Mass Communications in Modern Society Exam 1 Study Guide LECTURE 1 - MEDIA IN CONTEXT

Spring 2013

1. Medium is derived from the Latin word for Middle

2. Communication comes from the Latin word for Common

3. What are Gemeinschaft and Gesellschaft? Gemeinschaft( mechanic solidarity) = The small community were everybody knew each other and same cultural values that is Gemeinschaft Gesselschaft (organic) = where you dont have strong tides and individualism takes precedents of collective tides. 1. What does Durkheim mean by mechanic as opposed to organic society?
In a society exhibiting mechanical solidarity, its cohesion and integration comes from the homogeneity of individualspeople feel connected through similar work, educational and religious training, and lifestyle. Mechanical solidarity normally operates in "traditional" and small scale societies.[1] In simpler societies (e.g.,tribal), solidarity is usually based on kinship ties of familial networks. Organic solidarity comes from the interdependence that arises from specialization of work and the complementarities between peoplea development which occurs in "modern" and "industrial" societies.[1] Definition: it is social cohesion based upon the dependence individuals have on each other in more advanced societies. Although individuals perform different tasks and often have different values and interest, the order and very solidarity of society depends on their reliance on each other to perform their specified tasks

So organic could be like all though they are each separated parts they can come together and come as whole to make the entire thing work perfectly

2. How does mass communications differ from face to face (or interpersonal) conversations or communications (letter writing, phone call)? Mass communication is send to the masses and is intended to be received by a mass of people and not to mention that people dont get to give immediate feedback after the message is send. Sending a mass message you cannot control who you will be able to see it. 3. How is network media different than interpersonal or mass media? Interpersonal 1 on 1 , it is a limited number Mass When you talk about mass its 1 on many. Network many to many

1. What are the four senses of mediation that Grossberg claims are embedded in communication? 1. So the first definition of mediation is interceding or coming between. 2. Second definition this sense applies that which has been mediated has biased or shaped by the mediator and can be contrasted with immediate, objective information. 3. Third definition mediation is the space between the individual subjects and reality. 4. Fourth sense how messages are transmitted from one person to another . 2. Why do criticisms of new culture often turn into criticism of the media that carry them?

Because the new medias often carry the new values of culture 3. What does Grossberg mean by We live in a world of media, but not a media world? The media bring the world to us and help to shape that world, but there is still a reality outside of the media. It is becoming harder all the time to tell the real world from the media world, but it is essential to know the difference if diverse peoples and nations are to live together in peace. This book about the ways in which the world and the media make each other . 4. What is meant by the phrase media organizations produce cultural forms? Media organization are driving force behind new culture and they help to set the news trends that occur within society 5. How do Broome & Selznik define mass in mass society? Collection of segregated, isolated individuals interdependent yet lacking central unifying purpose or value Only loosely bound together Mass a group of people , a big group of people. We are talking about a large collection of isolated individuals who may reside in the same place or going to the same place they are dependent but interdependent. Idea of mass in modern society People congregating together and people moved to the city people were not tied together by bonds anymore. Life became to be ruled by rationalization, efficiency became important particular in social relations. Loosely bound society

1. What are the fundamental differences between the Transmission model and the Cultural model of communication? Transmission Message is transported from one person or place to others Cultural model draws a very close connection between the processes of social communication and the production of a common culture. Culture becomes synomous with the whole way of life or a society or people.

2. What is the basic Transmission model of communication and how did Berlo and Lasswell modify it? Transmission Message is transported from one person or place to others Berlos Model Source Message Channel Receiver

1. What are the weaknesses of the transmission model? It is depended on memory and can often be morphed and it required people to have acting skills. 2. What did Osgood & Schram add to the transmission model? There is more than sending messages and receiving messages , we have incode messages and we have to put into speech or write it out, we have to incode a message and we send it to the receiver and interprets and sends one back to us. They add the notion of noise they are things that could get in the way of our message getting received. 3 different types of noise

Semantic the words we say maybe different, like different meaning Mechanical the telephone has a lot of interference, or your internet connection not getting the message, a lot of mechanical problems could happen.

Environmental the background noise, (restaurant where youre trying to have a conversation but cant hear other people).

The fidelity of the message weakens as the noise increases.

1. What are the 3 types of noise Osgood & Schram identified? 1. Semantic the words we say maybe different, like different meaning Mechanical the telephone has a lot of interference, or your internet connection not getting the message, a lot of mechanical problems could happen. Environmental the background noise, (restaurant where youre trying to have a conversation but cant hear other people).

