Media Industries and Institutions Flashcards
(142 cards)
1
Q
2003 Communications Act
A
the key piece of legislation that outlines the UK’s current regulatory approach. The act brought OFCOM into being and shifted UK regulation from a citizen to a consumer based model
2
Q
ABC Figures
A
produced by the Audit Bureau of Circulations, which is responsible for measuring the reach of different media across a range of platforms
3
Q
A
4
Q
AIDA Model
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Awareness Interest Desire Action
a four-step process to describe how consumers come to a decision to purchase a product
5
Q
Awareness
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people need to be aware of a product, so adverts must grab people’s attention
6
Q
Interest
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people must be interested in the product, this involves decoding the preferred reading of an advert
7
Q
Desire
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using the preferred reading and brand personality, people need to be made to want the product
8
Q
Action
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people then need to go out and buy the product
9
Q
ASA
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Advertising Standards Authority
independent body that oversees the regulation of broadcast/print advertising in the UK, requires advertisers to self-regulate content using their industry standards codes
10
Q
Anonymised Content
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a lot of online content is anonymously authored. This anonymity makes it hugely difficult for regulators or online services to take action when harmful material is published
11
Q
Artificial Scarcity
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media makers control commercial risks through the careful supervision of distribution and promotion practices, effecting ‘artificial scarcity’ restricting access to products by limiting their availability to platforms that are owned by the parent company of the product
12
Q
Audience Loyalty
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describes a product’s capacity to maintain audience engagement. Audience loyalty is often enabled when the brand values of a product align with those of a product’s audience
13
Q
BBFC
A
British Board of Film Classification
independent body that oversees the regulation of film distribution in the UK. The BBFCs age rating code guides parental viewing choices and protects vulnerable audiences
14
Q
Big Six
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six media companies that control almost all media in the world
15
Q
National Amusements
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the biggest of the Big Six, owns CBS
16
Q
Disney
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the second-biggest of the Big Six, owns Marvel, Pixar, Star Wars, ABC, National Geographic and Vice
17
Q
TimeWarner
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the third-biggest of the Big Six, owns DC and Hulu
18
Q
ComCast
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the fourth-biggest of the Big Six, owns Universal
19
Q
NewsCorp
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the fifth-biggest of the Big Six, owns Fox and Harper Collins
20
Q
Sony
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the smallest of the big six, owns Columbia Pictures and TriStar
21
Q
Black Channel Mechanisms
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where the receiver doesn’t know who the sender is, for example, complaints through Ofcom
22
Q
Brand Ambassador
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an individual, often a celebrity, who is paid to promote and endorse a product or service; they become the face of the brand and their qualities are associated with the product
23
Q
Brand Identity
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image that a brand projects and the associations the audience then make with the brand
24
Q
CAP Code
A
Committee of Advertising Practice Code
a non-voluntary code that governs UK print advertising that provides detailed guidance to stop the publication of material that might cause physical or moral harm
25
Censorship
the controls and regulations that exist about media content; censorship powers can be held by governments or regulatory bodies
26
Channel Proliferation
term used to describe the expansion of media content provision. Media proliferation occurs when more products or channels become available for audiences
27
Classification
a rating given to a film, DVD or video game which informs the audience the suitability for different ages of audiences according to criteria of violence, sexual content and inappropriate language
28
Citizen
a person who is a member of a particular country
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Citizen Based Regulation
a regulatory system that outlines a civic role for the media, achieved by setting quotas for public service programming and by closely monitoring content so that it doesn't cause harm or offense
30
Civic Republicanism
Livingstone and Lunt argue that the media, ideally, ought to contribute to the wider health and well-being of audiences to produce content that educates and informs
31
Commercial Media
an organisation that makes or distributes products for economic gain; they usually craft products to have mass appeal, using entertainment to garner large audiences
32
Commercial Viability
describes a media product's capacity to make a profit. Commercially viable products tend to attract large audiences - creating profits from sales/subscriptions as well as advertising
33
Commissioning
when programmes get the go ahead or green light for production; producers will pitch their ideas to commissioning controllers who will decide whether or not to commission the programme
34
Commodification
