1 markers

• TEXTUAL POACHING


  The way in which audiences or fans may take particular texts and interpret or reinvent them in different ways e.g. by creating fan fiction.
• VERTICAL INTEGRATION


  Vertically integrated companies own all or most of the chain of production and distribution for the product. For example, a film company that also owns a chain of multiplex cinemas to exhibit the film and merchandise outlets.
• TABLOID 


  Refers to the dimensions of a newspaper; a tabloid is smaller and more compact in size. However, there are further connotations attached to the term and it also tends to refer to a newspaper whose content focuses on lighter news, for example celebrity gossip, sport and television. On lighter news, for example celebrity gossip, sport and television
• SIMULCAST


  The streaming of live radio programmes from the website at the same time as they are broadcast on the radio.
• SPECIALISED AUDIENCE


  A non-mass, or niche, audience that may be defined by a particular social group (for example young, aspirational females) or by a specific interest (for example skydiving)
• SPLASH 


  The story that is given the most prominence on the front page of a newspaper.
• STRIPPED


  A technique used in radio and television whereby a certain programme is broadcast at the same time every day. In radio this attracts an audience who associate a particular programme with their daily routine, for example driving home from work.
• SYNERGY


  The combination of elements to maximise profits within a media organisation or product. For example, where a film soundtrack sells the film and the film sells the soundtrack.
• PLURALITY 


  In a media context, this refers to a range of content to suit many people.
• PUBLIC SERVICE BROADCASTER


  A radio and television broadcaster that is financed by public money (e.g. the licence fee in the UK) and is seen to offer a public service by catering for a range of audiences and providing information, as well as entertainment.
• REGULATOR 


  A person or body that supervises a particular industry. eg Ofcom
• SELECTION AND COMBINATION 


  Media producers actively choose elements of media language and place them alongside others to create specific representations or versions of reality.
• NEWS AGENDA


  The list of stories that may appear in a particular paper. The items on the news agenda will reflect the style and ethos of the paper.
• OPEN WORLD


  In an open world computer game the player can move freely though the virtual world and is not restricted by levels and other barriers to free roaming.
• OPINION LEADERS


  People in society who may affect the way in which others interpret a particular media text. With regard to advertising, this may be a celebrity or other endorser recommending a product.
• PASSIVE AUDIENCE


  The idea (now widely regarded as outdated) that audiences do not actively engage with media products, but passively consume and ac
• PICK AND MIX THEORY- David Gauntlett


  Suggested by British sociologist and media theorist, David Gauntlett. He asserted the autonomy of the audience and challenged the notion that audiences are immediately affected by what they read. He maintains that audiences are more sophisticated than this and will select aspects of the media texts that best suit their needs and ignore the rest.
• LUDOLOGY


  The study of games and those who play them, relevant to video games.
• MEDIA CONGLOMERATE


  A company that owns other companies across a range of media platforms. This increases their domination of the market and their ability to distribute and exhibit their product.
• HYPODERMIC NEEDLE MODEL


  Generally acknowledged to be an out of date media effects theory which suggests that an audience will have a mass response to a media text. The idea is that the media product injects an idea into the mind of an audience who are assumed to be passive and as a result will all respond in the same way.
• ICONOGRAPHY


  The props, costumes, objects and backgrounds associated with a particular genre; for example, in a police series you would expect to see, uniforms, blue flashing lights, scene of crime tape and police radios.
• INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY 


  A legal concept which refers to creations of the mind for which the owner's rights are recognised. These rights cover such intangible assets as music, literary and artistic works; discoveries and inventions; and words, phrases, symbols, and designs.
• INTERACTIVE AUDIENCE 


  The ways in which audiences can become actively involved with a product, for example by posting a response to a blog or live tweeting during a television programme.
• FLEXI NARRATIVE


  A more complex narrative structure with layers of interweaving storylines. This challenges the audience and keeps them watching.
• FOUR CS 


  This stands for Cross Cultural Consumer Characteristics and was a way of categorising consumers into groups through their motivational needs. The main groups were Mainstreamers, Aspirers, Explorers, Succeeders and Reformers.
• HEGEMONY


  This derives from the theory of cultural hegemony by Antonio Gramsci. Hegemony is the dominance of one group over another, often supported by legitimating norms and ideas. For example, the dominant social position in society is taken by men and the subordinate one by women.
• HORIZONTAL INTEGRATION 


  Where a media conglomerate is made up of different companies that produce and sell similar products, often as a result of mergers. For example a company with interests in film, TV, magazines newspaper.
• DIVERSIFICATION


  Where media organisations who have specialised in producing media products in one form move into producing content across a range of forms.
• ETHNOCENTRIC


  A belief in the superiority of one's own ethnic group or culture. For example, a newspaper will be more concerned to cover stories that are closely related to the reader and their concerns. Tabloid and local papers only tend to cover international news stories if they can relate them specifically to their readers
• DISTRIBUTION


  The methods by which media products are delivered to audiences, including the marketing campaign. These methods will depend upon the product (for example, distribution companies in the film industry organise the release of the films, as well as their promotion).
• CHANNEL IDENTITY


  That which makes the channel recognisable to audiences and different from any other channel. Presenters, stars, programme genres and specific programmes all contribute to a channel's identity.
• CIRCULATION 


  The dissemination of media products to audiences/users - the method will depend on the media form e.g. circulation of print magazines, broadcast of television programmes etc.
• CONVERGENCE


  The coming together of previously separate media industries and/or platforms; often the result of advances in technology whereby one device or platform contains a range of different features. The mobile phone, for example, allows the user to download and listen to music, view videos, tweet artists etc. All this can be done through one portable device.
• CULTURAL CAPITAL 


  The media tastes and preferences of an audience, traditionally linked to social class/background.
• DENOTATION


  The literal meaning of a sign, e.g. the car in the advert is red.
• DEMOGRAPHIC CATEGORY


  A group in which consumers are placed according to their age, sex, income, profession, etc. The categories range from A to E where categories A and B are the wealthiest and most influential members of society.
• COVER LINES


  These suggest the content to the reader and often contain teasers and rhetorical questions. These relate to the genre of the magazine.
• AUDIENCE SEGMENTATION


  Where a target audience is divided up due to the diversity and range of programmes and channels. This makes it difficult for one programme to attract a large target audience.
• ACTION CODE


  Something that happens in the narrative that tells the audience that some action will follow, for example in a scene from a soap opera, a couple are intimate in a bedroom and the camera shows the audience the husband's car pulling up at the front of the house.
• ANCHORAGE 


  The words that accompany an image (still or moving) contribute to the meaning associated with that image. If the caption or voice-over is changed then so may the way in which the audience interprets the image. An image with an anchor is a closed text; the audience are given a preferred reading. A text without an anchor is an open text as the audience can interpret it as they wish. The same image of a school in a local newspaper could include a negative or a positive headline, which may change the way in which the same image is viewed by the reader.