LECTURE 2 CULTURE & MEDIA LITERACY

1. What is culture as defined by Baran? Culture is the world made meaningful; it is socially constructed and maintained through communication. It limits as well as liberates us; it differentiates as well as unites us. It defines our realities and thereby shapes the ways we think, feel, and act 2. What are some of the effects of culture? Limits options and guides behavior

Learned through communication Not static open to challenge Bounded or co-cultures 3. What are bounded cultures?
Co-Culture is a group whose beliefs or behaviors distinguish it from the larger culture of which it is part of and with which it shares numerous similarities. They are smaller groups.

4. What is mass communications role in shaping culture? Cultural storyteller, Cultural forum

5. Describe the Cultural Model of Communication. Cultural model draws a very close connection between the processes of social communication and the production of a common culture. Culture become synomous with the whole way of life or a society or people.

6. What were the main points of Deweys consensus model in respect to the role of mass communications?
Consensus theory is a social theory that holds that a particular political or economic system is a fair system, and that social change should take place within the social institutions provided by it. Consensus theory contrasts sharply with conflict theory, which holds that social change is only achieved through conflict.

7. How do conflict theories view the role of mass communications

According to conflict theory, inequality exists because those in control of a disproportionate share of societys resources actively defend their advantages. The masses

are not bound to society by their shared values, but by coercion at the hands of those in power. This perspective emphasizes social control, not consensus and conformity. Groups and individuals advance their own interests, struggling over control of societal resources. Those with the most resources exercise power over others with inequality and power struggles resulting. There is great attention paid to class, race, and gender in this perspective because they are seen as the grounds of the most pertinent and enduring struggles in society

8. What are the elements of media literacy we discussed in class? 1. Critical thinking 2. Understanding the process 3. Awareness of impact 4. Strategies to analyze & discuss media messages 5. Media content as textual insight into our culture 6. Ability to enjoy, understand & appreciate content 7. Develop effective, responsible production skills 8. Ethical & moral obligations

9. What are the media literacy skills we discussed in class? Ability & willingness to make effort to: .understand content, pay attention, and filter out noise Understand & respect power of media messages

 Distinguish emotional from reasoned reactions when responding to content & act accordingly Develop heightened expectations of media content Knowledge of genre conventions and ability to recognize when they are being mixed Ability to think critically about media messages Knowledge of internal language of various media and ability to understand its effects

1. What is the essence of Berger and Luckmans Social construction of reality? Reality is that persons and groups interacting in a social system create, over time, concepts or mental representations of each others actions, and that these concepts eventually become habituated into reciprocal roles played by the actors in relations to each others. 2. According to Considine, why do we need media literacy in the 21st century? Technology competent and be able to access and process information. It provides training in problem solving which American business leader say is another important job skill in the economy of both today and tomorrow 3. What seven principles of media literacy does Considine discuss? Aesthestic and appreciation Production Citizenship Media contains values and ideologies Audiences negotiate their own meaning Construct reality

Medica construction have commercial purposes

4. What cultural messages are communicated by our cartoon childhood heroines? They tell us that a woman is weak and they gave us ideas of what is beauty 5. What are some of the questions Grassian suggests we should be asking about the source and data on websites?
Who is the intended audience? What is the purpose of the site (e.g., news, information/factual, entertainment, social connection, opinion, education, experimentation, research, training, sales, marketing/advertising, recruitment, etc.)? What sorts of information or data does it contain? To what extent does the site fulfill its intended purpose? How valuable or useful is the site or item? Is the site restricted to a particular group or category (e.g., over 18, college students, teenagers, employees of a particular company, organization or institution)? If there are restrictions or usage regulations, how are they enforced? What is the purpose of individual items, collections of items or areas within the site? Do participants retain intellectual property rights over items or areas mounted or created on the site? Can items within the site be copied and utilized freely? How accurate are replicas or purported representations on a site or within a particular area? How accurate is the information regarding the site, area, individual items or individual participants? Are links provided to additional information within or outside the site? Are the links comprehensive or do they just provide a sampling? How are the links selected? Is there an appropriate range of links to other useful sites and help?

LECTURE 3 NARRATIVES OF MEDIA HISTORY

1. To what extent has the history of communications fundamentally shaped the direction of human endeavor and social life?