process by which something becomes an object that can be marketed and sold
35
Concentration Effects
Curran and Seaton tell us that media concentration is problematic because it has resulted in the production of formulaic mass market products and has given media owners too much power
36
Concentration of Ownership
refers to the limited number of organisations or individuals who control ownership of much of the media
37
Conglomerates
a company made of lots of companies merged together
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Consumer
a person who purchases goods and services
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Consumer-Based Regulation
regulatory system in which censorship of content is largely left up to audiences to decide for themselves. It also gives producers the freedom to produce more risqué programming
40
Convergence
moving towards union; coming closer together and meeting at a point
41
Creative Business Managers
look after marketing, distributing and financing of media products
42
Creative Symbol Makers
Hesmondhalgh suggests that those workers who create media products are the media’s creative symbol makers. Traditionally, creatives were given lots of freedom in the media industry, but, Hesmondhalgh argues, creative decision making is increasingly sidelined in favour of a business-orientated approach
43
Cross Platform Marketing
when one form is advertised on another media platform
44
Demerger
separating a large corporation into two or more smaller organisations
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Deregulation
the relaxing of controls and limitations imposed upon the media by the state
46
Digital Literacy
Sonia Livingstone argues digital literacy skills are essential tools that audiences - particularly young audiences - need to be taught so that they can safely engage with online products
47
Diverse Ownership
term used to describe media companies or organisations that produce content for reasons other than commercial gain, includes public service broadcasters
48
Diversification
large corporations spreading their interest and shares in a wide variety of mass media forms
49
Duopoly
an industry within which two companies control the market
50
Economies of Scale
achieved when two or more subsidiaries are owned by a media company, allowing conglomerates to make savings through bulk buying or by sharing resources
51
Facial Action Coding System
a technique whereby computer technology is used to capture a range of high resolution skin textures and different facial expression used to help animators replicate computer generated images
52
Free Market
capitalist system where the prices for goods and services are determined by the open market and consumers where state/legal regulation is kept to a minimum
53
Genre-Based Formatting
according to Hesmondhalgh, it takes considerable marketing efforts in order to break a writer or performer as a new star, yet star power, once enabled, can deliver ready-made audiences for products
54
Genre Formatting
positioning a product to emphasise its genre driven features. This marketing strategy helps audiences to understand the narrative satisfactions that a media product offers prior to consumption
55
Guerilla Marketing
low cost and unconventional marketing methods with a clear focus on grabbing the audience’s attention
56
Guest Diversity
occurs in shows like game shows, where guests are invited from a range of cultural, professional and academic backgrounds
57
Hegemony
leadership or dominance in the media of a particular group that defines the norms and ideas of a culture
58
Hesmondhalgh Theory
involves cultural industry, media producers are caught between the balance of creativity and profit and profit will trump creativity to avoid alienating the mainstream, meaning all media products exist as a result of their economic context and there is a constant tension between shareholders and creatives in the media industries. Hesmondhalgh suggested various ways to increase profit
59
Vertical Integration
where a production company buys companies that do other parts of production, such as distribution to minimise risk and maximise profit
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Horizontal Integration
where companies buy companies to reduce competition
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Work across a variety of media platforms and topologies
where companies not only make films, but other media formats such as video games
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Focus on popular genres
look at what is currently popular and copy it
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Controlled Release Schedule
this can be achieved in two different ways
o Releasing everything at once reduces risk
o Limited Release
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Detailed Marketing Campaign
involves trailers, websites and various other media platforms, creating a vortex of publicity
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High-Mid Budget
£30,000,000 - £50,000,000
Apocalypse Now (1979) The Girl on the Train (2021), Bridget Jones’s Baby (2016)
66
Hysterical News Value
term used by Curran & Seaton to describe sensationalised or exaggerated news content, usually used to increase sales or readership figures
67
Impartial Reportage
news reporting that offers a balanced or non-biased viewpoint, usually found in quality press titles
68
Independent Labelling
independents provide a useful means of engaging audiences that are reluctant to consume mainstream media and conglomerates also delegate production to independents to shield themselves from the impact of content failure on their brand identity
69
Independent Media
media companies that operate outside of major companies within that industry
70
Industrial Process
there are three stages to the industrial process
71
Production
