Test 1 Flashcards
Problems with Communication
Noise: anything that interferes with the transmission of a message may occur (smudged print, reception problems, lawn mowers)
Feedback: crucial because message may be misinterpreted, unclear, delayed, etc
George Guess/Sequoyah
Father, white/ mother, Cherokee; handicapped, never learned to read or write English; Cherokee felt they were meant to hunt with bows and arrows, not read
Devised a system adopted by the Cherokee nation in 1825; nation awarded Guess a silver medal for his contributions before his death.
Culture
Culture defined as “the behaviors/beliefs characteristics of a particular social, ethnic or age group, the learned behavior of whatever group to which you belong
“The sum total of ways of living built up by a group over a period of time and passed on from 1 gen to another”
Early Cultures and Storytelling
Oral cultures: passed on info from 1 gen to the next without benefit of writing
1st important communicators
Early Writing Cultures
Sumerians: cuneiform, lived in Sumer, city found between Tigris and Euphrates rivers, led the way In the history of writing.
Egyptians: created hieroglyphics w/2000 symbols, used papyrus(writing surface derived from plants along Nile) and parchment( writing surface from the skins of goat and sheep) Rosetta Stone, found by Napoleon (French) and his troops in the city of Rashid
Phoenicians: developed 1st syllable alphabet
Chinese: credited with developing paper centuries before paper was available in Europe
Printing Press
Gutenberg gave 1st printing press w/interchangeable letters
Five years after the printing press, 12 million books published in Europe.
Overview of Media Changes
- 1939: television debuts at the New York City World’s fair.
- 1960: U.S transitions to information society
- 1975: 1st personal computer introduced; SATCOM 1 was 1st satellite approved; it is sustained about 22,330 miles above equator. Home box office was 1st premium cable network offered
- 1982: CD first digital recording medium introduced
- 1996: telecommunications act of 1996 changes US media policy (particularly ownership)
Pivotal Moments in Television
- 1963: Tv reaches maturity
- 1975: HBO goes on satellite
- 1976: 1st basic cable service and WTBS debut
- 1996: telecommunications act triggers mergers
Computer Development
- Computers date back to 19th century
- people with mathematical expertise were referred to as computers; they calculated tables, but had plenty of mistakes.
- colossus was the digital computer used by the British; ENIAC was the digital computer used initially here in America
- president Eisenhower established the project that created the American computer network
The founding of a Dynasty: Apple
Jobs was the visionary and master salesman for the company, Wozniak developed the company’s first personal computer, Apple 1, and its second , Apple II; Wayne developed Apples Initial Logo, wrote the manual for Apple I, and free up the partnership agreement, Wayne later bowed out before Apple became a powerhouse.
Different Communication Types
Intrapersonal- daydreaming, silent language
Interpersonal- includes all aspects of personal interaction or contact
Mass communication- when messages are sent through technology, feedback is much more delayed
The Problems at Hand
Convergence: come together, (erosion of traditional distinctions among media; some phones allow you to surf the net, watch television shows and movies, and use phone
Conglomeration: (media bought by non-media companies)
Changing Audiences
- silent generation: 1928-1945 (fought in World War II) 70-87 years old
- baby boom generation-grandparents, 1946-1964, most spending budget
- generation X: parents, more involved in new media
- millennials: optimistic,most supervised,use of all media, short attention span
- generation Z: 2000-present, more diverse than any gen.
Technological Innovations
Fiber optic cable appeared in the mid- 1980s, featuring thin bundles of fiber, incorporating glass and pulses of light.
eBay
Originally called AuctionWeb; 1st sold a broken laser pointer for 14.83
Bought PayPal in 2002, now have a 25% stake in Craigslist; acquired Skype in ‘05
Future of Mobile Payments
Right now, boils down to a race among Google, Amazon and Apple
Skype
Founded in 2003 by Zennstrom of Sweden and Friis of Denmark
eBay reported to have paid 2.6 billion in cash for the service in ‘05; in 2011, eBay allowed Microsoft to buy 70% of skype; both Google and Facebook offered 2 billion for Skype
Mark Zuckerberg
Zuckerberg had created “Synapse”, a music website intended to anticipate user preferences; offered $1 million by Microsoft
Chosen Time magazines 2010 “man of the year”
Facebook initial Public Offering
Facebook’s IPO was one of the most problematic openings in NASDAQ history.
2014 most-talked-about entertainers/U.S
Beyoncé
2014 most-talked-about tv shows/U.S
Game of Thrones
- Facebook acquired it for $1 billion in cash.