It has changed in all aspects of life it has spread ideas and allowed new sciences to be able to recorded it allowed people to heard about laws and political views and it took away power away from religion. 2. What 4 communication narratives did Grossberg analyze? Oral Writing Print Electronic

3. What is happening to the pace of change of communication narratives? And what is the impact?

4. What is Grossbergs technological determinism warning? Technological determinism is the belief that technology is the principles , if not only, cause of historical change . Such theorist fail to adequadately consider the ways in which people make history. 5. What does Grossberg mean by debates about power of media are debates about the future? Because our opinions are highly driven and shaped by the media and our customs are drive by it 6. What are the Space, Time, Trust, Social Relations, Power, and Cultural impacts of Grossbergs four cultural narratives?

7. How have the rapid developments of new communication technologies contributed to post-modernity?

Post modernity is generally used to describe the economic or cultural state or condition of society which is said to exist after.

8. Explain how Gutenbergs invention of a moveable type printing press altered the course of European (and world) history? 1450 Guttenberg developed moveable metal type, he could produce a lot very quickly . The consequences of this for society are daunting. Vernacular society in 1400s in Europe what was the dominant social institution? Church, they talked in Latin, bible in Latin. Most people did not speak Latin. Because of the spread of the printing press, things could be produce in local languages. Martin Luther decrees where produce in other languages. This was a huge change, because the church was no longer the end all of everything. Before the printing press, people relied on the priest on what was on the bible and what to believe. Nationalism printing press helped with nationalism. Religious Upheaval religious writing spread, the catholic churched tried to burned all of martin Luther's decrees. One of his pamphlets sold 4000 in a month. People can question what was in the bible and what was being said. Scientific knowledge came to be . By 1500s there was 100 more books produce in all of

history before that. Now it took a few days to produce a bible, before it was months, it was still expensive. Penalty of death

9. What have been some of the social effects of the printing press? It broke down the notion of government. People could read in private now and people had time, the books were transportable. The notion of privacy didnt exist. Because of changes in society people had time to create new knowledge and the process of learning became more linear. You can now compare one work with another. This changed the notion of trust. Prior to print you had to trust people but now that it was newspapers to institution you have to believe in the organization or institution. Copyrights laws came into play. In terms of overall social environment. People began to question their new knowledge. Private ownership of words. A changed in how people viewed thins overall. Once you had books knowledge would spread. More people across the board could have the knowledge. We were going through a period of empire expansion. The concept of a dictionary aroused. Literacy spread. Many governments opposed printing press. One of the impacts it certainly helps in a secular society and a democratic society . 1830s new technology a instantaneous way of spreading information , Telegraph travels at the speed of light.

10. According to Grossberg, what are the differences between modernity and postmodernity?

Modernism refers to the cultural forms, discourses, practices and relations both elite and popular, both commercial and folk with which people attempted to make sense of, represent, judge, rail against. Modernization describes the broad spectrum of interralated historical forces that radically changed the world since the beginning of the industrial revolution, capitalism, and colonialism in Europe and in America. Modernity refers to the changing structure and nature of the lived social realities to which modernism and modernization responded and which were themselves shaped by both modernism and modernization 11. What are the features of postmodernity described by Jameson?

LECTURE 4 ONE STEP, TWO STEP AND THE MAGIC BULLET

1. When did the feeling of mass society arise in America and why? Arose in early 1900s, what was happening in American society around this time? Convergence of mass society with new communication technologies and need to generate mass messages propaganda 1914s world war one all these things coming together at the same time, a government in a desperate need of getting their society to come together with a single purpose, to go to war and defeat the enemy. This is the birth of propaganda the need to have people support the war. Recruiting troops 2. Magic bullet theory if you can craft a message or a stimulus to reach everyone in society. A message that is so powerful that everyone perceives that

messaged in the same matter, we all have a uniform reaction to it. It shows omnipotent to be able to craft a message and show it to everyone , You can get this message out , American very much supported world war .Survivor of the fittest common theme in psychology 3. What is the Magic Bullet Theory and when did it develop? Everyone receives messages the same and everyone will interpret it the same way. , during World War I. 4. What social forces led to the development of the Magic Bullet Theory? 1900s America was a fast changing place , massive immigration from Europe, industrial revolution, urbanization, at the same time . Child labor laws came to take place. Universal education came to play, came in to disrupt old traditional social relations to a industrialized homogenous society. 5. What were prevalent psychological and sociological beliefs and assumptions at the time that led to the development of the Magic Bullet theory? The government needed support from the American people,. Darwinian influence & instinct psychology. Breakdown of strong social ties.WWI propaganda was effective. What events are still magic bullet moments? What makes them such? 6. What led to the challenge of the Magic Bullet Theory? Late 1920s, early 1930s a. No longer felt society as disjointed as earlier thought b. No longer believed behavior is primarily genetic c. Greater emphasis on role of social and cultural factors that influence behavior

7. What is the Two-Step Flow of Communication theory? Is that they will aim their messages towards the leaders of society in the hopes that After WWII notion of opinion leaders

Ideas flow from media to opinion leaders who: Interpret Contextualize Pass on to less active sections of population

Differentiated, mediated message reaches general populace compared to Magic Bullet direct message They will guide the behavior of the people who will listen to them .

