Media Terms glossary Flashcards
Roland Barthes
Semiotics
The idea that texts communicate their meanings through a process of signification
The idea that signs can function at the level of denotation, which involves the ‘literal’ or common-sense meaning of the sign, and at the level of connotation, which involves the meanings associated with or suggested by the sign
The idea that constructed meanings can come to seem self-evident, achieving the status of myth through a process of naturalisation.
Preferred reading
What the writer wants the audience to think
Oppositional reading
When the audience deviates from the opinion of the writer
Anchorage
The words that accompany an image (still or moving) contribute to the meaning associated with that image. If the caption or voice-over is changed then so may the way in which the audience interprets the image. An image with an anchor is a closed text; the audience are given a preferred reading. A text without an anchor is an open text as the audience can interpret it as they wish.
The same image of a school in a local newspaper could include a negative or a positive headline, which may change the way in which the same image is viewed by the reader.
Steve Neale
Genre
The idea that genres may be dominated by repetition, but are also marked by difference, variation, and change
The idea that genres change, develop, and vary, as they borrow from and overlap with one another
The idea that genres exist within specific economic, institutional and industrial contexts.
Todorov
Narrative
The idea that all narratives share a basic structure that involves a movement from one state of equilibrium to another
The idea that these two states of equilibrium are separated by a period of imbalance or disequilibrium
The idea that the way in which narratives are resolved can have particular ideological significance.
Vladimir Propp
Character types
Stuart Hall - Representation
Representation
The idea that representation is the production of meaning through language, with language defined in its broadest sense as a system of signs
The idea that the relationship between concepts and signs is governed by codes
The idea that stereotyping, as a form of representation, reduces people to a few
Simple characteristics or traits
The idea that stereotyping tends to occur where there are inequalities
of power, as subordinate or excluded groups are constructed as different or ‘other’ (e.g. Through ethnocentrism).
David Gauntlet
Identity
The idea that the media provide us with ‘tools’ or resources that we use to construct our identities
The idea that whilst in the past the media tended to convey singular, straightforward messages about ideal types of male and female identities, the media today offer us a more diverse range of stars, icons and characters from whom we may pick and mix different ideas.
Curran and seaton
Power of media industry
The idea that the media is controlled by a small number of companies primarily driven by the logic of profit and power
The idea that media concentration generally limits or inhibits variety, creativity and quality
The idea that more socially diverse patterns of ownership help to create the conditions for more varied and adventurous media productions.
Albert Bandura
Media effects
The idea that the media is controlled by a small number of companies primarily driven by the logic of profit and power
The idea that media concentration generally limits or inhibits variety, creativity and quality
The idea that more socially diverse patterns of ownership help to create the conditions for more varied and adventurous media productions.
George Gerbner
Cultivation
The idea that exposure to repeated patterns of representation over long periods of time can shape and influence the way in which people perceive the world around them (i.e. Cultivating particular views and opinions)
The idea that cultivation reinforces mainstream values (dominant ideologies).
Claude Lévi-Strauss
Structuralism
The idea that texts can best be understood through an examination of their underlying structure
The idea that meaning is dependent upon (and produced through) pairs of oppositions
The idea that the way in which these binary oppositions are resolved can have particular ideological significance.
Jean Baudrillard
Postmodernism
The idea that in postmodern culture the boundaries between the ‘real’ world and the world of the media have collapsed and that it is no longer possible to distinguish between reality and simulation
The idea that in a postmodern age of simulacra we are immersed in a world of images which no longer refer to anything ‘real’
The idea that media images have come to seem more ‘real’ than the reality they supposedly represent (hyperreality).
Liesbet van Zoonen
Feminist
The idea that gender is constructed through discourse, and that its meaning varies according to cultural and historical context
The idea that the display of women’s bodies as objects to be looked at is a core element of western patriarchal culture
The idea that in mainstream culture the visual and narrative codes that are used to construct the male body as spectacle differ from those used to objectify the female body.
