J201: Exam One Topics

what is populism?

At their worst, the media are criticized for what four things?  1. failing to serve as a watchdog for democracy

2. dwelling o trivial, celebrity-driven content rather than important events 3. misrepresenting/ exploiting events and people

4. drawing us away from verbal interaction

What did the shift from oral to written communication create? - a wide gap  between classes in terms of education and wealth

Who invented the printing press? - Gutenberg

Once the printing press led to the mass distribution of books, what significant changes resulted?  

1. increased resistance to authorities  

2. increased individualism

3. emergence of the middle class

4. spread of literacy

What does the term "media convergence" describe?  

1. the technological merging of content in different mass media (ex:  magazine articles and radio programs are also accessible on the Internet;  songs, TV shows, and movies are now available on computers, iPods, and  cellphones)

what are the benefits of U.S. cultural imperialism?

2. describes a particular business model by which a company combines  various media holdings (goal is not necessarily to offer consumers more  choices but to better manage resources, lower costs, and maximize profits)  (ex: a company that owns TV stations, radio outlets, and newspapers in  multiple markets can deploy one reporter to create 3 or 4 versions of the  same story for various media outlets)

What are the drawbacks of media convergence?  

1. limits the range of perspectives from which messages are delivered

2. media owners' personal biases and interests gain more influence in  society

The printing press ultimately helped to usher in the modern era. What values came into sharp focus across the American cultural landscape at this time?

1. working efficiently

2. celebrating the individual

3. believing in a rational order

What is advocacy journalism?

4. rejecting tradition and embracing progress

What dominant values have been identified in today's postmodern period? -  1. reviving older cultural styles

2. embracing technology

3. celebrating populism

4. embracing the supernatural Don't forget about the age old question of Who is Mihri Katun?

What is populism? - an appeal to ordinary people by setting up conflict  between "the people" and "the elite"

(ex: Hunger Games)

Describe Marshall McLuhan's beliefs about the media -  

Discuss the Modern Times film clip we watched -  

What was the first mass-produced book? - The Bible

Why is the media needed today? - 1. capitalist economy depends on product  sales

2. democracy needs political discourse

3. connection and info needed to compensate for a weakened family and  community

4. entertainment

Identify and describe three characteristics of postmodern media. You will  need to see the Oct. 5 slides (part two of the lesson) for this information. - 1.  hyper-reality - distinction b/w fantasy and reality is blurred

(ex: Dance Moms is scripted)

2. pastiche - a respectful tribute to various aspects of 1+ genres from the  past  

(ex: Great Gatsby - 1920s, Indiana Jones is a pastiche of the 1930s adventure series)

3. intertextuality - meanings interpreted are influenced by outside factors  (real life identities of actors, real life events, an actor's past media work)

ex: "Look at Dickson's office. It looks like a giant cube of ice."

True or false: The research presented in "The Shallows" suggests that heavy  Internet use changes how our brains work. - true

Two brain benefits of using the Internet include exercising the regions of the  brain associated with... - decision making and problem solving We also discuss several other topics like What is marginal benefit?

A drawback of using the Internet is the redirection of our mental resources,  which inhibits our... - comprehension and retention

Does consuming online information inhibit our ability to store that  information in our long-term memory? - Yes

True or false: people who read a text peppered with links learn more than  people who read a traditional text without links. - false

In a study at Cornell University, which students performed better on a test  following the class lecture - the students who kept their laptops shut or the  students who surfed information related to the lecture? - the students who  kept their laptops shut did better Don't forget about the age old question of What is the equilibrium rate constant K of the reaction given below?

In a study at Kansas State University, which group of students remembered  more facts from the four news stories - the group who watched the newscast  without the graphics and news crawl or the group who watched the newscast with the graphics and news crawl? - the group who watched the newscast  without the graphics and news crawl

According to an expert from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders  and Stroke, the frequent shifting of our attention that occurs when we're  online helps our ability to multitask while inhibiting our ability to... -  

Why is neutrality an unreachable ideal? - journalists cannot help but present  a point of view on a story's topic, simply by deciding which info and  experiences to include

True or false: most newsrooms frown upon the practice of concealing one's  identity to get a quote or story from an interview - true

True or false: Gifts, favors, free travel, special treatment and privileges can  compromise the integrity of journalists and their employers, so nothing of  value should be accepted, according to journalism's code of ethics. - true

What is the golden mean and which philosopher introduced it? - Aristotle the desirable middle ground b/w extreme Don't forget about the age old question of What is the cause of smoking in the body?

