Quiz Flashcards
What is new media?
refers to the screen based digital technology involving the integration of images, text and sound and to the technology used for the distribution and consumption
What is old media?
involves different devices for different media content like books, newspapers, radios and MP3 players etc
What are the 5 features of new media?
- Technological convergence = one device can be used to access a wide variety of media e.g. phones
- Interactivity =
participatory culture = producers and consumers now interact with each other e.g. social media
collective intelligence = build a shared or group intelligence that is greater than that of any individual - Hyper textuality = web of connections between different parts of media e.g. algorithm
- Dispersal = less centralised and more adaptive to individual choice
- Virtuality = immersions in virtual communities
Which sociologist wrote Global village?
McLuhan
Name 5 news values identified by Galtung and Ruge
unexpectedness, threshold, unambiguity, proximity, elite nations/people, personalisation, negativity, composition, continuity, narrative
What term do the Marxists use to describe institutions such as the media?
ideological state apparatus
Examples of new media
digital tv, smart phones, social media, internet, catch-up tv
Examples of old media
radio, books, magazines, cinema, sound recording
Which theory of media effect suggests that the audience are passive puppets of what they watch?
hypodermic syringe model
What was the Leveson Inquiry?
government enquiry into the hacking of mobile phones by the News of the World
What term is used to mean that the media determine what is significant in terms of the news?
Agenda Setting
What is meant by Cultural Homogenisation?
whole world becomes the same
Who first used the term symbolic annihilation in reference to women and the media?
Tuchman et al
What did Baudrillard mean by Simulcrum?
boundaries between reality and media become blurred
What term does Curren and Seaton use to describe those who are negative about new media?
Cultural Pessimists
What is meant by the term horizontal integration?
cross media ownership = companies owning lots of different types of media
Who argues that competition between media companies is healthy and creates a balanced range of media products?
pluralists
Name 3 stereotypes of children that are seen in the media
cute, consumers, little angels/devils, victims
Define the term mass media
forms of communication which reach a large audience
What term means 2 or more related businesses work together to e.g. promote and sell a film, toys etc. more effectively than they could individually
synergy
Identify 5 common representations of disability in the media according to Barnes
pathetic, object of violence, sinister, mysterious
Who talks about retributive masculinity?
Gauntlett
According to Gan, how do editors act as gatekeepers?
they decide what is new and what is not
What term means the uncritical over-reliance by journalists on ‘facts’ produced by government spin doctors and public relations experts?
churnalism
What terms means owning all stages in the production, distribution and consumption of a product?
vertical integration
What are the 3 filters before media affects the audience?
selective filter, selective perception, selective retention
Who linked the moral panic about gangsta-rap to gun crime?
Watson
Give 1 example of public broadcasting media
BBC
Which sociologist is associated with the Cult of feminity?
Furguson
What are the 4 main perspectives on media ownership?
Marxist, Neo-Marxist, Pluralist, Postmodernist
What term means including a limited number of minority group members only because it felt that this is expected?
tokenism
What are the 4 main functions the media performs for individual audiences according to Blumer and McQuail?
diversion, personal relationships, personal identity, surveillance
McQuail, Bulmer et al suggested that the media is consumed by people in what 4 ways?
to entertain, to understand, give a sense of identity and social solidarity
What is meant by popular culture?
cultural products liked and enjoyed by the mass of ordinary people. associated with mass culture
Identify 4 ways that the old are stereotypically represented in the media
grumpy, a burden, confused, second childhood
Which sociologist is associated with the idea of moral panics and folk devils created by the media?
Cohen
Which sociologist is associated with the concept of Churnalism?
Davies
What is the role of the BBFC?
to review films and video games and give age recommendations
What is the cult of feminity?
the promotion of a traditional ideal where excellence is achieved through caring for others, the family, marriage and appearance, Ferguson claimed that teenage girls’ magazines traditionally prepared girls for feminised adult roles
What are the 6 media affects models?
hypodermic syringe model, selective filter, two-step flow, uses and gratifications, cultural effects, reception analysis
What is the disinhibition effect?
effect of media violence where the audience believe that in some social situation’s violence is acceptable
Who is the owner of the News Corp media group?
Rupert Murdock
Name 3 stereotypes of teenagers that are seen in the media
sullen, criminal, overly sexualised, anti authority
Who are the digital underclass?
a group of people, mainly from lower class who are increasingly disadvantaged in comparison to those who have full access to the internet and other digital media
Give 1 criticism of the cultural effects model
impossible to measure, suggest audience passivity
Who talks about the w/c being demonised by the media in their book ‘Chavs’?
