Glossary of Mass Communication Concepts
Agenda Setting refers to the ability of the media to
channel or focus attention on one issue over
another. The amount of attention the media
give to a topic determines its importance in
the minds of the topic.
Aggressive Cues Theory assumes that exposure to
aggressive stimuli on television will increase a
person's level of physiological and emotional
arousal which in turn will increase the probability
of his or her aggressive behavior.
Authoritarian is a philosophy based on the idea
that control should be in the hands of the wise;
hence the authority of the state over the individual.
The government assumes caretaking powers,
whereas the rights of the individual became
restricted for the greater good of the state .Thus the
government may exercise open or more subtle
control of its media.
Canalization refers to the ability of the mass media
to influence public attitudes and behavior .The mass
media can be effective in maintaining, creating or
changing particular values, attitudes ,and behaviors
through confirming something we already believe,
clarifying something we already know ,or extending
our knowledge of what we already accepted .An
example would be a toothpaste commercial that
reinforces the idea that bushing our teeth is good for
us and that trying the new brand of toothpaste may
prove to be a pleasant and rewarding experience.
Catharsis is the relief of normal frustrations
acquired in daily life, which eventually might lead
individuals to engage in aggression, through
vicarious participation in other aggressions as
depicted, for example, on television.
Channel is the medium through which messages
are transmitted from source to receiver.
Channel Noise refers to any distraction or
disturbance in the reception of a masscommunicated message by such factors as radio
static, fuzziness on TV screen, torn pages in book, or
blurred newsprint.
Communication Satellite is a relay station in space
that can be used to provide either international or
international communications.
Communication Revolution refers to the period
beginning with the advent of printing end extending
to contemporary communication technology a period
embracing a mere 500 years compared to the
million years or so that intervened between the
development of speaking and the development of
writing .The communications Revolution is marked
by the mass production of symbols.
Cultural Indicators is the name given by George
Gerbner to describe his analytical approach to
television programming according to carefully
constructed measures .According to Gerbner, over a
long-term period, researchers might be able to better
assess the impact of television on society through a
scientific study of the content of television.
Cultural Norms Perspectives refers to the power of
the mass media to define culture norms through the
facilitation of opinion change and reinforcement, the
creation of new values, and the modification of
present values, hence "changing" the audience.
Entropy represents the measure of uncertainty or
freedom of choice within a system.
Equifinality means that the same final state may be
reached by initial conditions in various ways.
Fairness Doctrine is based on the twin concepts
that the airwaves belong to the public and that
broadcasters are licensed to operate in the public
interest need, and necessity and states that
broadcaster must offer fair opportunity for opposing
sides to answer public controversial public
discussion.
Feedback monitors back a communicator's activity
and allows for self-regulation.
Feed front is the process of pretesting ideas,
concepts, and programs on group of experts or on a
select audience by producer and programmers.
Gatekeeper in a formal mass communication
network may be communicators such as a reporter,
editor, or publisher who is instrumental in the
transmission of information and decision making
with regard to mass media content. in an informal
communication situation a gatekeeper is anyone
who has access to information and who is
instrumental in the relay and transmission of that
information from one individual to another .
Individual Differences is a theoretical concept that
point out that the differences in mass
communications behavior are the products of
differences in the individual's personality traits,
attitudes, values, andbeliefs.
Libertarian applies to privately owned media that
advocate the" open market-place of ideas" and whose
is to mission is to keep a cheek on the government
so that the individual can discriminate between right
and wrong.
Ludenic (play) Theory of Mass Communication
simply states that the individual uses the mass
media for his or her enjoyment, hence play versus
work. Stephenson, the author of this theory, neither
makes the distinction between communicationpleasure and communication-pain and neither
debits communication-pleasure nor credits
communication-pain. He feels that mass
communication play behavior is useful and that
more emphasis should be placed on the play and
pleasure elements of mass communication and not
on information theory of mass communication.
Mass Communication is the process by which the
same message is simultaneously and publicly
transmitted via a mass medium to large numbers of
people, who are heterogeneous, spatially separated,
and unknown to each other and to the
communicator.
Mass Communications are the mass media.
Medio Communication is a hybrid form of
communication that has the elements of both
interpersonal and mass communication. As in mass
communication a technical instrument is used to
transmit message to reach a heterogeneous
audience at different times and places, but as in
interpersonal communication the senders and
receivers are small in number. Medio
communication may include communication via
telephone, audio taps, home movies, or closedcircuit television.
No-Step Flow refers to the process by which mass
media messages reach audience members-often
indirectly through those who attend to the mass
media and then pass the messages along, in their
roles as influentials or opinion leader ,to their less
active associates .
Narcotization results from the individual's
substituting awareness as a result of his or her
exposure to the mass media's reporting of public
issues for social action.
"No-Effects theory"(Reinforcement) refers to the
reinforcement effect of the mass media; hence an
effect.
Observational Learning Theory assumes that
aggressive behavior results from the observation of
aggressing on TV programs and under certain
conditions, from the modeling of behavior after
aggressive TV characters.
Opinion Leaders are those individuals who attend
more to the mass media than do those whom they
influence .They pass on information gained from the
mass media along with their own interpretations of
the media content.
Privatization refers to the dysfunctional behavior of
the individual who retreats to matters of private
concern as a result of communication overload from
the news media.
Reinforcement Theory of Violence states that
televised violence reinforces whatever established
patterns of violent behavior are possessed by the
individual; no significant increases or decreases in the
probability of audience aggression are implied.
Selective Exposure refers to the individual's
exposure to those communications that are in
accord with his or her interests and opinions and
the avoidance of those communications that are not
in accord with his or her interests and opinion.
Selective Perception refers to the individual's
ability to misperceive and misinterpret
communications that do not agree with his or her
predispositions in the direction favorable to those
predispositions.
Selective Retention refers to the tendency of the
individual to learn material with which he or she
agrees more readily and to forget more readily
material with which he or she disagrees.
Semantic Noise in mass communication can occur
when the communicator speaks in a different
language, has cultural differences, or communicates
in manner not understood by the audience.
Social Categories Perspectives assumes that
individuals can be grouped into broad collectivities
on the basis of shared orientations or characteristics
such as age, education, sex, income, and occupation
which in turn will cause them to select roughly
identical mass communication content and react to
it in a fairly uniform manner.
Social Responsibility Philosophy is an extension of
the libertarian philosophy in that the media
recognize their responsibility to resolve conflict
through discussion and to promote public opinion,
consumer action, private rights, and important
social interests.
Soviet-Communist Philosophy is an extension of
the authoritarian philosophy whose purpose is to
utilize its media to promote the objectives of the
Soviet Socialist Party.
Status Conferral is the ability of the mass media to
confer status, legitimize, or signal out a person,
organization, social issue, or social movement by
focusing attention in it.
System represents a portion of the universe that is
perceived as an entity capable of maintaining its
spite of internal changes.
Uses and Gratifications Approach Contends that
the audience goes to the media for specific
gratifications, using the mass media rather than
being used by the mass media.