| Agenda-setting | the process by which media identify and structure important and meaningful issues for audiences.
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| Cultivation theory | an approach to media research which argues that media consumption has a cumulative influence in promoting a shared worldview.
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| Electronic society | the stage at which all forms of communication have been influenced, either directly or indirectly, by electronic media.
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| Entertainment | the form of gratification we get when media function as a form of wish fulfillment, providing satisfying images and stimulating emotions.
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| Gatekeepers | editors, producers, webmasters, and other media managers who decide which messages will get produced.
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| Gratification function | the active use of media to fulfill needs and desires.
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| Hypodermic needle model | explains direct media effects by suggesting that a specific message can be "shot" into an unsuspecting audience.
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| Information | when discussing media gratification, the desire for knowledge based on curiosity, personal investment, or need.
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| Lay people | individuals who are not part of the clergy.
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| Literacy | ability to comprehend and use written symbols.
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| Mass communication | the creation of meaning through messages sent to a large, unseen, and anonymous audience.
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| Media | the vehicles that carry messages.
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| Media literacy | ability to understand the language of media and critically assess the contribution of media to society.
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| Media synergy | the use by media conglomerates of as many channels of delivery as possible for similar content.
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| Network society | the integration of several communication technologies into a new social system.
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| Oral cultures | cultures in which speaking and hearing are the dominant forms of communication.
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| Penny press | inexpensive, mass-produced newspapers designed to appeal to the growing immigrant population in the United States.
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| Preliterate | the state of a people before acquiring the ability to read and write.
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| Selective exposure | people choose to watch or listen to media messages that confirm existing beliefs.
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| Selective retention | people choose to remember media messages that confirm existing beliefs.
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| Social utility | the function media serve when they provide common topics about social relationships and models for behavior.
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| Surveillance | the function of media to keep the public informed about social and political events.
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| Technological convergence | the union of different, specialized media to meet the individual needs of users.
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| Third person effect | the belief that media influence others more than ourselves.
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