Media terms

Question 1

ACTIVE AUDIENCE

Answer 1

Audiences actively engage in selecting media products to
consume and interpreting their meanings.

Question 2

ANCHORAGE

Answer 2

The words that accompany an image (still or moving) contribute
to the meaning associated with that image.

Question 3

ARC OF
TRANSFORMATION

Answer 3

The emotional changes a character goes through in the
process of the narrative. The events in the story mean that they
will ‘transform’ by the end of the story.

Question 4

BRAND IDENTITY

Answer 4

The association the audience make with the brand, for example
Chanel or Nike, built up over time and reinforced by the
advertising campaigns and their placement.

Question 4

BROADSHEET

Answer 4

A larger newspaper that publishes more serious news, for
example The Daily Telegraph has maintained its broadsheet
format.

Question 5

CIRCULATION

Answer 5

The spreading of media products to audiences/users - the
method will depend on the media form e.g. circulation of print
magazines, broadcast of television programmes etc.

Question 6

CROSS-PLATFORM
MARKETING

Answer 6

In media terms, a text that is distributed and exhibited across a
range of media formats or platforms. This may include film,
television, print, radio and the Internet.

Question 7

CULTURAL CAPITAL

Answer 7

The media tastes and preferences of an audience, traditionally
linked to social class/background.

Question 8

DIEGETIC SOUND

Answer 8

Sound that comes from the fictional world, for example the
sound of a gun firing, the cereal being poured into the bowl in
an advert, etc.

Question 9

DISCOURSE

Answer 9

The topics, language and meanings or values behind them
within a media text. The discourse of lifestyle magazines, for
example, tends to revolve around body image and narcissism.

Question 10

ETHNOCENTRIC

Answer 10

A belief in the superiority of one’s own ethnic group or culture.
For example, a newspaper will be more concerned to cover
stories that are closely related to the reader and their concerns.
Tabloid and local papers only tend to cover international news
stories if they can relate them specifically to their readers.

Question 11

ETHOS

Answer 11

The beliefs, values and customs of, for example, media
organisations. In television, for example, what the channel
believes in and what it sees as its role.

Question 12

FLEXI NARRATIVE

Answer 12

A more complex narrative structure with layers of interweaving
storylines. This challenges the audience and keeps them
watching.

Question 13

HEGEMONY

Answer 13

Hegemony is the dominance of one group over
another, often supported by legitimating norms and ideas. For
example, the dominant social position in society is taken by
men and the subordinate one by women.

Question 14

HOUSE STYLE

Answer 14

The aspects that make a magazine recognisable to its readers
every issue. The house style is established through the choice
of colour, the layout and design, the font style, the content and
the general ‘look’ of the publication.

Question 15

HYPODERMIC NEEDLE
MODEL

Answer 15

The idea is that the media product
injects an idea into the mind of an audience who are assumed
to be passive and as a result will all respond in the same way.

Question 16

ICONOGRAPHY

Answer 16

The props, costumes, objects and backgrounds associated with
a particular genre; for example, in a police series you would
expect to see, uniforms, blue flashing lights, scene of crime
tape and police radios.

Question 17

LUDOLOGY

Answer 17

The study of games and those who play them, relevant to video
games.

Question 18

COMPASION FATIGUE

Answer 18

When you start to lose care for emotive media products

Question 19

MEDIATION

Answer 19

The way in which a media text is constructed in order to
represent a version of reality; constructed through selection,
organisation and focus.

Question 20

MMORPG

Answer 20

Massively multi-player online role-playing game.

Question 21

NEWS AGENDA

Answer 21

The list of stories that may appear in a particular paper. The
items on the news agenda will reflect the style and ethos of the
paper.

Question 22

NON-DIEGETIC SOUND

Answer 22

Sound that comes from outside the fictional world, for example
a voiceover, romantic mood music etc.

Question 23

OPEN WORLD

Answer 23

In an open world computer game the player can move freely
though the virtual world and is not restricted by levels and other
barriers to free roaming.

Question 24

OPINION LEADERS

Answer 24

People in society who may affect the way in which others
interpret a particular media text. With regard to advertising, this
may be a celebrity or other endorser recommending a product.

Question 25

PASSIVE AUDIENCE

Answer 25

The idea (now widely regarded as outdated) that audiences do
not actively engage with media products, but passively
consume and accept the messages that producers
communicate.

Question 26

PLURALITY

Answer 26

In a media context, this refers to a range of content to suit many
people.

Question 27

PUBLIC SERVICE
BROADCASTER

Answer 27

A radio and television broadcaster that is financed by public
money (e.g. the licence fee in the UK) and is seen to offer a
public service by catering for a range of audiences and
providing information, as well as entertainment.

Question 28

SELECTION AND
COMBINATION

Answer 28

Media producers actively choose elements of media language
and place them alongside others to create specific
representations or versions of reality.

Question 29

SIMULCAST

Answer 29

The streaming of live radio programmes from the website at the

same time as they are broadcast on the radio.

Question 30

SPLASH

Answer 30

The story that is given the most prominence on the front page
of a newspaper.

Question 31

STRIPPED

Answer 31

A technique used in radio and television whereby a certain
programme is broadcast at the same time every day. In radio
this attracts an audience who associate a particular programme
with their daily routine, for example driving home from work.

Question 32

TABLOID

Answer 32

Refers to the dimensions of a newspaper; a tabloid is smaller
and more compact in size. However, there are further
connotations attached to the term and it also tends to refer to a
newspaper whose content focuses on lighter news, for example
celebrity gossip, sport and television.

Question 33

TEXTUAL POACHING

Answer 33

The way in which audiences or fans may take particular texts
and interpret or reinvent them in different ways e.g. by creating
fan fiction.

Question 34

‘WINDOW ON THE
WORLD’

Answer 34

The idea that media texts, particularly those that present
aspects of reality, for example news programmes, are showing
the audience the ‘real’ world as it happens.

Question 35

Archetype

Answer 35

A universal type of character found in various media texts, eg anti-hero, hero.

Question 36

Bricolage

Answer 36

Lots of media ideas coming together (hybridity)

Question 37

Censorship

Answer 37

The controls and regulations that exist about media content. Censorship powers can be held by governments or regulatory bodies.

Question 38

Cognitive surplus

Answer 38

The process by which something becomes an object that can be marketed and sold.

Question 39

Digital native

Answer 39

A person who is brought up with digital technology from an early age so using it comes naturally to them.

Question 40

Guerilla marketing

Answer 40

Low-cost and unconventional marketing methods with a clear focus on grabbing the audience’s attention. (I Daniel Blake, projecting)