form of transmission in which a sig-nal is sent in small, separate packages (in contrast to analog)
digital audio broadcasting [abbre-viated as DaB] audio broadcasting
dIGITAL MUSIC dISTrIBUTIoN PLATforMS using digital recordings, which give
clearer sound than analog recordings digital audio radio service [abbre-viated as Dars] delivery of digital audio signals by satellite directly to homes or automobiles
digital audiotape [abbreviated as DaT] audiotape cassette or other magnetic tape that offers high-quality digital sound
digital cable television digital televi-sion delivered to homes via cable digital camera [abbreviated as digi-cam] camera that takes and stores pictures in digital form. Like previ-ous cameras, digital cameras have lenses, apertures, and shutters, but they do not use film. Instead, they use devices that transform images into digital information. digital photos can then be manipulated and printed using a computer.
digital compression [also called data compression] 1. method of representing data in an abbreviated form by removing redundant data, by replacing repeated data with a shortening code, or some other such technique; 2. digitizing signals so that they can be carried over one channel digital delivery daily online distribu-tion of daily newspapers
digital divide view that digital technology and its attendant culture contribute to the exacerbation of
social inequalities, because not every-one has equal access to such technol-ogy and, even among those who do, not everyone is equally competent in using it. Unequal access or unequal competence is thus said to create classes of “information haves” and
“information have-nots.”
digital film production produc-tion of films using primarily digital technology, rather than previous technologies
digital galaxy [in imitation of gutenberg galaxy] notion that digital technologies have changed the ways in which people communicate and interact
digital imaging any form of photog-raphy that is based on digital technol-ogy. It has been suggested that this term should replace photography altogether.
digital media media based on digital technologies
digital media players computer programs or systems that allow individual users to display video or audio data on home computers.
realPlayer, windows Media Player, and QuickTime are examples of such systems.
digital music distribution
platforms online sites like PressPlay, rhapsody, MusicNet, iTunes, and others that allow for downloading of music files
dIGITAL PHoToGrAPHY digital photography [also called
digital imaging] photography using digital cameras and equipment digital radio radio broadcasting that is transmitted digitally, with the ca-pacity to provide a greater choice of channels and a superior sound quality than all previous nondigital systems digital recording audio recording made with digital equipment, produc-ing a high-quality clear sound digital retouching use of digital technology to alter a photograph, either to remove imperfections or to change something in the photo with-out revealing that it was altered digital rights management protec-tion of digitally distributed intellec-tual property
digital service line [abbreviated as DsL] line providing access to the Internet that is faster than the previ-ous dial-up modem devices
digital television [abbreviated as DTV] television set and television broadcasting system using digital technology
digital terrestrial broadcasting course of action aiming to make all forms of broadcasting digital digital versatile/video disc [ab-breviated as DVD] round flat platter on which motion pictures, computer programs, and other types of
infor-mation are stored digitally. A dVd is the same size as a standard compact disc (about 4 3/4 inches or 12 centi-meters) in diameter, but it can store much more information. each side of a dVd can contain two data layers, one beneath the other. A single dVd currently has the capacity to store up to 17 gigabytes (billion bytes) of in-formation. dVd technology was one of the first types of digital technol-ogy that made it possible to integrate computer, audio, and video material.
digital video editing editing video materials using digital technology digital video recorder [abbrevi-ated as DVr] video recording and playback device attached to a televi-sion set that allows users significant control over the content they record or see
digitally assisted television [abbre-viated as DaTV] television signals transmitted partly through digital means
digitally originated graphic [abbre-viated as Dog] small logo used to identify a television channel, shown typically in one corner of the screen digitization [also called digitaliza-tion] conversion of any kind of data (text, images, sound, graphics) into an electronic language that can be used by computers or other digital systems. Because it offers unprec-edented opportunities for manipu-lation of data, digitization raises
drTV crucial questions about authorship, intellectual property, and selectiv-ity of information. This term is now used to characterize the evolutionary characteristics of all media—which are becoming digitized throughout the world.
digizine [abbreviation of digital magazine] magazine that can be ac-cessed by computer from a web site diglossia use of different forms of the same language or, sometimes, of dif-ferent languages in the same speech area, one of which is sometimes con-sidered more important or functional than the other
Dijk, Jan a.g.m. van (1952–) scholar whose work on the effects of new media technologies on cultures and societies is often cited in the media literature. Among his most influential works are The Network Society (1999) and Digital Democ-racy (2000).
dime novels [also called pulp fiction] inexpensive nineteenth and early twentieth century novels that deal mainly with sensationalized adventure, crime, horror, or romance.
