KEY TERMS AND CONCEPTS Socratic method FCC Cool hunting Murdoch News Hole Al-Jazeera Block booking SMCR model Convergence Selective exposure Syndication Gatekeeper Center-periphery Manuscript culture Entrepreneurial stage Oligopoly Seditious libel Paramount Decision Vertical integration Bollywood Consolidation Must-Carry Rules Knowledge gap Gutenberg Telecommunications Act Adolph Ochs Commercial speech Google YouTube Selective Retention Network Era Hypodermic needle theory Agenda Setting Cultural imperialism LECTURES and READINGS: 1) Why is the map approach to culture better and more conclusive than the vertical approach? Define the steps of the critical process Campbell is suggesting in applying the map approach. 2) Discuss some of the concerns resulting from the increasing consolidation of the Internet? Do you think this is a disturbing trend given the nature of the media todaty? 3) Is objective journalism threatened by the increasing popularity of news blogs on the Internet? Is that a good or bad development? 4) How did television shape race relations since the 1950s? Refer to the video: Color Adjustments. 5) Are social networks like Myspace and Youtube likely to change the ways in which we relate to traditional media? Will they ever replace traditional media? 6) Why did it take so long for cable television to become a reality knowing the technology had been there years before? 7) Describe some of the factors that triggered the move toward magazine specialization? 8) If magazines through heavy corporate advertising identify readers as consumers first and citizens second, what kind of impact this might have on democracy? 9) Do non-profit radio and television in the US rely exclusively on public funding for their operations or do they accept private sponsorships as well? If they do, how can they be labeled public media? 10) Name and define the movie industry’s three basic economic divisions? How have these divisions evolve through the years? 11) What contributed to the decline of the ‘network era’? Have the television networks today been sidestepped by other channels? If not, how do they retain their competitive edge? 12) Has narrowcasting on television solved the problem of consolidation of ownership in that industry? 13) What is cultural imperialism? Is it still a valid theory given the distribution of media flows today? Discuss the flaws of this theory. 14) Should we be concerned about the consolidation of global media flows today? Can smaller countries produce and control their own media? 15) What do we mean by the information economy and how is that affecting poorer countries? Make sure you discuss the notion of digital divide. 16) What’s the difference between the cultural approach to media studies and media- effects studies? Has the cultural approach been more convincing in its findings? 17) Given the dominant role of the mass media in society today, do you think the th ...