bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Health Literacy
Authors: Kontos Emily Zobel
Published: September 2017

The association between education and health outcomes has been well documented, and education has historically been used as an indicator for socioeconomic status in epidemiological studies (Pamuk et al. 1998). Researchers hypothesize that education may protect against disease by influencing lifestyle behaviors, problem‐solving abilities, and values. Other researchers have demonstrated a strong association between education and health by exploring three explanations for this association: (1) education influences work and economic conditions; (2) education influences social psychological resources; and (3) education supports a healthy lifestyle (Nielsen‐Bohlman et al. 2004). Although the demonstrated evidence of the association between health and education is strong, the explanations for this association and the underlying mechanisms have not been extensively studied. In the past decade, researchers, mainly rooted in the US, have begun to unpack education in an effort to investigate the factors that may more precisely predict poorer health outcomes and help to explain aspects of disparity (→ Health Disparities, Communication in). Literacy, specifically health literacy, emerged as a distinct area of research and construct to be examined as one possible pathway for the link between education and health.
Heterosexism and the Media
Authors: Suter Elizabeth A. , Strasser Daniel S.
Published: September 2017

Heterosexism “refers to the belief and expectation that everyone is or should be heterosexual,” and the term “heteronormativity” equates heterosexual experience with human experience, in effect “render[ing] all other forms of human sexual expression pathological, deviant, invisible, unintelligible, or written out of existence” (Yep 2002, 167). Heteronormativity provides a larger context for understanding how heterosexism influences not only romantic and interpersonal relationships but, more specifically, cultural and social institutions, such as the media (→ Behavioral Norms: Perception through the Media).
Hypothesis
Authors: Fretwurst Benjamin
Published: September 2017

Hypotheses are assumptions about empirical (observable) phenomena. They are formulated as empirical (experience‐related) statements; thus they can be either true or false – i.e., they are testable. This implies that hypotheses are tentative: their validity (truth or falseness) is subject to empirical test.
Informational Utility
Authors: Knobloch‐Westerwick Silvia
Published: September 2017

In the context of → information seeking through mass media use, the concept of informational utility has been developed to predict which information items an individual will attend to and which will be ignored. The concept of utility of information emerged in the discussion about cognitive dissonance (→ Cognitive Dissonance Theory), and related predictions were corroborated in a few empirical investigations as early as the 1960s (e.g., Canon 1964; Freedman 1965). A more detailed elaboration of informational utility, though without specific empirical exploration, was provided by Atkin (1973). He suggested four domains of informational utility and conceptualized information to potentially meet needs of surveillance, performance, guidance, and reinforcement. Information needs were taken to result from uncertainties in how to respond to everyday environmental requirements. Thus, information is needed for adaptation to the environment, cognitive adaptation (surveillance), behavioral adaptation (performance), affective adaptation (guidance), and sometimes defensive adaptation (reinforcement). Cognitive adaptation (surveillance) has attracted most attention in subsequent research.
Labor in the Media
Authors: Martin Christopher R.
Published: September 2017

When labor is in the news media, it reveals – perhaps more than any other subject – the economic, political, and professional conflicts between the practice of → Journalism and the business of media. The problem of the news media's coverage of organized labor is that the news media are both the social institutions designated to practice democratic communication, and capitalist entities designed to generate profits for their corporate executives and stockholders (→ Commercialization of the Media; Cost and Revenue Structures in the Media). As the literature reveals, all too often the news media fail to act as independent storytellers about labor, and instead align their journalism with the generally anti‐labor interests of multinational corporations, which often include the news media themselves and their advertisers (→ Advertising).
Language Acquisition in Childhood
Authors: Hirsh‐Pasek Kathryn , Golinkoff Roberta Michnick
Published: September 2017

Language learning starts before babies utter their first words. Even in the womb, they jump in response to noises, such as fireworks and loud bands; they eavesdrop on their mother's conversations. Within just hours of birth, newborns recognize their mother's voice, along with stories and songs they've heard in the womb. They can even distinguish their native language from a foreign one (for example, French versus Russian). They enter our world prepared to learn any of the 7,000 languages spoken and signed around the globe.
Language Attitudes in Intergroup Contexts
Authors: Cargile Aaron Castelan
Published: September 2017

Although there is no consensus as to what
precisely
an → attitude is, language attitudes may be defined as embodied dispositions toward various and wide‐ranging language behaviors (e.g., intensity, politeness, rate, accent, dialect; → Language Varieties). Correspondingly, language attitude research represents a broad‐scale, multidisciplinary effort to assess diverse reactions to language behaviors (Cargile & Bradac 2001). Within intergroup contexts, language attitudes often represent the indirect expression of prevailing intergroup attitudes and relational norms. Thus, both a response in Catalan to a query made in Spanish and the characterization of mainstream US English speakers as “intelligent” by African‐American respondents epitomize the terrain of language attitudes in intergroup contexts.
Language and Social Interaction
Authors: Tracy Karen
Published: September 2017

