Deck 13: Theories and Effects of Mass Communication

Question 1

What are the five assumptions of cultivation analysis

Answer 1

Cultivation analysis is based on five (5) assumptions:
1. Television is different from other mass media-in that it can be consumed without the need to travel, be literate, and can be consumed for the entire life cycle.
2. Television is the "central cultural arm" of society in the U.S.-TV functions as the central storyteller mainstreaming messages to move people towards a consensus.
3. The realities created on tv are basic assumptions about the "facts of life"-This medium builds a frame of reference, not necessarily based on fact.
4. The major function of tv is to stabilize social patterns-Existing power relationships are reinforced by television shows.
5. The observable, measurable and independent contributions of tv to culture are small-TVs effects are small but can slowly shift attitudes and beliefs over the long term.

Question 2

What four common news production conventions shape the news to suit the interests of the elite

Answer 2

Four production conventions that the news employs are:
1. Personalized news-The reduction of issues to the personal level, for instance a single drug fatality to show the problem with national drug use.
2. Dramatized news-Attractively packaging news to make it more like a soap opera with a hero/villain and or a showdown, trivializing the issues and sides as a whole.
3. Fragmented news-The reduction of news stories to short, digestible content without context or reference to events and other stories leading to the current situation.
4. Normalized news-The abdication of research, opinion, and objectivity to authorities or experts who can have their own angle.

Question 3

What are the characteristics of critical cultural studies

Answer 3

The characteristics of critical cultural studies are:
• Macroscopic in scope-They examine broad, culture-wide effects of media.
• Openly political-with most being left leaning, while this is open to interpretation.
• Goal is to instigate change in government and power structures-Critical culture theories stipulate superstructures should be challenged.
• They explain how the elite uses media-Providing examples of how the elite control media to move the spotlight to issues they care about or minimize items that may negatively affect them. Topics include media ownership, tax loopholes, wages, and the disenfranchised.

Question 4

What are the early window and willing suspension of disbelief

Question 5

What are the stimulation and aggressive cues models of media violence What is catharsis

Question 6

Do media set the agenda for you If not, why not If they do, can you cite examples from your own experience

Question 7

What are the four eras of mass communication theory

Question 8

Can you find examples of magazine or television advertising that use ideas from symbolic interaction or social construction of reality to sell their products How do they do so

Question 9

What are dissonance theory and the selective processes

Question 10

Do you pay attention to alcohol advertising Do you think it influences your level of alcohol consumption

Question 11

What is agenda setting

Question 12

What is the distinction between imitation and identification in social cognitive theory

Question 13

What assumptions about people and media are shared by symbolic interaction and social construction of reality