Comm 214

test 3

18 cards·by warnickst

two main effects of media technologies over the past 100 years (putnam)

news and entertainment are individualized-we consume it alone and tv is bad for civic engagement

impact on civic engagement on the decline of traditional news sources

loss of newspapers and other print sources (news makes people for civically engaged)

reasons why television is correlated with civic engagement in America

Tv takes up limited time, it is an antisocial force, causes mean world syndrome and it increases habitual viewing

Water Cooler Culture

speaking at the water fountain in the office- are you whispering or able to present yourself freely

why does Williams see audience fragmentation as problematic for culture and democracy?

we are too busy celebrating ourselves and listening to the same tune we know by heart and missing out on the important information

how is the current media environment a celebration of self (Williams)

rewarding not just the winner, everyone is celebrated to end the cruelties of life we grew up in.

this post media era isnt such a bad thing? (powers)

pyramid: a handful of mass outlets at the top and innumerable niches on bottom. direct traffic.

in what ways did network era of TV reflect post wwii cultural sameness and conformity?

"father knows best" and "betty crocker" replaced with popular pursuit of difference and self expression

original motivation for developing cable?

technological necessity- signals via wire vs over the air- access without interference.

how has cable tv contributed to the fragmentation of audiences

cable tv specialized channels instead of a general channel- people starting selecting what they wanted to watch

narrow casting

sending signals to homes that have subscribed to the cable service

impact of advertising (fragmentation of audiences)

advertisers choose what channel to advertise to based on the target audience

ideological sorting of news audiences and how it indicates larger trends

playing to their key audience to up ratings

niching down

becoming less broad. people forced to do so

Carrs argument about a similar debates before with forms of technologies

printing press- undermine religious text and dumb us down. socrates- written word is bad

how did magazines become national in scope

they had general interest- a wide variety of topics, national audience

general interest magazines

1920-1950- wide topic variety. failed due to the demand of TV and specialization

why does postman argue las vegas is the appropriate metaphor The Sleeper Curve” case study in Oaks, for Mon 3/17 Familiarize you for our

public discourse takes the form of entertainment