how a film gets made
o Pre-Production
o Production
o Post-Production
o Marketing
o Distribution
o Circulation
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Distribution
how a film gets seen, for example, cinema, digital products, streaming, on-demand
73
Circulation
how a film aims to build its audience via marketing and promotion
74
Industry Influence
citizen-oriented regulation was scrapped as a result of industry lobbying. Producers wanted to ditch educational programming quotas so they could broadcast more commercially viable content
75
Institutions
commonly used in writing about media to describe the modern day equivalents of those media organisations seen to be of cultural significance in shaping how we view the world today
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Internationalisation
refers to strategies adopted by media makers to maximise their profits and audience reach using global distribution
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Internationalism
allows media makers to maximise profits and audience reach via global distribution. Media conglomerates strive to operate in multiple countries to create this global reach
78
Jean Chalaby's Theory
states that transnational television highlights how contemporary media producers, particularly on global platforms like Netflix, intentionally crafting content that transcends national boundaries; whilst maintaining elements of cultural specificity, shows are shaped to engage global audiences through genre familiarity, universal themes and platform-driven accessibility
79
Legacy Power
a term used to describe the continued influence of traditional media organisations
80
Leveson Inquiry
a public inquiry into how NewsCorp had hacked phones belonging to celebrities, politicians, members of the royal family, relatives of deceased British soldiers and victims of the 7/7 bombings
81
Limited Distribution Company
term applied to companies who have limited capacity to sell their products. Independents, in particular, struggle to distribute their products because they aren't vertically integrated
82
Low Budget
£150,000 - £5,000,000
The Blairwitch Project (1999), Saw (2004), Psycho (1960), The Full Monty (1997)
83
Low-Mid Budget
£5,000,000-30,000,000
Blinded by the Light (2019), The Exorcist (1973), The Shining (1980), La La Land (2016)
84
Mass Market News
news designed to engage mainstream readerships, presenting hard news as entertainment and often critiqued for trivialising political issues, also known as 'news depoliticization'
85
Media Concentration
where media products are increasingly controlled by fewer companies. Curran and Seaton argue that the process of media concertation has accelerated since the 1960s
86
Media Diversity
Curran and Seaton celebrate the BBC because it provides minority interest programming, has a duty to be unbiased, and, moreover reflects the diverse members of UK society
87
Media Institutions
established regulated organisations that own and produce different media, products, platforms and brands
88
Media Pluralism
media landscape with a healthy balance of products made by different media company types, including public service broadcasters, commercial media and citizen-generated media
89
Merchandising
exploitation of a character in TV and film through a range of non-media branded products, eg Star Wars action figures
90
Merger
a combination of two media companies into one, usually to gain more power and influence in the market
91
Metadata
data providing information about one or more aspects of the data, often summarising basic information such as title and description of an online video plus any tags and thumbnails
92
Micro Budget
less than £150,000, for example, El Mariachi (1992)
93
Minority Audience
very small target audience. Curran & Seaton argue that commercial imperatives push minority products to the margins of broadcast schedules because they don't make a great deal of profit
94
Minority Issue Debate
where media products choose to focus on minority issues not normally covered in commercial media
95
Multinational Company
media company that operates in multiple countries. Curran and Seaton argue that this maximises profits because producers can collect revenues for the same products across multiple countries
96
Multiple Revenue Streams
media brand that generates income from a number of different sources. Films, for example, often create revenue through merchandising (toys, clothing and video games) as well as ticket sale
97
Multi-Sector Integration
buying companies across the culture sector allows for further cross-promotion opportunities and the deployment of brands across media platforms
98
Murder of Milly Dowler
Milly Dowler was a 13-year-old girl who was strangled by Levi Bellfield in 2002. Originally, police believed Dowler was still alive as her voicemails were being listened to. It later transpired that her phone had been hacked by NewsCorp and they were listening to her voicemails whilst she lay dead. This led to the formation of the Leveson Inquiry
99
Nation State Powerlessness
a concept that acknowledges that digital media regulation is difficult and the global nature of online media means that individual countries can't easily regulate products/services that are distributed from outside their borders
100
Neoliberalism
a political ideology favouring free market capitalism
101
Ofcom
The Office of Communications
has regulated the UK media sector since 2003, centralised the responsibilities of the multiple regulators that previously existed in broadcasting and telecommunications, it regulates through a mixture of measures to promote competition, plurality and diversity
102
PEGI
Pan-European Game Information
age-rating system that provides consumers with information about gaming content, tells parents whether games contain depictions of violence, swearing or gambling
103
Pitch
