CMN 260 EXAM 3 UIUC QUESTIONS & ANSWERS
What is the definition of mass communication presented in lecture and your textbook. -
Answer -dissemination of messages from one source to a large number of receivers
What are common types (or channels) of mass media? - Answer -Radio, TV,
Newspapers, magazines
What are the three primary purposes of mass communication? - Answer -inform,
persuade, entertain
What is the central idea of social cognitive theory? What are the two external and two
internal factors discussed in lecture? - Answer -- people make decisions based on the
interplay of external & internal factors; people learn how to behave based on what they
see in the media
- External factors: modeling & reinforcement
- Internal factors: self efficacy & identification
What are the three conditions the predict when mass media messages will have the
greatest impact on people, based on cultivation theory? - Answer -- Cultivation theory:
people form impressions of the world based on the media they consume; media have
the greatest impact on people's belief when...
-- Messages are consistent
-- People consume large amounts of media
-- People have limited knowledge about the topic
Analytical stage: participants discuss their perceptions of media in general and of
specific media messages
Deconstruct messages
Ex: Deconstructing a beer commercial (or any other media message), participants try to
identify the message's purpose, what information is missing from it, and how it
compares to their own social reality
Experiential stage: media literacy programs challenge participants to write their own
news stories, design ads, perform skits, and partici-pate in other creative efforts to help
them understand the process and demystify the way media messages are created
What are the six guidelines for presenting health news, based on both lecture and the
textbook? - Answer -1) Favor the factual over the sensational and trendy.
2) Do not allow ongoing issues to fade from coverage.
"Put a fresh face on coverage of long-standing health issues like asthma, lead poisoning
and infant mortality" (Ludtke & Trost, 1998, para. 20).
3) Do not forget rural America.
Health issues out-side the big city are important in their own right.
4) Never rely on just one source.
, Consult a number of experts; read a variety of reliable literature.
5) Seek training.
Seek out lectures, workshops, and conferences at which you can learn the lingo and
become proficient at interpreting health science.
6) Set the record straight.
If a health news item is revealed to be untrue or misleading, update the public.
What is the third-person effect? What are the two ways it can bias our thoughts and
behaviors? - Answer -people often think they are immune to media effects; other
people are affected by media but not me
What are the three stages of teaching media literacy from the textbook? Be able to
recognize examples of what you would teach people at each stage based on our class
activity - Answer -Informative stage: participants in media literacy programs learn to
identify different types of messages (persuasive, informative, and entertaining) and
different types of media (television, radio, news-papers, and so on)
They learn about the strengths and limitations of various media
Ex: Internet resources are vast and accessible, but some sources are not trustworthy.
What is sexual objectification? - Answer -occurs when an individual is treated primarily
as the object of another person's desire, not as a whole and unique person with needs
and desires of his or her own.
Rape culture? - Answer -attitude among some people that it is acceptable, sexy, or
even funny to force sex on women, men, or children
How are these terms related to each other? How do these terms relate to media
images, such as Free the Nipple (the movie and campaign)? - Answer -- Women's
breast are not just a sexual thing; they also provide food for babies=objectification
- This censorship legitimizes rape culture
Be familiar with the health issue of breast implant illness, and how this relates to
pathologizing the human body - Answer -- Many people seek plastic surgery to "fix"
perceived bodily flaws
- This is because their natural bodies have been pathologized
What is the central claim of agenda setting theory, and the two concepts from the theory
we discussed in lecture (Hint: one of the concepts is agenda setting)? - Answer --
Agenda setting theory: media shape which issues get talked about and how we talk
about them; what does/n't get covered
- Agenda setting: ability to influence the importance placed on the topics of the public
agenda
- Framing: how the issues are talked about
What is the definition of mass communication presented in lecture and your textbook. -
Answer -dissemination of messages from one source to a large number of receivers
What are common types (or channels) of mass media? - Answer -Radio, TV,
Newspapers, magazines
What are the three primary purposes of mass communication? - Answer -inform,
persuade, entertain
What is the central idea of social cognitive theory? What are the two external and two
internal factors discussed in lecture? - Answer -- people make decisions based on the
interplay of external & internal factors; people learn how to behave based on what they
see in the media
- External factors: modeling & reinforcement
- Internal factors: self efficacy & identification
What are the three conditions the predict when mass media messages will have the
greatest impact on people, based on cultivation theory? - Answer -- Cultivation theory:
people form impressions of the world based on the media they consume; media have
the greatest impact on people's belief when...
-- Messages are consistent
-- People consume large amounts of media
-- People have limited knowledge about the topic
Analytical stage: participants discuss their perceptions of media in general and of
specific media messages
Deconstruct messages
Ex: Deconstructing a beer commercial (or any other media message), participants try to
identify the message's purpose, what information is missing from it, and how it
compares to their own social reality
Experiential stage: media literacy programs challenge participants to write their own
news stories, design ads, perform skits, and partici-pate in other creative efforts to help
them understand the process and demystify the way media messages are created
What are the six guidelines for presenting health news, based on both lecture and the
textbook? - Answer -1) Favor the factual over the sensational and trendy.
2) Do not allow ongoing issues to fade from coverage.
"Put a fresh face on coverage of long-standing health issues like asthma, lead poisoning
and infant mortality" (Ludtke & Trost, 1998, para. 20).
3) Do not forget rural America.
Health issues out-side the big city are important in their own right.
4) Never rely on just one source.
, Consult a number of experts; read a variety of reliable literature.
5) Seek training.
Seek out lectures, workshops, and conferences at which you can learn the lingo and
become proficient at interpreting health science.
6) Set the record straight.
If a health news item is revealed to be untrue or misleading, update the public.
What is the third-person effect? What are the two ways it can bias our thoughts and
behaviors? - Answer -people often think they are immune to media effects; other
people are affected by media but not me
What are the three stages of teaching media literacy from the textbook? Be able to
recognize examples of what you would teach people at each stage based on our class
activity - Answer -Informative stage: participants in media literacy programs learn to
identify different types of messages (persuasive, informative, and entertaining) and
different types of media (television, radio, news-papers, and so on)
They learn about the strengths and limitations of various media
Ex: Internet resources are vast and accessible, but some sources are not trustworthy.
What is sexual objectification? - Answer -occurs when an individual is treated primarily
as the object of another person's desire, not as a whole and unique person with needs
and desires of his or her own.
Rape culture? - Answer -attitude among some people that it is acceptable, sexy, or
even funny to force sex on women, men, or children
How are these terms related to each other? How do these terms relate to media
images, such as Free the Nipple (the movie and campaign)? - Answer -- Women's
breast are not just a sexual thing; they also provide food for babies=objectification
- This censorship legitimizes rape culture
Be familiar with the health issue of breast implant illness, and how this relates to
pathologizing the human body - Answer -- Many people seek plastic surgery to "fix"
perceived bodily flaws
- This is because their natural bodies have been pathologized
What is the central claim of agenda setting theory, and the two concepts from the theory
we discussed in lecture (Hint: one of the concepts is agenda setting)? - Answer --
Agenda setting theory: media shape which issues get talked about and how we talk
about them; what does/n't get covered
- Agenda setting: ability to influence the importance placed on the topics of the public
agenda
- Framing: how the issues are talked about
