Language and Media Dictionary of Key Terms (April 2016) Martin Montgomery

content analysis media n. a social science methodology designed to quantify the recurrence of categories of content in a body of data such as news or other forms mediated communication. mmo

continuity media n. refers in its simplest sense to the task of ensuring that details (for example, of clothing and appearance) in succeeding film shots match each other, even after a lapse of time in the production process. In a more elaborate way it refers to the conventions of shooting and editing film so that the narrative unfolds in an easily intelligible fashion. The conventions of continuity editing are mostly associated with commercial (Hollywood) film-making and are sometimes challenged by avant-garde or ‘art-house’ movies. mmo

control media n. exercising influence over the behavior, thoughts, and attitudes of others. Social control is a crucial component in how a society maintains order; and social control theory has typically distinguished between informal and formal social controls. Informal mechanisms of control depend upon the internalization of norms through the processes of socialization, the breach of which is sanctioned through various kinds of social pressure, including shame, ridicule, stigma, and ostracisation or exclusion. Formal mechanisms of control depend more on the application of explicit force by state agencies, including the police, the prison service and the armed forces with formally defined networks of sanctions applied by the courts and the judiciary. The control of populations by the state depends increasingly on sophisticated use of the modern media including marketing, advertising and public relations, criticized by some scholars as purveyors of propaganda. mmo

conversation media n. spontaneous, unscripted, spoken interchange between two or more people, usually face-to-face, where the roles and topics are not pre-determined and the style tends to informality. Often considered as the prototypical case of naturally-occurring talk and as a base-line for comparison with status-marked and institutionalized genres of verbal behaviour. mmo