TELE 3010 1nd Edition Final Exam Study Guide Lecture 18 Media and Politics True or False The Framer s of the Constitution provided an extensive provision to make sure citizens were informed on government issues False The Framer s provided no such provision They knew they wanted a democracy but they didn t account for the fact that citizens might need to be informed on what is going on The Nixon v Kennedy televised debate demonstrates the importance of Appearance in politics Describe mediated politics in the 20th century Newspapers They serve the public in that they are a social responsibility of the press Internet Comes in the form of social media blogging news portals and discussions A very horizontal form of communication TV This is the central site of public affairs information A very vertical form of communication Radio Radio has a limited role in serving democracy but was very useful for President FDR and his fireside chats Which publication is known as the paper of record NY Times What are wire services They either do original reporting or they pick up a story from their subscribing news partners Why is investigative reporting so crucial to newspapers Investigative reporting has the largest staff therefore is the most crucial wheel to the newspaper During politics it is the investigative reporting that searches for the breaking headlines within political campaigns What role does public relations play in media and politics PR practitioners are hired to get people re elected or elected They are responsible for damage control efforts and cleaning up any messes or scandals What is the line of the day The line of the day is the standard or agenda for what the discussion will be within media so for example it is whatever is hot within the news at the moment In entertainment news it might be something Kim Kardashian just did to shock the world In political sense it is the President s spin on whatever issue is present at the time Describe what the echo chamber refers to The echo chamber are the same topic points repeated in media and media sources This same phrase is uttered by administration and repeated What are the criticisms of TV News influence on politics 1 Horse Race Coverage they focus on position like who is ahead who is behind and strategy of the game not issues This creates drama which we like to see within media 2 Time limitations networks v cable 3 Talk opinion over reporting cheaper Easier to bring in experts and just let them talk 4 Feeding Frenzy if a story breaks all networks are fighting to cover it 5 Negativism Conflict TV and Journalism is overly negative Conflict is more interesting 6 Focus on the Executive Branch 7 Lack of context 8 Few structural explanations 9 CNN Effect audience sympathy If CNN shows you repeated images of suffering will that create a greater sense of empathy in viewers Yes No No in the sense that if politicians aren t on board with the issue then change most likely won t happen 10 support for war cheerleading and encouraging a war 11 criticism of war negativity not wanting to go to war What is a social movement and how do they convey through media Social movements are demonstrations from social groups in order to raise public awareness For example the Ferguson movements and protests that are at hand is one The Civil Rights Movement Gay Lesbian Rights fight etc They work to get their message across by achieving validity as political players fighting for their legal rights sway public opinion attract resources and always publicize their activities so that people are aware their movement is taking off What is a satire Explain Satire is a form of communicative critique It has four features 1 Aggression verbal 2 Judgment it attacks power and passes judgment on the powerful in entertaining ways 3 Play it is performed and playful in nature 4 Laughter which works to respond to the social rebuke of the issue What is the hypodermic model mass society theory and minimal effects model Hypodermic model the media injects a message into the bloodstream of the public Problem with this model is that is leaves out the active agency of the reader Mass Society theory post WW2 years a broad sociological theory society was characterized by growing homogenization of the population and a decline in interpersonal and group relations There was a decline of personal bonds Minimal Effects model media messages acted to reinforce existing beliefs rather than to change opinion This model lasted until the 1960s when agenda setting began Lecture 20 Active Audiences Audience passivity was constructed in what century 20th Polysemy is an important concept of this semester What does it mean and how is it significant in relation to audiences Polysemy means it has many meanings A given text can have many meanings depending on how the audiences interpret them Interpretation is solely how the audiences make their meanings What is encoding Messages are constructed according to certain codes For example horror films have a certain code that is must be scary and have a certain type of music and plot The assumption is that the movie is constructed based on these codes for interpretation Decoding references what Decoding is when audiences use their implicit knowledge of both medium specific and cultural codes to interpret the meaning of a text How does the encoding decoding model demonstrate this relationship This model focuses on the relationship between the media message and the way that the message is interpreted It combines the two concepts Encoding Decoding are connected because they are a process that focus on the same media text What are the 3 components of the Encoding Decoding Model 1 Producers create media texts in ways that encode a meaning 2 Negotiated reading this is an active negotiation 3 Oppositional of resistant reading Media consumers are usually incompetent True or False False Media uses are competent hence the term active audience This term means that we believe the individuals have a certain level of intelligence What else should you know about active audiences An active audience can use media texts as material to fashion their own narratives An active audience can become a creator Describe and name the areas of audience activity 1 Interpretation Audiences may not constrain the meaning intended by the producer It is the process whereby media messages come to mean something to us how we derive pleasure comfort excitement etc 2 Social context of interpretation