Chapter 1: Intro to Media Studies

Question 1

What 2 ways do we learn?

Answer 1

Somatically ➔ direct sensory perception of enviro

Symbolically ➔ through someone or something (could be through media!)

Question 2

What is a medium?

Answer 2

Medium is an indirect channel of information ➔ information is mediated through a medium

Question 3

Spoken or written word use to be the primary medium, what are 4 limitations of it?

Answer 3

1. Transmission of information was tied to the available means of transportation
2. it was slow especially over distance
3. Couldn’t be reproduced and distributed (limited scope)
4. Passed through manny channels (broken telephone)

Question 4

What is the def of Critical Media Studies?

Answer 4

the social and cultural consequences of the revolutionary capability from individual media (human speech and hand-written letters) to modern mass media

an umbrella term used to describe an array of theoretical perspectives which, though diverse, are united by their skeptical attitude, humanistic approach, political assessment, and commitment to social justice.

Question 5

Def of media

Answer 5

broad term that includes a diverse array of communication technologies

Question 6

Def of mass media

Answer 6

communication technologies that have the potential to reach a large audience in remote locations
- divided into 4 categories: print media, motion picture and sound recording, broadcast media, and new media

Question 7

Tell me about print media

Answer 7

• First mass medium
• Printing press ➔ more circulation of knowledge
• Newspaper industry increased until 1973 then decrease
• Magazine industry mirrored newspaper industry

Question 8

Tell me about motion picture and sound recording

Answer 8

Thomas Edison

• Phonograph for sound
• kinetoscope for early motion picture
• vitascope: early film projector ➔ rise of the silent film era
• Increase in record industry with increase in cheap tech

Question 9

Tell me about broadcast media

Answer 9

Media over public airwaves

• freed mass media from transportation confines
• Radio first then TV
• TV = dominant medium for usage
• Sat radio and cab and sat TV
• Sat TV/radio and cable can also qualify as New Media because they use a digital signal ➔ fits into both categories

Question 10

Tell me about New Media

Answer 10

New Media (according to Lev Manovich): “new media are the cultural objects which use digital computer technology for distribution and circulation.”

• Problem: def needs revamping because computing tech is more common now
• Ex. digital TV, film, photo, e books, internet etc.
• Began with the dev of microprocessor/computer chip

Question 11

Def of postmodernity

Answer 11

Postmodernity: describes the historical epoch that began to emerge in the 1960s as the economic mode of production in most Western societies gradually shifted from commodity-based manufacturing to information-based services

Question 12

List the 5 trends driving mass media into postmodernity

Answer 12

convergence, mobility, fragmentation, globalization, and simulation

Question 13

Def of convergence

Answer 13

Convergence: the tendency of formerly diverse media to share a common, integrated platform
- Obstacles of convergence: noise from analog signals made message distortion adn decay over long distances (solved with digitization) and bandwidth limitations

Question 14

Def of mobility

Answer 14

Mobility: the ease with which an object can be moved from place to place.
- Instead of us going to places for media, media can increasingly go places with us

Question 15

Def of fragmentation

Answer 15

Fragmentation, a splintering of the consuming public into ever more specialized taste cultures

• results in proliferation of media content and niche marketing
• internet = most diversified medium

Question 16

Def of globalization

Answer 16

Globalization is a complex set of social, political, and economic processes in which the physical boundaries and structural policies that previously reinforced the autonomy of the nation state are collapsing in favor of instantaneous and flexible worldwide social relations

• Globalization creates opportunities to bring their cultural products to distant local markets.
• Fear of dev cultural imperialism

Question 17

Def of cultural imperialism

Answer 17

the imposition of one set of cultural values on other cultures

Question 18

Def of simulation

Answer 18

Simulation: the generation by models of a real without origin or reality ➔ an implosion of the image and the real

Question 19

Def of socialization

Answer 19

describes the process by which persons – both individually and collectively – learn, adopt, and internalize the prevailing cultural beliefs, values, and norms of a society.
- All social institutions are mediators and contribute to socialization

Question 20

What is content?

Answer 20

Content influences WHAT we learn

Content refers to the informational component of a message, to the specific details, facts, ideas, and opinions communicated through mass media

Question 21

Why is content important?

Answer 21

• establish which social issues are considered important and which are considered unimportant.
• content lacking a diversity of views and opinions significantly limits the scope of pub- lic debate and deliberation on matters of social importance.
• Necessarily biased because media is communicated using symbols and symbols are selective

Question 22

What is form?

Answer 22

Form influences HOW we learn

Form describes the cognitive component of a message

The way a message is packaged and delivered ➔ conseqeunce of the medium adn the genre/class

The packaging influences how we process it and how we think about it

Ex. processing language vs images

Question 23

What are the 4 key characteristics of Critical Media Studies?

Answer 23

skeptical attitude, humanistic approach, political assessment, and commitment to social justice

Question 24

Explain skeptical attitude

Answer 24

The various perspectives within the field of critical media studies adopt an attitude of skepticism, not as a way of rejecting media, but as a way of understanding how they work and what they do.
- Skeptical attitude = hermeneutics of suspicion

Question 25

What is hermeneutics?

Answer 25

mode of interpretation grounded in close analysis ➔ deep distrust of surface appearances and common-sense explanations

Question 26

Explain Humanistic approach

Answer 26

studies emphasizes self-reflection, critical citizenship, democratic principles, and humane education

Question 27

Explain political assessment

Answer 27

determining whose interests [political] are served by the media, and how those interests contribute to domination, exploitation, and/or asymmetrical relations of power.

how media create, maintain, or subvert particular social structures, and whether or not such structures are just and egalitarian

Question 28

Explain commitment to social justice

Answer 28

Critical media studies aims not only to identify political injustices but also to confront and challenge them

For improvement of society

Question 29

What is a theory?

Answer 29

an explanatory and interpretive tool that simultaneously enables and limits our understanding of the particular social product, practice, or process under investigation.