Convergence
A smartphone serves as a camera, radio, GPS, television and newspaper. What type of convergence is this?
Technological convergence. Different technologies or media functions have come together in one device.
A local station interrupts programming with a tornado warning. Which function of mass communication is this?
Surveillance: telling audiences what is happening.
True or false: Being excellent at TikTok, Instagram or Photoshop automatically means someone has strong media literacy.
False. Media literacy involves critically examining media messages, not simply knowing how to use technology.
Headline size, story placement, photograph size and amount of space are examples of the grammar of what medium?
Print.
Complete the idea: Research gives us ______. Theory helps us ______ what that evidence means.
Research gives us evidence. Theory helps us explain what that evidence means.
A company owns television networks, movie studios and streaming platforms. What type of convergence is illustrated?
Economic convergence. Media ownership and business interests are coming together.
A reporter explains why voters supported a particular candidate after election results are announced. Which function is this?
Correlation: interpretation, commentary, analysis or explanation of what events mean.
When breaking information appears online, what three basic things should you check?
Source, date and location.
Voice, music, silence, ambient sound and pacing are important elements of what medium’s grammar?
Radio.
Which early media-effects model assumes media are extremely powerful and audiences are relatively passive?
The hypodermic-needle model, also called the magic-bullet model.
Someone watches a TikTok, stitches it, adds commentary and posts the new version. What term describes this audience member?
Produser: a person who both consumes and helps produce or distribute media.
A popular show repeatedly presents a certain lifestyle as the definition of success. Which function does this illustrate?
Cultural transmission. Media can communicate and reinforce ideas about what society considers normal, successful or important.
Two news outlets report accurate facts about the same event but emphasize different details. What concept describes this?
Framing: how something is presented and what is emphasized or left out.
Camera angles, lighting, music, sound, editing and pacing are part of the grammar of what media?
Film and television.
What is the major weakness of the hypodermic-needle or magic-bullet model?
It assumes people respond to media in basically the same way. Later research showed the same message can affect different people differently.
A television series becomes popular in several countries, inspires memes and is remixed across multiple platforms. What type of convergence best fits?
Cultural convergence because content is moving across cultures, countries and platforms.
You watch a comedy because you want to relax after class. Which function is most obvious?
Entertainment.
At a protest, 5,000 people are peaceful and 20 people fight. One outlet leads with the peaceful crowd and another leads with the fight. What concept should a media-literate audience recognize?
Framing. Both may use real information while creating different impressions through what they emphasize.
Anchor desks, lower thirds, live shots, graphics and reporter packages help audiences recognize what media form?
Television news.
What broad lesson did the Payne Fund Studies help researchers recognize about audiences and media effects?
Audiences do not all respond identically; individual differences matter, effects are not necessarily negative, and people can learn positive things from media.
Explain the difference among technological, economic and cultural convergence without using the words technology, money or people as your entire answer.
Technological convergence combines media functions or devices; economic convergence combines ownership and business interests; cultural convergence describes content moving and being shared or remixed across cultures and platforms.
A newscast reports election totals and then has an analyst explain why the results occurred. Name both functions being used.
Surveillance for reporting what happened, and correlation for explaining what it means.
Give three questions a media-literate person should ask before accepting or sharing a media message.
Any three supported questions such as: Who created it? Why was it created? Who benefits? What is included? What is missing? What evidence supports it? Is the source credible?
What major element does digital/social media add when it borrows techniques from older media forms? Give two examples.
Interactivity. Examples include commenting, sharing, remixing, stitching, dueting and responding.
In the Bobo Doll studies, children saw aggressive behavior either rewarded or punished. What did researchers find?
Children who saw aggressive behavior rewarded were more likely to imitate it than children who saw the behavior punished. The consequence attached to behavior can influence viewers’ responses.