Action code
Something that happens in the narrative that tells the audience that some action will follow, for example in a scene from a soap opera, a couple are intimate in a bedroom and the camera shows the audience the husband’s car pulling up at the front of the house.
Audience segmentation
Where a target audience is divided up due to the diversity and range of programmes and channels. This makes it difficult for one programme to attract a large target audience.
Audience positioning
The way in which media products place audiences (literally or metaphorically) in relation to a particular point of view. For example, audiences may be positioned with a particular character or positioned to adopt a specific ideological perspective.
ARC OF TRANSFORMATION
The emotional changes a character goes through in the process of the narrative. The events in the story mean that they will ‘transform’ by the end of the story.
Audience categorisation
How media producers group audiences (e.g. by age, gender ethnicity) to target their products.
Audience consumption
The way in which audiences engage with media products (e.g. viewing a TV programme, playing a video game, reading a blog or magazine). Methods of consumption have changed significantly due to the development of digital technologies.
Active audience
Audiences actively engage in selecting media products to consume and interpreting their meanings.
Appeal
The way in which products attract and interest an audience, e.g. through the use of stars, familiar genre conventions etc.
Aspirational
In terms of a media text, one that encourages the audience to want more money, up-market consumer items and a higher social position.
Attract
How media producers create appeal to audiences to encourage them to consume the product.
Audience interpretation
The way in which audiences ‘read’ the meanings in, and make sense of, media products.
Audience response
How audiences react to media products e.g. by accepting the intended meanings (preferred reading).
Audio/sound
How sound is used to communicate meaning - voice-over, dialogue, music, SFX, diegetic, non diegetic etc.
Avatar
A player’s representation of themselves within a game.
Back story
Part of a narrative which may be the experiences of a character or the circumstances of an event that occur before the action or narrative of a media text. It is a device that gives the audience more information and makes the main story more credible.
Binary opposites
Where texts incorporate examples of opposite values; for example, good versus evil, villain versus hero. These can be apparent in the characters, narrative or themes.
Brand identity
The association the audience make with the brand, for example Chanel or Nike, built up over time and reinforced by the advertising campaigns and their placement.
Broad sheet
A larger newspaper that publishes more serious news, for example The Daily Telegraph has maintained its broadsheet format.
Camera angles
The angle of the camera in relation to the subject. For example, a high angle shot (shot of a character from above) may make them appear more vulnerable.
Camera shots
The type of shot and framing in relation to the subject, for example, close-up shots are often used to express emotion.
Caption
Words that accompany an image that help to explain its meaning.
Caption
That which makes the channel recognisable to audiences and different from any other channel. Presenters, stars, programme genres and specific programmes all contribute to a channel’s identity.
Circulation
The dissemination of media products to audiences/users - the method will depend on the media form e.g. circulation of print magazines, broadcast of television programmes etc.
Connotation
The suggested meanings attached to a sign, e.g., the red car in the advert suggests speed and power.
Conventions
What the audience expects to see in a particular media text, for example the conventions of science fiction films may include: aliens, scientists, other worlds, gadgets, representations of good and evil, etc. Useful headings to discuss conventions are: characters, setting, iconography, narrative, technical codes and representation.
Convergence
The coming together of previously separate media industries and/or platforms; often the result of advances in technology whereby one device or platform contains a range of different features. The mobile phone, for example, allows the user to download and listen to music, view videos, tweet artists etc. All this can be done through one portable device.
Cover lines
These suggest the content to the reader and often contain teasers and rhetorical questions. These relate to the genre of the magazine.
Cross platform marketing
In media terms, a text that is distributed and exhibited across a range of media formats or platforms. This may include film, television, print, radio and the Internet.
Cultural capital
The media tastes and preferences of an audience, traditionally linked to social class/background.