The term dime comes from the fact that they were originally sold for a dime.
dionysian as defined by friedrich Nietzsche, the creative and intuitive aspects of the human psyche, as op-posed to the mind’s rational mode of thinking
dipstick survey survey intended to identify only one aspect of some au-dience behavior, such as the number of viewing hours independently of the TV programs watched
direct action advertising advertising intended to elicit a quick response in consumers, appealing directly to emotional needs
direct broadcast by satellite [abbre-viated as DBs] generic term for the broadcasting of radio and television signals over a wide area by satellite technology. dBS began in 1994.
direct cinema a type of cinéma vérité developed in the 1960s in the United States, in which the setting is not a studio or designated area but the real world (the ghetto of a real city, the backstreets of a town, etc.) direct mail advertising practice of sending people leaflets or bro-chures through the mail. Today, such advertising also takes place in online versions, where it is called spam.
direct marketing marketing practic-es that are aimed directly at (and are accessible to) consumers, bypassing retailers (for example, through mail order and the Internet)
direct response television [abbrevi-ated as DrTV] advertising strategy seeking immediate response to a television commercial by providing an on-screen phone number, e-mail address, or web site
dIreCT SPoNSorSHIP direct sponsorship radio and
televi-sion programming bearing the name of the advertiser who has sponsored a program or series (appearing in the program’s title)
directional medium advertising me-dium that gives potential consumers information on where to find products;
for example, a directory, a catalog directness of address the way in which television addresses people.
Since television is essentially a do-mestic medium, its style is typically conversational (rather than formal), engaging audiences directly and emotionally, rather than logically and rationally.
director person who plans and con-trols the performance of a play, a mo-tion picture, or a show on television, radio, or the Internet. In traditional film theory, the director is considered more important than the scriptwriter;
often the two are one and the same person.
direct-to-home multichannel broad-cast service for television and radio transmitted via communication satel-lite that subscribers receive directly on their own receivers
director’s cut version of a movie over which the director has complete control; often, this version is not released to theaters
disaster movie film genre in which the plot revolves around a natural
disaster (such as an asteroid hitting earth) or a human-related disaster (such as a ship sinking in the ocean) disc a storage device, built into a computer or removable as a separate device (such as a flat plastic object) disc jockey [abbreviated as DJ]
announcer for a radio program that consists chiefly of recorded popular music; by extension, anyone who plays recorded music for a specific function (such as at a wedding, a dance, etc.)
disclosure of information act of passing on information that was in-tended to be kept secret. This term is used especially in journalism jargon.
disco music flamboyant, dance-oriented popular music genre that emerged in the 1970s. disco music was emblemized by the 1977 movie Saturday Night Fever. The punk rock and new wave movements that surfaced in the mid- and late 1970s began partly as a backlash against the perceived superficiality and glitziness of disco.
discography list or catalog of record-ings (by a performer, a group, etc.) or of writings or annotations about them discourse 1. use of language in communication; 2. serious discus-sion about a subject; 3. particular style of talking and writing (as in the
“discourse of science”). This term was used by michel foucault
dISPLACeMeNT to describe how language is used
by people and institutions to shape social reality. In this sense, discourse is seen as a form of power because it articulates and ensconces (through language) the ideas that are accepted as truth. The term is now extended to include nonverbal and other kinds of
“languages” (visual discourse, narra-tive discourse, and other discourses).