Language and social interaction (LSI) refers to the area of communication research that studies how language, gesture, voice, and other features of talk and written texts shape meaning‐making. LSI includes a loosely bounded set of topics and intellectual commitments. In contrast to the domain‐of‐life approach (e.g., political, interpersonal, or organizational communication) that is the typical way of categorizing scholarly expertise areas in communication, LSI defines itself by
how
it investigates questions about communication. It is the commitment to qualitative study of social life in its culturally inflected, complex, and context‐sensitive particularity that makes LSI work so distinctive and recognizable. To be sure, LSI has a space for other research approaches (e.g., laboratory studies, quantitative coding; → Experimental Design; Content Analysis, Quantitative), but these approaches are minority voices in the LSI community.
Language and Social Psychology
Authors: Noels Kimberly A.
Published: September 2017

Social psychology is conventionally defined as the scientific study of how the actual or imagined presence of others influences an individual's thoughts, feelings, and behavior. The social psychology of language (SPL) concentrates on the role of language in the dynamics between individuals and their social world; language use is argued to affect and be affected by both psychological and social variables. Scholarship in SPL has incorporated aspects of the broader discipline, including a theory‐ or variable‐driven approach, along with its preferred quantitative methods, particularly survey techniques and laboratory experiments (→ Survey; Experimental Design). Unlike mainstream social psychology, SPL has also welcomed contributions from other disciplines, including communication studies, sociolinguistics, anthropology, and other disciplines. Correspondingly, constructivist perspectives and qualitative methods, which are better recognized in these other disciplines, have found a receptive community in SPL (→ Qualitative Methodology; Constructivism). Furthermore, SPL scholars herald from around the world, and different “schools” of scholarly activity have developed in many regions, including Canada, the United Kingdom and Europe, Australasia, and the United States. Because of the range of perspectives that inform SPL, it cannot be said that any single paradigm characterizes this field of inquiry; indeed, a hallmark of research in this area is its variety of theoretical and methodological approaches.
Language Varieties
Authors: Meyerhoff Miriam
Published: September 2017

The term “language varieties” covers “language” and “dialect.” A variety may be characteristic of a particular social group, or associated with a particular speaking style across groups of speakers in a community (→ Communities of Practice). “Variety” makes no direct or indirect assertions about the relative status of the linguistic system being described (“dialect” often refers with negative overtones to nonstandardized varieties).
Latitude of Acceptance
Authors: Kunczik Michael
Published: September 2017

Social‐judgment theorists (Sherif & Hovland 1961) assume that → attitudes concerning important topics are bipolar. People have an internal reference scale. The initial attitude on an issue with high ego‐involvement influences the reaction to a communication representing a different view (→ Involvement with Media Content). The discrepancy of a communication from one's own position is decisive for the amount of change achieved by a source because message discrepancy affects the perception of the quality of a message. More discrepant messages are perceived as being more unfair, more illogical, more boring, etc. In order to explain whether a person will change toward or away from a position advocated by a source, Sherif and Hovland (1961) segmented an attitude on a pro and contra issue into three parts (assimilation‐contrast theory): latitude of acceptance, latitude of non‐commitment (zone of indifference), and latitude of rejection (→ Attitudes, Values, and Beliefs, Media Effects on; Cumulative Media Effects; Hovland, Carl I.).
Lazarsfeld, Paul F.
Authors: Hardt Hanno
Published: September 2017

Paul Felix Lazarsfeld (1901–1976), Vienna‐born sociologist, influenced by Ernst Mach, Henri Poincaré, and Albert Einstein, and intellectually close to the Vienna Circle of logical positivism, called himself a “European positivist.” He was the founder of modern empirical sociology and a major figure in twentieth‐century American sociology. His contributions to the study of communication grew out of his collaborative work at the
Bureau of Applied Social Research
, which he had founded at New York's Columbia University in 1937. His position was firmly established with the publication of
The people's choice
(Lazarsfeld et al. 1944) and
Personal influence
(Katz & Lazarsfeld 1955), which set the stage for the social scientific exploration of communication in modern society. Lazarsfeld's work is also an example of the intellectual contributions made by emigré scholars to American scholarship during and after World War II.
Leadership in Organizations
Authors: Collinson David L.
Published: September 2017