Demographic category
A group in which consumers are placed according to their age, sex, income, profession, etc. The categories range from A to E where categories A and B are the wealthiest and most influential members of society.
Denotation
The literal meaning of a sign, e.g. the car in the advert is red.
Diegetic sound
Sound that comes from the fictional world, for example the sound of a gun firing, the cereal being poured into the bowl in an advert, etc.
Discourse
The topics, language and meanings or values behind them within a media text. The discourse of lifestyle magazines, for example, tends to revolve around body image and narcissism.
Distribution
The methods by which media products are delivered to audiences, including the marketing campaign. These methods will depend upon the product (for example, distribution companies in the film industry organise the release of the films, as well as their promotion).
Diversification
Where media organisations who have specialised in producing media products in one form move into producing content across a range of forms.
Editing
The way in which the shots move from one to the other (transitions), e.g. fade, cut, etc. Fast cutting may increase the pace and therefore the tension of the text, for example.
Encoding, decoding
Media producers encode messages and meanings in products that are decoded, or interpreted, by audiences.
Enigma code
A narrative device which increases tension and audience interest by only releasing bits of information, for example teasers in a film trailer or narrative strands that are set up at the beginning of a drama/film that make the audience ask questions; part of a restricted narrative.
Equilibrium
In relation to narrative, a state of balance or stability (in Todorov’s theory the equilibrium is disrupted and ultimately restored).
Ethnocentric
A belief in the superiority of one’s own ethnic group or culture. For example, a newspaper will be more concerned to cover stories that are closely related to the reader and their concerns. Tabloid and local papers only tend to cover international news stories if they can relate them specifically to their readers.
Ethos
The beliefs, values and customs of, for example, media organisations. In television, for example, what the channel believes in and what it sees as its role. The ethos is usually set out in the channel’s charter.
Fan
An enthusiast or aficionado of a particular media form or product.
Feature
In magazine terms, the main, or one of the main, stories in an edition. Features are generally located in the middle of the magazine, and cover more than one or two pages.
Flexi narrative
A more complex narrative structure with layers of interweaving storylines. This challenges the audience and keeps them watching.
Four c’s
This stands for Cross Cultural Consumer Characteristics and was a way of categorising consumers into groups through their motivational needs. The main groups were Mainstreamers, Aspirers, Explorers, Succeeders and Reformers.
Franchise
An entire series of, for example, a film including the original film and all those that follow.
Gate keepers
The people responsible for deciding the most appropriate stories to appear in newspapers. They may be the owner, editor or senior journalists. They will only let the stories most appropriate for the ideology of the paper ‘through the gate’.
Genre
Media texts can often be grouped into genres that all share similar conventions. Science fiction is a genre, as are teenage magazines, etc.
Global
Worldwide - e.g. a media product with global reach is a product that is distributed around the world.
Hegemony
This derives from the theory of cultural hegemony by Antonio Gramsci. Hegemony is the dominance of one group over another, often supported by legitimating norms and ideas. For example, the dominant social position in society is taken by men and the subordinate one by women.
Horizontal integration
Where a media conglomerate is made up of different companies that produce and sell similar products, often as a result of mergers. For example a company with interests in film, TV, magazines newspaper.
House style
Where a media conglomerate is made up of different companies that produce and sell similar products, often as a result of mergers. For example a company with interests in film, TV, magazines newspaper.
Hybrid genre
Media texts that incorporate elements of more than one genre and are therefore more difficult to classify are genre hybrids. Dr Who, for example, is a science fiction/fantasy television drama.
Hypodermic needle theory
Generally acknowledged to be an out of date media effects theory which suggests that an audience will have a mass response to a media text. The idea is that the media product injects an idea into the mind of an audience who are assumed to be passive and as a result will all respond in the same way.
Iconography
The props, costumes, objects and backgrounds associated with a particular genre; for example, in a police series you would expect to see, uniforms, blue flashing lights, scene of crime tape and police radios.
