Quiz 12: Media

In seventeenth and eighteenth century English, the term ________, which was Latin for "in the middle", meant a connection between two things, or a way of conveying something from one place to another.

Media technologies have accomplished what ________ called the "annihilation of space by time" as the near-instantaneous transmission of messages around the globe makes physical distance less and less of a barrier to communication.

Sociologist, Daniel Bell emphasized the role of the media in creating a "post-industrial society" characterized by an "information explosion". This notion was renamed the _______.

Today, the existence of what is sometimes called a/an ________ sphere, where opinion and discussion can circulate without government interference, is regarded as a central element in liberal democracy.

Speedy, easy-to-use, decentralized means of communication will be technologies of ________ that empower citizens and make despotic top-down state control of media more difficult to maintain.

Sociologists who study the ________ of media look at the social institutions that govern the production, distribution, and consumption of information. They are interested in who controls access to the means of communication, and how that control is used to solidify or subvert social power.

The ________ school originated with British Marxist researchers who were interested in popular culture as an arena where contending cultural codes and agendas were in conflict.

By showing people can respond to and reinterpret media in different ways, ________ theory has made a crucial addition to our understanding of media.

Kilbourne argued that the new advertising encourages girls and young women to see themselves as ________ ________ at even earlier ages.

The ________ maintains that vicariously experiencing aggression provides a substitute for actually expressing it, and acts as a sort of "safety valve."

In his study of the so-called cultivation effect of television on viewers, Grebner reported that heavy viewers were more likely to adopt a homogenous world view called ________, and heavy viewers were more apt than light viewers to believe that the world is a ________ place.

Some analysts see the ever-expanding reach of global media as a weapon of ________ imperialism.

While some suggest that there exists a one-way stream of media messages from the West to the rest, others argue that what is occurring is a two-way process of ________.

Rheingold suggested that within cyberspace people could connect in ________ that to replace the sense of togetherness that is lacking in a society fragmented into malls, freeways and corporate workplaces.

The term media is the plural form of the word ________ meaning in the middle. A) mass B) matrix C) micro D) macro E) medium

Rheingold claimed that easy, always-on communication, such as mobile networks, would promote democracy through the creation of "smart mobs" - ad hoc mobilizations of well-informed, well-connected citizens. An example of this is the practice of ________ journalism using mobile phones to upload digital video reports to the Web. : A) voyeuristic B) amateur C) reality D) peer to peer E) mob mentality

The main force driving the shift to the "postindustrial" society was the advance in ________ knowledge. A) sociological B) data storage C) historical D) scientific E) globalized

In North America our lives have become more reliant on a technically sophisticated communication system that conveys, filters, and constructs our experience. Some theorists have referred to this by saying we live in a "mediascape" or a "________". A) Industrial Revolution B) technoscape C) medium scape D) datasphere E) Gutenberg Revolution

McLuhan proposed that the media extend our senses. The advent of written media changed societies which had previously depended on oral transmission of ideas partly because once something is written it can be ________ from its original context in a way that the spoken work cannot. A) interpreted B) returned C) absorbed D) separated E) ruined

Drawing on the work of earlier theorists, McLuhan proposed three great stages in the development of media. These are: A) oral, written, electronic B) pre-industrial, postindustrial, technological C) primitive, mechanical, technical D) basic, mechanical, abstract E) silent, spoken, printed

Sociologists such as Daniel Bell maintain that with the new electronic culture we are moving into a/an: A) media society B) global era C) scientific age D) postindustrial society E) externalized medium

Some of the new technologies (such as the Internet) bring with them the capacity for two-way communication. The result, information-society theorists' claim, is personally empowering and politically democratizing. Underlying such prophecies is the idea that the real force propelling social change is the introduction of new tools and machines, including new media. Economic, cultural, and political transformations are seen as following behind. This concept is known as: A) media lag B) web society C) network society D) technological determinism E) nominative determinism

The approach that situates the media in relation to issues of power and wealth is known as: A) political economy B) the web society C) the network society D) the information explosion E) economic determinism

Television, newspapers, film, radio, books, magazines, video and other media constitute a vast commercially operated ________ industry. A) royalty B) government C) conglomerate D) mega E) culture

It has been argued that ________ may empower citizens and make despotic top-down state control of media more difficult to maintain. A) concentration of media ownership B) cultures of industry C) technologies of freedom D) media watchdogs E) vertical integration freedoms

