Media Theory OverviewPart 2
These slides are a summary overview of, in some cases, a few very complex theories. Apologies for the over-simplification.
This resource is designed to be a helpful starting point for further study and revision. It should always be used alongside specific contexts and examples.
It is also intended to persuade skeptics that Media Studies deserve to be taken seriously.
Jon Meier
GobalisationMedia is a global businessConglomerates are multi-nationalDigital media cross national boundariesGlobalisation is a feature of NDMAudiences are international
Marshall McLuhan – 1964 ‘The Global Village’
Virgin Newscorp- Sky,Fox PearsonAOL Time Warner
Is there such a thing as a global culture?
Is the flow of cultural influences and ideas purely from West to East???
Mass global audiences – YoutubeFacebook etc
Y&R 4Cs model
HBODisneyBlockbuster movies
http://media.edusites.co.uk/article/ocr-a2-media-studies-g325-section-b-contemporary-media-issues-global-media/
Excellent slideshare http://www.slideshare.net/kksmedia/globalisation-15403894
Her’s a UNIVERSITY PERSPECTIVE: http://www.slideshare.net/carolinamatos3538/wk-20-media-and-globalization-17502722
US dominance?Cultural imperialismThe West v The Rest
Impact of 9/11 ArgoBreaking BadHomelandUnited 93Batman - The Dark Knight TrilogyLater Bond?Cloverfield
ParanoiaInsecurityIslamophobiaShattering of US self confidenceChallenge to supremacy
Compare newer texts with past superhero movies
http://www.academia.edu/3401718/Representations_of_Terrorism_in_post-9_11_American_filmsA model MEST 4 essay – university standard
http://www.vulture.com/2013/06/hollywood-blockbusters-cant-stop-evoking-911.html
Or is there a backlash ? – a reassertion of US supremacy and invincibility ?
http://www.cbsnews.com/pictures/terrorism-in-movies-pre-and-post-9-11/20/
An interesting pictorial journey through key action movies pre and post 9/11
Two Step FlowFlow theory is about how opinions flow between media, opinion leaders & audiences
Who shapes our opinions?
How important is media in shaping our opinions ?
Who used to influence our opinions before mass and digital media?
GATEKEEPINGOPINION LEADERSMEDIATION/ filtering
Link with hegemony
Link with dominant reading (Hall)
How are ideas beliefs and values encoded for clear decoding by audiences?
Katz & Lazersfeld 1940s
Media Information
Opinion leaders
audience
Do media affect or reflect opinion?Implies active opinion leaders
v passive audiences
Bible Priests Churchgoers
Gramsci 1891-1937Hegemony is achieved by consent not oppression or tyranny
This explains why ruling elites remain in power
The struggle for the consent of the mass audiences is always won by those who control the means of media production
e.g. entertainment products will help audiences forget they are unhappy and unfairly treated
Consent of the masses leads to the preservation of the STATUS QUO
What does this mean for media?
Applies to film, TV, magazine & music industry?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VAYbwhHr7hc&feature=relmfu
Gramsci & Hegemony:
Pdf doc
Nice field
Happy sheep
Put v simply: Give people what they want & they won’t complain
Frankfurt SchoolLeading exponentsTheodor AdornoWalter BenjaminMax Horkheimer
Main ideas:Culture industries (pop music, film) manipulate popular taste for the purpose of profit.
Dominance of US entertainment over mass audiences was similar to exercise of power through propaganda in Nazi Germany.
Encourage conformity & fashion-following. Stifle individuality. Mass media = Mass consumerism
Mass media (‘culture industries’) create false hopes and needs which are driven by profits
Commercialisation & commodification of culture Marx: commodity fetishism
Mass culture involves industrialisation of production
http://verulamvle.typepad.com/files/frankfurt-school-nutshell.pdf
Coincided with growth of advertising industry
http://prezi.com/bszzhmayj1ju/the-frankfurt-school/
1950s and 60sNeo-Marxist
Hall’s Encoding/ decoding Model Main exponent: Stuart Hall
All aspects of media (representations, narrative etc) are constructed in order to communicate a message
For audiences- decoding media texts involves3 possible readings (interpretations): DominantNegotiatedOppositional
Importance of forms, language, codes & conventions.