Ideology
A set of messages, values and beliefs that may be encoded into media products.
Independent film
A film made outside of the financial and artistic control of a large mainstream film company. A truly independent film will be privately conceived and funded. However, few films made are really ‘independent’. This more commonly refers to a film that is made by a smaller film company on a low budget.
Independent record label
A record label that operates without the funding of, and that is not necessarily linked to, a major record label.
Intellectual properties
A legal concept which refers to creations of the mind for which the owner’s rights are recognised. These rights cover such intangible assets as music, literary and artistic works; discoveries and inventions; and words, phrases, symbols, and designs.
Interactive audiences
The ways in which audiences can become actively involved with a product, for example by posting a response to a blog or live tweeting during a television programme.
Intertextual
Where one media text makes reference to aspects of another text within it. For example, referencing a scene from a film in a television advertisement. Audiences enjoy recognising intertextual references.
Intertextuality
Where one media product intertextually references another.
Layout and design
The way in which a page has been designed to attract the target audience. This includes the font styles used, the positioning of text and images and the use of colour.
Linear narrative
Where the narrative unfolds in chronological order from beginning to end.
Ludology
The study of games and those who play them, relevant to video games.
Masculinity
The perceived characteristics generally considered to define what it is to be a man. These can change according to sociological and cultural variations
Mass audience
The traditional idea of the audience as one large, homogenous group.
Conglomerates
A company that owns other companies across a range of media platforms. This increases their domination of the market and their ability to distribute and exhibit their product.
Media forms
Types of media products, for example television, newspapers, advertising.
Media language
The specific elements of a media product that communicate meanings to audiences, e.g. visual codes, audio codes, technical codes, language.
Media platform
The range of different ways of communicating with an audience, for example newspapers, the Internet, and television.
Mediation
The way in which a media text is constructed in order to represent a version of reality; constructed through selection, organisation and focus.
Mis-en-scene
In analysis of moving image products, how the combination of images in the frame creates meaning; how individual shots in a film or photograph have been composed.
Misrepresentation
Certain social groups (usually minority groups) may be represented in a way that is inappropriate and not based on reality.
MMO, RPG
Massively multi-player online role-playing game.
Mode of address
The way in which a media text ‘speaks to’ its target audience. For example, teenage magazines have a chatty informal mode of address; the news has a more formal mode of address.
Narrative
The ‘story’ that is told by the media text. All media texts, not just fictional texts, have a narrative. For example, magazines have a clear beginning, middle and end. Most narratives are linear and follow a specific structure (see Todorov).
News agency
The list of stories that may appear in a particular paper. The items on the news agenda will reflect the style and ethos of the paper.
Niche audience
A relatively small audience with specialised interests, tastes, and backgrounds.
Non diegetic sound
Sound that comes from outside the fictional world, for example a voiceover, romantic mood music etc.
Non linear narrative
Here the narrative manipulates time and space. It may begin in the middle and then include flashbacks and other narrative devices.
Open world
In an open world computer game the player can move freely though the virtual world and is not restricted by levels and other barriers to free roaming.
Opinion leaders
People in society who may affect the way in which others interpret a particular media text. With regard to advertising, this may be a celebrity or other endorser recommending a product.
Passive audience
The idea (now widely regarded as outdated) that audiences do not actively engage with media products, but passively consume and accept the messages that producers communicate.
Patriarchal society
A society or culture that is male dominated.
Pick and mix theory
Suggested by British sociologist and media theorist, David Gauntlett. He asserted the autonomy of the audience and challenged the notion that audiences are immediately affected by what they read. He maintains that audiences are more sophisticated than this and will select aspects of the media texts that best suit their needs and ignore the rest.
Plurality
In a media context, this refers to a range of content to suit many people.
Political bias
Where a newspaper may show support for a political party through its choice of stories, style of coverage, cartoons, etc. It may be subtle and implicit or explicit as in the case of the tabloid newspapers on election day.