Leadership dynamics significantly shape communication in organizations. By defining leadership primarily as a process of → Persuasion, many scholars place communication at the very heart of leadership dynamics. The complex organizational relationships between leaders and followers can crucially influence the nature and extent of communication. Equally, the nature and extent of communication often reflects and reinforces the quality of the relationships between leaders and followers. Within organizations, leadership and communication frequently interact in complex, mutually reinforcing and sometimes contradictory ways.
Learning and Communication
Authors: Frymier Ann Bainbridge
Published: September 2017

The study of learning has been undertaken since the beginning of the twentieth century and has been heavily influenced by psychology. Although multiple definitions exist, learning has been generally defined as a persistent change in either behavior, cognitions, or, more recently, neural pathways. Behaviorism, which postulates that the environment has a direct impact on behavior, dominated roughly the first half of the twentieth century. In the latter half of the twentieth century, cognitive theories challenged behaviorism by asserting that learners process information obtained from the environment and that behavior is the result of how the information is processed. Learning theorists focused on understanding the process of learning, whereas other scholars sought to develop methods for measuring and assessing learning.
Libel and Slander
Authors: Carter Edward L.
Published: September 2017

The law of defamation targets false communication, whether by words, pictures, gestures, or music, that causes one's reputation to be harmed among a respectable segment of society. The law, especially in Euro‐American nations, traditionally distinguished between libel (written) and slander (spoken). Recovery for slander generally required proof of special damages, or monetary loss, because the mere spoken word was thought to carry less potential for harm than the written word.
Linear and Nonlinear Models of Causal Analysis
Authors: Price Vincent , Freres Derek
Published: September 2017

Communication researchers often gather quantitative data – for example from surveys, content analyses, or experiments – and then generate mathematical models to represent or summarize those data (→ Survey; Content Analysis, Quantitative; Experimental Design). These models are used in two basic ways: first, to generate
predictions
about certain variables; and second, to study
relationships
among some number of variables (Allison 1999). In some cases, the goal is to obtain as accurate a prediction as possible, without much regard to the particular variables used to make the prediction. In most cases, at least in communication research, the focus is on the pattern of relationships among particular variables, and especially on
testing hypotheses
made in advance about how variables are expected to interrelate (→ Hypothesis; Statistics, Explanatory).
Link Analysis
Authors: Thelwall Mike
Published: September 2017

With the increasing migration of communication and information provision to the web, new research methods are emerging to cope with the challenge of understanding the implications of this change. Link analysis is thestudy of hyperlinksbetween websites in order to discover (1) why they were created and what they are used for, (2) online networks or patterns of behavior, or (3) insights into reflected patterns of offline behavior.
Lippmann, Walter
Authors: Hardt Hanno
Published: September 2017

Walter Lippmann (1889–1974), political columnist and confidant of several presidents, public intellectual and winner of two Pulitzer prizes, remains an important voice among critics of → public opinion and the role of the press. In early twentieth‐century America, he was an essential contributor to American political thought and the American way of life, whose path he observed with authority. Lippmann also represents a rare intellectual tradition in American journalism; his weekly column, “Today and tomorrow,” became a powerful and effective response to the political scene in Washington.
Local News
Authors: Choi Young Jae
Published: September 2017

The term “local news” is often used to refer to news with coverage of events in a local context, which would be contrasted with news of other localities, or of national or international scope (→ International News Reporting). The geographic characteristics of local news have been regarded as forces with influence on shaping local media markets, labor, and media technology, which in turn affect local → news values. The geographic local boundary assumed to be influential in the process of local news production is easily connected to the socially constructed “community” concept. Thus, local news is expected to play a role in networking the local community and serving local interests (→ Community Integration).
Logos and Rhetoric
Authors: Poster Carol
Published: September 2017

Logos(plurallogoi) is a polysemous Greek term, which generally has been used in rhetoric to refer to the component of persuasion grounded in logic or reason as opposed to that based on emotion or character, although these distinctions are not entirely unproblematic. The Greek nounlogosderives from the verblegô(to speak), and has many derivatives and cognates in several Indo‐European languages.Logosis found infrequently in Homer (eighth century BCE), coming into wide usage only in the prose writers of the sixth century, with the primary meaning of a “speech” or “tale.” It quickly became a common Greek term, with many meanings, including “word,” “story,” “speech,” “reputation,” “ratio,” “book‐keeping tally,” “rumor,” “rule,” “explanation,” “argument,” and “reason.”Logostends to signify uttered thought, rather than specific words; barbarians and Greeks are described as using different types of sound (phônê) or word (rhêma) to express the samelogos. In its senses as both reason and speech,logoswas used in ancient Greek to refer to that which distinguished humans from beasts. In much of Greek thought, rationality and speech were considered interdependent.
Long‐Distance Relationships
Authors: Stafford Laura
Published: September 2017

