MCS 005: Final Exam 2023(Actual test study
guide answered correctly)
Marxist Analysis - The base determines social relations of production
... [Show More] (superstructure)
ie: It's all about that base.
Contemporary Marxist - The relationship between the base and superstructure is
dialectical.
Dialectical - A relationship in which both parties inform and reinforce each other instead
of a one sided relationship.
Vertical Integration - The process whereby one owner acquires all aspects of production
and distribution of a single type of media product.
Horizontal Integration - The process by which one company buys different kinds of media,
which allows them to concentrate ownership across different types of media rather than up and
down through one industry.
Multinationalism - The presence of a corporation in multiple countries
Effects of multinationalism - Limited control, not a lot of space for new ideas, everything
is about profit, allows corporations to distribute their goods on a global scale.
Cultural Imperialism - Obliterates smaller companies in global markets who cannot possibly
compete with the big five/six. (ideals of beauty around the world are becoming more and more
americanized and uniform)
Synergy - The involvement of multiple subsidiary companies in the cross-development,
production, and distribution of a media brand for the purpose of "exploiting it for all the profit
possible." (CROSS PROMOTION)
Planned Obsolescence - A business strategy in which goods are built, from the outset,
to become quickly unusable, uninteresting, and out of date.
Psychological Obsolescence - "Manipulation of time" in which our sense of what is
relevant and interesting lasts a very short time (always looking for "next star")
Technological Obsolescence - Building breakage, failure, and technological irrelevancy into the
design of media technologies to maintain and speed up the intervals at which consumers
purchase (everlasting light bulb)
Oligopoly - Economic condition where few companies exert immense control of the
market in a given area of the industry.
McLuhan coined what phrase? - "The medium is the message."
Technology of communication always makes a world a difference.
Media ecology - Media or communication technologies aren't merely something in our
social environment so much as they ARE our social environment.
Materialism - The idea that matter, matters.
Paradigm Shift - A fundamental transformation in how people know and perceive the
world (ex: Gutenberg's printing press)
Materialist Approach - Not studying the content, rather where the content is coming from
and how the different sources we get our information affect us.
What is medium theory? - A research tradition that considers the technology/medium of
communication to be equally important to, or even more important than the content of
media.
3 main points of medium theory - 1. Mediums have unique characteristics that shape
our experiences.
2. Those characteristics provide an environment.
3. Those environments have consequences for human consciousness.
Immateriality of digital technology - The belief that digital media is immaterial is an
IDEOLOGY of digital media.
ex: going "paperless" will save the environment
Mobile Privitization - The sense of being mobile and out in the world while at the same
time feeling always "at home"
Privatized Mobility - The feeling of being at home while being mobile. (TV's in cars,
being on your phone at a party.)
What medium became really important for Raymond Williams in regards to mobile
privatization? - TV served as a resolution to the conflict of increasing mobility and desire for the
private realm by mediating the space between the two. [Show Less]