Chapter 2

Page 37

1. What are economies of scale?
Costs go down while production increases.

2. Why is the first copy of a mass-media production expensive?
On the first run, demand is usually higher than supply. Thus, a company can charge more for a new product because it will be sold anyway.

3. What are the basic types of media ownership patterns?
monopoly, oligopoly, competition

4. How do the mass media make profits? Why are profits necessary?
They must bring in more money from others than they spend on various expenses. Profits keep the company running.

5. What are some ways that websites make money?
Advertising
Subscriptions (in some cases)

Page 44

1. What is a political economist?
Someone who analyzes patterns of class domination and economic power.

2. How can the evening TV news create a hegemony of ideas?
They can shape thought for people by deciding how to present the story.

3. What is the essence of the feminist critique of the media?
They analyze stereotypes of how women are portrayed in the media.

4. How do genres develop?
Enough similar stories develop based on interactions between their producers and the audience.

Page 51

1. Give examples of people who are gatekeepers.
editor
news directors
owners

2. What are the main social functions of the mass media?
Allows people to be connected and in touch with current events

3. Using the "diffusion of innovations" paradigm, explain how VCRs spread through society.
A select group of people bought the expensive VCR. Then, when manufacturing costs and subsequently retail costs were lowered, more people bought them. It got to the point where they were a necessity for stuff like movies that the rest of the people had to catch up with the culture and bought one.

4. How does technological determinism differ from cultural determinism?
Technological determinism is the theory that the media sparks a media trend among the masses. Cultural determinism is the idea that people are the driving forces for a change.