Media analysis Flashcards
What two things do media texts propose?
Behaviours and meaning
What is a media text
Any media product that we can analyze in terms of its meanings
True or false: media texts can be interpreted with complete objectivity in reliability
False, there’s always some subjective insight
What is Lasswell’s method?
Who says What to Whom in What Channel with What Effect
What is quantitative Content Analysis?
The quantitative measurement of themes and units of meaning in a text
What to include in a content analysis table?
- 0-3 scale key
- 2+ media texts
- units of meaning
- total values
Semiotics
The science of signs and symbols
What does it mean when we say that media texts are polysemic?
They have several meanings at the same time
What does semiotics assume?
There is no direct relationship between the real world and the language used to represent it. Languages and symbols are entirely socially constructed.
If you had a real life orange, and the word orange, which is the sign vehicle and a sign object?
The word orange is a sign vehicle, the orange is the sign object.
What is the triangle of semiotics?
- Interprétame/signified: the sense made of the sign
- Referent/object: what the sign represents
- Signifier: the symbol (word, image)
Denotation
Explicit meaning
Connotation
Implication of a sign apart from its primary meaning
Denotation and connotation of a picture of a rose?
Denotation: a rose
Connotation: romance
What are the 5 things you must do in semiotic analysis?
- Denotations and connotations
- cultural, social, and political significance
-binary opposites
-overall feel - recurring themes
