Exam 12: The Mass Media

By exposing various deviants and showcasing the police and the law, along with model citizens, the media reinforce cultural ideas about who is deserving of rewards and who is deserving of punishments. What does this accomplish?

Daytime television programs often show people behaving badly as well as the audience reactions to this behaviour. In addition to entertaining people, what important function do these shows fulfill?

Outline the three ways identified by Noam Chomsky and Edward Herman that mass media bias the production of news to support the interests of dominant classes.

Why is tuning out of the mass media difficult?

Andrew faithfully reads his subscription to Maclean's magazine and The National Post as a way of staying informed about life in Canada. In doing this, what is Andrew a part of?

Despite improvements in recent decades, according to the textbook, what do feminists and people of colour continue to criticize mainstream media for?

What did Marshal McLuhan mean by his expression, global village?

Which social theorist argues that mass media should be studied in terms of the intentions of those who produced it, along with the interpretations of those who consume it?

When opinion leaders evaluate media messages, this is an example of step 1 in the two-step flow of communication.

Which of the following best summarizes the way that black women have been portrayed in mass media?

Canadians spend more time watching television, listening to the radio, going to the movies, reading newspapers and magazines, playing CDs, and using the Internet than they do sleeping, working, or going to school.

In what year did the first television broadcast occur in Canada?

Compare an episode of The Newsroom to the earlier film Network. What differences and similarities do you see in their portrayal of the political and even moral importance of the news?

Olivia is planning to research the various ways that people interpret the hit television series Dexter (2006-2013). As a cultural studies expert, which of the following research techniques is she most likely to use to find out how people interpret the show?

Xavier is angry that most of the content available on the Internet is from a small number of sources, overwhelmingly reflecting the national culture of a single nation, the United States. Using various social media he urges people to create their own Web content. What is Xavier fighting against?

According to the textbook, one of the sociologically significant ways that the rise of social media has affected contemporary society is through its impact on our sense of identity. Which of the following terms was coined to describe this impact?

Which of the following theories focuses on the importance of media as a stress reliever in ways that maintain the social order?

Outline the changing characteristics of media ownership in Canada.

Which theorist said that mass media are extensions of the human body and human mind?

Maxwell is excited to have contributed to the distribution of the first mass-media product in the Western world. What project did he assist in?