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12.8: Key Terms

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    198773
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    agenda-setting theory
    the theory that the media’s power rests in its ability to decide which topics the public will see and which ones they won’t
    algorithms
    mathematical sets of rules that, when applied to the Internet or social media (for example), search, sort, and rank things based on predictions about what users should see
    altruistic democracy
    the ideal held up by the media that politics should be based on public service and serve the public interest
    asynchronous content
    content that can be shared among a network of people outside the constraints of time and space
    barriers to entry
    the economic cost to newcomers in a marketplace
    Cato’s letters
    a collection of essays written in the 1720s by British writers John Trenchard and Thomas Gordon under the pseudonym Cato in order to criticize the British monarchy for its corruption and tyrannical practices
    echo chambers
    online environments in which the same opinions are repeatedly voiced and promoted to the exclusion of opposing views
    ethnocentrism
    in the context of the news, the idea that the media of a country values that country above all other nations
    Federal Communications Commission (FCC)
    the US government commission that currently oversees radio, television, wire, and Internet
    fourth estate
    a term for the media that casts it as an unofficial fourth branch of government that checks the other branches of government
    framing theory
    the theory that the way the media frames political information can affect people’s understanding of it
    free media
    media coverage that political candidates do not pay for, such as news coverage by local reporters
    gatekeeping
    the process by which information and topics are filtered and selected by the media
    horse-race coverage
    media coverage of political campaigns that focuses on winners and losers rather than policy issues
    media concentration
    the idea that ownership of the media rests in the hands of the few, taking the form of an oligopoly
    mediated information
    information that is not received directly from the source, such as the government, but comes via a third party, such as the media
    misinformation
    incorrect information that is spread regardless of intent to mislead
    movable type
    a system of movable letters that can be reused to repeatedly print text
    oligopoly
    ownership by a few individuals or entities
    Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE)
    the world’s largest intergovernmental organization dedicated to security, elections, human rights, and press freedom
    pack journalism
    the idea that journalists sharing professional values can lead to the homogeneous nature of news content
    paid media
    media that political candidates pay for, such as campaign ads on television or the Internet
    polarization feedback loop
    the theory that rising polarization among political elites and the media amplifies the worst of both sides, ultimately feeding into mistrust of the media and polarization of the electorate
    political polarization
    the divergence of political attitudes toward ideological extremes
    watchdog
    the role of the press to act as a check on the government to make sure that it is appropriately serving its purpose

    12.8: Key Terms is shared under a not declared license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by LibreTexts.

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