Key Terms Flashcards
actualities
Edited audio clips from people interviewed
agenda setting
A percentage amount of the cost of an advertisement that is taken by the advertising agency that helped create and sell the ad
aysnchronous media
Media that do not require the audience at a given time. Printed materials and recorded audio and video
banner ad
An advertisment across the top of a website and the original form of advertising on the Web.
blog
Short for “weblog”, a type of website or feature of a website (typically a specific page in the site map) where a person posts regular journal or diary entries with the posts arranged chronologically.
broadband
A network connection that enables a large amount of bandwidth to be transmitted, which allows for more information to be sent in a shorter period of time.
byte
The most common base unit used to measure computer storage and information, it consists of eight bits, in a combination of 0’s and 1’s, to form letters, numbers, and all modes of computer information that are displayed.
circulation
number of copies sold or distributed
citizen journalism
Journalism done by amateurs or volunteers, either with citizen journalism websites, blogs, or as part of a mainstream news organization’s website.
consolidation
The process of large companies merging with each other or absorbing other companies, forming even bigger companies.
convergence
The coming together of computing, telecommunications, and media in the digital environment.
cookies
Information that a website puts on a user’s local hard drive so that it can recognize when that computer accesses the website again. These allow allow for conveniences like password recognition and personalization.
cultural studies
A framework in studying theories of communication that shuns the scientific approach used by scholars in the empirical school and that tries to examine the symbolic environment created by mass media and the role mass media plays in culture and society.
cultural transmission
The transference of dominanat culture as well as its subcultures, from one generation to the nect or to immigrants, which helps people learn how to fit into society.
digital rights management
Various technologies or security codes used to protect copyrighted works from being illegally copied
digital watermark
Computer code (usually invisible, but sometimes visible) inserted into any digital content–images, graphics, audio, video, or even text documents-that authenticates the source of that document.
digitization
The process in which media is made into computer-readable form
dime novel
The first paperback book form.This made it accessible even to the poor.
freemium
A subscription type in which subscribers can receive some content for free but if they want to take advantage of all the site has to offer they must pay a monthly subscription.
hyperlink
clickable pointer to other online content
independent films
Films made by production companies outside the main Hollywood studios.
independent labels
Any small record-production and distribution companies. They include companies producing only one or two albums a year, as well as larger independents such as Disney. Produce 66 percent of the albums each year but only 20 percent of the sales.
instant-messaging
Often abbreviated to IM, it is a form of real-time communication through typed text over a computer network.
interpersonal communication
Communication between two or more individuals, usually in a small groups, although it can involve communication between a live speaker and an audience.
laugh track
A device used in television stitcoms that generates pre-recorded laughter, timed to coincide with punch lines of jokes.
listservs (listserves)
Automated mailing-list administrators that allow for easy subscription, subscription cancellation, and sending of emails to subscribers on the list.
localization
The ability of media-content producers to provide content based on a user’s locale, either done automatically based on an ISP or after the user has provided information such as a city name or zip code.
long-tail
The notion that selling a few of many types of items can be as profitable or even more profitable than selling many copies of a few items. The concept works especially well for online sellers such as Amazon or Netflix.
mass communication
Communication to a large froup or groups of people that remain largely unknown to the sender of the message.
mass market paperbacks
Inexpensive, soft cover books sold in bookstores and other public places such as supermarkets and drugstores.
media literacy
The process of interacting with media content and critically analyzing it by considering its particular presentation, its underlying political and social messages, and ownership and regulation issues that may affect what is presented and in what form.
mediated communication
Communciation that takes place through a medium, such as writing or recording, as opposed to unmediated communication, such as face-to-face discussions.
medium
A communication channel, such as talking on the telephone, instant messageing, or writing back and forth in a chat room.
modem
a device that converts digital signals from a computer to analog signals from transmission over a phone line, as well as converting transmitted analog signals to digital signals.
multi media
A combination of different types of media in one package; thus, film or video with sound is a type of multimedia because it combines visual and audio elements. Web pages that combine text, video, animation, audio, or graphics are another type of multimedia.
multitasking
In a computer environment, doing several activities at once with a variety of programs, such as simultaneously doing word-processing, spreadsheet, and database work while conducting real-time chat through and instant-messanger service.
nanotechnology
promises to revolutionize many fields, ranging from electronics, information storage, and even medicine.
network (net) neutrality
A priniciple that states 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.
newsgroups
Categories for discussion groups withing Usenet.