Privileged spectator position
Where the camera places the audience in a superior position within the narrative. The audience can then anticipate what will follow.
Production
The process by which media products are constructed.
Products
Media texts, including television programmes, magazines, video games, newspapers etc. as well as online, social and participatory platforms.
Public service broadcaster
A radio and television broadcaster that is financed by public money (e.g. the licence fee in the UK) and is seen to offer a public service by catering for a range of audiences and providing information, as well as entertainment.
Realism
A style of presentation that claims to portray ‘real life’ accurately and authentically.
Regulator
A person or body that supervises a particular industry.
REPERTOIRE OF ELEMENTS
Key features that distinguish one genre from another.
Representation
The way in which key groups or aspects of society are presented by the media, e.g. gender, race, age, the family, etc. Literally, a re-representation or constructed version of that which is shown.
Selection and combination
Media producers actively choose elements of media language and place them alongside others to create specific representations or versions of reality.
Sexual objectification
The practice of regarding a person as an object to be viewed only in terms of their sexual appeal and with no consideration of any other aspect of their character or personality.
Sign/code
Something which communicates meaning, e.g., colours, sounds. The meaning of the sign changes according to the context, e.g., the colour red can mean passion, love, danger or speed depending on how and where it is used.
Simulcast
The streaming of live radio programmes from the website at the same time as they are broadcast on the radio.
Specialised audience
A non-mass, or niche, audience that may be defined by a particular social group (for example young, aspirational females) or by a specific interest (for example skydiving).
Splash
The story that is given the most prominence on the front page of a newspaper.
Stereotype
An exaggerated representation of someone or something. It is also where a certain group are associated with a certain set of characteristics, for example all Scotsmen are mean, blondes are dumb, etc. Stereotypes can be quick ways of communicating information in adverts and dramas, e.g. the rebellious teenager in a soap opera, as they are easily recognisable to audiences.
Stripped
A technique used in radio and television whereby a certain programme is broadcast at the same time every day. In radio this attracts an audience who associate a particular programme with their daily routine, for example driving home from work.
Sub genre
Where a genre is sub-divided into smaller categories each of which has their own set of conventions. For example, the television drama genre can be sub-divided into teen drama, hospital drama, costume drama, etc.
Subject specific lexis
The specific language and vocabulary used to engage the audience. Subject-specific lexis used on the front cover of the magazine will make the reader feel part of the group who belong to the world of that magazine. For example, terminology used on the front covers of gaming magazines.
Synergy
The combination of elements to maximise profits within a media organisation or product. For example, where a film soundtrack sells the film and the film sells the soundtrack.
Tabloid
Refers to the dimensions of a newspaper; a tabloid is smaller and more compact in size. However, there are further connotations attached to the term and it also tends to refer to a newspaper whose content focuses on lighter news, for example celebrity gossip, sport and television.
Target audience
The people at whom the media text is aimed.
Technical codes
These are the way in which the text has been produced to communicate meanings and are part of media language (see Section 8).
Textual poaching
The way in which audiences or fans may take particular texts and interpret or reinvent them in different ways e.g. by creating fan fiction.
Underrepresentation
Certain social groups (usually minority groups) may be rarely represented or be completely absent from media products.
Users and gratification theory
Suggests that active audiences seek out and use different media texts in order to satisfy a need and experience different pleasures.
Vertical integration
Vertically integrated companies own all or most of the chain of production and distribution for the product. For example, a film company that also owns a chain of multiplex cinemas to exhibit the film and merchandise outlets.
Viewpoints
Different perspectives in relation to values, attitudes, beliefs or ideologies.
Viral marketing
Where the awareness of the product or the advertising campaign is spread through less conventional ways including social networks and the Internet. Viral marketing is so named because many of the messages use ‘hosts’ to spread themselves rapidly, like a biological virus.