Relationships are considered long‐distance when opportunities for communication are restricted by geographic constraints. Long‐distance relationships (LDRs) are of interest given the implicit assumption in much interpersonal scholarship that relationships without frequent face‐to‐face contact are not as close as those with such contact (Stafford & Merolla 2007). LDRs exist in opposition to norms for shared residences and/or proximity among romantic partners, family members, and close friends. LDR participants hold expectations for continued close involvements and usually anticipate residing in geographic proximity at some future time (Stafford 2005).
Longitudinal Analysis
Authors: Scherer Helmut
Published: September 2017

For many inquiries in the field of communication research, the analysis of change is of great value. Classic diffusion research in the communication sciences deals with the diffusion of information in society, and it is important to know the dynamics of the diffusion process, as well as the factors that influence it (→ Diffusion of Information and Innovation). Media research considers media effects mostly as individual changes caused by media content. Therefore, methods that allow the analysis of these changes are of particular importance in communication research.
Magazine
Authors: Schwalbe Carol B.
Published: September 2017

No other popular mass medium rivals magazines for timelessness, permanence, and scope. Magazines reflect and mold the issues, opinions, and trends of the present; they also interpret and shape society's collective memory of the past (→ Collective Memory and the Media). Although critics fret about celebrity journalism and advertising pressure on editorial content, the diversity of magazines makes them a voice for the old and young, men and women, liberals and conservatives, the mighty and the marginalized.
Magazine, Visual Design of
Authors: Naismith Jacqueline
Published: September 2017

Magazines use the aesthetic and rhetorical strategies of graphic design to produce style codes, which define the identity of the magazine as a recognizable title, and establish relationships with their audiences. The → magazine combines text and image to publish → news, information, editorial content, and → advertising. The structural components of the printed magazine include the cover (composed of masthead or title, and image), editorial and contents pages, single pages, and double‐page spreads. Magazine design employs the underlying structure of the grid (including columns and modules) to order arrangements of typographic, photographic, and illustrative elements on the page. The formal strategies of → graphic design, including proportion, balance, symmetry, color, rhythm, sequence, scale, and movement, are employed to produce visually persuasive texts (Frost 2003; Hurlburt 1978). As historical documents, magazines provide a record of relationships between → visual representation, identity, and consumption, across a vast spectrum of lifestyles, societies, and cultures (→ Magazine, History of).
Malaysia: Media System
Authors: Hasim Mohd Safar
Published: September 2017

Malaysia is a federation of 13 states covering an area of 329,750 square km. A parliamentary democracy with a constitutional monarchy, Malaysia shares a border in common with five of the 10 ASEAN countries, namely Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia, Brunei Darussalam, and the Philippines. It has a population of 26.6 million, comprising the three major ethnic groups, Malay, Chinese, and Indian, and smaller ethnic minorities. The literacy rate is 93.5 percent, and newspapers are published in the Malay, English, Chinese, and Tamil languages. Radio and television programs are also broadcast in these languages.
Marginality, Stigma, and Communication
Authors: Brashers Dale
Published: September 2017

Goffman (1963) popularized the concept of
stigma
through his well‐cited book,
Stigma: Notes on the management of spoiled identity
. He defined it as “an attribute that is deeply discrediting,” which reduces the bearer “in our minds from a whole and usual person to a tainted, discounted one” (Goffman 1963, 3). Stigmatizing attributes include “abominations of the body,” “blemishes of individual character,” and “tribal stigmas of race, nation, or religion” (Goffman 1963, 4). Current research supports the theory that people are stigmatized, and ultimately marginalized, because of mental and physical illnesses; behavior that is considered deviant, immoral, or illegal; and personal characteristics such as race, class, gender, and sexual orientation. Alonzo and Reynolds (1955), for example, noted that stigma associated with HIV or AIDS comes about because moral judgments often are made about personal responsibility and deviant behavior (e.g., gay sex or drug use) and because the disease is associated with contagion and death (→ Intercultural Communication in Health‐Care).
Marital Communication
Authors: Segrin Chris
Published: September 2017

Marital communication refers to the communication and social interaction that transpire between spouses. However, the study of marital communication is often informed by and extended to a range of couples in a “marriage‐like” setting such as cohabiting and same‐sex couples. In most industrialized societies as many as 90 percent of the population marry, and in many of these societies, up to 50 percent divorce. Many people feel that communication is the key to marital success, and therefore interest in marital communication is often undertaken to discover why some marriages fail and how to help couples maintain a happy and successful marriage.
Marital Typologies
Authors: Fitzpatrick Mary Anne
Published: September 2017