(ex: ambition - golden mean b/w sloth and greed)

What is the categorical imperative and which philosopher introduced it? -  Kant - a society must adhere to moral codes that are universal and  unconditional, applicable in all situations at all times

What is Jayson Blair known for? - NY Times - Blair made up facts, invented  sources, stole quotes from other newspapers, and plagiarized dozens of  articles

What is a sound bite? - part of a broadcast news report in which an expert,  celebrity, a victim, or a person on the street responds to some aspect of an  event/issue with a short and memorable comment

What is happy talk? - the spontaneous/ scripted banter that goes on among  local news anchors and reporters before and after news reports

What is virtue ethics and who proposed it? - Aristotle - virtue is achieved by  doing good things, so they become habitual

How does Jayson Blair's story relate to virtue ethics? -  

Explain how the golden mean relates to journalism. - Rolling Stone and UVS -  report was based on one anonymous source Don't forget about the age old question of What do you mean I abandoned my team at halftime?

Describe the two broad categories of ethical frameworks - 1. deontological  theories - identify the moral course of action based on how ethical means are for achieving the goal

(ex: it is never ethical to deceive, even if there are good outcomes)

2. identify the moral course of action based on the expected good that the  decision will bring

(ex: the ends justify the means)

Explain Kantian theory - an act is only moral if it has nothing to do with the  outcome

Explain utilitarianism and identify its original founder - Jeremy Bentham - the  act is moral if it brings good consequences

Explain how Mill further shaped the philosophy of his teacher - sometimes a  decision that favors the majority s not the moral one to make (individuals  matter)

What is the ethic of care, how does it compare to justice approaches to  ethical decision making, and who proposed it? - Carol Gilligan Don't forget about the age old question of What is the family of orientation?

- emphasis on relationships when making moral decisions (J: no influence  from relationships)

- based on the situation (J: rules like the categorical imperative/utilitarianism) - appeal to compromise and accommodation (J: moral correctness) - emphasis on caring responsiveness (J: integrity)

- "it depends" (J: stealing is wrong)

What is the circuit of culture and how is it useful to media research? - a  framework that can be used to examine the various ways in which meaning  is created, contested, and negotiated

Identify and describe the components of the circuit of culture. - 1.  representation - the meanings produced by the way something is  represented

(ex: only time we hear about mental illness is after a mass shooting or on a  TV show like "Are You Normal or Are You Nuts?" --> always portraying it in a  negative way --> gives a negative impression of mental illness)

2. production - the meanings created by producers

3. consumption - the meanings audiences derive

(ex: some won't take Adam Sandler's Ridiculous 6 movie seriously, others  might find it offensive)

4. identity - perceptions of message sources, recipients, identities produced  within the message itself

5. regulation - attempts to control culture through formal and informal  controls

What aspects can influence the interpretation of media content? - language  (ex: nuts, cray cray)

How does the identity of a message producer influence the meaning that  results from a message? -  

From the circuit of culture, identify a formal control and informal controls  from the area of regulation. - formal control - the law

informal control - activism, code of ethics

Describe the history of regulation in the context of U.S. movies. - - Maine  adopts the first censorship law of films in response to a boxing match ($500  penalty for showing the match; law is ignored)

- Chicago empowers chief of police to approve/deny permits for showing  movies

- NY mayor shuts down all theaters based on fire safety and moral ground

What was the Motion Picture Production Code? - a set of industry censorship  guidelines that influenced most movies made in the US by major studios

Why did studios agree to go through the PCA? - - avoid federal regulations - maintain good relationships with religious groups

- made plot lines formulaic and easy to write

How does today's rating system exert influence as an informal control in the  circuit of culture? -  

How can ethical frameworks be applied to the topic of portraying vulnerable  populations in the news and media entertainment? -  

What is the process that an advocacy organization wants to guide a targeted  cultural producer through based on the cultural byproducts advocacy model? - 1. pollution - the cultural producers of a text experience pressure because  they have violated the rules of social order

2. guilt - the cultural producer is uncomfortable with the violation or  accusation and feels the need to do something about it

3. purification - the cultural producer processes the guilt through a path

4. redemption - the cultural producer achieves restoration with the social  order, can be favorable or unfavorable (ex: ridiculous is in the title of  Ridiculous 6 for a reason, it's fine --> handled)

A targeted cultural producer can engage in purification through which two  paths? - - mortification: accepts responsibility for the violation of social order

