the assumption that harm is keyed to frequency of the portrayals. Note that Sanitization means desensitization, glamorization is the attraction to violence and lowered inhibitions and trivialization is the belief that risk of being punished is slight. If violence presented in different context, repetitive exposure could be positive 3.) Media violence harms other people is another faulty belief. Most people believe violence in the media has an effect, but not on them. The *third person effect* is the difference in perception between one's self and others-- Most people think about imitation of physical violence (for example, kids imitating violence they see on TV). It is important to consider other types of aggression (e.g., verbal) and other types of effects (e.g., psychological and emotional). Most prevalent effect is actually cultivation

Describe the controversy surrounding the Comcast-Time Warner merger.

The Comcast-Time Warner deal would combine America's two largest cable companies. By combining these two companies, critics argue that competition will be reduced. Opponents argue that the deal would still harm competition, consumers, and the public interest.

What is the key idea behind broadening our perspective on media effects

The key idea behind broadening our perspective on media effects is that when we take a four-dimensional perspective—timing, type, valence, and intentionality—of effects, we can better appreciate the broad range of effects that the media is constantly exerting on us.

What is the key idea behind how the media effects process works?

The key idea behind how the media effects process works is that we need to be proactive—rather than reactive—in understanding how the media affect us. We also need to realize that there are many factors interacting in the effects process. When we understand these two ideas, we can achieve greater control over the process of effects.

Describe the key idea behind who owns the media

The key idea behind who owns the media is that ownership patterns show a strong movement toward concentration and away from localism. Note that there is a move toward concentration, but still a great deal of competition as media industries try to increase their share of the advertiser's dollar

What is the proactive perspective

The media literacy perspective is oriented toward *the proactive approach* which deals with potential risks. The proactive approach says we are in greater control over processes leading to a negative effect which puts us in a better position to achieve positive effect.

How big is the piracy problem

The piracy problem is large. Within each media industry there are complaints about loss of money due to pirating of messages. It is often assumed that drops in sales are due to piracy, not weak products/changing tastes. It is difficult to determine how widespread piracy is, especially in terms of music 1.) In music, piracy occurs largely with copying of tapes, burning CDs and file sharing of MP3s such as Napster. RIAA complaints have found that 95% of all downloads are pirated. This results in a loss of $12.5 billion to U.S. economy and 70,000 jobs lost. Even can be an international problem 2.) With film, Film there has been a shift from theaters to rentals to downloading shared files. With pornography, there are many paysites to free sites. The industry claimed $58 billion lost to piracy in 2012. (However, this is due to the assumption that if pirated versions were not available, people would have paid full price) 3.) In print, the internet provides so much information that there is a temptation to plagiarize. In fact, 30% of college papers partially or fully plagiarized and one third of high school and college students admit to some kind of cut-and-past plagiarism. Unfortunately the problem is growing

Describe the key idea behind violence in the mass media

The public has been complaining about *violence in the mass media* as long as we have had mass media, but the media continue to present a great deal of violence in their stories. The public and producers of media messages hold many faulty beliefs about media violence. Note, that people have complained about violence ever since storytellers used the media and criticism of media violence increases and decreases in cycles. Public under-perceives degree of violence because perceptions limited and Becoming more media literate means thinking more broadly about effects

Describe Issues of Concern

There are many issues of concern such as deregulation, change in content, lack of access and the internet 1.) *deregulation* is the belief that strong vertical integration will drive away competition and exploit the consumer. This consolidation trend has grown stronger than the government impulse to regulate (as evident in the Telecommunications Act of 1996). At the moment, the FCC is more concerned with companies' ability to dominate world market 2.) *change in content* is an issue of concern. Critics argue that decreased competition leads to negative changes in message content even though there is no evidence of decrease in quality, even though there may possibly be more negative speech/obscenity. The relationship between concentration and reduced "competition" breaks down when analyzed 3.) *Lack of access* is also an issue of concern. Critics argue that as concentration increases, access to the media decreases. In a sense, barriers to entry have increased in certain media markets but in terms of diversity of opinion, research suggests that as the industry becomes more concentrated, programming has actually become more diverse. 4.) Lastly, the *internet* is an issue of concern. While the number of websites available is huge, internet exposure is concentrated. Concentration results from search engines paid placement of products. Note that the computer industry is hugely splintered and the FCC approves net neutrality for an open internet/

What are the two competing values in regards to media ownership

There are two strong, *competing values* that address the issue of concentration of power. The two competing values are localism and efficiency. *Localism* values sharing of power among many while *efficiency* values concentration of power in the hands of those who can make decisions well and quickly

Why do we need to broaden our perspective on media effects?

We need to broaden our perspective on media effects because it is not good to have a narrow perspective on media effects. It is important to realize that high-profile tragedies are rare and it is bad that people believe effects only happen to other people. With a narrow perspective we have no awareness or control of effects, therefore it is important to broaden out view because a broader perspective means we can be more media literate

How do we think about blame?

When tragedy occurs, there are arguments about "who to *blame*". Blame needs to be appropriated across several factors and there is seldom a single element responsible. Blame does not mean that an influence is absolved.