Marital typologies are classifications of marriages based on systematic differences among them. An assumption underlying the study of marital typologies is that within any given sample of marriages, a few discrete, meaningful types can be discerned. Marriages are categorized into types in order to understand the communication that occurs between husbands and wives (→ Interpersonal Communication; Marital Communication). Typologies of marriage range from vague, non‐theoretical formulations to elaborate conceptual models that include empirically testable statements. Researchers have adopted logical, intuitive, and empirical approaches to classify marriages to explain changing family forms over time, to help therapists working in clinical settings with troubled couples, and to aid researchers reflecting post hoc on data collected for other purposes. The resulting typologies, which focus on qualitative dimensions of relationships, have been theoretically interesting and heuristically valuable in sorting marriages.
Marketing
Authors: Esch Franz‐Rudolf , Strödter Kristina
Published: September 2017

Commonly, people associate selling and → advertising with marketing. In the old interpretation, this understanding of marketing was quite right, as marketing primarily comprised making a sale. But today, there is more to marketing than selling, promoting, advertising, and publicizing. Selling and advertising are only two of the many tasks of marketing management. Briefly, marketing is about “meeting needs profitably” (Kotler & Keller 2006). But although marketing can be summarized in such simple terms, there are many tasks behind it.
Markets of the Media
Authors: Bates Benjamin J.
Published: September 2017

Markets are where media function. They also provide the foundation of economic analyses, providing the context and mechanisms for explaining and predicting media and audience behaviors. Economists define markets broadly as any context in which goods and services are offered and purchased. Markets are thus defined by a set of goods or services, the set of firms and individuals that offer them for trade (supply), and the set of firms and individuals that seek to acquire them (demand or, in media terms, audiences). The context of markets includes their scope (reach) and a variety of structural features, including the particular attributes of media technologies and organizations, their products, and their distribution systems. Law and policy often have a role in defining markets, by influencing or even defining some of those structural features and costs.
Masculinity and the Media
Authors: Beynon John
Published: September 2017

The focus of this entry is upon representations of masculinity in one medium only, television, while making it evident that the approach adopted could be applied equally well to newspapers, magazines, radio, and film (→ Television as Popular Culture).
Masculinity and the Media
Authors: Beynon John , Benwell Bethan
Published: September 2017

The focus of this entry is upon representations of masculinity in one medium only, television, while making it evident that the approach adopted could be applied equally well to newspapers, magazines, radio, and film (→ Television as Popular Culture).
Mask
Authors: Foley Kathy
Published: September 2017

A mask is a facial representation worn by performers and exists in a continuum with puppetry, which often represents the same characters (Harlequin, Punch, Devil, etc.; → Visual Representation). Emigh (1996, 3, 7) theorizes masks as “transitional objects” that bridge gaps through strategies of play and argues that though in the west the mask is “generally regarded as a cosmetic disguise,” in some non‐western areas the mask is “an instrument of revelation, giving form to the ineffable and providing a nexus between the individual and communally defined forces.”
McLuhan, Marshall
Authors: Meyrowitz Joshua
Published: September 2017

Marshall McLuhan is best known for his theories on the impact of media apart from the specific content/messages they convey. McLuhan linked major historical shifts, social trends, and changes in psychological and sensory orientations to the influence of changes in communication media and other technologies (→ Technology and Communication; Media History). McLuhan ridiculed typical concerns about message imitation and persuasion in his most famous pun: “The medium is the message.”
Measurement Theory
Authors: Lee Sargent Weaver Stephanie
Published: September 2017

Thinking about measurement brings to mind an old adage, “If it exists, it is measurable.” However, in research, we tend to go beyond that adage, saying “If it exists, it must be measurable” (Leedy 1997). Most researchers will likely agree that measurement is a pillar of social and behavioral sciences research (Guilford 1954).
Media
Authors: Jensen Klaus Bruhn
Published: September 2017

The term media refers broadly to the range of
tools
that humans have used throughout history to communicate with each other about a shared reality. The most common reference is to the set of modern
technologies
– from the printing press to the Internet – which facilitate communication across space, time, and social collectives.
Media Advocacy in Health Communication
Authors: Dorfman Lori
Published: September 2017

Media advocacy is the strategic use of mass media to support community organizing and to advance public policy that improves health (→ Health Communication; Strategic Communication). The purpose of media advocacy is to put pressure on policymakers by setting the agenda and shaping debate to include policy solutions in news coverage of health issues. Media advocacy equips people to become active in the political process of making change.
Media Conglomerates
Authors: Biltereyst Daniel
Published: September 2017

