Glossary
analogue
Old style, pre-digital media was produced in a variety of different formats (record albums, books, video tapes) that were not immediately comprehendible to computers. These need to be digitised to be distributed via the Internet (books need to be scanned, CDs ripped, etc).
assignment
Permanent transfer of a legal right.
audience research
Cultural studies media research that sees the individual as actively constructing and interpreting media.
autonomous professionalism
Rather than have governments set rules, it is often preferable for organisations and industries to govern themselves. Individual professionals need to develop their own ethical practices if they can be said to behave in an autonomous and responsible manner that the community and government are satisfied with.
blog
An online journal (or web log) often focusing on a particular area of interest or discussing personal experiences. Blogging by established politicians and political candidates, to express opinions on war and other issues, cemented blogs' role as a news source.
broadcasting
A communications format that allows a message to go from one to many. Compare this to telelcommunications, which allows one to one communications, and many Internet formats, which allow many to many models of communication. Traditionally broadcasting is regarded as a public activity and therefore is government regulated.
burlesque
A form of expression that aims to excite laughter by caricature of the manner or spirit of serious works or by ludicrous treatment of the subject; a mockery; a grotesque imitation such as an action or performance that casts ridicule on that which it imitates.
celebrity
Based largely on biographical information; relies on an individual's charisma.
censorship
Generally speaking, this is the restriction of media by a governmental body, although self censorship is an increasingly important issue, particularly where corporations edit with the financial risks of censorship in mind.
classification
Some censorship laws occur after publication and involve the seizure of prohibited media. Increasingly though, states require media to be classified before they are distributed, which is a more complicated mode of censorship. Classifiers like to think that they do not censor but all retain this at the core of their powers, along with more extensive powers to regulate audiences.
community values
A legal construct used in censorship, based on the opinions of the bulk of the community. This is a problem when media is distributed in smaller sub-communities such as queer film festivals or religious/ethnic press.
connected media
New technologies that connect together to share data and media. The telecommunications networks and the Internet are clear examples but we must also consider how wireless technologies are now allowing many other technologies to link together, such as the Nintendo DS game console, which has a built-in wireless chat function that operates on its own network.
constitutional protection
A constitution is a core legislative instrument that cannot be changed by the will of Parliament: it requires a referendum of the people. Because of this a constitution is often used to enshrine fundamental rights, particularly those that protect the citizens against the unjust exercise of power by the government.
converged environment
A bringing together of media forms as a consequence of technological advancement or progress facilitating easier or 'open' access to either; an audience or a publishing portal or opportunity.
convergent technologies
Rather than keeping different technologies separate, new technologies tend to accumulate, such as the mobile phone, which allows for downloaded content (such as games and video) has a camera and MP3 player capacity.
copyright
Non-tangible asset (property) that controls the use of original content.
co-regulation
Refers to an approach to regulation that relies on both industry and the profession to self manage their behaviour within the construct of a framework established by law (for example, telecommunications industry). In crude terms, co-regulation can be said to represent the intersection of the legal and the ethical.
corporatisation/privatisation
The encroachment of private interests into the public sphere. This may involve corporations taking control of public space or the selling of public assets such as utilities and infrastructure to private interests.
culture jamming
Subversive practices that use advertising's own methods and technologies to satirise, protest and expose the hypocrisy of consumer culture.
digital divide
This concept recognises that in an information economy, the difference between rich and poor, in amounts of access to technology and to technological literacy, create an unfair divide in the civic population.
digital media
Media that a computer can understand and that can be readily stored and distributed electronically. As more media is being created on computer it becomes easier to edit and distribute in this way. Digital can be produced in a more permanent analogue form such as a document that is printed or music that is burned to a music CD.
digital storytelling
A grassroots media movement in which ordinary individuals tell life stories with the aid of new media technologies that are both cheap and easy to learn. Typically these stories take the form of short films with a spoken narrative accompanying photographs and other scanned images.
effects research
Social science media research that seeks to prove, empirically, what effect the consumption of media has on the individual. Generally sees the audience as a passive recipient of media.
ethics (journalistic)
Principles that have been developed over time by journalists to self regulate the professional conduct of members of their profession.
