Dictionary of Media and Communication Studies, 8th edition

Network

A B C D E F G H I

JK

L M N O P R S T U V

XYZ

W

construct of reality as perceived by those with

the power to represent it, and transmit it to the

public. See ideology.

Necessity, supervening social necessity

(technology) See supervening social

necessity.

Needs See maslow’s hierarchy of needs.

Negative news values See new values.

Negative semantic space See male-as-norm.

Negativization See visions of order.

Negotiated code See dominant, subordi-

nate, radical.

Neologism Th e invention or usage of a new word,

or giving an old word a new meaning, such as

‘viewer’ from the French ‘voyeur’ to indicate

someone who views other people’s sometimes

illicit activities. One of the most picturesque

neologisms in the area of media is couch

potato.

Net See internet.

★Network Channels of communications that

are interconnected are termed networks, to be

found in all communication in which numbers of

people are involved, such as groups and orga-

nizations. In essence a communication network

consists of linked dyads in which the receiver

in one dyad is the source in the next. Such

networks will vary in size, and not all members

of the network will necessarily have equal access

to information or participation.

A communication structure is a network

in which some channels are systematically

neglected. Generally speaking the greater the

number of links between members, and the

closer the distance between them, the more

for example, social class, education or spending
power. Th e internet has proved fertile ground
for narrowcasting.
National Film Archive (UK) Founded in May
1935, the NFA is the largest division of the brit-
ish film institute (bfi). Its role is to acquire,
preserve and make available for study a collec-
tion of fi lms and TV programmes of all kinds
exhibited or transmitted in the UK from any
source and of any nationality. Particular empha-
sis is placed on British productions, which may
have lasting value as works of art, as examples of
fi lm or TV history, or as valuable records of past
and present socio-cultural behaviour.
National Viewers’ and Listeners’ Associa-
tion (NVLA) See ‘clean up tv’ movement.
Naturalistic illusion (of television) Th e visual
qualities of TV can lead to the assumption that
it is merely a window on the world, showing
life as it really is. Stuart Hall in ‘Th e rediscovery
of “ideology”’ in M. Gurevitch, T. Bennett, J.
Curran, and J. Woollacott, eds, Culture, Society
and the Media (Methuen, 1982) refers to this
phenomenon as the ‘naturalistic illusion’. TV
programmes are in fact the result of considerable
planning and research. Elaborate procedures of
framing, editing and the matching of images
with dialogue have to be undertaken in order to
present an exposition.
During these procedures decisions are taken
that may signifi cantly aff ect the fi nished presen-
tation. Diff erent impressions can be given, for
example, of a mass demonstration depending
upon when or where the fi lm is taken and how
it is edited. In short, what TV produces is a

Examples of communication networks