- application developed in 2010 by Systom and Krieger
- most liked photo ever: Kimye Wedding
- busiest day ever. Thanksgiving/1st day of Hanukkah,2013
Snapchat’s Inception
- Begun by Stanford university students Spiegel, Brown and Murphy
- Brown expressed a desire to have pics disappear after being sent
- Facebook created “poke” as competition for snapchat, but not successful
- Brown later ousted
MySpace
2007 was the greatest year for the MySpace site
June, 2011, specific media group and Justin timberlake purchased the website for 35 million
Founded by Dorsey, Stone and Williams in ‘06; first called “status”
On 1/15/09 when US airways flight 1549 crashed in the Houston River, witness tweeted crash pic; scooped journalists for the first time.
Founded by computer science grad students Page and Brin at Stanford in 1998
Began the search engine “BackRub” that later became Google
Google Timeline
- 2000 launched “AdWords”- service that allows ads to appear for businesses when searched
- 2003 launched “AdSense”- websites get paid for displaying Google ads
- 2006 purchased YouTube for 1.65B
- 2014 purchased Nest for 3.2B (a smart thermostat and smoke detector company; Google’s entry into the smart home market)
YouTube
Founded by Hurley, Chen and Karim in ‘05; the site now sees television as its prime competitor
Yahoo!
Begun by electrical engineering Ph.D. Candidates, Filo and Yang
Developed by Silbermann, a former product designer for Google.
Nordstrom is the most followed brand.
Other Major Players
- coinstar (redbox): in addition to coin-counting machines, now own RedBox, with 23,000 DVD rental kiosks across the U.S
- Hulu: Begun by NBC and Fox, now includes Disney in ownership
- Netflix (Reed Hastings)
Netflix in 2013/2014
This video-streaming service with total season downloads has been compared to iTunes in the music world.
Top Powerful Media Corporations (2014)
- The Disney Company
- News Corporation
- Time Warner
- CBS/Viacom
- NBC Universal (GE/Comcast)
The Disney Company (#1)
Disney Company owns: ABC, Pixar, Lucasfilm, Marvel Comics, Disney Studios, Buena Vista, Touchstone, Miramax, Entertainment and Sports programming network (ESPN)
Disney’s “Hot” Properties
- ABC (the #3 television network)
- Pixar (a dozen full-length animated hits; deal worth $7.4 billion)
- Marvel (the #1 comic book publisher, 40% market share; deal worth $4 billion)
- Lucasfilm (20 Acamedy Awards; deal worth $4 billion)
Pixar Success
Pixar has recieved 210 awards, including 23 Acamedy awards, 5 Golden Globes, 11 Grammys
Disney and Pixar’s Joint Venture
Disney executive Michael Eisner’s relationship with Jobs almost ended the Disney/Apple joint venture.
Disney Animation and Buena Vista Successes
Six of the top 15 all-time highest grossing films.
The Magic of Frozen
The most successful, highest grossing animated film EVER, earning $1.2 billion worldwide!
Timeline of Jobs’ Career
- 2001: Launches IPod in November, changed the face of media consumption
- 2007: Launches the iPhone; as of 2015, the best-selling technical gadget ever
- Oct 5, 2011: Jobs dies; Apple now is the world’s most valuable company.
News Corporation (#2) and Rupert Murdoch
Chairman and CEO News Corp is Rupert Murdoch, Fortune named him the #2 most powerful person in the business
Fox “hot” Properties
The Wall Street Journal: the #1 daily newspaper in the US
Ted Turner and Warner Brothers Merge; Time Warner Results (#3)
Ted Turner coined the world “superstation”
Time Warner owns: CW(50%), Warner Brothers, Hanna-Barbera, HBO, Cinemax, CNN, Cartoon Network, Time, Sports illustrated, People, DC Comics
Viacom/CBS (#4)
Viacom/CBS own: CBS, CW(50% ownership with Time Warner), Paramount Studios, CBS Productions, King World Productions, Showtime, Spike TV, MTV, MTV2, Noggin, VH-1, Nickelodeon, BET
GE/NBC Universal and Comcast (#5)
NBC Universal owns: nbc, (TELEMUNDO), part of PAX, 14 NBC O and O’s, 15 Telemundo O and O’s, NBC Universal Studios, MSNBC, CNBC, Bravo, Trio, USA, Syfy, 5 theme parks
Comcast
Presently, the largest multiple system operator (MSO), meaning it owns multiple l cable operations across the country (24+ million customers). Time warner is the second largest MSO in the country.
2014 Broadcast Network Rankings
1: CBS; #2: Fox; #3: ABC; #4: NBC
Net Neutrality
In 2003, Columbia University Professor Tim Wu first coined the term “network neutrality”
Extent of Media’s Reach
37 million people in the U.S will tune in to a primetime Tv show on a typical Sunday night (largest audience), Saturday, then Friday, least watched nights; Thursday, pivotal for advertisers
Definitions to know
- broadcasting: the transmission of a signal using the airwaves regulated by the government.