discursive contestation ability of the audience of a news broadcast to chal-lenge its content and slant (as opposed to passive reception of the broadcast) discursive form as defined by phi-losopher susanne langer, anything constructed in linguistic form and thus governed by the properties of that form. one of these is detach-ment, since one can focus on a word in a sentence or a phrase without impairing the overall understanding of the sentence or phrase. Presen-tational forms, on the other hand, cannot be detached without impairing the overall meaning; for example, one cannot focus on a note or phrase in a symphony without destroying the sense of the work.
discursive gap breach in language that can exist between senders (such as television newscasters) and receiv-ers (such as audiences). The popular press has attempted to close this gap by using primarily colloquial or slang language.
discussion group on the Internet, a web site that lets any visitor write
a message on a particular subject, which is then displayed on the site dish antenna television antenna in the form of a dish that can receive many channels and services from a satellite
Disneyification the spread of Ameri-can representations of childhood culture, as symbolized by the walt disney Company, which are seen to be intrusive into other cultural views of childhood
disparaging copy advertising copy that is critical of another company’s products or campaigns
dispatch news item sent by a news correspondent or agency to a net-work, station, or web site
displacement capacity of words (and symbols generally) to displace refer-ents (the things to which they refer), evoking them mentally (not physical-ly). A word such as cat is a sequence of sounds (or letters) that evokes a particular mental image of an animal, even if the animal is not physically present. The animal is thus said to have been “displaced” from the physical world to the mental world.
In marxisttheoriesofmedia, the term is sometimes used to refer to the process by which the meaning of something is transferred to something else; for example, portraying punk musicians as having the same charac-teristics as criminals, thus implying that they are socially deviant.
dISPLAY AdVerTISING display advertising 1. advertising
that includes product or company features and symbols (such as a logo) in addition to the ad text itself; 2. ad-vertising taking up a substantial area of a newspaper page
dissemination distribution of an idea, statement, or information through a medium
dissident press press that publishes articles, reviews, etc., that are per-ceived as opposing the mainstream press, usually challenging the social and political status quo
dissonance conflict between the ideas, values, or views that a person holds and those directed at him or her through some form of communica-tion (especially the media)
dissonance theory view that people will experience a kind of discomfort when confronted with new informa-tion and thus will attempt to limit the discomfort through manipulation of the information (selection of some aspects and rejection of others, adapt-ing it to previous information, etc.) distantiation idea that media products “keep a distance” from the ideological systems within which they were created. The term was used in the past to refer, for example, to classical musicians in Soviet russia (Shostakovich, Prokofiev, etc.) whose compositions, though created in Soviet russia, “kept their distance”
from Communist ideology.
distinctive feature aspect of lan-guage or some other code that keeps forms within the code discernibly distinct. for example, the difference between the s sound in sip and the z sound in zip exists as the absence or presence, respectively, of the vibration of the vocal cords during pronunciation. Such vibration is a distinctive feature.
distribution system electronic sys-tem that moves signals over a cable television network from the headend, where signals are received and pro-cessed, to the geographical areas that receive cable service
diurnals daily accounts of local news printed in england in the 1600s.
diurnals are the forerunners of the modern dailies.
diversification a company’s venture into ownership of other related or unrelated enterprises, thus “diversify-ing” its business
DJ [see disc jockey]
docudrama dramatization of real-life events (such as the sinking of the Ti-tanic) through film, radio, or television docufiction 1. any fictional narrative using documentary techniques; 2.
work in which actual recorded events are combined with recreations or imaginary scenes
documentary nonfictional movie or program dealing with events or issues
doo-woP in a factual manner, including
inter-views, film footage, and other types of information
docusoap documentary that follows the lives of real people at home, work, play, and other locales, resem-bling the style of a fictional soaP oPera
Dog [see digitally originated graphic]
dog-eat-dog marketing and advertis-ing strategy of attackadvertis-ing the competi-tion mercilessly through disparaging ads and other promotional strategies Dolby trademarked electronic circuit that improves the quality of recorded sound by reducing noise
dolly shot filmic tracking shot using a moving platform (dolly) rather than some other platform (for example, a guiding rail)
domain name 1. on the world wide web, a name that identifies the owner of a site in some way (with a sequence of words, phrases, ab-breviations, symbols, etc.); 2. more generally, the Internet address of a computer or network (for example, .edu, .org, etc.)
