Dictionary of Media and Communications

Marcel Danesi

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2014
• ISBN:
  9781317473114
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Economics
• Subtopic: Monetary Policy
• Index: Economics

Accessible to wide range of readers from student to lay people, this authoritative reference provides a complete listing of media concepts, figures, and techniques with illustrations and historical commentaries. Written by distinguished scholar and author Marcel Danesi, and with an Introduction by Arthur Asa Berger, a leading figure in the world of media and communications, the dictionary also includes terms related to psychology, linguistics, aesthetics, computer science, semiotics, culture theory, anthropology, and more that have relevance in media studies. Each entry includes a definition in simple, clear language; an illustration where applicable; and, historical commentary (who coined a term for example, why, who uses it, etc.). A bibliography, a directory of online resources, and a time-line of media genres add to the dictionary's usefulness and appeal.

C

cabaret 1. club or restaurant that provides entertainment consisting of singing, dancing, or comedy; 2. the show that takes place at a cabaret

cable wire or bundle of wires that carry electric current, or a bundle of glass fibers that carry pulses of light. Cables provide the most practical means of transmitting communications signals.

cable drop system system connecting individual homes to the coaxial cable that distributes cable television

cable modem modem connecting a computer to the Internet via a specified INTERNET SERVICE PROVIDER

cable network television network that consists of channels distributed by companies to paying subscribers (usually by transmitting signals via cables, rather than through the air)

Cable News Network [abbreviated as CNN] international news broadcasting company, based in the United States and founded in 1980, which was the first to introduce 24-hour news coverage

cable telephony telephone service offered by a cable television company

cable television television service via cable. Cable television was first used in the late 1940s in order to broadcast television signals to places that either could not receive them through the air, or who could receive them only with much interference. Some cable systems carry more than 100 channels; this large number has made NARROWCASTING possible. Unlike broadcasting, which tries to appeal to the largest possible audience, narrowcasting offers programs that appeal to a particular interest. Cable channels may specialize in news, movies, comedy, science, music, health, religion, weather, and so on. Customers pay a monthly fee for service, plus additional fees for certain channels. Most cable services also offer one or more channels that make movies or special events available on a pay-per-view basis. These can be ordered either by telephone or through a set-top box.

cablecast any broadcast that is transmitted via a cable television network

cache area in a computer’s memory that stores frequently used data so that it can be retrieved more quickly than data stored the computer’s internal hard disk. Caches allow a user faster access to Web pages because the cache stores these in a temporary file.

cacophony literary and rhetorical technique aimed at creating a dissonant effect through the use of words with harsh sounds: for example, yuk for disgust; blah for boring

callback 1. practice of interviewers or researchers of making a further attempt to contact a person or group for an interview; 2. a second audition for a role in theater, television, or film

calligraphy art of handwriting, usually perceived as being beautiful or artistic

call-in phone call from a radio listener or a television viewer to a talk show, a current affairs program, etc., upon invitation of the program to do so

calotype early system of photography using translucent paper from which prints could be made

calypso 1. Caribbean ballad, especially Trinidadian, consisting of syncopated rhythms and usually dealing satirically with public issues; 2. Caribbean dance music, often played by a steel band

camcorder portable video camera and recorder

cameo 1. in literature, a brief depiction of someone or something; 2. brief appearance of a well-known actor in a scene in a movie, television program, etc. (also called a cameo role or appearance)

cameo appearance single brief appearance by a well-known performer in a play, movie, or television program

camera 1. device for taking photographs or motion pictures; 2. part of a device that converts images into electronic impulses for television broadcasting

camera angle relation between the position of a camera to the action being filmed (higher, lower, closer, etc.) in order to provide a different view of the action

camera control unit console in a television production room that controls the cameras on the studio floor remotely

camera lucida instrument that projects an image onto a surface such as a piece of paper (so that the image can be traced)

camera obscura instrument that uses a dark chamber with a small aperture that brings the image of an outside object into focus on a facing surface. The camera obscura is the precursor of the modern camera.

cameraperson [previously cameraman or camerawoman] someone who operates a movie or television camera

camera-ready material that is in its finished format, ready to be photographed or scanned for publication

camera shot 1. the part of the subject that is recorded on film by a camera; 2. a particular view of a scene, a person, etc.

camera work series of camera techniques used in shooting movies or in making television programs

camp a style of performance that is affectedly feminine, exaggerated, or deliberately brash in an amusing manner

campaign journalism 1. journalism that relates to the events, issues, etc., that come up during a political campaign; 2. by extension, any type of journalism that reports a story from a particular viewpoint in order to promote a cause

Campbell, Joseph (1904–1987) American scholar famous for his ideas and writings on myth, based on the writings of Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung and the novels of James Joyce and Thomas Mann. Campbell analyzed the ARCHETYPES that surface in all myths (the hero, the mother, the father, the trickster, the journey, etc.). His book The Hero with a Thousand Faces (1949) has influenced many subsequent studies of myth. Campbell’s four-volume Masks of God (1959–1967) has also become a classic in the field.

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation [abbreviated as CBC; also called Société Radio-Canada] government-owned public service Canadian radio and television network. The CBC operates two television networks; one broadcasts in English and the other in French. The CBC also operates two cable television news networks.

Cannes Film Festival Poster, September 1939 (The actual event was postponed to 1946, after World War II.)

candid camera hidden camera used to film people unawares, often in situations designed to elicit amusing responses

canned laughter prerecorded laughter used for a specific broadcast event (especially for a sitcom) in place of a real audience

Cannes Film Festival one of the oldest and most prestigious film festivals in the world, held each May in the city of Cannes in southeastern France

Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival annual festival held to recognize the best advertisements, including television commercials, print marketing, direct marketing, and online advertising. The festival awards the prestigious Palme d’Or to the best production company.

canon 1. in aesthetic theory, the standard by which a work is judged; 2. a sanctioned or authenticated group of literary works

cant 1. group-based language with its own distinctive markers (tone, grammatical features), especially jargon; 2. boring style of speech characterized by clichés and worn-out phrases.

Cantril Study famous media effects study, conducted by Hadley Cantril and his team of researchers at Princeton University following the famous “War of the Worlds” broadcast of 1939 by Orson Welles as part of Mercury Theater of the Air Presents. The broadcast was a radio version of H.G. Welles’s 1898 novel, but it interspersed fake “news” reports of Martian landings in New Jersey, which were so realistic that near panics occurred in many areas—despite periodic announcements by CBS that the program was merely a dramatization. The Cantril researchers wanted to find out why some listeners believed the fake reports and others did not. After interviewing 135 people, the team came to the conclusion that the key was critical thinking—better-educated listeners were more capable of recognizing the broadcast as a fake than were less-educated ones. The study was originally published in 1940 by Princeton University Press.

CAP codes [full form: Committee of Advertising Practice codes] codes of advertising standards and practices, drawn up by the Committee of Advertising Practice (a U.K. agency), designed to protect consumers

capitalism political and economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and distribution of goods. Capitalism is characterized by a free competitive market and by the “profit motive.”

caption 1. tagline for an advertisement; 2. verbal text accompanying an illustration or photograph; 3. short on-screen text that explains or relates to the visual image (for example, the name of the person who is talking)

capture theory view that regulators are influenc...