Media Power and Culture Pay attention to Chapter Highlights Talking Points Key Terms Key Content Blocks Mediated communications Analog building blocks print Electronic media tv film Digital media internet facebook youtube The business of persuasion ads and PR Ethics and law Journalism in the digital age George Gershwin Summertime song The Great Train Robbery 1903 Edwin Porter film Rupert Murdoch bought the times expanded to many other corporations Ariana Huffington started the news website The Huffington Post sold to AOL Tabby Gevinson fashion blogger started blogging at age 11 rose to fame at age 13 Oprah Winfrey talk show book club influence Henry Boldget analyzed recommended stocks disgraced and banned for lying in his stock analyses rebuilt his name and is now CEO of the business insider site Mamie Smith Crazy Blues song Intolerance 1916 D W Griffith film Birth of Nations 1915 film Media literacy the ability to understand media and its effect on you and society and make productive use of the media Media Literacy Six Key Points 1 All media are constructions 2 Each person interprets messages differently 3 Most media have commercial interests 4 The media contain ideological and value messages Biases 5 Each medium has its own language style techniques codes conventions and aesthetics Print audio video etc portray messages differently 6 The media have social and political implications Media criticism the analysis used to assess the effects of media on individuals societies and on cultures Two different approaches to the study of media criticism and career preparation Communication human beings sharing messages Feedback messages that return from the receiver of a message to the source restricted usually in mass communication sales of advertised product can be feedback Noise anything that interferes with communication Mediated communication any type of sharing of messages conveyed thru an interposed device or medium rather than face to face Media print media books magazines newspapers broadcast media tv and radio digital media internet cell phones and the entertainment media all of these plus movies recordings and video games Mass communication mediated messages that are transmitted to large usually widespread audiences Gatekeepers those who determine which messages will be delivered to media consumers Mediated interpersonal communication sharing of personal messages thru some form of device webcam phone email Convergence the merging of technologies industries and content technologies merging of computer phone and mass media technologies industries corporate mergers that allow companies to combine their media technologies TV company with internet and phone divisions content bringing together mediated interpersonal messages with the messages of traditional mass communication the internet and facebook America dominates the world media Sends out far more mass media products than it imports English is the most spoken second language easier to export U S media products Freedom of expression allows American media practitioners to create a wide range of media products without govt interference Audience diversity U S media producers must make products for a diverse audience that incorporates a wide range of backgrounds and tastes melting pot Big business s ability to produce big budget popular entertainment Reasons for corporate media growth 1 Economies of scale the savings that come with mass production when more units are produced each unit costs less 2 Synergy any combo of forces that results in a whole that is more than the sum of its parts company mergers cross merchandising selling the product in one form promotes sales of the product in some other form 3 Global competition different companies compete with each other all over the world Patterns of ownership Group ownership one company owns the same type of medium in more than one market area tv stations and newspapers owned in groups Conglomerates large companies involved in many different types of businesses Form through the following o Vertical integration a business model in which a company owns different parts of the same industry thus controlling both production and distribution facilities NBC bought Universal Studios tv network o Horizontal integration when a company buys many different types of businesses tv company buys a publishing company to produce books about its tv shows o Combined integration vertical and horizontal combined Disney owns movie studios as well as movie theme parks and recording studios that sell movie sound tracks Antitrust laws prohibit monopolistic practices in restraint of trade Media and the government Government ownership communist countries tend to have governments that own and operate the media the idea behind this is that the media exist to serve the govt Private ownership government control allows media to be privately owned but still requires media organizations to be controlled by the government Libertarian allows media to be privately owned and free of government control exists only in theory Mixed model varying degrees of government control and ownership American media and government related in 3 important ways 1 Media businesses are subject to government regulation Regulation in the U S has always been minimal because of fears of censorship any action that prohibits an act of expression from being made public 2 The media act as a fourth estate or unofficial 4th branch of govt designed to observe and report on the other branches the media keeps citizens informed about actions and decisions of their elected representatives In doing so the media were expected to have an adversarial relationship with the government one that the press followed different objectives from the objectives of those in power 3 The media are the principal channels in which political campaigns take place Media and the audience and the impact of the audience in shaping media content The audience ultimately decides what the final meaning of a message is even if that determination is not what the producers intended Advertisers depend on audience s opinions of products and buying behavior The audience plays a major role in the acceptance rejection of new media technology Artist song of the day Paul Robeson Woody Guthrie Ballad of John Henry Charlie Chaplin Modern Times film CHAPTER THREE Papyrus type of reed that grew along the Nile in Egypt used as the earliest paper Parchment made from dried animal skins Codex the first