domestic comedy a television hybrid of the sitcom in which characters and settings are usually more impor-tant than the complicated situations that characterize sitcoms. The basic structure of the text revolves around a
domestic problem that the characters have to solve.
dominant culture culture that is accepted as the norm, or the main-stream, by most people living in a specific society
dominant discourse form of dis
-course that is given the highest social authority or precedence over other discourses. for example, in a religious society, the discourse of clerics and theologians is dominant, whereas in secular societies it is not.
dominant ideology system of beliefs and values that a culture accepts as the norm
dominant reading one of three supposed readings or interpretations that can be gleaned from a media text (the other two being subordinate
and radical) whereby the audience accepts the meanings, values, and viewpoints built into the text by its makers
doorstepping practice of journalists to pressure an individual who is an unwilling source of information by standing outside the person’s resi-dence or place of work, or by asking questions as the person walks by doo-wop style of singing and songwriting, starting in the 1950s, characterized by catchy melodies, simple rhythms, beautiful vocal har-monies, and often featuring a choral
doT-CoM accompaniment with the expression
“doo-wop” (hence the name of the genre)
dot-com any company that conducts its business primarily through the In-ternet. The term refers to the fact that the Internet address of such compa-nies ends in “.com.”
dot-com crash the burst of the “dot-com bubble” (the increase in dot-“dot-com businesses that gained rapid success in the late 1990s) in which many dot-com businesses went bankrupt in the early 2000s
dot-comer person who owns or works for a dot-com enterprise double substitute who resembles an actor and who stands in for him or her, especially in scenes that are dan-gerous or that require some special skill
double exposure exposure of two images on the same piece of film, making it seem that they have been shot at the same time
double feature [also called twin bill]
two films shown on the same bill (for a single price of admission)
double opt-in method by which us-ers who want to receive information from a web site can register them-selves as subscribers
double-spotting technique of run-ning a commercial twice in a row
downlinking transmission of data from a satellite downward to receiv-ers within its range (called a foot-print)
downloading transferring data from the Internet to a computer, or from one computer to another
downtime period of time in which a communication network is inop-erative, because of maintenance or mechanical breakdown
drabble short fictional work, usually around 100 words in length
drama [also called theater] 1. play (usually serious in tone) written to be performed on a stage or platform with appropriate props; 2. by exten-sion, any play in any media (e.g., radio, television). It is not known how or when drama began, but nearly every culture has had some form of it.
Some archaeologists claim that it may have developed from religious ritu-als and ceremonies in which people impersonated gods or animals. others suggest that drama may have origi-nated in rituals of praise performed for a dead hero, when the deeds of the hero’s life were acted out. eventually, the stories of the lives were per-formed apart from the rituals, leading to the birth of drama. A third theory claims that drama evolved from mythic storytelling, which developed into dramatic retellings of events.
There are four main forms of west-ern drama. first, the tragedy, which revolves around some tragic event or
drIVe-TIMe AUdIeNCeS life story, usually of a hero who dies
at the end because of a flaw in his or her character or on account of a devi-ous act perpetrated by an evil per-sonage. Second, the serious drama, which emerged in the 1800s and which shares many of the features of tragedy, but in which the hero is more ordinary than the traditional tragic hero and which does not necessarily have to end in his or her death. Third, the melodrama, which revolves around the actions of a villain who threatens the “good characters” in the
at the end because of a flaw in his or her character or on account of a devi-ous act perpetrated by an evil per-sonage. Second, the serious drama, which emerged in the 1800s and which shares many of the features of tragedy, but in which the hero is more ordinary than the traditional tragic hero and which does not necessarily have to end in his or her death. Third, the melodrama, which revolves around the actions of a villain who threatens the “good characters” in the