Homework - WK1

 1. A spectacle is described to be an event which invokes a strong emotional response which either positively or negatively shocks the spectator. Some say the world itself has become one big spectacle, life gets boiled down to displays which are meant to surprise, grab the attention and keep the attention of others, mostly for the benefit of the media.

2. A superstructure is the combination of key elements of society such as religion, politics, government, education, law, art and media all of which represent ideas or ideologies.

3. Synergy in this case refers to different companies cooperating on one brand of media in order to maximize profit. An example of this is one company making a movie or movie franchise like Spider-Man and another with a licence for producing merchandise or toys in order to milk as much of the profit out of as much of the demographics as they can.

4. Objectivity in media terms refers to the reporting of daily facts in a manner which is as close to the truth and reality as possible and being as unbiased as possible. It also means that journalism should be critical and should offer the goals and values of society clearly.

5. Information bias happens more than we care to admit when reporting the new and it comes in four types:  1) Personalization - when focusing on the individual rather than the whole.

            2) Dramatization - making important events into stories and using narrative styles to report.

            3) Fragmatization - reporting only parts of the story and taking them out of context.

            4) Authority-disorder - combining all three of the above mentioned biases but involving authority                    figures.

6. Political bias refers to the news organizations using politics to appeal to niche audiences and using it as wapons. The most common distinguishing factor between political biases is whether they are liberal or conservative.