The issue of media conglomeration, or the phenomenon of a vast amount of cultural (media) production being controlled by a relatively small number of corporations, has generated heated debates among communication scholars, policymakers, and industry practitioners. In these debates, the concept of media conglomeration primarily refers to ownership structures within media and communications industries, as well as to the nature and organization of this type of cultural production. The phenomenon of media conglomeration, though, touches upon a much broader set of interrelated issues – ranging from questions on diversity, competition, and control in a tightly oligopolistic market, to concerns over the wider societal implications of a situation where huge conglomerates dominate the global communications system (→ Globalization of the Media).
Media Conglomerates
Authors: Biltereyst Daniel
Published: September 2017

The issue of media conglomeration, or the phenomenon of a vast amount of cultural (media) production being controlled by a relatively small number of corporations, has generated heated debates among communication scholars, policymakers, and industry practitioners. In these debates, the concept of media conglomeration primarily refers to ownership structures within media and communications industries, as well as to the nature and organization of this type of cultural production. The phenomenon of media conglomeration, though, touches upon a much broader set of interrelated issues – ranging from questions on diversity, competition, and control in a tightly oligopolistic market, to concerns over the wider societal implications of a situation where huge conglomerates dominate the global communications system (→ Globalization of the Media).
Media Content in Interpersonal Communication
Authors: McDonald Daniel G.
Published: September 2017

Although today's mixture of theories and approaches combining interpersonal and mass communication is a two‐sided one (incorporating researchers with training in both fields), virtually all of the accessible research on media content in interpersonal communication has arisen from researchers primarily trained in the effects tradition of mass communication research, rather than from interpersonal communication researchers studying the content of conversation.
Media Content and Social Networks
Authors: Scheufele Dietram A.
Published: September 2017

In
The people's choice
, → Paul F. Lazarsfeld and his colleagues laid out many of the key issues that disciplines such as communication, political science, and sociology continue to struggle with when modeling the intersection of mass media and social networks (Lazarsfeld et al. 1948). More specifically, they offered two key constructs to explain the interplay of mass‐mediated information, → social networks, and political → attitudes that are still relevant today: opinion leadership and political cross‐pressures (→ Opinion Leader).
Media Corporations, Forms of
Authors: Kunz William M.
Published: September 2017

Just as there are numerous kinds of media – from electronic to print, local to worldwide – so too are there many different forms of media corporations. There are corporations that are vast multinational conglomerates operating in unrelated industries and spanning the globe (→ Media Conglomerates), and those that focus on a single medium in a solitary market. There are those that are closed or private corporations, owned and controlled within a limited group without shares for sale, and those that are public corporations, with stock traded on the open market. And there are public corporations with dispersed ownership spread across millions of shareholders, and those with a single individual or group with sufficient ownership to exercise control over the business. While there are countless differences between corporations, there are also important characteristics they have in common (→ Media Economics).
Media Diplomacy
Authors: Gilboa Eytan
Published: September 2017

Media diplomacy has become a major instrument of foreign policy, and journalists are more frequently and more intensively engaged in diplomatic events and processes. Sometimes they even initiate diplomatic processes. There are several ways in which the media can help or hinder diplomacy. The media functions both as an independent actor and as a tool in the hands of policymakers and journalists. Knowledge about media diplomacy is still very limited, and scholars from the fields of communication, international relations, and diplomatic studies should be encouraged to conduct multidisciplinary research on this topic.
Media Ecology
Authors: Newton Julianne H.
Published: September 2017

Media ecology is a multidisciplinary field that studies the evolution, effects, and forms of environments. Media ecology is most often defined as both the study of
media as environments
and the study of
environments
– such as situations or contexts –
as media
. Scholars work within expansive definitions of media, ecology, and technology. Although “medium” is often conceptualized in terms of transportation or a pipeline, the term actually means “environment.” Media therefore include not only communication technologies but also such entities as the brain and body, a lecture hall or galaxy, and languages, symbols, and →  codes (→ Information and Communication Technology, Development of). Media ecologists study all types of technology, not just communication technologies, and often use the terms “media” and “technology” interchangeably. “Ecology,” too, encompasses a complex range of meanings for media ecologists, who draw on → systems theory to analyze the co‐evolution of the human organism and technologies. In addition, media ecologists are concerned with the general role of technology in society (→ Communication and Social Change: Research Methods).
Media Ecology
Authors: Newton Julianne H.
Published: September 2017

