Mass Communication Exam 3
Terms
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- Small Town Pastoralism
- Tend to favor small-town news over the city
- Propaganda Analysis
- How does it change public opinion?
- Obscenity
- Generally been argued that obscenity doesn't constitute a legit form of expression
- Communist or State Model
- Government controls press; some government criticism allowed
- Rating Movie Content
- PG-13 came about after an Indiana Jones movie was released; NC-17 came about when the movie Henry and June was released
- Authoritarian
- Public needs guidance, role of the press is to serve the government
- Prior Restraint
- Over time the US has defined censorship prior restraint; courts and government is not allowed to do this
- Pentagon Papers
- ex-Defense department employee leaked study to NY Times & Washington Post; Nixon admin. Tried to get a temporary restraining order; Verdict- news must be free to publish, no matter the source
- Senator Joseph McCarthy
- "Red Channels" brought Cold War blacklisting to the radio & TV industry
- Cultivation Effect
- Heavy viewing of TV leads people to perceive reality in the way its shown on TV; fear of crime is skewed from what people see on TV
- Public Opinion Research
- How the mass media filter information and shape public attitudes; heavily used in political elections
- Libertarian Model
- Vigorous government criticism; highest degree of freedom of speech
- Public Journalism
- Trying to actively involve readers in the paper to re-engage citizens
- Motion Picture Production Code (MPPC)
- During the Great Depression the movie industry came up with a moral code
- Spiral of Silence
- People who aren't with the majority of the opinion, made by the media, stay silent because they are scared to voice their opinions
- Communications Act of 1934
- Broadcasters must operate in "the public interest, convenience and necessity"; FCC- regulates interstate and international communications
- Progressive Magazine
- An article was going to be published but then it was actually stopped from being published
- Agenda-Setting
- When mass media pay attention to certain events, they set the major topics of discussion for society & individuals
- Richard Jewell
- 1996 Olympic Park bombing suspect; media camped out on his lawn for nine weeks; he was never charged
- Copyright
- Appropriating an artist's or writer's words without consent
- Films & the 1st Amendment
- When the 1st amendment was written films didn't exist, so as movies became more popular more people wanted to censor them
- Absolutist Ethics
- We are a moral society with laws and everyone should stick to them in any situation
- Equal Opportunity
- Broadcaster stations must provide equal opportunities and response time for political comrades; exemptions for news events
- Qualities of News
- timeliness, proximity, conflict, prominence, human interest, usefulness, unusualness
- Uses and Gratifications
- Contests notion that audience is passive; studies how and why we use the media
- The First Amendment
- Free speech
- Right to Privacy
- Protects peace of mind, right to be left alone; intrusion is the unauthorized use of recording devices; publication of private matters
- Responsible Capitalism
- Tend to "go easy" on big businesses
- Minimal-Effects Model
- People engage in selective exposure and selective retention with regard to the media; we seek out what is familiar to us
- Libel
- False, bad written information about someone
- Gotcha Stories
- News reports in which journalists nab evildoers or interview subjects who were caught in an act of deception
- Hypodermic Needle Theory
- Powerful media attacks weak audience; media as magic bullet; discounted by War of the Worlds radio broadcast in 1938
- Neutrality (techniques)
- Inverted pyramid, attribution to sources, minimal use of adjectives & adverbs, 3rd person
- Differences Between TV News & Print
- TV is driven by technology, if you've got the toys use them; TV credibility comes from live, on-the-spot reporting; powerful images; people make the story
- Indecency
- Government may not engage in prior restraint or interfere with radio programs BUT can be punished after the fact; Janet Jackson on MTV
- Integrity Problems
- Stephen Glass, Jayson Blair, and Janet Cook
- Investigative Journalism
- Food Lion case, ABC sent two producers to work at Food Lion stores in 1989 to investigate claims of unsanitary conditions & Food Lion sued ABC
- Social Learning Theory
- A theory within media effects research that suggests a link between mass media and behavior
- Conflict of Interest
- When journalists could benefit from a story through gifts, free tickets, etc.
- Social Psychology Studies
- Measures individual behavior and cognition; Payne Fund studies during 20's linked frequent movie attendance to juvenile delinquency
- Invasion of Privacy
- IP vs public's right to know; what public good will be gained through exploitation of other people's tragedies
- Ethnocentrism
- When other countries are written about journalists tend to judge them on how they live
- Social Responsibility
- 4th estate, unofficial branch of government to monitor other branches and abuses of power
- Fairness Doctrine
- Required stations to air and engage in controversial issue programs that affected their communities; ended in 1987
- Situational Ethics
- Will a greater good be served?
- Criticism of TV News
- Pretty faces vs. quality reporting; if it bleeds, it leads; obsession with celebrities
- Defenses for Libel
- Truth; individual must prove it was false; public figure must prove malice; qualified privilege- in court if someone says something false and it is published it is protected because it is public information