- networks: the entity that provides programming, particularly primetime, for local organizations.
- affiliates (local): the entity that contracts with major organizations, agreeing to carry the majority of the organization’s programs.
Mass Communication Research
Clear media do affect us, but how much and to what degree; effects closely studied by psychologists, sociologists and social psychologists.
Charles Horton Cooley: Pioneer
One of 1st social psychologists to try to explain media’s role
Cooley’s views: 1) media encourage individuality; 2) media limit distribution of new ideas, thus lead to assimilation 3) media give people information on other’s lives
Movie industry concerns
- Charlie Chaplin: one of the most popular Hollywood actors, helped bring large audiences to his films. The kid (1921) and The Gold Rush (1925)
- Motion Picture Research Council questioned amount of influence on children; launched one of the largest studies funded by the Payne Fund
- Payne Fund: extensive research project: 13 studies began in 1928, each answering a different question “how much information was retained?”
Payne Fund Studies’ Results
- unable to find definitive answers to all of the questions
- found that movies do have an effect on children
- groundbreaking discovery: adults/children learn from media
- discovered that what audiences learn affects how they live their lives; changed way academics viewed communication and media.
Research Turns to Radio/Orson Welles
On October 30, 1938, theatre director Orson Welles adapted the HG Wells novel The War of the Worlds(with functional news bulletins and “interruptions”) on CBS
Suggestibility Research Resulting from War Broadcast
Research Cantril and other broadcasters at Princeton University interviewed and observed to identity causes of the panic generated by the War of the Worlds
Suggestibility rather than less education a cause
Lasswell’s Hypodermic Needle/Direct Effects
Theorists Lasswell theorized this, one of the 1st true theories to deal with mass media effects(1920s and 1930s)
- 1930s Nazi Germany’s intelligent use of radio, film and print media an example
- Lasswell went on to ask one of the most important questions of research: “who says what in which channel to whom and with what effect; led future research
Lazarsfeld and Political Power Research
1940s Lazarsfeld and colleagues wondered if mass media had an influence on voting and politics
-political party affiliation more important
Selective Perception Theory
Lazarsfeld: individuals respond and perceive messages selectively, based on their own person needs(pay close attention to some things, ignore others)
Two-step flow research
Lazarsfeld and Katz (political science research) suggest that media messages 1st influence economic and political power elites or opinion leaders who put their own “spin” on messages(1st step), then later pass them on through interpersonal contact or by using media messages (2nd step)
-popular in the 1950s and 1960s, lost power once media channels expanded allowing more access
The Technological School
- impact comes from media (the technology itself) rather than their messages
- technological school (Toronto school)
- Marshall mcluhans “the medium is the message”; looks at how technology impacts audiences
- mcluhans mentor innis felt media are extensions of human mind and body
- Joshua meyrowitz 1985 No Sense of Place examines the influence of electronic media on our cultural environments
- Manuel castells’ 3 volumes focus on how new media and technologies are changing how we organize our lives and define ourselves
Third-Person Effects Research
1980’s theory that suggests people tend to believe media messages affect and influence others more than themselves (“happens to other people but never me”)
Indirect Effects Research
People tend to perceive the effect of messages of others, then react to their perception; you become tempted to jump on the bandwagon so you won’t be left out. ( everyone watches a show so you start to)
Social Learning/Modeling Theories
Social learning: involves learning behavior that is controlled by environmental influences rather than internal influences.
Bandura used dolls in his research with children and found that children learn aggression, sharing, cooperation, social interactions and disappointment from individuals in their environment.
History of Media Violence Concern
In 1960’s 2 government commissions explored topic; found some influence( some casual relationship between watching and acting violently)
Cartharsis Theory
Dates back to Aristotle who felt that viewing tragic plays, people get to release emotions such as grief, rage and fear, thus, viewing violence in media helps aggressive people address their anger vicariously and lessens aggressive behavior
Cultivation Theory
Gerbner and Annenberg colleagues: television “cultivates” the way people see the world; thus, there’s a casual link to watching television and how we perceive reality.
Mean World Syndrome
David Walsh: violent video games can lead to violent behavior
Violence and Music
Study found that hard rock (72% of videos) and hip-hop/rap (48% of videos) were most violent genres
Areas of Concern with Violence
Increased levels of aggression
“Mean world” syndrome
Desensitization
Sex and Pornography
Research begun in earnest in 1970 with the presidential commission on Obscenity and Pornography.
Telecommunications Act of 1996
Most sweeping reforms in the field of telecommunications in 62 years (1934)
One entire section dedicated to the issue of pornography on the Internet; courts have struck most rules down as unconstitutional and conflicting with protections warranted by the first amendment