Advertising revenues encourage media to pay less attention to the views and interests of those who do not have ________. A) a filtering mechanism for media B) patience C) buying power D) the ability to decode media messages E) thick skin

A newspaper chain, like Asper, or the group of cable companies owned by Rogers, would represent examples of what type of integration? A) vertical B) horizontal C) alternative D) conglomerate E) corporate

Many media analysts argue that commercial ownership of media introduces serious distortions into communication systems. Capitalist owners have a very particular interest in seeing society run in a way that allows continued ________. A) profitability B) unbiased reporting C) empathy for hostile nations D) entertainment for poor people E) information sharing

In 1938, CBS broadcast a dramatized version of H.G. Wells' science-fiction story about a Martian invasion, War of the Worlds. Thousands of Americans panicked, fleeing their homes, convinced they were hearing reports of a real event. This is sometimes called the ________ model of media influence. A) integration B) hypodermic C) complex D) dominant E) subversive

For a long time, ________ were regarded as the epitome of trivial mass media, and dismissed by male critics as mindless entertainment. These assumptions were challenged by researchers who maintained that this form of entertainment encouraged viewers to discuss what they watched and that the viewers sharply distinguished fantastic from realistic areas of the program. A) talk shows B) soap operas C) game shows D) news programs E) none of the above

Many concerns relating to media tend to focus on the effects of media violence on children and adolescents. The theory which argues that vicariously experiencing aggression provides a substitute for actually expressing it, and acts as a sort of "safety valve" is known as: A) substitute theory B) safety theory C) surrogate theory D) intuitive theory E) none of the above

Many researchers have concluded that exposure to media violence leads to effects such as: A) cultivation B) alienation and anomie C) disinhibition and desensitization D) desperation and destitution E) social awareness

Which of the following statements does NOT describe Grebner's findings and/or conclusions related to the cultivation effect of television on people? A) older people were more heavily represented than younger people on television B) crime was 10% more common on television than in the real world C) heavy viewers were more likely than light viewers to believe that the world is a scary place D) heavy viewers were more likely to express greater interpersonal distrust compared to light viewers E) Grebner's statistical techniques have been seriously challenged

There are more phone lines in Manhattan or Tokyo than in the whole of sub-Saharan Africa. As Hamelink contended, the planetary information society is characterized by an information ________ that gives some people much better capacity to distribute information. A) shortage B) imbalance C) network D) inequity E) exchange system

Does cyberspace promote the development of virtual communities or does it encourage "cyber bullying"? Discuss arguments for and against the development of virtual communities and the challenges society faces in cyberspace.

Why is the growing concentration of media ownership a cause for concern in democracies? What forces are at work helping to diversify the production and distribution of ideas?

How do conglomerates potentially limit freedom of speech in society?

The textbook states that "Better media treatment of women and sexual minorities arose because, while "sex sells", it is just as important that "money talks"". Describe how women and sexual minorities have been portrayed in the media and what changes have taken place over the past few decades.

Do the media promote violence in society? Support your answer with reference to contemporary studies of this issue.

What are the benefits and drawbacks of the globalization of media?

The term media comes from the Latin, medium, meaning "eyes and ears."

Media technologies have accomplished what McLuhan called the "annihilation of space by time".

Sociologists who study the political economy of media look at the social institutions that govern the production, distribution, and consumption of information. They are interested in who controls access to the means of communication, and how that control is used to solidify or subvert social power.

Speedy, easy-to-use, decentralized means of communication will be technologies of freedom that empower citizens.

Since capitalist owners of media have an interest in supporting the social order and keeping people in "buying moods", they often will provide extensive coverage of atrocities committed by pro-Western (pro-U.S.) regimes.

In many fields of media there is a high concentration of ownership.

Kilbourne argued that the new advertising encourages girls and young women to see themselves as sex objects at even earlier ages.

The primordial theory maintains that vicariously experiencing aggression provides a substitute for actually expressing it, and acts as a sort of "safety valve."

Many researchers conclude that exposure to media violence may lead the to subject becoming less sensitive to real violence, or may incline the subject to shed barriers towards physical expression of aggressive feelings

Some analysts see the ever-expanding reach of global media as a weapon of cultural imperialism.

While some suggest that there exists a one-way stream of media messages from the West to the rest, others argue that what is occurring is a two-way process of hybridization.

With the massive growth in communications technologies in the past two decades, access to the internet has become relatively equal across the world.