Media ecology is a multidisciplinary field that studies the evolution, effects, and forms of environments. Media ecology is most often defined as both the study of
media as environments
and the study of
environments
– such as situations or contexts –
as media
. Scholars work within expansive definitions of media, ecology, and technology. Although “medium” is often conceptualized in terms of transportation or a pipeline and popularly refers to categories of “mass media,” a useful focus in media ecology scholarship is medium as an environment (→ Medium Theory). Media therefore include not only communication technologies or formats such as television, but also such entities as the brain and body, a lecture hall or galaxy, and languages, symbols, and → codes (→ Information and Communication Technology, Development of). Media ecologists study all types of technology, not just communication technologies, and often use the terms “media” and “technology” interchangeably. “Ecology,” too, encompasses a complex range of meanings for media ecologists, who draw on → systems theory to analyze the co‐evolution of the human organism and technologies. In addition, media ecologists are concerned with the general role of technology in society (→ Communication and Social Change: Research Methods).
Media Economics
Authors: Albarran Alan B.
Published: September 2017

Media economics is the application and study of economic theories and concepts to the media industries. Media economics encompasses all forms of media, including traditional media such as print, broadcasting, music, and film, and new media forms such as the Internet. Media economics scholarship is broad and diverse and includes such topics as policy and ownership issues, market concentration, practices and performance of media firms, and political economy of the media. This entry reviews the historical development of media economics, the key theories and paradigms in media economics research, and the contributions of media economics to the broader area of communication science.
Media Effects
Authors: Kepplinger Hans Mathias
Published: September 2017

The concept “mass media” is a collective term that stands for a broad variety of print media like → newspapers, → magazines, → books and electronic media like → radio, → television, and the → Internet. The concept “newspaper,” in turn, comprises daily and weekly newspapers, and “magazines” publications like news magazines, fashion magazines, sports magazines, etc. All mass media offer different features – news analysis, → news, → editorials, commercial messages, and so on – and deal with a broad variety of topics – including domestic and foreign politics, economy, arts, sports. Some mass media present only visual information (printed media), some only acoustic information (radio), some primarily moving images (TV, movies), while some present them all (Internet).
Media Effects Duration
Authors: Zillmann Dolf
Published: September 2017

In view of the preponderance of published research on the effects of the communication media, it is astounding, if not disconcerting, how little attention has been given to the systematic examination of the duration of these effects, and, as a result, how little is known about their duration. Such apparent neglect does not necessarily reflect lack of interest, however, but derives from principal and practical challenges associated with the assessment of the duration of media effects.
Media Effects Models: Elaborated Models
Authors: Perse Elizabeth M.
Published: September 2017

The study of media effects has driven mass communication research for most of the twentieth and twenty‐first centuries. Scholars have developed, tested, and supported various theories of → media effects. The key to this research is uncovering the explanation for the way mass media exposure translates into effects. Over the history of our field, the study of media effects has been driven by generalized views about how media effects occur. These general views serve the field as models, or simplified representations of the media effects process. Different models about media effects place different weight on either media content or the audience in providing the central explanation of media effects. Moreover, different models focus on different variables as central to understanding media effects (→ Media Effects, History of).
Media Effects, Strength of
Authors: Perse Elizabeth M.
Published: September 2017

Twenty‐first‐century mass communication scholars rarely question the existence of media effects. Research has presented significant and consistent evidence that the mass media have noticeable and meaningful effects. Evidence comes not only from the accumulation of the body of different studies, but from the various meta‐analyses that organize various research studies and combine their findings to assess the direction and strength of media effects. In general, research finds that media effects are modest, small to moderate in size. Conclusions about the strength of media effects, however, must be tempered by considerations of → research methodology (laboratory compared to more natural settings), the effects of different types of media content (pro‐social compared to antisocial; → Media Production and Content), and the effects of routine compared to unusual content (→ Media Effects; Media Effects, History of).
Media Equation Theory
Authors: Lee Kwan Min
Published: September 2017

The term “media equation” means that → Media equal real life. It implies that people (→ Audience) process technology‐mediated experiences in the same way as they would do nonmediated experiences, because an “individual's interactions with computers, television, and new media are fundamentally social and natural, just like interaction in real life” (Reeves & Nass 1996, 5). In 1996, Reeves and Nass first introduced this theory, and carefully summarized their previous media equation studies in the seminal bookThe media equation. Since the publication of this book, Nass, Reeves, and their colleagues have expanded the domain of the theory from traditional communication settings to radically different areas, from e‐commerce to human–robot interaction.
Media Marketing
Authors: Phillips Mark R.
Published: September 2017