- victimage: blames others/discounts the allegation

What is the postmodern view of audiences' interpretation of texts? -  

What did the two Girl Scouts do that finally convinced the Girl Scouts  organization to take them seriously? - built coalitions with extended activist  groups

How did the Girl Scouts organization disempower the two Girl Scouts in its  organizational discourse? - by using only the Scout's first names in news  releases, referring to them as  

"girls" and taking credit for their interest in the palm oil issue

How did the Girl Scouts organization minimize the palm oil issue and keep  the discussion focused on the product rather than the organization's policy

for interacting with bakers? - by having the Girl Scouts spokesperson and  product manager speak for the organization rather than the CEO

Is media coverage success proportional to an organization's financial  resources? - no

What is a synecdoche? - concrete images are more powerful than abstract  references

Why are synecdoches commonly used in media activism? - - saving the  environment is more abstract than saving the orangutans (much more  persuasive)

- lend themselves to visual communication

ex: sharing a cute picture of an orangutan on Facebook

What are the ways in which a person consuming news about the two Girl  Scouts' efforts could have a distorted understanding of the palm oil issue? - -  the issue of palm plantations as a resource to alleviate poverty in countries  like Malaysia and Indonesia was ignored

- other species are more endangered by palm oil use than orangutans  

- Girl Scout cookies account for less then one 100th of 1% of global palm oil  issue

- issue of slave/child labor issues wasn't prominent in media coverage

Greenpeace's Kit Kat Killer campaign against Nestle (i.e., what the campaign  was about, Nestle's initial reaction, whether the campaign was successful). -  

What should public relations professionals learn from the Streisand effect? -  What does the marketing function of an organization focus on? -  

How is public relations similar and different from marketing and advertising?  - - ad and mktg are focused on customers (PR is focused on customers but  also any group who can affect an organization's success

- ad is focused on sales (PR contributes to sales but is also focused on  guiding an organizations decisions)

- ad involves promotion through paid media (PR involves promotion through  earned media)

Name the concept: Favorable publicity gained entirely through promotional  efforts rather than paid advertising. - owned media

What is PR? - the management function that establishes and maintains  mutually beneficial relations between an organization and the publics who  can influence its success

identify examples of paid, owned, and earned media. - - paid media (print,  TV, radio, direct media)

- owned media (co. web site, company created fan page, campaign site) -earned media (word of mouth, review sites, Fb coverage)

Identify and define the four types of publics and recognize which two are the  most important. - 1. enabling - people who have authority over the  organization (gov't legislators, board of directors)

2. functional - people who are part of an organization's input and output  (employees, volunteer, suppliers, customers, donors, and members)

3. diffused - media and individuals (activists)

4. normative - groups with a common interest (trade associations and  competitors)

What is boundary spanning? - representing a public's values to an  organization and representing the values of the organization to that public  (go between, intermediary)

Has the Internet affected newspapers' classified ad revenues? - the Internet  has dried them up

Can public TV stations (such as PBS) and public radio (such as NPR) accept  advertising under any circumstance? - they can accept advertising on the  Internet

Why is it difficult for small companies (rather than media powerhouses) to  succeed with media products? - they have limited capital and a hard time  absorbing losses

Every time we read a newspaper article, book, or magazine or watch a movie or TV show, we absorb messages suggesting... - what is important and how  the world works

If we consume enough consistent narratives through the media and lack  personal experience about an aspect of life, we might conclude what? -  

How did magazine, radio and cable industries counter television's mass  appeal? Be prepared to identify an example for the exam. -  

What is cultural imperialism? - when a culture from one country dominates  the global market and shapes the culture of other nations

ex: America is very influential onAsia

Do 80 percent of American movies earn back their costs in U.S. theaters? -  no

In this age of media consolidation, is there at least significant diversity in the U.S. media industry? - majority of media professionals are white males; little  diversity

According to the documentary titled "Miss Representation," how do we see  the lack of adequate representation among media professionals showing up  in media content? - argues a women's value and power lies in their youth,  beauty, and sexuality

Is there relatively equal gender representation in family films? -  What is media convergence? - merging of media content

- a company like Comcast lowers its costs and maximizes its profits by  offering various media services (cable, phone, Internet)

- a reporter can write several versions of a news story for various media  (radio, TV, Internet)

ex: you can read a newspaper on your phone and watch a TV show on your  computer

Globalism has coincided with... - specialized media markets and cultural  imperialism

True or false: According to the Huffington Post article, advocacy journalists  are focused on advancing a political agenda. - true

What does the author of the Huffington Post article recommend in terms of  how we should consume the news? - we consume a wide range of news  sources to go beyond our own echo chambers