8. What did the large surveys done in the 40s and early 50s show about communication patterns in America? Impact of personal influence Flow of personal influence Opinion leaders vary by subject matter Influence related to: Personification Competence Strategic social location Accessibility

9. From a media perspective, why was the notion of a two-step communication process important? Because it told people to focus in on the leaders and try to get their votes instead of trying to reach the masses. 10. What is the One-Step Flow of Communication proposed by Bennett & Mannheim?

11. In what ways do Bennett & Mannheim claim that society, communication technologies and individual communication habits have changed fundamentally in past 50 years?

12. What are assumptions about the social structure inhabited by individuals that are made by the Two-Step and One-Step models? One step model that everyone will get the same message if you send it to the masses and the message is very clear Two step model because everyone listen to their leaders and learn everything from them you should send your media messages to the leaders and they will tell all the people about the ideas that they got through your message.

13. What media and social changes do Bennett & Mannheim claim have occurred that have fundamentally changed how mass communications messages are received?

14. What is the filter bubble? When your searches get filtered through algorithims and you no longers get to see different points of views because it is only showing you things that you will be interested hearing about .

LECTURE 5 MEDIA PEOPLE, ORGANIZATIONS AND MONEY

1.

How is media content shaped by organizational and cultural forces?

2.

Why is important to consider the level of analysis when we examine mass communications?

3.

What does an examination of the people involved in the production of mass media have to consider?

4. When new media is introduced, such as when TV replaced radio or web replaced newspapers, why do we generally find that at least at first new media follows patterns of old media? Because that order is already established and there is already common rules to be used so it easier to start with something that is already known.

5. What roles do journalists commonly see themselves playing and in what circumstances do they tend to become more investigative than neutral? They were not producing news but rather propaganda. Looking at journalism they view their role as interpreter of events New media journalist roles authenticator, sense maker, navigator, forum leader They validating what is reporting and help the audience make sense of all the information and derived some money of what is going, they help them navigate. The role of the journalism is beginning to change. This is creating some chances of journalism. Journalism is shifting from being a product to a service. And with this a new outlet shift from being a final destination to a new network

6. How have the roles of journalists changed with new media? They were not producing news but rather propaganda. Looking at journalism they view their role as interpreter of events New media journalist roles authenticator, sense maker, navigator, forum leader They validating what is reporting and help the audience make sense of all the information and derived some money of what is going, they help them navigate. The role of the journalism is beginning to change. This is creating some chances of journalism. Journalism is shifting from being a product to a service. And with this a new outlet shift from being a final destination to a new network

7. What did Anne Kornblut see wrong in the journalism practiced by Armstrong Williams, Maggie Gallagher, and Michael McManus? Kornblut that journals were being paid to portray the stories of the government. 8. What role do the media have in educating our populace? Some of it can be educational and some is important but it is a main source of learning. 9. What role do the media have in contributing to healthcare? People self diagnose themselves 10. What role do the media have in law enforcement?

11. What is the CSI effect on juries? When jury expects people to have DNA evidence to convict people. 12. Which are the largest media companies? Sony , Walt Disney, News Corp, Vivendi, Time Warner, Bertelsman 13. What are some of the most notable characteristics of media created outside traditional media organizations?

14. How have Matt Drudge and others like him that have been characterized as promoting journalism of assertion changed the public trust of the press?

15. What federal law established freedom of the press?

16. What is the concern Supreme Court Justice Hugo Black and others have expressed about the consolidation of media?

LECTURE 6 MEANING AND INTERPRETATION OF MEANING

1. How does the Magic Bullet Theory believe meaning is conveyed? You can send a message but it doesnt get the same meaning, Magic bullet if you could create a good stimuli massive deliver you will get a mass effect Contrast that with content theory they are complex structures they can embody many different feelings depending on who the recipient is.