Owen Jones
In what way does Van Dijk suggest that black people are represented in the media?
as a threat to the majority of the population or as invisible
Which sociologist is associated with the two step flow model of media effects?
Katz and Lazarfield
What term do Curran and Seaton use to describe those who are positive about new media and its benefits?
neophiliacs
Who are the Glasgow University Media Group?
a group of academics who have carried out extensive research into television-based news coverage
What term means the belief that media owners will actively look to shape media content by controlling editors and journalists?
manipulative approach
Which theory of media effects suggests that the function of the media is to meet individual needs of each member of the audience?
user and gratifications model
What is meant by the fallacy of choice?
although we have more channels to choose from, we have the same thing on each channel
Give 2 impacts of globalisation on the media
newspapers are no longer limited by national boarders, advertising happens on a world-wide scale, westernisation of cultures, ownership of the media is no longer national
Who conducted the Bobo Doll experiment?
Bandura
Which theory of media effects is associated with the Neo-Marxists?
cultural effects model
Give 1 issue with researching media effect
artificial environments, ethical concerns with researching the effect of media violence, certain areas of media have not been researched in depth
Symbolic Annihilation
women’s achievements are often not reported and are subordinated to their looks and sex appeal
What does Easthope mean by hypermasculinity?
a variety of media, especially Hollywood and video-games, transmit the view that masculinity is based on strength, aggression, competition and violence, and therefore a goal for boys to achieve
How does Winn refer to the media?
as a plug-in drug
What is meant by media concentration?
that fewer and fewer companies are controlling and creating the media
In what way does Newman suggest the media affects the audience?
in a gradual way
What is meant by the term Polysemic?
media content attracts more than one type of reading interpretation
Who suggests that the media is one of the most influential shapers of peoples lifestyles?
Strinati/Postmodernists
What did Meehan conclude from his content analysis on female representation in the media?
women are respected in a very narrow range of social roles such as mothers and wives
Which sociologist is associated with the term ‘Male Gaze’?
Mulvey
What was Miliband’s view of the mass media?
mass media is a form of social control from the ruling class
What does Curren suggest about the news media today?
that it is moving away from serious news stories and embracing more celebrity news
Who suggests that in the modern world it is increasingly hard to be impartial in the media?
Zakir
Name 2 sociologists associated with the propaganda model of the media
Herman and Chomsky or Edwards and Cromwell
What did Neumann mean by convergence of the media?
the new media will allow previously separate forms of communication to interconnect
What term means Domination by consent; process whereby minority ruling class ideology becomes common sense majority ideology?
hegemony
What is a media conglomerate?
companies that own large numbers companies in various mass media
Who are moral entrepeneurs?
people who use their own views of right and wrong to establish rules and label others as deviant
What theory suggests that Western media and the technologies associated with it, dominate less developed nations and their cultures?
cultural imperialism
What does Disneyfication mean?
process of dumbing down media content to attract audiences through entertainment
What is another term for cross media ownership?
horizontal integration
What is meant by desensitisation due to media?
the process by which through repeated exposure to media violence, people come to accept violent behaviour as normal
What is the two-step flow model?
suggests media audiences are not directly influenced by the media but choose to adopt a particular opinion after negotiation and discussion with an opinion leader
What is Pluralism in mass media?
mass media is defined by choice and competition, this choice creates better quality products, improves our culture and brings people together
What is the name of the group of Neo-Marxists, headed by Adorno, who suggest that the media distracts and distorts reality, creating a false consciousness?
Frankfurt Group
What did Marcuse mean by Commodity Fetishism?
the nation that our identities are now so entwined with what we buy, that we become obsessed with having more
Who suggests that social networks e.g. twitter help to increase political awareness around the globe?
Murthy
Who takes the theoretical stance that is optimistic about the spread and influence of New Media technologies?
neophiliacs
What is meant by the term male gaze?
the gaze of the spectator is implicitly male and objectifies women on the screen
Who suggested that the mass media helps to reinforce the cultural hegemony; western cultural values of hierarchy and consumerism?
Gramsci
What are News Values?
the guidelines or criteria that determine the worth of a story
Who refers to the superficial nature of popular media as candy floss culture?
