Week 1 - mass media, convergence, media literacy

Question 1

What is media convergence?

Answer 1

when products typically linked to one medium show up on many media.

Question 2

What is media?

Answer 2

are platforms or mediums that industries have developed for the purpose of creating and sending messages.

Question 3

What is Audience fragmentation

Answer 3

the process of dividing audiences into segments based on the members’ background and lifestyle in order to send them messages targeted to their specific characteristics.

Question 4

Medium

Answer 4

part of technological system that helps in the transmission, distribution or reception of messages.

Question 5

Messages

Answer 5

collection of symbols (words, signs) that appear purposely organized (meaningful) to those sending or receiving them.

Question 6

Interpersonal communication

Answer 6

a form of communication that involves two or more individuals signalling to each other using their voices, facial and hand gestures, and other signs (even clothing) to convey meaning.

Question 7

Mediated interpersonal communication

Answer 7

a specialized type of interpersonal communication that is assisted by a device, such as a pen, pencil, computer and phone, or a medium, like radio and TV.

Question 8

What is the difference between mass communication and interpersonal communication?

Answer 8

Mass Communication source: organization receiver: people

Interpersonal Communication

source: people
receiver: people

Question 9

8 major elements are involved in everyday communication:

Answer 9

Source: the originator of the communication

Message: the content of the communication

Encoder: translates the message into a form that can be communicated

Channel: the medium or transmission system used to convey the message from one place to another

Decoder: reverses the encoding process

Receiver: the destination of the communication

Feedback mechanism: regulates the flow of the communication between the source and the receiver

Noise: any distortion or errors that may be introduced during information exchange

Question 10

Mass media

Answer 10

the technological vehicles through which mass communication take place

Question 11

Mass media outlets

Answer 11

companies that send out messages via mass media

Question 12

What are the three C’s of mass media convergence?

Answer 12

Content: refers to the “messages”

Corporations: refers to the companies that interact to create and distribute content

Computers: used by corporations to create and distribute content, bringing convergence into mass communication

Question 13

Media technology convergence

Answer 13

the ability of different media to easily interact with each other because they all deal with the information in the same digital form.

Question 14

What are the 4 purposes for people using media?

Answer 14

1. Enjoyment
2. Surveillance - using the media to learn what is happening in the world around us.
3. Interpretation - using the media to find out why things are happening
4. Interactivity - using the media to gain the ability to track and respond to any action triggered by the end user, in order to cultivate a rapport.

Question 15

Culture

Answer 15

ways of life that are passed on to members of society through time and that keep the society together.

Question 16

Subculture

Answer 16

groups with habits that many people consider odd and unusual but not threatening to the general way of life.

Question 17

Society

Answer 17

large numbers of individuals, groups and organizations that live in the same general area and consider themselves connected to one another through the sharing of culture.

Question 18

In what 3 ways does mass media represent culture?

Answer 18

1. Identifying and discussing codes of acceptable behaviour: culture provides its people a notion of how to deal with life’s decisions and gives them ideas about arguments concerning these subjects; mass media do the same.
2. Learning what and who counts in our world and why: mass media tell us who is “famous” and give us reason why; mass media representations offer members of society a sense of the qualities that we ought to expect in good leaders.
3. Determining what others think of us, and what people “like us” think of others: when we read newspapers, listen to radio, or watch TV, we can’t help but compare ourselves to the portrayals these media present; mass media lead us to wonder how we fit in, they may also encourage feelings of connection with people whom we have never met.

Question 19

What are two criticisms of mass media’s influence on culture?

What is the counter argument to such criticism?

Answer 19

1. Mass media present unfortunate prejudices about the world systematically using stereotypes, political ideologies.
2. Mass media’s cultural presentations encourage political and economic manipulation of their audiences.

A counter-argument to such criticism is that people bring their own personalities to the materials they read and watch; they are not only passive recipients of a message but actively participate in the creation of meaning.

Question 20

Literacy

Answer 20

the ability to effectively comprehend and use messages that are expressed in written or printed symbols, such as letters.

Question 21

Media literacy

Answer 21

the ability to apply critical thinking skills to the mass media, thereby becoming a more aware and responsible citizen in our media-driven society.

Question 22

What are the 6 basic principles about mass media materials in relation to media literacy?

Answer 22

1) The media construct our individual realities: along with our personal experiences and observations, media materials help us to create our own individual notions of reality. Much of what we think is due to media, often making it difficult to distinguish between our personal experiences and the media’s influence.
2) The media are influenced by industrial pressures: media materials are created with a specific purpose in mind – the need to sell advertising and profit is foremost in the minds of those who manage an organization.
3) The media are influenced by political pressures: we should be aware that the ideas in media have political implications, i.e. that they are ideological (the content is influenced by the environment the media operates in).
4) The media are influenced by format: every medium – TV, movies, magazines – has its own characteristics, codes and conventions, its own ways of presenting cultural reality.
5) Audiences are active recipients of the media: the process of making meaning out of media is an ongoing interaction between the reader and the materials.
6) The media tell us who we are as a society

Question 23

What are the 5 tools we can use to enhance media literacy?

Answer 23

1. Consider authorship
2. Evaluate audiences
3. Determine the industrial purpose
4. Analyse the content
5. Identify the creative techniques