Media Archives

Unpacking Political News

January 23, 2017 No Comments

Unpacking Political News The first portion of the chapter reviews the impact of journalistic routines on political news-gathering. The second part looks at the role played by organizational forces, a topic that brings us eyeball to eyeball with controversies involving Fox News. The third section explores the ways that an array of economic factors shape news. The final portion describes the complex ways that the larger political system influences news, particularly coverage of recent wars. MEDIA ROUTINES What are media routines? They are defined as “those patterned, routinized, repeated practices and forms that media workers use to do their jobs”. From a professional perspective, routines enable reporters to gain information efficiently, providing tried-and-true methods to determine which information should pass through the informational gates and which should be discarded. There are three key routines: (1) Ethically based and journalistic news values; (2) Reliance on sources; (3) Dependence on informational channels. […]

Theories of Mass Communication

THE RISE OF MEDIA INDUSTRIES AND MASS SOCIETY THEORY

November 29, 2016 No Comments

Chapter# 3: THE RISE OF MEDIA INDUSTRIES AND MASS SOCIETY THEORY (Review) First Amendment Guarantees freedom of speech, press, assembly, and religion Culture war Struggle to define the cultural foundation of the broader social order in which we live THE RISE OF YELLOW JOURNALISM At the beginning of the twentieth century, every industry had its barons, and the most notorious—if not the greatest—of the press lords was Hearst. Hearst specialized in buying up failing newspapers and transforming them into profitable enterprises. He demonstrated that the news business could be as profitable as railroads, steel, or oil. One secret to his success was devising better strategies for luring low income readers. His newspapers combined a low-selling price with innovative new forms of content that included lots of pictures, serialized stories, and comic strips. Some experts even say that yellow journalism got its name from one of the first comic strips: “The Yellow […]

Theories of Mass Communication

Four Eras Of Mass Media Theory (Review)

November 21, 2016 No Comments

Mass Communication Theory Foundations, Ferment, and Future Review of Chaper 2: FOUR ERAS OF MEDIA THEORY We have identified four distinct eras in the development of mass communication theories, beginning with the origin of media theory in the nineteenth century and ending with the emergence of an array of contemporary perspectives. THE ERA OF MASS SOCIETY AND MASS CULTURE The era of mass society theory is characterized by overinflated fears of media’s influence on “average” people and overly optimistic views of their ability to bring about social good. Powerful social and cultural elites, who saw the traditional social order that was serving them so well undermined by popular media content, were the primary advocates of the former view. Urban elites—the new capitalists whose power was increasingly based on industrialization and urbanization—viewed technology, including the mass media, as facilitating control over the physical environment, expanding human productivity, and generating new forms […]

Mass Communication Ebooks

Mass Media Research By WIMMER & DOMINICK

November 21, 2016 No Comments

Mass Media Research By ROGER D. WIMMER & JOSEPH R. DOMINICK 9th Edition Part One The Research Process Chapter 1 Science and Research 1 Chapter 2 Elements of Research 42 Chapter 3 Research Ethics 64 Chapter 4 Sampling 86 Part Two Research Approaches Chapter 5 Qualitative Research Methods 114 Chapter 6 Content Analysis 155 Chapter 7 Survey Research 184 Chapter 8 Longitudinal Research 218 Chapter 9 Experimental Research 238 Part Three Data Analysis Chapter 10 Introduction to Statistics 266 Chapter 11 Hypothesis Testing 289 Chapter 12 Basic Statistical Procedures 304 Part Four Research Applications Chapter 13 Newspaper and Magazine Research 332 Chapter 14 Research in the Electronic Media 350 Chapter 15 Research in Advertising 380 Chapter 16 Research in Public Relations 405 Preface: Things change constantly in all areas of life, and it is sometimes difficult to keep up with all the changes. In every edition of this text, we […]

THE DYNAMICS OF POLITICAL COMMUNICATION

Political Communication

November 19, 2016 No Comments

Chapter 2: Political Communication – Review is the process by which language and symbols, employed by leaders, media, or citizens, exert intended or unintended effects on the political cognitions, attitudes, or behaviors of individuals or on outcomes that bear on the public policy of a nation, state, or community. There are several aspects of the definition. Political communication is a process Political communication calls centrally on words and symbols (A symbol is a form of language in which one entity represents an idea or concept, conveying rich psychological and cultural meaning.) Group of leaders and Influence agents Political communication effects can be intended or unintended. Political communication is that effects occur on a variety of levels. ( Political media exert influence on the micro level, affecting individuals’ thoughts, candidate assessments, feelings, attitudes, and behavior.) CONTEMPORARY POLITICAL COMMUNICATION One view is that elite leaders exert a preeminent impact on opinions and […]

Mass Communication Ebooks

Theory and Research in Mass Communication: Contexts and Consequences

November 18, 2016 No Comments

Theory and Research in Mass Communication: Contexts and Consequences By David K. Perry Second Edition Citizens, policymakers, and communication practitioners who are concerned about mass communication issues otfutrenn t o the academic community for answers. Their questions often involve such things as whether, to what extent, or why media violence or sex contributote asn tisocial or criminal behavior among audiences. The answers often are not as simple or consistent as they might like. As one scholar put it: only after much research has been completed does a statement come tboe viewed int he scholarly community as tru-ea status very few communication theories are ever likely to reach. Even then, the truth value is to be found more in the degree of agreement among scholars, an intersubjective criterion, than in any ultimate reality. (Chaffee, 1991, p. 11) Definitions of truth as scholarly consensus are often found in modem literatures of the history […]