Vocabulary Ch. 1

Question 1

Media Literacy

Answer 1

To develop an informed and critical view of the influence institutions have on national and global life.

To become critical consumers of media products and reflective users of media technologies by understanding how media construct meaning

An understanding of mass communication developed through the critical process

Question 2

Mass Media

Answer 2

The industries that produce and distribute songs, video games, movies, novels, news, internet services, and other products to a large number of people.

Question 3

Communication

Answer 3

The creation and use of symbol systems that convey information and meaning (e.g., language, traffic lights, clothing, photographs, etc.).

Question 4

Culture

Answer 4

The forms and systems of expression that individuals, groups, and societies use to make sense of daily life, communicate with other people, and articulate their values.

Example: uploading selfies, listening to music, reading books, watching television, playing video games, sharing memes

Question 5

Affordances

Answer 5

The features or capabilities of a technology that help establish how we use it.

What kind of information does a technology allow us to send, how quickly, in what form, and to whom?

Question 6

Mass Communication

Answer 6

The process of designing cultural messages and stories and delivering them to increasingly large and diverse audiences through mass media (e.g., newspapers, magazines, movies, radio, and television)

Print and electronic eras fueled mass communication

Question 7

Masspersonal communication

Answer 7

A method of communication that mixes and matches aspects of mass and interpersonal communication (e.g., posting on social media)

Mass comm: one to many, public, impersonal, produced by media industries

Interpersonal comm: one to one, private, personal, produced outside media industries

Question 8

Mass nation

Answer 8

A society in which a large percentage of a diverse population went to the same movies, listened to the same songs, watched the same TV & news (e.g., three channels on television in 1970s: ABC, NBC, CBS)

Question 9

Consensus narratives

Answer 9

Stories that reflect certain values and assumptions about what the world is and should be like (this helped establish a mainstream American culture and identity)

Question 10

Digital communication

Answer 10

Converts media content into combinations of ones and zeros (binary code) that are then reassembled (decoded) when you play a video game, view a picture, or download a textbook

Question 11

Convergence

Answer 11

Term used in the early 2000s by media critics and analysts: describes the changes brought by the digital transition

Refers to two things:
1. the merging of technological merging of once distinct and incompatible formats into a single format, which can then be accessed through one device
2. refers to the trend of media companies merging together in order to better position themselves for a world in which all media can be digital

Question 12

Niche Nation

Answer 12

A society in which people navigate a more varied and complex media landscape (opposite of consensus narratives). Splits into subcultures or narrow niches, connecting us to some people but disconnecting us from others

Question 13

Participatory Culture

Answer 13

A culture in which it is relatively easy for people to create and share their own content and build connections with others that often reflect and deepen the dynamics of a niche nation.

Question 14

Media environment

Answer 14

Considering a media environment is to think about media as the habitat in which we conduct almost every aspect of our daily lives

Question 15

Text

Answer 15

Refers to anything that conveys meaning or communicates information; a text is anything people “read” or interpret

Question 16

Technological determinism

Answer 16

A common but sometimes simplistic way of thinking that sees technology as an independent force that appears out of nowhere and changes everything.

Question 17

Politics

Answer 17

(Broader than electoral politics or political parties)

Refers to the process by which power, resources, status, and visibility get distributed in a society (usually unequally). Culture is a part of that political process

It is the place where a society’s values get established and delivered, where certain ways of life and certain kinds of people get defined as normal and valuable, while others are labeled as abnormal or irrelevant.

Question 18

Narrative

Answer 18

Our media institutions and outlets are all in the narrative (storytelling) business. media stories put events in context and shape how we understand our daily lives and the larger world

Question 19

Modern era

Answer 19

Coined with the rise of mass communication industries, which were bound up with the era’s faith in expertise, rationalism, and progress

New technologies to make life better for millions of people, medical breakthroughs, new appliances, etc.

Mass media emergence in modern era (pros and cons to this)

Question 20

High culture

Answer 20

Culture perceived as a hierarchy

ballet, art museums, classic literature: “good taste”

Supported by wealthy patrons with higher education

Question 21

Low culture

Answer 21

Reality TV, teen pop music, violent video games: “questionable” tastes of the masses

Question 22

Postmodern era

Answer 22

A period marked by a growing skepticism about expertise and the idea of progress

By the end of the twentieth century, scientific advances were normal; modernism also led to unforeseen consequences and dissapointments

Question 23

Populism

Answer 23

A political approach that pits ordinary people against educated elites and nurtures a variety of movements on both the right and the left

Question 24

Critical process

Answer 24

DAIEE

description, analysis, interpretation, evaluation, and engagement

Question 25

Description

Answer 25

1st step, involves paying close attention, taking notes, and researching the subject under study

Question 26

Analysis

Answer 26

2nd step, involves discovering and focusing on significant patterns that emerge from the description stage

Question 27

Interpretation

Answer 27

3rd step, involves asking and answering “what does that mean?” and “so what” questions about one’s findings

Question 28

Evalutation

Answer 28

4th step, involves arriving at a judgment about whether a cultural product is good, bad, or mediocre; this requires subordinating one’s personal taste to the critical “bigger picture” resulting from the first three stages