MEDIA LANGUAGE THEORIES

Question 1

Barthes Semiology theory

Answer 1

meaning created by signs through connotation, which may natrulize dominant values and ideologies

Question 2

Barthes usefulness point and example from either daily mail or the guardian

Answer 2

• can be applied to any sign, inc language and image, to tease out connotations and ideology
  EXAMPLE: the newspapers will make it clear what their political affiliation is within their front covers

Question 3

Barthes limitation point and example from either daily mail or the guardian

Answer 3

-does not tell us how audiences interpret newspapers and give meaning
EXAMPLE: audiences may interpret the daily mail as a left wing paper as they have a blue colour palette on their website, whereas the meaning here may be intended to represent the professionalism of the establishment

Question 4

Genre theory - Neale

Answer 4

genre codes and conventions conventions are established and evolve through repetition within media products and intertextual relay

Question 5

Neale usefulness point and example from either daily mail or the guardian

Answer 5

• the concept of genre as a shared code explains how genres can change (e.g the quality of the press becoming more like tabloids) and hybridise (e.g middle market tabloid)
  Examples - the guardian constructs themselves as a broadsheet, while the daily mail has hybridised to become a middle market tabloid, expressing those conventions in order to appeal to their preferred target market

Question 6

Neale limitations point and example from either daily mail or the guardian

Answer 6

• theory developed more for film products where genre is a marketing tool, news typically appeals to loyal customers or sell themselves via front cover splashes
  example - where the daily mail has persuaded the audience through techniques and media language on their front covers, most guardian readers are loyal customers

Question 7

Structuralism - Levi Strauss

Answer 7

identifying binary oppositions (pairs of opposed forces) can suggest the ideology of a text

Question 8

Strauss usefulness point and example from either daily mail or the guardian

Answer 8

particularly applied to newspaper stories that set up an us and them opposition, in which audiences are invited to think of themselves as us - common mode of address in news
EXAMPLE: very obvious in papers that explicitly express their political affiliation - we wouldn’t understand the left party without know about the right

Question 9

Strauss limitation point and example from either daily mail or the guardian

Answer 9

• does not explain anything specific to newspapers as it is an extremely high level theory of culture
  Example: it may be applied to the sources, but potentially the theory could be more suited to other kinds of media products

Question 10

Post modernism - Baudrillard

Answer 10

in postmodernism cultures representations are more powerful than reality, and representations themselves no longer relate to reality

Question 11

Baudrillard usefulness point and example from either daily mail or the guardian

Answer 11

particularly applied to news about news, or celebrities for being famous, where there is no clear sense of a “real” lying behind the hyper reality
Example: exaggerating certain stories to show views on situations, make opposing parties look bad, this sells better

Question 12

Baudrillard limitations point and example from either daily mail or the guardian

Answer 12

does not explain anything specific to newspapers as it is an extremely high level theory of the postmodern world
Example: news can be over exaggerated so it can sell better, but as it represents reality, the “hyper reality” representation may not be present, especially in non profit organisations such as the guardian who believes in quality of the press