- "The medium is the message"
- phrase referring to the power and influence of the medium - not the content - on a society
- Adaptation (ways)
- Convergence (adapt to another), Divergence (accentuate differences), Overaccomodation (overdo adaptation re: stereotypes)
- CA (assumptions)
- Television is essentailly and fundamentally different from other forms of mass media; television shapes our society's way of thinking and relating; the influence of television is limited
- CA (critiques)
- definately heuristic, problems with logical consistency (research methods don't match theory guidelines - limited research applied to large audience), utility (not helpful to explain how people see world), and test of time (research not consistent with pr
- CAT (assumptions)
- Speech and behavioral similarities and dissimilarities exist in all conversations; the manner in which we perceive the speech and behaviors of another will determine how we evaluate a conversation; language and behaviors impart information about social st
- CAT (critique)
- very heuristic, but not really testable (convergence/divergence too simplistic, accommodation is only in two forms)
- Communication Accommodation Theory (def)
- This theory considers the underlying motivations and consequences of what happens when two speakers shift their communication styles. During communication encounters, people will try to accommodate or adjust their style of speaking to others. This is prim
- CS (assumptions)
- Culture pervades and invades all facets of human behavior; people are part of a hierarchical structure of power
- CS (critique)
- heurism and utility good, but logical consistency has problems (to what extent can a group be counter hegemonic)
- Cultivation Analysis (def)
- Television and other media play an extrememly important role in how people view their world. In today's society, most people get their informatio from mediated sources rather than through direct experience. Therefore, mediated sources can shape a person;s
- Cultural Studies (def)
- The media represent ideologies of the dominant class in a society. Because media are controlled by corporations (the elite), the information presenteed to the public is consequently influenced and targeted with profit in mind. The media's influence and th
- Decoding (def(
- recieving and comparing messages, dominent-hegemonical (one person controls another), negotiated (accept dominant ideas, but recognize others), oppositional (follow alternative messages)
- Extentions
- Postman - technopoly - we live in society dominated by technology, would be lost without it
Meyrowitz - electronic media has social consequences - False Conciousness (def)
- being unaware of domination within one's life
- Four-Step process
- Messagte system analysis (content analysis if television programs), formulation of questions about viewers social realigites, surveying audience, and comparing the social realities of light and heavy viewers
- Hard Core
- Groups outside dominant opinion willing to speak out at any cost
- Hegemony (def)
- influence, power, or dominance of one group over another through coercion or consent, which support the dominant values of society
- Mainstreaming (def(
- tendency for heavy television viewers to perceive a similar dominant reality to what is shown in media
- Mean World Index (def(
- people answer questions (how trustworthy people are) that determine their view of world; heavy viewers more pessimistic
- Media Ecology Theory (def)
- Society has evolved as its technology has evolved. From the alphabet to the Internet, we have been affected by, and affect, electronic media. In other words, the medium *is* the message. The laws of media - enhancement, obsolescence, retrieval, and revers
- Media History
- Tribal (spoken word), Literate (writing), Print (mass production), Electronic (Combo)
- Media's Elements
- Ubiquity (everywhere), cumulativeness (repeats), consonance (similarity), limited
- MET (assumptions)
- Media infuse every act and action in society; media fix our perceptions and organize our experiences; media tie the world together
- MET (critique)
- somewhat, but not really, heuristic; not logically consistent (complicated concepts) and thus testability
- Neo-marxism (def)
- a limited application and embracement of the idea that the powerful exploit the powerless, especially under a capitalist regime. powerless feel alienated (you have little control over future), and poor cannot gain power
- opinion (def)
- expression of attitude
- Overaccommodation
- sensory (others who are limited in abilities), dependency (listeners are lower-status), intergroup (recognize culture, not individual)
- Public (def)
- legal, social, and social-psychological concerns of people
- Public opinion (def)
- attitudes and behaviors expressed in social settings in order to avoid isolation
- Resonance (def)
- when media supports and reinforces one's previous beliefs
- Spiral of Silence Theory (def)
- Due to their enormous power, media have a lasting and profound effect on public opinion. Mass media work simultaneously with majority opinion to silence minority beliefs on cultural and social issues in particular. A fear of isolation prompts those with m
- SST (assumptions)
- Society threatens deviant individuals with isolation and fear of isolation is pervasive; this fear of isolation causes individuals to try to assess the climate of opinion at all times; public behavior is affected by public opionion assessment
- SST (creator)
- Noelle-Neumann
- SST (critique)
- heuristic, but not logically consistent (no ego involvement in issue, as well as community influence on decisions, motivation maybe not fear of isolation)
- Temperature of media
- Hot - little involvement, Cold- much involvement
- Tetrad
- Organizing concepts to understand the laws of media; enhancement (strengthens society), obsolescence (renders something out-of-date), retrieval (restores lost things), reversal (will evolve)
