MAC 143 Study Guide - Midterm Guide: Hypodermic Needle, George Gerbner, Solomon Asch
28 Jun 2018
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Exam 1 Review MAC143H
Chapter 1 Terms/Review Questions:
●Communication – the creation and use of symbol systems that convey information
and meaning
●Culture – the symbols of expression that individuals, groups, and societies use to
make sense of daily life and to articulate their values
●Mass media – the cultural industries (channels of communication) that produce and
distribute songs, novels, TV shows, newspapers, etc. to large numbers of people
●Mass communication – the process of designing cultural messages and stories and
delivering them to large and diverse audiences through media channels as old and
distinctive as the printed book and as new and converged as the Internet
●Digital communication – images, texts, and sounds are converted (encoded) into
electronic signals (binary numbers with 0 and 1) that are then reassembled
(decoded) as a precise reproduction
●Senders – authors, producers, and organizations
●Messages – programs, texts, images, sounds, and ads
●Mass media channel – newspapers, books, magazines, radio, TV, or the internet
●Receivers – readers, viewers, and consumers
●Gatekeepers – news editors, executive producers, and other media managers –
“image filters”
●Feedback – citizens/consumers can choose to return messages to senders or
gatekeepers through phone calls, email, web postings, talk shows, or letter to the
editor
●Selective exposure – consumers shape media messages to fit or support their own
values and viewpoints
●Convergence – describing all the changes that have occurred over the past decade,
and are still occurring, in media content and within media companies
●Cross platform – a business model that involves consolidating various media
holdings (cable connections, phone services, TV transmissions, internet access)
under one corporate umbrella; better manage resources and maximize profits
●Narrative – story telling
●High culture – “top floors”; ballet, symphony, art museums, etc – good taste/higher
education
●Low culture – house popular, rock music, video games; questionable tastes of the
masses, junk
●Modern period – LOOK AT PG 27 CHART
oIndustrial revolution (19th century – mid 20th century)
oEfficiency, individualism, rationalism, and progress
o“form follows function”
ocreate efficient manufacturing centers, produce inexpensive products to
make everyday life better, and make commerce more profitable
owriters and artists often pointed to technology’s ability to alienate people
from one another, capitalism’s tendency to foster greed, and government’s
inclination to create bureaucracies who inefficiency oppresses rather than
helps people
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oelevated individual self-expression to a more central position
ovaluing the ability of logical and scientific minds to solve problems by
working in organized groups and expert teams
owalter lippman’s Public Opinion – 1922 – distrusted both media and the
public’s ability to navigate a world that was “altogether too big, too complex,
and too fleeting for direct acquaintance” and to reach rational decisions
needed in a democracy
●Progressive era – (kind of a transition period from modern to postmodern)
oPeriod of political and social reform that lasted roughly from 1890s-1920s;
oSocial movements that led to constitutional amendments= prohibition and
women’s suffrage, political reforms = secret ballot, and economic reforms =
federal income tax is more equitable;
oMuckrakers – journalists exposed corruption, waste, and scandal –
SIGNIFICANT contribution to media
oThrowing off chains of past, breaking traditions, and embracing progress –
not history in their writing
●Postmodern period –
omid 20th century to today
oculture represents a way of seeing –a new condition of the human spirit
oMajor features:
▪Populism – appeal to ordinary people by highlighting or even creating
an argument or conflict between “the people” and “the elite”; criticism
big corporations
●Blur boundaries between staged and real
●not so much individualism but uniting the public
▪Diversity – fragmentation – wild juxtaposition of old and new cultural
styles - not as much progressive attitude
▪Nostalgia – rejecting rational thought as “the answer” to every social
problem, reveling in the past for premodern values of small
communities, traditional religion, and even mystical experience;
supernatural responses to “evil” of our daily life and the limits of
science and the purely rational (like Buffy the Vampire Slayer)
▪Paradox – stresses integrating (converging) retro beliefs and
contemporary culture; embracing new technologies with a vengeance
while also longing for the past;
●Media literacy – attaining an understanding of mass media and how they construct
meaning through the critical process
oCritical process – takes us through the steps of description, analysis,
interpretation, evaluation, and engagement
▪Description – describing the programs or articles, accounting for
reporting strategies, and noting those featured (like interviews);
identify central characters, conflicts, topics, and themes – compare
what we have found to other stories on similar topics
▪Analysis – isolate patterns that call for closer attention; we decide
how to focus the critique; spotlight few key patterns;
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▪Interpretation – determine the meanings of the patterns we have
analyzed; most difficult stage – demands the answer to the “so what?”
question;
▪Evaluation – making an informed judgment; building on the previous
steps, we are better able to evaluate fairness; grasp the strengths and
weaknesses of the news media under study and make critical
judgments measured against our own frames of reference – what we
like/dislike/good/bad/missing; differentiates the reviewer from the
critic
▪Engagement – actively work to create a media world that helps serve
democracy; could mean writing a lettering or email to media outlets
to offer a critical take; participating in web discussions, contacting
media producers;
1. Define culture, mass communication and mass media, and explain their
interrelationships.
a. Culture - the symbols of expression that individuals, groups, and societies use
to make sense of daily life and to articulate their values
b. mass communication - the process of designing cultural messages and stories
and delivering them to large and diverse audiences through media channels
as old and distinctive as the printed book and as new and converged as the
Internet
c. mass media - the cultural industries (channels of communication) that
produce and distribute songs, novels, TV shows, newspapers, etc. to large
numbers of people
d. interrelationships: culture is how media is made, mass media uses channels
of communication (thru mass communication) to send specific cultural
messages to audiences which then reflects said culture depending on the
type of medium/message
2. What key technological breakthroughs accompanied the transition to the
print and electronic eras? Why were these changes significant?
a. breakthroughs: telegraph in 1840s - four contributions
a.i. separated communication from transportation (messages
instantaneous)
a.ii. combo with mass-marketed newspapers, transformed “information
into a commodity, and a thing that could be bought or sold
irrespective of its uses or meaning”
a.iii. easier for military, business, and political leaders to coordinate
commercial and military operations
a.iv. led to future technological developments i.e. the radio
b. significance: above
c. not limited to the elite sending out messages, became more of a public
opinion and everyone could send messages
3. Explain the linear model of mass communication and its limitations.
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MAC 143 Full Course Notes
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Document Summary
Communication the creation and use of symbol systems that convey information and meaning. Culture the symbols of expression that individuals, groups, and societies use to make sense of daily life and to articulate their values. Mass media the cultural industries (channels of communication) that produce and distribute songs, novels, tv shows, newspapers, etc. to large numbers of people. Mass communication the process of designing cultural messages and stories and delivering them to large and diverse audiences through media channels as old and distinctive as the printed book and as new and converged as the internet. Digital communication images, texts, and sounds are converted (encoded) into electronic signals (binary numbers with 0 and 1) that are then reassembled (decoded) as a precise reproduction. Messages programs, texts, images, sounds, and ads. Mass media channel newspapers, books, magazines, radio, tv, or the internet.