In an age of rapid technological innovation it would seem counterintuitive to assume that marketing and advertising techniques would remain stagnant; to survive and prosper, as in all aspects of business, marketers need to adapt their strategies and activities and advertisers need to evolve in terms of style, content, and media application (→ Marketing; Advertising). Media, both as a self‐perpetuating entity and as a facilitator of others' marketing goals needs to respond to changes in environment and strategic perspective. Indeed, media are currently witnessing great flux in marketing approaches. Marketers are being forced to rethink traditional paradigms and re‐evaluate fundamental tenets right down to the bedrock definitions including markets, what constitutes an “ad,” and what is meant by “media.”
Media Marketing
Authors: Phillips Mark R. , Chávez Christopher A.
Published: September 2017

The relationship between media and marketing has been significantly impacted by developments largely related to globalization. Innovations in communications technologies along with the expedited movement of people and corporations across national boundaries have forced marketers to evolve in terms of style, content, and media application (→ Marketing; Advertising). Media, both as a self‐perpetuating entity and as a facilitator of others' marketing goals, have necessarily responded to changes in environment and strategic perspective. Indeed, media are currently witnessing great flux in marketing approaches. On the other hand, marketers are being forced to rethink traditional paradigms and re‐evaluate fundamental tenets right down to the bedrock definitions including markets, what constitutes an “ad,” and what is meant by “media.”
Media Messages and Family Communication
Authors: Bachen Christine
Published: September 2017

Media use is a central leisure‐time activity for many families worldwide. Given the considerable time investment of family members in media use collectively and individually, and the fact that the family is the context in which young people are first exposed to media, it is important to study how family dynamics shape the use of media and the ways in which media messages are understood (→ Exposure to Communication Content). A related question is how communication within the family is influenced by the presence of media in the home (→ Media Effects).
Media Messages and Family Communication
Authors: Bachen Christine
Published: September 2017

Media use is a central leisure‐time activity for many families worldwide. Given the considerable time investment of family members in media use collectively and individually, and the fact that the family is the context in which young people are first exposed to media, it is important to study how family dynamics shape the use of media and the ways in which media messages are understood (→ Exposure to Communication Content). A related question is how communication within the family is influenced by the presence of media in the home (→ Media Effects).
Media and Perceptions of Reality
Authors: Hoffman Lindsay H. , Glynn Carroll J.
Published: September 2017

Communication scholars, psychologists, sociologists, and other social scientists have long been interested in how individuals interpret the real world around them. Although some of the information we receive in our daily lives is first‐hand, much of what we know about our communities, states, countries, and the world comes to us through second‐hand sources. Perceptions of reality, rather than actual observations of reality, guide human beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors. These perceptions often are solidified into normative versions of what “ought” to be. Because there are often concrete expectations of reality in one's mind, the effects from this perceived view of the world can be just as real as effects of actually experiencing that reality. Importantly, social perceptions arise through processes of communication, resulting in a social world that appears comparable to the physical world that surrounds us.Misperceptions of reality can produce a distorted version of the real world, and it is these misperceptions that have been the focus of much attention in public opinion and communication research.
Media as Political Actors
Authors: Patterson Thomas E.
Published: September 2017

Political advocacy is not journalists' main concern. They are chiefly in the business of gathering and disseminating the daily news, and they define themselves more by their professionalism than by their partisanship (→ Journalists' Role Perceptions). According to McQuail (1994, 145), “The height of [journalists'] professional skill is the exercise of a practical craft, which delivers the required institutional product, characterized by a high degree of objectivity, key marks of which are obsessive facticity and neutrality of attitude” (→ Professionalization of Journalism; Quality of the News; Standards of News).
Media Production and Content
Authors: Reese Stephen D.
Published: September 2017

Research in the subfield of media production and content seeks to describe and explain the symbolic world of the media with reference to a variety of contributing societal, institutional, organizational, and normative factors. It draws boundaries around a large and diverse body of research efforts, predominantly social science, but also including more interpretive cultural analysis. If much of the communication field has concerned itself with the effects of media, and the process by which they are produced (→ Media Effects; Exposure to Communication Content), this more recently emerging area has treated the media map of the world itself as problematic, something to be understood and predicted through an awareness of underlying forces. These forces provide the context of “media production,” which is examined for its systematic ties to “content.” Understanding these “messages” that constitute the symbolic environment is an ambitious task, given the multitude of factors influencing the media. But locating these questions within such a conceptual framework has begun to allow the field of communication to devote the same sustained research to the creation, control, and shape of the mediated environment as it has to the effects on audiences of that environment. The same research tools used so extensively to examine media effects can be turned on those media and their links with the culture of other organizations and institutions (→ Research Methods). The objects of study in this area have undergone profound changes in recent years, particularly with communication technology, making it more problematic to identify “the media,” “the profession,” and the site of “production.” Nevertheless, the same goal remains: to identify how power is embedded in social structures pertaining to communication media, and how they are tied to patterns of social representation.