an outline of an idea for the creation of a particular media product
104
Platform
the technological distribution method used, with three platforms: print, broadcast and emedia
105
Political Economy
a study of the social relations and power that together constitute the production, distribution and consumption of resources
106
Pre-Sold Audiences
usually constructed through the use of star power or because a product is heavily marketed as genre driven. Both of these formatting techniques create pre-release fan-based appeals
107
Primary Research
original and new research that is carried out to answer particular questions or issues
108
Prime Time
times of the day when radio and TV audiences are expected to be at their highest
109
Privatisation
when a company is sold to a private bidder and taken out of public ownership
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Producer
people who plan, coordinate and create media products
111
Proprietor Influence
Curran and Seaton suggest that news owners often control the agendas of newspapers. This means that UK news titles are biased and construct problematic ideological effects
112
PSB
Public Service Broadcaster
media organisation that doesn't make products for commercial gain, such as the BBC
113
Regulation
the act of controlling something
114
Regulation Overload
the volume of authors making online content poses a massive challenge to regulators. The scale of online social media platforms, for example, makes it impossible to vet all published material
115
Regulator
an authority who creates and maintains rules
116
Remakes
the media industry further reduces risk by recycling archived material that has enjoyed prior success; retellings often seek to recapture audience engagement through nostalgia-based appeals, whilst also rebranding content so that it fits the needs of a contemporary audience
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Remit
outlines a broadcaster’s area of responsibility
118
Risk Aversion
when produce content deliberately lacks controversy. Newspapers, for example, might pursue a risk averse editorial mix to maximise advertising income or to cultivate a mainstream audience
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Rupert Murdoch
the owner of NewsCorp
120
Scheduling
the decisions of when and where to broadcast programmes on TV and radio
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Self-Regulation
devolves regulatory decisions to industry practitioners. Self-regulation means that producers assume responsibility for policing/gatekeeping content they make and broadcast
122
Self-Regulatory Influences
producers largely police their own content in the UK's consumer-led regulatory system. Self-regulation is guided by audience and advertiser needs, as well as a producer's ethical stance
123
Serialisation
enables producers to reduce risk by formatting content so it that appeals to an established audience. Serialisation strategies include: prequels, sequels, spin-offs and remakes
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Speed of Change Effects
Livingstone & Lunt argue that the rate of technological change has been so rapid that governments have been unable to devise meaningful regulatory systems to police online content
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Star Power
foregrounding the presence of celebrities in a media product. Including star personas brings an inherited audience to a product or is used to suggest high production values
126
Statutory Regulation
a regulation system that is implemented by law
127
Stripping
where a programme is broadcast at the same time everyday
128
Studio Budget
over £50,000,000
WALL-E (2009), Guardians of the Galaxy (2014), Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015), Tangled (2010)
129
Subscription Broadcasting
any platform or broadcaster that offers access to its content for a subscription
130
Subsidary
company controlled by a much larger company
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Synergistic Relationship
two separate media organisations working together in a manner that benefits both organisation
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Synergy
where two or more people or businesses work together an therefore gain a mutual benefit, increasing the effectiveness of results
133
Teaser
a form of trailer that teases the audience about a forthcoming film, often meant to intrigue, typically short and aimed at peaking interest
134
Tech Giant Control
online tech giants - Google, Facebook and Twitter - are so powerful that individual governments are reluctant to take action that might control or regulate their activities
135
Technological Convergence
advancement of technology, merging and integrating
136
Trailer
short advert for a forthcoming film, usually adhering to a particular set of codes and conventions, might include highlights from the film and information about the stars of the film
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Transnational Television
refers to how television goes beyond national boundaries
138
Treatment
a short outline of an intended media production, including written descriptions, sketches and mockups
139
Viral Marketing
a method of marketing which encourages media consumers to share opinion and information about a media product on the internet and on social media
140
Vulnerable Audience
Livingstone & Lunt suggest that the principle function of the independent bodies who regulate the UK's media is to protect children and other vulnerable groups from the effects of harmful content
141
Watershed
the time after which it is allowed for media products to contain more adult content or content that is deemed unsuitable for younger audiences
142
White Channel Mechanisms
where the sender and receiver both know who each other are, for example, complaining publicly about a media product on social media
