Vocabulary Ch. 1 Flashcards
(28 cards)
Media Literacy
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
Mass Media
The industries that produce and distribute songs, video games, movies, novels, news, internet services, and other products to a large number of people.
Communication
The creation and use of symbol systems that convey information and meaning (e.g., language, traffic lights, clothing, photographs, etc.).
Culture
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
Affordances
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?
Mass Communication
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
Masspersonal communication
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
Mass nation
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)
Consensus narratives
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)
Digital communication
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
Convergence
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
Niche Nation
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
Participatory Culture
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.
Media environment
Considering a media environment is to think about media as the habitat in which we conduct almost every aspect of our daily lives
Text
Refers to anything that conveys meaning or communicates information; a text is anything people “read” or interpret
Technological determinism
A common but sometimes simplistic way of thinking that sees technology as an independent force that appears out of nowhere and changes everything.
Politics
(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.
Narrative
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
Modern era
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)
High culture
Culture perceived as a hierarchy
ballet, art museums, classic literature: “good taste”
Supported by wealthy patrons with higher education
Low culture
Reality TV, teen pop music, violent video games: “questionable” tastes of the masses
Postmodern era
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
Populism
A political approach that pits ordinary people against educated elites and nurtures a variety of movements on both the right and the left
Critical process
DAIEE
description, analysis, interpretation, evaluation, and engagement