From the Nieman Lab article, what are "knowledge journalists"? - use their  expert knowledge to analyze problems and political logic to help point to  policy solutions

What are the benefits of U.S. cultural imperialism? - A universal popular  culture creates a global village and can foster communication across national borders (brings us closer together)

ex: bonding over American TV shows among people from all over the globe Explain the story of Dallas and Romania. - Media can have a great impact:

- Showing of Dallas backfired as it inspired Europeans to live the way  ''Americans" do in Dallas (having cars the size of swimming pools) --> led to  a revolution

- The Romanian government aired Southfork Ranch as an example of the  excessiveness of capitalism and the corruption that accompanies an  American lifestyle.

What are the drawbacks of U.S. cultural imperialism? - - American cultural  imperialism hampers the development of native cultures an can negatively  influence teenagers, who abandon their own rituals to adopt American tastes

(ex: Seeing American TV shows and listening to American music while in  Venice, Italy)

- American cultural imperialism discourages the development of original local products

Based on media economics, why are American TV shows, both reality shows  and sitcoms, dominant in other countries? -  

How do films maximize their profits? - - broad international appeal (movies  that are set in different countries, involve travel)

- movie rentals, movie sales, and merchandise

Explain why the Seventh Heaven example was notable. - transparent product placement, writes were asked to write scripts around Oreo cookies - twist off  an Oreo to reveal a wedding ring

Why are reality shows so attractive from a media economics perspective? -  cheap to produce, a lot of interaction with products

What does Chomsky's propaganda filters illustrate? - what gets reported and  how it gets reported

Explain the filters in Chomsky's propaganda model. - - Profit Orientation  - Advertising is the primary source of income

- Reliance on news from government and business sources (ex: reporters rely on PR people to fill news gaps)

- Flak: negative responses that punish unfavorable media content

(want to reach out to reporters who you trust and who cover your story in  favorable ways)

What is an information subsidy? - the supply of news from a PR source;  "news gap"

What is an unbranded campaign, why is it used by PR people, and when is it  used? - a campaign that promotes a product category rather than a specific  product

ex: Promoting orange juice rather than Tropicana (would be considered  advertising)

Are PR practitioners supposed to reveal the sponsor for represented causes  and interests, according to the code of ethics from the Public Relations  Society of America (PRSA)? - yes

What is a VNR? - - given as an information subsidy to television stations - PR promotional video that is packaged as a news segment

Are PR practitioners supposed to clearly label VNRs and encourage television stations and other venues to identify the VNR source, according to the code  of ethics from the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA)? - yes

Identify characteristics (news values) that make a story newsworthy - -  timeliness

- impact (# of people affected)

- emotion

- prominence (Obama and Zuckerberg speaking out about Ahmed's clock) - proximity

- novelty (surprising stories)

- controversy

- currency (stories in the public spotlight of concern, ex: police brutality) - usefulness

- educational values

Some reporters compared Ahmed's case to other stories involving schools  with zero tolerance policies. Did these cases have anything in common? -  

Were there aspects of the other cases that were very different than Ahmed's  case? -  

How are media frames established? - - The headline

- The pictures

- The first paragraph

- Who is interviewed in the story

- Where people with opinions that counter the dominant narrative are placed  in the story (if they even make it into the story)

What is advocacy journalism? How can it be valuable, and how can it be  dangerous? - - fact-based journalism that argues for a particular perspective  on an issue

- Setting out to favor a political agenda in the reporting of the news - Is intentional (very different than striving for objectivity)

(Ex: Ahmed Muhammad case: Journalists focusing on social profiling in this  case

Agenda: social justice)

- Can be dangerous when the agenda comes before the investigation of the  story

- Can be valuable in the sense of "knowledge journalists" who can weigh  through the arguments on various sides and provide and insightful of  analysis through the careful selection of info when the PR is compelling on  conflicting sides

Distinguish media framing from advocacy journalism - - Happens no matter  how objective you're trying to be

- It comes through in the headline, image, opening paragraph and the  prominence given to the perspective that are represented (and where in the  story they are represented

What are the roles the media play, according to the book titled "The Press  Effect"? Which model costs the most time and resources? -  

What was the Citizens for a Free Kuwait case study about? -  

Explain the characteristics of alternative media. - - Focused on ideas over  profit

- Intended audience is broad, not elite

Ex: Nonprofit, advocacy, ethnic to some degree underground

What seems to happen when ethnic media get so popular that they are taken over by large holding companies - do they still act like alternative media? -