oligopoly
An economic structure in which a few very large, very powerful, and very rich owners control an industry or collection of related industries.
open source
any program whose source code the programmer allows others to see. This lets others modigy and improve it. Most proprietary software programs do not allow the public to see their source code.
opt-in
The practice of letting consumers choose to receive mailings or marketing material by having them check a box on a website, usually when registering for the site; a mailing list in which the user has chosen to receive emails and marketing materials
payola
Cash or gifts given to radio disc jockeys by record labels in exchange for greater airplay given to the label’s artists or most recent songs. The practice is now illegal after several scandals involving payola in the 1950’s.
personalization
The ability of media-content producers to provide content that is of interest to a specific user based on either criteria the user has selected, such as a zip code, or on automated tracking of their Web-viewing habits.
phonograph
First patented by Thomas Alva Edison in 1877 as a “talking machine,” it used a tinfoil cylinder to record voices from telephone conversations. Successive technological improvements in electronics and the type of material the sounds were recorded on made sound quality better.
podcast
A program that is usually audio or video that lets users easily subscribe, much like subscribing to a blog.
the penny press
Differed from older newspaper forms in that they tried to attract as large an audience as possible and were supported by advertising rather than subscriptions.
RAM
Dictionaries, encyclopedias, and other telephone books, where information is listed either alphabetically or by some other logical category, are examples of books created specifically as random access memory devices.
readership
refers to the number or percentage of people who read a newspaper, which is larger than the circulation number because some copies are read by more than one person.
search engine marketing (SEM)
Paying a search engine such as Google or Bing to have a listing or keyword appear prominently when searched.
spam
Unwanted email sent out by advertisers such as mass mailing. Or blog posts that attempt to market a business rather than respond to the context of the blog itself.
storage technology
Any type of device or medium in which information can be maintained for later retrieval.
studio system
An arrangement of film production and distribution dominated by a small number of ““major”” studios in Hollywood. The term refers to the practice of large motion picture studios between the 1920s and 1960s of producing movies primarily on their own filmmaking lots with creative personnel under often long-term contract, and which dominated exhibition through vertical integration, i.e., the ownership or effective control of distributors and exhibition, guaranteeing additional sales of films through manipulative booking techniques.
Was challenged under the anti-trust laws in a 1948 Supreme Court ruling which sought to separate production from distribution and exhibition and ended such practices, thereby hastening the end of the studio system. By 1954, with television competing for audience and the last of the operational links between a major production studio and theater chain broken, the historic era came to an end.”
superstation
A local TV station that reaches a national audience by beaming its programming nationside via satellite to local cable systems, which then transmit the program to local subscribers.
surveillance
Primarily the journalism function of mass communication, which provides informatiion about the processes, issues, events, and other developments in society.
synchronous media
Media that take place in real time, such as live television or radio, that require the audience to be present during the broadcast or performance.
tagging
Defining a piece of information, file, image, or other type of digital media in a nonhierarchical system that helps describe what the information is.
the penny press
Newspapers that sold for a penny, making them accessible to everyone. They differed from older newspaper forms in that they tried to attract as large an audience as possible and were supported by advertising rather than subscriptions.
the star system
(NOT IN BOOK)
time shift
Recording an audo or video event for viewing later rather than when the event was originally broadcast. Setting a VCR or DVR to record a favorite program while one is out running errands is an example of time shifting.
time-space compression
The idea that electronic communication had essentially reduced distances between people because of nearly instantaneous communication, which has also “sped up” our notions of time.
troll
A person who supposedly vandalizes Wikipedia entries by inserting false or nonsensical information.
trolling
The practice of posting deliberately obnoxious or disruptive messages to discussion groups or other online forums simply to get a reaction from the participants.
user interface
The junction between a medium and the people who use it; a technological way of referring to the junction between a medium and the people who use it
viral marketing
Spreading news and information about media content through word of mouth, usually via online discussion.
voice over
An unseen announcer or narrator talking while other activity takes place, either on the radio or during a television scene.
watermark
A symbol or mark embedded in a photograph that identifies who owns the copyright for that photograph. With digital media, any piece of content can be watermarked, and the watermark, itself digital, can be completely invisible.
wiki
A website that lets anyone add, edit, or delete pages and content.
critical theory
A theoretical approach broadly influenced by Marxist notions of the role of ideaology, exploitation, capitalism, and the economy in understanding and eventually transforming society.
