Mass Media

Question 1

Media

Answer 1

technologies that facilitate communication between a sender and receiver of a message

Question 2

Mass media

Answer 2

reaches a large audience; mass produced and mass consumed; less interactive; continuous and rapid messages

Question 3

Components of media that must be analyzed

Answer 3

producer
text
delivery
consumer

Question 4

Representational realism

Answer 4

media settings generally understood to be realistic, even when we know something is scripted-still gather information that affects our perception of the world

Question 5

Audience/the consumer

Answer 5

media shapes how we see ourselves, what we want out of life, and how we judge other people; media doesnt indoctrine us, but still has an influence; must study audience to know how audience interacts with material from the media

Question 6

What consumers get from the media

Answer 6

information (news, weather), personal identity, integration and social interaction (facebook), entertainment, persuasion (editorials, commercials), common cultural references/social cohesion;
media teaches us values, ideals, norms, roles

Question 7

Open text and the audience

Answer 7

text+audience=meaning; producers only have control over text, not how the audience will create meaning; some meanings are unintended, yet some meanings are more accessible than others; social structures influences what types of meanings may emerge; our social position is a significant factor

Question 8

Miss America Pageant example of open text

Answer 8

dominant meaning: consumer interprets meaning as producer intended, fully accepts and reproduces text/meaning
Negotiated meaning: mixture of accepting and rejecting elements; acknowledge and generally accept dominant meaning, but also resist and modify meaning to fit personal interest
Oppositional meaning: “How sexist”; understand what the intended meaning is, but form own interpretation based on personal background; one’s social situation places them in opposition to dominant meaning
*negotiated/oppositional meanings require discursive resources

Question 9

Media as a business

Answer 9

deals in ideas, culture, information; specifically protected by Constitution

Question 10

Market model of media

Answer 10

society’s need can be meet through unregulated exchange; competitive conditions creative businesses that meet needs-calls for private ownership of media; consumers will force companies to serve their interests; profit motive drives industry

Question 11

Focus of producers

Answer 11

To make a profit; Not only what the audience wants, but interested in a specific audience-those with disposable income; had to cancel popular Murder She Wrote because the large audience was senior citizens without disposable income

Question 12

advantages of markets

Answer 12

promotion of efficiency, responsiveness, flexibility, innovation; media treated like any other product

Question 13

Public sphere model

Answer 13

purpose of the media is to promote active citizenship by informing people about the world; public need cant be met by market; media are more than simple profit-making entities; media cultivates spaces for public dialogue; views audience as citizens rather than consumers

Question 14

Limits of the market

Answer 14

more money=more influence and ability to change the rules; must be skeptical of ability of media to satisfy social and democratic needs; some services are important to public regardless of market; markets reproduce inequality

Question 15

What makes media different as a product?

Answer 15

1. advertising creates unique market relationship
2. media cant be considered simple product
3. media has specific legal protections

Question 16

Illusion of choice

Answer 16

media molds public desire instead of responding to it, cultivates in an accepted status quo; demands conformity, stifles creativity

Question 17

advertising

Answer 17

“dual product” market; sold to consumers and consumers are sold to advertisers; media firms produce content that is for sale to audiences and those audiences are packaged for sale to advertisers

Question 18

Era of prepackaged news

Answer 18

borderline between information and persuasion; hard to tell difference between real and fake; VNR: video news release, segment produced by outside party, but airs without being attributed to that party so unaware of what you are watching; way for government to release propaganda

Question 19

Problems with pressure for profit in newsrooms

Answer 19

significant cost cutting-demand for cheap outside sources; money is spent by government to sway public opinion= propaganda; devoting time to persuasion takes time away from important news; news constructs what we believe to be reality

Question 20

Critical theory and media

Answer 20

culture industry exists to enforce capitalism; culture industry is a tool for mass control and conditioning; transition from artisan–>industrial stage resulted in loss of individuality/freedom; culture has become a factory, production of standardized good; through satisfying capitalist demands, the people are manipulated/deceived, resulting in homogenized population, consumers tricked into believing they have choices

Question 21

Pseudo-individualism

Answer 21

consumers tricked into believing they have choices; the trick is that there is little variation, emphasizes consequences of non-conformity; population is deceived and homogenized

Question 22

Threatens true/high arts

Answer 22

artists have trouble getting their work out; unique ventures tend to fail; maybe manufacturers are content with meeting the status quo

Question 23

anomie

Answer 23

breakdown of social bonds between the individual and the community; mismatch between group standards and wider social standards; common when society has undergone rapid change