Bernett and Seymour
What term is used to mean ordinary untrained individuals who collect, report, and analyse news content, often through internet?
citizen journalists
What is meant by high culture?
classical music, opera, ballet and other activities usually patronised by elite audiences
Which theory of media effects suggests the media has a direct effect on our behaviour?
hypodermic syringe model
How do the cultural pessimists view new media?
new media hinders society because it is dominated by conglomerates, over commercialised, reinforces elite power, decline in high culture and cultures imperialism
Which theory of media effects suggests that audience members only allow certain media messages through?
selective filter model
What is an ideological state apparatus?
agencies of the state which serve to spread dominant ideology and justify the power of the dominant social class
What is meant by sensitisation by the media?
process of becoming more aware of the consequence of violence
What is meant by convergence?
combining several different ways of presenting a variety of types of information
Growth of new media
- development of social networks where individuals can connect with one another: FB and Twitter
- File sharing services: Dropbox, Google Drive
- Blogs and vlogs: Youtube
- Virtual communities: Reddit
Traditional Mass Media
- still exists but many have moved to digital platforms
- E-readers, such as Kindle, enabled purchase and loan of books and magazines in digital formats
- Newspapers and magazines producing online content, with some linked to subscriptions
How does the new media differ?
- new media is defined by the features that it offers the audience compared with traditional media
- traditional media was unidimensional - it served one purpose and communicated through one format
- new media have a greater range of features, that enable users to become more engaged in the message being presented
Features of new media
(Technological Convergence)
- new media allows individuals to perform a wide rage of activities on a single device e.g. mobile phone
- Boyle (2005) = use of a single device allows individuals to pay their bills, connect with others, maps, take photographs etc
- economic convergence also allows companies to come together to provide packages of info for individuals
Features of new media
(Interactivity)
- participatory culture = producers and consumers now interact with each other e.g. social media
- collective intelligence = build a shared or group intelligence that is greater than that of any individual
- nm increases the choice individuals have and the amount of info they expose themselves to
- streaming services allow people increased choice
- individuals have become producers as well as consumers due to growth of internet sites e.g. YouTube and TikTok
Growth of new media
- growth of usage of internet outside home and time spent doubled in ten years according to OFCOM
- generational divide between those that access new media and those that do not
The Digital Divide
- digital natives = people born into the digital era - more likely to use new media than those born in age of traditional media
- Boyle (2015) = new gen brought up in immersive interactive culture - immediate gratification for info, entertainment and news
- divide exists for social class, gender and globally, creating a digital underclass
The Digital Underclass
- limited access to internet impacts on quality of life of those excluded
- ability to pay bills, book tickets, make appointments and access services such as benefits is limited by access to internet
- OFCOM survey in 2015 suggested just 54% of lower social classes have access to smart technologies, compared with 86% of all social classes
Impacts of new media
(POSITIVE)
- increased consumer choice = people have more option about how and when they access the media
- growth of online commerce = impacting on the high street and local communities as people increasingly turn to online provision
- social movements such as BLM and #MeToo examine injustices in society
Impacts of new media
(NEGATIVE)
- decline in the quality of cultural entertainment, quantity outputs quality
- cheap programming to fulfil greater demand for content
- lack of reliability sources = ‘fake news and Churnalism’ = misinformation and distrust
- increased isolation of individuals = open to increased abuse, trolling
Has the new media changed society?
- accelerated features of modernity, such ad consumerism and individualism and moved towards postmodern age
- distrust of experts and rejection of metanarratives increasing as people have increased sources of information
- large media companies are still dominant and new tech giants (e.g. meta and google) have emerged as sources of media the can influence public opinion
Who owns the new media?
- ownership of the new media is diverse with smaller independent media companies competing with global conglomerates
- new media platforms largely operated by tech giants that have grown
Technology Giants
- advent of NM has seen the rise of several technology giants
- Apple, Google, Microsoft, Facebook, Amazon all in top 50 companies for revenue
Media conglomerates
- traditional media sources have acquired or developed own media outlets
- Disney - disney plus and hulu, gaming and apps
- companies having wide variety of products besides the media e.g. Virgin owns holiday companies, phones, tv/broadband etc
Acquisitions of New Media
- many new media outlets start out as independents but are quickly acquired by large corporations
- Sony acquired games developer Bungie for $3.6 billion in same year
Impacts of ownership
- despite claims, NM increasingly controlled by smaller range of companies
- closure of services = e.g. Twitter and Facebook in Russia during Ukraine conflict (western propaganda)
- Ban on Google, FB, YT in China
- power of large corporations to control the market remains
Who controls the new media?
