The test

We'll be turning our discussion to other media beyond news media, starting with this week. We will continue, however, talking about news media as coverage arises that fits our course interests.

Define these terms, to help you study for your vocabulary test on Thursday, Oct. 9:

What is the difference between ethnicity and race?

The brown sugar stereotype in advertising (chapter 17)

The lotus blossom stereotype in advertising (chapter 17)

What is a model minority? Why do some Asian-Americans, for instance, say that being a model minority can be a negative experience?

What is media literacy or critical media consumption?

What is a case study?

What is content analysis?

What is interreality comparison and why is it important?

What is a good definition of stereotyping? Be able to give some examples from the news media.

Why are we interested in schema, especially role schema?

Schema theory says that humans use “organized knowledge … abstracted from prior experiences” to process new info and to retrieve stored info (Graber, 1988). Role schema means that sometimes, people (such as journalists) have expectations about who should serve in certain roles. This can be problematic, such as when a reporter decides to call a source for a story, and that reporter always calls a man (or a woman, or a white person, or a person of color), depending on what sort of professional job that source has.

Stereotyping fits with schema theory. Walter Lippmann in Public Opinion (1922) coined the term, which literally means “solid model.” He wrote that “the real environment is altogether too big, too complex, too fleeting for direct acquaintance. We are not equipped to deal with so much subtlety, so much variety, so many permutations & combinations.” However, stereotypes also are one dimensional, perjorative, and powerful identifiers that may seep into our schema.

Zingrone and “simplex,” as in mass media can only produce simplex--this also fits with schema and stereotyping, since our world is complex, but mass media can produce only simple ideas.

Agenda-setting theory: Long-held theory which states that media don’t tell people what to think, but rather, tell people what to think about.

Uses and gratification theory: Newer theory which states that media are best understood from viewpoint of audience, rather than from power of media or communicator. It asks "What do people do with media?" In this theory, audience is active, and media compete with other sources of need satisfaction.

Gerbner and other researchers believe that heavy exposure to cultural products (media) affect a person’s concept of reality (p. 108 in textbook). Social learning theory (Bandura) says that people model behavior that they see in others or from television/film (pp. 127 and 136 in textbook).