fourth estate
The term first used to describe the press in 1790, when the English statesman Edmund Burke pointed to the press gallery in Parliament and said: 'There are three estates in Parliament but in the reporters' gallery yonder sits a fourth estate more important far than they all.' Since then time the term has been used in freedom of press rhetoric to describe the public nature of journalism and the public role of the media as a professional ethical activity tied to the political process.
the harm principle
Expressed by John Stuart Mill, it is a fundamental principle of liberalism that government exercise of power can only be justified where it is done to prevent harm occurring to a citizen.
hate speech
or
hate crime/vilification laws
Recent developments in law that seek to regulate expression of prejudice, because of the violence and other harms that this discriminatory speech may induce.
hegemony
A media theory that refers to control of the status quo by the mainstream mindset. Participants in media space engage in a battle for hegemonic control of the audience.
human rights/civil rights
The foundation of liberal democracy, these rights are the basic tenets of citizenship and protect the people from injustice, often from the government itself. The right to free speech is a foundational right without which many other civil rights cannot be enjoyed.
imputation
The 'sting' or the 'real' meaning of a publication. One publication can have several imputations. It is not what is intended by the publisher/author/critic that matters, but what other people-ordinary reasonable readers/listeners or viewers-think was said or implied. Because defamation law considers a publication from the point of view of the audience, determining the imputations that arise from a publication are crucial to its application. An imputation may be based on the literal meaning; a meaning reasonably inferred by 'reading between the lines' such as a colloquialism, or as a consequence of 'special knowledge'. When considering the potential of defamation it is prudent to ask whether someone else could interpret the publication in another way.
innocent dissemination
A special defence to defamation based on the fact that the defendant neither knew or should have known that the material was likely to contain defamatory matter; often referred to applying in situations of subordinate distribution. See s 32 (1) in the the Uniform Defamation Acts. intellectual property
A broad term referring to intangible property created by the intellect or mind.
investigative journalism
Refers to a specific journalistic practice that involves research to discover facts or to uncover a story, rather than simply distilling and representing facts in a story format.
joint authorship
Joint copyright exists when work that has been produced by the collaboration of two or more authors in which the contribution of each author is not separate from the contribution of the other author. The test is whether either author has made a distinct contribution (if yes then separate copyrights exist).
legal regulation
Common law and legislation that prohibits conduct and provides legal remedies/recompense to those affected by breaches of the law and/or punishment of the offenders.
Liberalism
The philosophy that underpins Western democratic traditions and legal systems. Liberalism emphasises the rights of individuals.
licence
Permission to do an act/use something that would otherwise be within the rights of the owner; agreement for someone to use a right temporarily.
limits to research (legal or ethical)
That point where because of its potential effects, another party can constrain or limit research activities or conduct, by use of legal or ethical regulations.
media literacy
An individual's skills in reading and interpreting media texts, which can be different for print media and visual media. This is also used as the title of an alternative approach to censorship that seeks to enhance media literacy skills in understanding problematic media (particularly among children) rather than to censor the media itself.
moral rights
Legal rights that creators of original content have in addition to copyright; primarily directed towards protecting the artist's reputation and name.
MUD/MUSH/MOO
Virtual environments that allow collaborative authoring of stories. These are largely text based.
open source licence
A copyright licence to use modify computer software code; generally entails a requirement to make available to others any modifications that are made.
parody
A form of expression that imitates a serious piece of literature or writing in a humorous or satirical fashion so as to ridicule. Although defined in the Oxford English Dictionary as a literary form in which an author's turns of thought and phrase are imitated and made to appear ridiculous. It is now used more generally in the entertainment industry, for example, in music (Weird Al Yankovitch is a parodist of contemporary singers); and in television (Fast Forward is a parody of a current affairs program). The key feature is that the original will be referred to in some way.
pastiche
A genre of expression much like parody, the key feature of which is light-hearted imitation of another's style. Unlike parody it is sometimes used to describe expressive techniques that pay homage to earlier works. An alternative definition of pastiche is a genre of expression whereby works are created using a mixture of styles or made from a variety of other works.
paternalism
A mode of regulation that seeks to override the free choice of citizens for their own good. Also known as the 'nanny state' approach.
pirate
Someone who uses copyright protected content without permission, generally by making an unauthorised copy.
