Media Today Chapter 3

audiences

the people to whom a media product is directed

media practitioners

the people who select or create the material that a mass media firm produces, distributes, or exhibits

adequate revenue

enough cash to allow the enterprise to pay for itself and give the owners or bankers who put up the money the desired return on their investment

demographics

characteristics by which people are divided into particular social categories

demographic indicators

factors such as age, gender, occupation, ethnicity, race, and income

psychographics

a way to differentiate among people or groups by categorizing them according to their attitudes, personality types, or motivations

lifestyle categories

activities in which potential audiences are involved that mark them as different from others in the population at large

track record

the previous successes or failures of a product, person, or organization

research and development (R&D)

departments within companies that explore new ideas and generate new products and services, systematically investigating potential sources of revenue through surveys, focus groups, or the analysis of existing data

surveys

a research tool that seeks to ask a certain number of carefully chosen people the same questions individually over the phone, online, or in person

focus group

an assemblage of 8 to 10 carefully chosen people who are asked to discuss their habits and opinions about one or more topics

analysis of existing data

a systematic investigation into the potential audience for the material (who they are, where they are, how much they like the idea, how much they will pay for it) and into the competitors (who they are, how similar their products are, how powerful they are)

genres

major categories of media content

entertainment

material that grabs the audience's attention and leaves agreeable feelings, as opposed to challenging their views of themselves and the world

four subgenres of entertainment

festivals, gaming, drama, and comedy

formula

a patterned approach to creating content that is characterized by the use of setting, typical characters, and patterns of action

setting

the environment in which the content takes place

typical characters

those who appear regularly in the subgenre

patterns of action

the predictable activities associated with the characters in the settings

hybrid genres

a term used by some academic writers to describe mixed genres

hybridity

the process of mixing genres within a culture and across cultures

dramedy

a subgenre that blends the rules associated with drama (serious) and comedy (funny)

journalists

individuals who are trained to report nonfiction events to an audience

hard news

a news story marked by timeliness, unusualness, conflict, and closeness

objectivity

presenting a fair, balanced, and impartial representation of the events that took place by recounting a news event based on the facts and without interpretation, so that anyone else who witnessed the event would agree with the journalists' recounting of it; the way in which the news ought to be researched, organized, and presented

characteristics of an objective story

1. should be written in an inverted pyramid form (page 70)
2. Uses quotations from those involved or from experts on the topic to back up statements

camera rules for an objective story

1. Title on the screen telling the viewer whom the reporter is interviewing
2. The camera should film the reporter or person being interviewed from the height of a normal person, not from the ground staring up at the person or from above the person staring down
3. The camera should give as much time to a person representing one side of the conflict as it does to a person representing the other side.

Accuracy

reporting factually correct information

investigative reports

in-depth explorations of some aspects of reality

editorial

subgenre of news that concentrates on an individual's or an organization's point of view

columnists

individuals who are paid to write editorials on a regular basis - usually weekly, monthly, or daily

blogs

journalistic websites or opinion sites in which writings are in the style of journal entries, often in reverse chronological order

soft news

the kind of news story that news workers feel may not have the critical importance of hard news but nevertheless would appeal to a substantial number of people in the audience

information

the raw material that journalists use when they create news stories

education

content that is purposefully crafted to teach people specific ideas about the world in specific ways

advertisement

a message that explicitly aims to direct favorable attention to certain goods and services

product placement

the process by which a manufacturer pays - often tens of thousands of dollars and sometimes far more - a production company for the opportunity to have its product displayed in a movie or TV show

subgenres of advertisement

informational ads, hard-sell ads, soft-sell ads

informational ads

advertisements that rely primarily on the recitation of facts about a product and the products features to convince target consumers that it is the right product for them to purchase

hard-sell ads

messages that combine information about the product with intense attempts to get the consumer to purchase it as soon as possible

soft-sell ads

advertisements that aim mostly to create good feelings about the product or service by associating it with music, personalities, or events that the creators of that product or service feel would appeal to the target audience

production

the creation of mass media materials for distribution through one or more mass media vehicles

mass media production firm

a company that creates materials for distribution through one or more mass media vehicles

administrative personnel

workers who get initial ideas for the material or use their artistic talent to put the material together

creative personnel

individuals who get initial ideas for the material or use their artistic talent to put the material together

on-staff worker

a worker who has secured a full-time position at a production firm

freelancers

workers who make a living by accepting and completing assignments for a number of different companies - sometimes several at one time

talent guild

a union formed by people who work in similar crafts to help negotiate rules with major production firms in their industries regarding the ways in which freelance creatives will be treated and paid

collaborative activity

an activity in which many people work together to initiate, create, and polish the end material

schedule

the pattern in which the programs are arranged and presented to the audience

format

the rules that guide the flow of products that are put together with a particular audience-attracting goal in mind; a formula that describes a particular media product

distribution

the delivery of the produced material to the point where it will be shown to its intended audience

powerful distributor

a firm that can ensure the media products it carries will end up in the best locations at the best exhibitors to the best audience

exhibition

the activity of presenting mass media materials to audiences for viewing or purchase

shelf space

the amount of area or time available for presenting products to consumers

trade incentives

payments in cash, discounts, or publicity activities that provide a special reason for an exhibitor to highlight a product

cooperative advertising

advertising paid for in part by media production firms or their distributors in order to help the exhibitor promote the product

vertical integration

an organization's control over a media product from production through distribution to exhibition

loan

money borrowed from an organization, usually a bank, for a certain price (a percentage of the loan called an interest rate)

investment banks

companies that arrange to lend millions, even tens and hundreds of millions, of dollars to companies and that also arrange stock offerings

syndicate

a group of banks that agree to share the risks and rewards of the lending deal, organized by investment banks when very large amounts of money are required

stock offerings

selling units of ownership in the company, or shares of stock, to organizations and individual

venture capitalists

individuals or companies that invest in startup or nonpublic firms in the hope that the firms' value will increase over time

initial public offering (IPO)

the offering for sale to the general public of a predetermined number of shares of company stock that were previously owned by a limited number of individuals and the listing of the company's shares on the stock exchange

profits

the amount of money brought in by the completed products (the revenues) minus expenses

retransmission fee

amount a cable system or satellite firm pays to a broadcaster for the right to pick the broadcaster's signal off the air and send it to cable or satellite subscribers

government regulation

a wide variety of activities and laws through which elected and appointed officials at local, state, and federal levels exercise influence over media firms