What is the best definition of “digital media”?
Electronic media
A technology of mass communication
Media content electronically stored and transmitted using binary code
The Internet
The move from analog to digital media has meant that a single medium, such as the Internet, can deliver previously distinct forms of media content. What term best captures this shift?
media conglomeration
behavioral targeting
digital democracy
technological convergence
Much of the initial funding for the Internet came from the government, particularly the Department of Defense.
Who invented the world wide web, a user-friendly network interface that uses hypertext?
Bill Gates
Tim Berners-Lee
The Pentagon
Joseph Licklider
Which of the following is not a concern that theorists have expressed about the rise of the Internet in our media environment?
That faster rates of information dissemination discourage individual reflection
That it promotes excessive solitude and self-reflection among users
That the system of hypertext promotes bouncing around from text to text, rather than sticking with a complex idea or argument from start to finish
That it promotes a culture of distraction
The media theory that argued for the direct and immediate influence of media was:
Political socialization theory
The hypodermic needle model
Minimal effects theory
Cultivation theory
The two-step flow model of communication asserts that mass media messages flow from _________________ to __________________.
opinion leaders, ordinary people
ordinary people, opinion leaders
developed countries, developing countries
developing countries, developed countries
Which of the following statements is not consistent with the Minimal or Limited Effects Model of media influence?
It’s hard to persuade people to change their attitudes or their behaviors
When they occur, media effects are usually short term
Audiences have a minimal or limited ability to select, filter, and interpret media content
Individual, demographic, and social factors are usually more important in shaping beliefs than media consumption
Research showing that the issues the media focus on in an election year are very similar to the issues that undecided voters say are important to them supports the theory of agenda-setting.
How does cultivation theory challenge the minimal or limited effects model of media influence?
Cultivation theorists demonstrate how particular media texts noticeably shift beliefs and behaviors in the short term
Cultivation theorists think that over the long term, heavy TV consumption is more important in shaping beliefs than individual demographic differences.
Cultivation theorists argue that the influence from overall patterns in media content is more significant that the influence of individual media texts
All of the above
B and C only
Which of the following statements is not an aspect of Social Learning Theory?
People generally learn through imitation, or modeling what they see.
From models we learn not only behaviors but ways of thinking and perceiving the world.
People only learn from social interaction, not through the media.
Social learning is more likely to happen when people observe models that are relatable
Social learning theory is a purely behavioral theory. That is, it predicts how people learn behaviors, but not their thoughts, beliefs, or knowledge.
What we do mean when we say that people have become desensitized to violence by the media?
People have become more violent in real life because of consuming so much media violence
People become more sensitive to violence when they are exposed to it in media.
People interpret real life violence as less serious due to their exposure to violence in media.
All of the above.
What form(s) of evidence supports the claim that people sometimes learn to act aggressively from media violence? **UNSURE**
Short-term experiments
Long-term studies that correlate childhood consumption of media violence with aggressive behavior later in life.
Natural experiments where the introduction of television in a community coincides with increases in aggressive behavior among children.
idk
An example of how media influence is not “direct” but is often mediated by other individual and societal factors is the UNESCO study (discussed by Nancy Signorielli) that found that aggressive people, especially those who live in societies with high levels of aggression, use violent media content to reinforce their beliefs that violence and aggression are acceptable and even a good way to solve problems.
Which of the following is the best definition of ideology? ****UNSURE
Ideology is the official dogma of communism and fascism.
Ideology is an elaborate philosophy of language, symbols, and culture based on the analytic distinction between signifier and signified.
Ideology is a subliminal set of messages secretly embedded in otherwise neutral media messages like entertainment films and advertisements.
Ideology is the realm of taken-for-granted thoughts and ideas in circulation that reflect the power dynamics at work in a society.
Ideological analysts of media mainly focus on:
the effects of media messages on viewers
the messages in media content and the way they construct reality
the economic organization of the media industry
the policies and laws that regulate media industries
Antonio Gramsci developed the concept of hegemony which is commonly used by ideological analysts today. He argued that elites largely rule contemporary societies through _______________ rather than by force, and that the production of ____________________ is key to this strategy
consent; common sense
ideology; domination
voting; media
common sense; power
How does media theorist Stuart Hall explain the concept of “media representation”?
Media reflect the world just like a mirror
Media represent the same images and stories over and over
Media represent the world in a way that actively produces meaning
According to our textbook, why was there such a proliferation of Vietnam movies in the 1980s in the United States?
The U.S. government subsidized production of Vietnam movies.
It was American society’s ideological attempt to overcome the psychic damage from the military loss in Vietnam.
The Vietnamese government pressured the U.S. film industry to produce more Vietnam movies.
The United Nations recommended Vietnam movies to reconcile the conflict.
Ella Taylor’s analysis of changing images of the family over time on television illustrate which of the following insights from ideological analysis?
That ideological narratives appear to solve real social dilemmas in a neat and tidy way
Due to the interplay of hegemonic and counterhegemonic forces, ideological narratives are rarely static, but evolve over time.
That ideological narratives present something that is particular, such as the white, middle-class family experience from the mid-20th century, as if it were universal
Nearly all social scientists recognize that “race” is a:
Socially constructed concept whose meaning has changed over time
Fundamental, biologically based method of classification
Useful method of categorization because it never changes
Concept that exists only in North America
Up through the 1950s, portrayals of African Americans in films and on TV:
Focused on the life of black people living in urban areas, largely ignoring rural life
Were largely controlled by black film and television producers
Were more positive than the portrayals of Latinos
Were either nonexistent or limited to stereotypical roles such as entertainers or servants
In his study of local news coverage, Entman argues that “modern racism” is:
Racism that occurs after the year 2000
Different than “traditional racism” because it applies to all racial minorities
More subtle than “traditional racism”
More widespread than all other racism
As the size of the Latino population in the United States has grown rapidly, the inclusion of Latino characters on television has grown at a similar rate.
Unlike other racial and ethnic minorities, Asian-Americans generally feel that their representation in mainstream media is positive.
Using the textbook terms of structure and agency, activists representing various identity groups have used their agency to change existing structures by protesting existing media representations and promoting alternatives.
The time period when gay and lesbian characters were no longer just ignored, ridiculed, or demonized in mainstream media, but began appearing in more serious and realistic media portrayals was the:
1950s and 1960s
1960s and 1970s
1970s and 1980s
1980s and 1990s
Why was Ellen DeGeneres’ “coming out” on her show Ellen in 1997 considered a milestone in the representation of gay and lesbian people?
It was the first coming out storyline ever on television
Ellen was the first lesbian character ever on broadcast television
Ellen was the first openly gay lead character on television
In general, cable television, and particularly pay cable channels like Showtime and HBO, have been more inclusive and at the forefront of featuring gay, lesbian, and bisexual characters in their programming. ****UNSURE