podcasting
Online distribution of audio or video content for listening/viewing on mobile devices and personal computers. Podcasters' websites also may offer direct download of their files, but the subscription feed of automatically delivered new content is what distinguishes a podcast from a simple download or real-time streaming.
privacy concerns/complaints
Issues raised by individuals in regard to an intrusion into their private affairs by the media publishing information or taking photographs or footage of or concerning them, without permission.
privilege, absolute
Complete immunity from the laws of defamation based on the public interest in allowing the courts and parliaments to function fearlessly.
privilege, qualified
Immunity from the laws of defamation that is available provided particular conditions are satisfied. There are three main types of qualified privilege: political and government matters (often referred to as the Lange extension); statutory qualified privilege (the Uniform Defamation Acts set out circumstances when publications are protected); and common-law qualified privilege (sometimes referred to as duty and interest privilege).
product placement
Advertising practice where advertisers pay for products to appear 'naturally' within the flow of a story (for example, the cars, fast food and mobile phones used by characters).
protected people
Children, sexual assault victims and other groups of people who come into contact with the court system are protected from identification.
public sphere
A political model that sees the preservation of space for debate and sharing information as essential to democratic society. The public sphere involves many different aspects but the media sphere is one of the most important and government has an essential role as the gatekeeper to the media sphere ensuring all have access and ability to express their voice.
publication
For defamation purposes publication can be a newspaper article or a book, letter or email, cartoon, poster or advertisement, television or radio broadcast or Internet transmission.
reality television
A genre of television programming that generally is unscripted, documenting actual events and featuring 'ordinary' people over professional actors.
regulation
In this book the term regulation is used fairly broadly to includes not only legal regulation (legislation, case law and local regulations) but also forms of self regulation and self governance that occur in media industries and among individuals. It is often the least formal form of regulation that is the most effective, but formal mechanisms exist where low-key regulation fails.
regulatory nexus
A term that describes the object to which regulation becomes attached. It is one thing to break the laws of another jurisdiction, but if you are not physically present there and have no property or business dealings there, it becomes difficult to regulate you as there is no nexus to operate on. The Internet has meant that publication has become pervasive but there is not necessarily any nexus to regulate to creator of that media.
satire
A form of expression that seeks to expose foolish or narrow-minded or objectionable behaviour by exaggeration or mimicry. Satire makes a comment on society-including its culture.
scandalising the court
A form of contempt that applies when publications bring the court system into disrepute.
sedition
A political crime of speaking out against or publishing information that criticises a monarch or government. New laws in relation to sedition were introduced in the Anti-Terrorism Act (No 2) 2005 (Cth).
self censorship
A process whereby a media organisation, or media professional, censors or imposes limits on what is publicly reported, and those limits are not directed by legal or ethical restraints.
self regulation
A regulatory system that is managed by the industry, usually by a peak body, of which many industry players are members-for example, MEAA, Press Council.
spam
Unsolicited electronic mail.
sub judice contempt
Publications that interfere with a fair trial.
subordinate distributor
A secondary distributor of publications, to which the defence of innocent dissemination is available, for example, a librarian or an Internet service provider. Section 32 (2) of the Uniform Defamation Acts state that in order to qualify as a subordinate distributor a person must not be the first or primary distributor of material; nor the author or originator; nor have any capacity to exercise editorial control over the content of the material or is publication before it is published.
suppression orders
Court orders requiring that certain information about a case not be published or broadcast.
tabloid media/journalism
A genre of media and reporting. Tabloid is a subjective term usually based on whether content is considered to be sensationalist, salacious and focused on gossip. Other features of tabloid journalism are an informal, irreverent, colloquial and often fast-paced reporting style, with an interest in 'catching out' the subjects.
trade mark
A sign to distinguish goods or services provided or dealt with in the course of trade from those of another trader.
trade mark dilution
A concept of concern to corporations that arises when a corporate name is used in a generic sense to refer to the type of product produced by that corporation and its specific identity is lost. This has been referred to as 'genericide'. Xerox, Bandaid, Kleenex and Hoover are examples.
trade practices laws
Laws that protect individuals from unfair business practices and misleading advertising.
triviality
It is a defence to defamation if the defendant can establish that the circumstances of the publication were such that the plaintiff was unlikely to sustain any harm. See s 33 of the Uniform Defamation Acts.