2. What did Content Theory find to dispute the Magic Bullet Theorys understanding of meaning? Contrast that with content theory they are complex structures they can embody many different feelings depending on who the recipient is. 3. What is semiotics? Semiotics The discipline that studies the nature of any system of meaning. That studies the nature of sign language and shit like that.

4. How does encoding and decoding fit into the transfer of meaning from a sender to a receiver? Representation it points to a real object. Dog, house, chair. Conceptual justice, love, honesty. You cant point to an object. Communication is more than information it involves emotional content that is behind it and it creates some sort of origin. Private experiences because we live in a culture and because we live in a society where they are common codes and ideas, we have an understanding of what it means in a culture. The word we speak. If you dont understand our culture, you cant understand the language. We have multiple meanings and cultures. How does the Cultural model focus on the meaning and interpretation of meaning? Focus on meaning and interpretation of meaning Individuals interpret meaning by shared languages Struggle to interpret experiences create them thru attempts to communicate experience Culture as communication is process of producing new shared meaning out of interaction of historically given shared meanings and individually created meaning. Cultural model Individuals tend to give meanings to their experiences, we always try to give hidden meaning and we communication , and we begin to do that process of understanding . Culture as communication is the process of producing new share meaning out of these interactions we have with new and old meanings

Every society lives, codes produces some of the maps how we get through our days and lives and they are built all the time, and they are shared among our culture, and every culture believes there are the right maps, We expect the world to meet our cultural formula. 5. What is the difference between Representational meaning and Conceptual meaning? Conceptual Justice, love, honesty. You cant point to an object. Representational meaning like chair, book. 6. In semiotics, what is the difference between a sign and a code? a. Signs = something standing for something, elementary unit of code. b. Code = systematic structure or organization of signs, they can be very large like the English language of very short like the three traffic lights. ( a systematic organization or structure of signs.) 7. What is deSaussures process of signification and what are its elements? De ssaur linguist 1900s swiss, structural linguist , he was arguing that it refers to the way meaning is constructed in text, Language is structured, it isnt just the putting together, it is the way its told , or the way things are brought together, there is a constant order relationship,

8. How does the relation between signifier and signified differ from the relation between signifier and referent? Connection between signifier and referent is arbitrary Relation between signifier and signified is cultural and must be learned

9. According to semiotics, how do we obtain meaning? Semiotics the study of signs and symbols and their use or interpretation.

10. Why do codes matter for a society and how people live their lives? Without codes , we could not distinguish one sort of object from another, a man from a woman, an female mosquito, from the northern common mosquito because there would be no categories for such distinctions. We would not even be able to identify an object, because there would be no maps allowing us to distinguish an object from its background, a tree from its forest, a paint from a wall A sign is made up of two components Signifier Signified 11. What is denotation compared to connotation? Denotation a. first order of signification b. relation of physical aspect to mental concept c. universality

First order of signification describes the relationship between the physical aspect to the mental concept, the obvious straightforward does not take a lot of cultural interpretation. Like tree,. Connotation second order

Associated meanings conjured up by object signified variable by culture

They dont want you to be on first level they want you on the second level of signification.

Encoding Mass media complexity Decoding Receivers interpretations 12. How does semiology help us understand mass media? But what are its limitations?

13. In narrative analysis, what is the distinction between story and discourse? Discourse is the way the story is told in a particular text. The same story can be told in many different ways, depending on who is telling in and to whom. Narrative theory, then, is primarily a way of examining how a story is told and figuring out what is difference it makes that it is a told one way not another. Story The context of the text. The events and the characters involved in them. 14. How does meaning matching differ from meaning construction? Meaning matching we learn to read and other basic meanings of life, what a letter means , what a sound means. We begin associate sounds with meaning. Meaning construction when you use your skills, to incorporate new information in our existing feeling, making a new understanding for us, 15. What are the four exposure states in information processing? Automatic - we mostly run on automatic , we processed in a unconscious matter. At times attentional state we are being aware of the message we are actively thinking about the message, where corporations want you to be

Transported state certain environment where you get engulfed in to the game itself. Self reflective state the process youre going through about the message, youre watching yourself watching yourself . Signifier any material thing that signifies. Word a page, a facial expression, an image Signified the concept that a signifier refers to. Symbolic signs signs where the relation between the signifier and signified is purely conventional and culturally specific. Denotation the most basic meaning, . like a rose meaning a rose Connotation the secondary cultural meaning or signs, the word rose can signify passion. Codes a combination of semiotic systems, a supersystem , that function as general maps of meaning, belief systems abou oneself and others, which imply views and attitudes about how the world is and ought to be .