Media producers normally encode texts so that the dominant reading emerges – also called the preferred or hegemonic reading
3 Readings Model
Producers will aim to avoid polysemy
Links to stereotyping
Producers encode meaning
Audiences decode meaning
http://www.slideshare.net/robertclackmedia/audience-theory-powerpoint
Media representations are never neutral. Always motivated (deliberately constructed) to convey a message
News ValuesNews gathering & News agendas are determined by various criteria - news values
News is about events of the day but for media producers it’s also crucially about other factors: e.g. The need to attract audiences (readership, users, ratings) + revenue (advertisers)
The need to reflect the values of the media institutionAlso space & time available, novelty, relevance
BBC: professionalism objectivity, balance impartiality lack of biasAccuracy, both sides
Fox News?Al Jazeera?CNN?
Galtung & Ruge
Noam Chomsky5 news filters: OwnershipFunding (Advertising)Sourcing (influence of other big interest groups)Flak – awareness of criticsAnti-communism* (*this could now be anti-islamic extremism/ anti terrorism)
To be newsworthy an event must follow certain rules; the main ones are Scale (“threshold”) Personalisation NegativityProximity =closeness to home
Elites ContinuityOriginality & simplicity
Chomsky & Herman: ‘Manufacturing Consent’1988
SemioticsThe study of meaning
Media representationsAre deliberately constructed to communicate a message. This means all signifiers are loaded with meaning and association.
Iconography
denotationconnotation
3 types of signifiers (denotation)
Signifiers have a paradigmatic (vertical) or syntagmatic (horizontal) relationship to each other:- words & images can be defined by their relationship to each other
http://www.slideshare.net/jonmeier/semiotics-9528750
symbolicIndexicalIconic
How does connotation work? audiences will ‘read’ signs in different ways; symbolic, associative deeper meanings
Roland Barthes Structuralism
Meaning is not obvious but determined by a range of factors
Meaning can be manipulated. Audiences play a key part in the decoding of signs
Queer Theory & Gender Conditioning
David Gauntlett- Media Gender & Identity
‘Fluid identities’
Gender and sexuality are a result of conditioning. They are imposed, shaped and influenced by society’s expectations and reinforced by media representations
http://www.theory.org.uk/giddens4.htm
Giddens states that identity is partly shaped by media representations – see link below
FeminismCritique of: Patriarchy Stereotyping ObjectificationWomen as submissive, inferior Symbolic AnnihilationMarginalization of Women
Mulvey + Male Gaze
Media represent women as mother/wife, maiden, temptress
Naomi Wolf The Beauty Myth
The Symbolic Annihilation of Women by the Mass the Media - Gaye Tuchman
Voyeurism & scopophilia
2nd Wave Feminism
http://prezi.com/d9jlcggtms0q/female-archetypes-in-literature-and-traditional-gender-roles/http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TheThreeFacesofEve
http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/feminism.htmClear intro
“Mainstream media are inherently sexist”. Discuss
http://jeriahimagesinmedia.blogspot.co.uk/2008/09/symbolic-annihilation-of-women-by-mass.html
Berger: (In art) ..”men look at women, women watch themselves being looked at”
Images of women are often decontextualized (cropped) and objectified. Sometimes infantilized
Post-feminism3rd Wave Feminism
Women can use their sexual attractiveness and femininity to achieve power and status. Celebration of sexuality.
Women are empowered as women. The aim is still to fight for respect, equality & justice but not to be more like men.
Rejection of 2nd wave feminism as white, suburban middle class.
Accepts gender difference (but not inequality)
http://www.slideshare.net/jonmeier/post-feminism
Crisis of masculinity: declining role of male dominance and patriarchy in society; – a recognition that traditional ideas of masculinity are no longer valid
Is it a female-led backlash against feminism or a male conspiracy?
Camille Paglia
Hard to define
How to bring theoretical perspectives into your critical analysis
• This reflects / illustrates/ shows …the X model• This ties in with Y’s theories on X• This could be seen to link with the X model• There is a link here with X • We can see a connection here with X / with Y’s views on… • At this point it is worth considering Y’s …• X’s views/ the X model could be relevant here• Although Y’s views may applied here, I believe…• Y stated that ….• According to Y…. / according to X’s Model ….• This supports/ contradicts the (Feminist) model…
View of a 6th former – not finished and not always v well written but contains good material & comment http://a2media-theory.blogspot.co.uk/