- global nature of NM means it is difficult for gov to regulate
- Nm more diverse
Controlling New Media
- Keen (2008) argues that the global nature of NM means that it is difficult to regulate content
- SM sites unable to monitor users’ posts and reliant upon reporting from public
- Content generated globally, so no agreement on what is and what isn’t allowed in cyberspace
Gov attempt at controlling media
- Cyber Strategy in 2022 = including tackling threat of cyber crime through new media
Cambridge Analytica
- were a consulting firm used by Vote Leave campaign and Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential election campaign
- Gained access to 87 million FB users’ data and targeted voters with ads and stories to try and influence votes
- Facebook CEO and creator Mark Zuckerberg refused to answer questions from UK parliament in relation to data breach
Views of NM
Curran and Seaton saw two distinct approaches to analysing the media:
- Neophiliac view: positive view of the role and impacts of NM
- Cultural pessimist view: critical view of NM and its impacts on society
Cultural pessimist view
- examines negative effects
- sees NM as an evolution of existing media with control still largely maintained by elites
- examines the impacts of NM and the expansion of unregulated capitalism, lack of censorship and misinformation
Evaluation CP view
- NM has led to many questioning the reliability of info that is provided e.g. fake news
- NM has helped to hold those in power to account
- NM can act as a form of release for individuals, whilst also encouraging creativity
- Increasing surveillance
- Undermining of human relationships and communications
Neophiliac View
Positive view of the effects of the new media
- Increased choice = how people receive and interact with it
- Increased engagement = interactive nature of NM means people can express opinions, support causes and connect with others = #BLM and #MeToo
Evaluation NP
- negatives of increased interaction
- lack of regulation leads to promotion of ideas and values that go against those of mainstream society
- more informed consumers, wider choice, more user participation
- greater democracy
- more access to all kinds of information
Marxists view
Instrumental or Manipulative Approach
- Owners of the media directly control the content of the media
- Capitalist classes use their cultural power to dominate institutions like education to transmit their ruling class ideology
Ralph Milliband
(MARXISTS THEORISTS)
- argued that media played an important role in promoting false class consciousness
- media owners have similar ideas and political ideologies and they transmit these to their audiences by controlling content
- passive audience that receives info as if it were fact
- role of the media is to shape how we think abut the world
- audiences are rarely informed about important issues like inequality, or why poverty persists
- ‘bread and circus’ = what you need to run a harmonious society
Reinforcing dominant ideologies
(Marxism)
- media owners decide content that will be broadcast or published
- important social issues such as inequality are ignored or presented without a human face e.g. stats
Curran (2003)
(MARXISTS THEORISTS)
- evidence of media owners involvement in the day to day affairs of media production
- relationships between politicians and owners and editors - Blair courted Rupert Murdoch for support
Iraq War
- topping of statute
- people were manipulated on the premise of Iraq having weapons of mass destruction
Evidence:
- as well as the bias news reporting of the Iraq aftermath, Curran and Seaton found 175 newspapers carried the same message
Neo-Marxist View
By product of background, media content does support the interests of those who run the capitalist system
Sutton Trust
54% of journalists are privately educated, male, white, m/c
Hegemony
Gramsci
rule by consent, we are persuaded to believe the dominant ideology and therefore allow those in power to rule over us
2008 Banking Crisis
Philo found that the media coverage of the global banking crisis was focused on the views and solutions offered by the main political parties and bankers themselves
Criticisms of Hegemonic Marxist View
- underrates the power and influence of the owners
- agenda setting and gatekeeping have little real choice as programmes are produced within a framework of the dominant ideology = direct manipulation
- pluralists would suggest that the rise of the new globalised digital media has put control in the hands of the media users
Postmodern View
- argue that society has undergone a process of media saturation = too many providers and sources of media
- impossible in postmodern society for individuals to control all the media output, technological advances = gap between producers and audience have eroded
- people are exposed to media messages and are unable to process all of the information and so become selective in their media choices
How is ownership affected?
(Postmodern)
- range of cultural and political views in society
- audience is able to choose what media sources they engage with and this gives them power
- Levene argues that the ownership of media is more fluid than in previous gen and people can reject any manipulation of media from owners
Baudrillard
(Postmodern)
- media saturation has led to people being unable to distinguish between reality and hyperreality
- decisions taken by the media publishers and creators have built a false narrative of what society is today
- audiences are so immersed in the media, they can find it difficult to distinguish between real life and the media version of reality, this is ‘hyper-reality’
Evaluation of Postmodern
- NM sources are increasingly controlled by few companies
- Diversity of media creates a ‘zombie generation’ of consumers
