Module 5 Theorizing Infotainment, Fake News, & Social Media

Question 1

4 important dates to evolution of pop culture

Answer 1

i) 1985 | Neil Postman publishes “Entertaining Ourselves to Death”
ii) 1993 | OJ Simpson public trial; “Cops”
iii) 1998 | Bill & Monica Sex Scandal; Internet used for news
iv) 2001| Bowling for Columbine

Question 2

Amusing Ourselves to Death

Answer 2

Neil Postman; made difficult academic work of Marshal McLuhan (The Industrial Bride) and made it accessible for news/media and their audience.

Question 3

1990 Political/Military Exploitation

Answer 3

Presidential sex scandal; VietNam war showed america boys dying and soldiers killing women and children which cancelled the war; Pentagon did not allow reporters near war; war movies gained popularity

Question 4

2000s War on Terror

Answer 4

Terrorism fueled by American thoughts of “Hatred of American Freedom”; Annihilation of complexities of the Middle-East, only terrorist

Question 5

2005 Terri Schiavo Extravaganza

Answer 5

“Death-o-tainment”; Diana died paired with 15 yr long vegetative state of Terri; gave both politicians/mainstream media a perfect excuse for growing public anger about iraq gulags, illegal war and occupation

Question 6

1991 Invention

Answer 6

World Wide Web (www) was created

Question 7

Web 2.0

Answer 7

Allowed for two-way communication; YouTube (2006), Facebook (2004), Twitter (2005), and Wikipedia (2001) which allowed for sharing of media attention by making connecting and accessing information easier.

Question 8

Social Media & News

Answer 8

Informed worldviews and social practices and how activity shapes and constitutes them (ex. Facebook algorithm); Facebook (CNN) was townsquare but company determines what you truly see.

Question 9

Neil Postman on Social Media

Answer 9

Same as TV with same corrosive effects but more powerful due to ‘discrete discourse”

Question 10

Discrete Discourse

Answer 10

access to seemingly endless flow of information but media does little to help interpret, understand, and utilize information

Question 11

fragmented exchanges of knowledge

Answer 11

inhibits meaningful production of knowledge; lacks thoughtful discourse preventing critiques and dismissal of flawed ideas

Question 12

Bonnie Stabile

Answer 12

examined misinformation and disinformation and their role in the 2016 presidential election; Clinton’s gender framed with bias and sexism (Ex. “Pizzagate” & “Health Scare”)

Question 13

Media Pedagogy

Answer 13

What extent media educates us

Question 14

Tiera Chante’Tanksley

Answer 14

looked at how black girls resist harmful effects of racist social media discourse by creating satirical instagram memes

Question 15

Misrepresentative stereotypes (Black women)

Answer 15

i) Hyperaggressive
ii) Hypersexual
iii) incompetence

Question 16

Propaganda

Answer 16

information, especially of a biased or misleading nature, used to promote or publicize a particular political cause or point of view.

Question 17

Medium/Media

Answer 17

(1) : a channel or system of communication, information, or entertainment compare mass medium. (2) : a publication or broadcast that carries advertising.

Question 18

Technology

Answer 18

the application of scientific knowledge for practical purposes, especially in industry.

Question 19

Fake News

Answer 19

Fake news is false or misleading information presented as news.

Question 20

Disinformation

Answer 20

false information deliberately spread to deceive people.

Question 21

Misinformation

Answer 21

false information but is not deliberate.

Question 22

Frames/Framing

Answer 22

Frames in thought consist of the mental representations, interpretations, and simplifications of reality.

Question 23

Macro

Answer 23

level analysis is used to look at societies at large.

Question 24

Meso

Answer 24

level analysis involves the study of groups, communities, and institutions.

Question 25

Micro

Answer 25

level analysis focuses on the social interactions of individuals or very small groups.

Question 26

Grammar of Race

Answer 26

A concept used to describe a group of people who share physical characteristics, such as skin color and facial features.

Question 27

Misogynoir

Answer 27

term referring to misogyny directed towards black women where race and gender both play a role.

Question 28

Hypersexual

Answer 28

Compulsive sexual behavior

Question 29

Self-sacrificing

Answer 29

giving up one’s own interests or wishes in order to help others or advance a cause.

Question 30

Black Feminist Media Literacy

Answer 30

social relations where intersectional processes of race, ethnicity, gender, class, and sexual orientation shape black women’s individual and collective consciousness, self-definitions, and actions