Visual codes
The visual aspects of the product that construct meaning and are part of media language, for example clothing, expression, and gesture (see Section 8).
Window on the world
The idea that media texts, particularly those that present aspects of reality, for example news programmes, are showing the audience the ‘real’ world as it happens.
Plurality
In a media context, this refers to a range of content to suit many people.
Political bias
Where a newspaper may show support for a political party through its choice of stories, style of coverage, cartoons, etc. It may be subtle and implicit or explicit as in the case of the tabloid newspapers on election day.
Privileged spectator position
Where the camera places the audience in a superior position within the narrative. The audience can then anticipate what will follow.
Production
The process by which media products are constructed.
Products
Media texts, including television programmes, magazines, video games, newspapers etc. as well as online, social and participatory platforms.
Public service broadcaster
A radio and television broadcaster that is financed by public money (e.g. the licence fee in the UK) and is seen to offer a public service by catering for a range of audiences and providing information, as well as entertainment.
Realism
A style of presentation that claims to portray ‘real life’ accurately and authentically.
Regulator
A person or body that supervises a particular industry.
REPERTOIRE OF ELEMENTS
Key features that distinguish one genre from another.
Representation
The way in which key groups or aspects of society are presented by the media, e.g. gender, race, age, the family, etc. Literally, a re-representation or constructed version of that which is shown.
Selection and combination
Media producers actively choose elements of media language and place them alongside others to create specific representations or versions of reality.
Sexual objectification
The practice of regarding a person as an object to be viewed only in terms of their sexual appeal and with no consideration of any other aspect of their character or personality.
Sign/code
Something which communicates meaning, e.g., colours, sounds. The meaning of the sign changes according to the context, e.g., the colour red can mean passion, love, danger or speed depending on how and where it is used.
Simulcast
The streaming of live radio programmes from the website at the same time as they are broadcast on the radio.
Specialised audience
A non-mass, or niche, audience that may be defined by a particular social group (for example young, aspirational females) or by a specific interest (for example skydiving).
Splash
The story that is given the most prominence on the front page of a newspaper.
Stereotype
An exaggerated representation of someone or something. It is also where a certain group are associated with a certain set of characteristics, for example all Scotsmen are mean, blondes are dumb, etc. Stereotypes can be quick ways of communicating information in adverts and dramas, e.g. the rebellious teenager in a soap opera, as they are easily recognisable to audiences.
Stripped
A technique used in radio and television whereby a certain programme is broadcast at the same time every day. In radio this attracts an audience who associate a particular programme with their daily routine, for example driving home from work.
Sub genre
Where a genre is sub-divided into smaller categories each of which has their own set of conventions. For example, the television drama genre can be sub-divided into teen drama, hospital drama, costume drama, etc.
Subject specific lexis
The specific language and vocabulary used to engage the audience. Subject-specific lexis used on the front cover of the magazine will make the reader feel part of the group who belong to the world of that magazine. For example, terminology used on the front covers of gaming magazines.
Synergy
The combination of elements to maximise profits within a media organisation or product. For example, where a film soundtrack sells the film and the film sells the soundtrack.
Tabloid
Refers to the dimensions of a newspaper; a tabloid is smaller and more compact in size. However, there are further connotations attached to the term and it also tends to refer to a newspaper whose content focuses on lighter news, for example celebrity gossip, sport and television.
Target audience
The people at whom the media text is aimed.
Technical codes
These are the way in which the text has been produced to communicate meanings and are part of media language (see Section 8).
Textual poaching
The way in which audiences or fans may take particular texts and interpret or reinvent them in different ways e.g. by creating fan fiction.
Underrepresentation
Certain social groups (usually minority groups) may be rarely represented or be completely absent from media products.
Users and gratification theory
Suggests that active audiences seek out and use different media texts in order to satisfy a need and experience different pleasures.
Vertical integration
Vertically integrated companies own all or most of the chain of production and distribution for the product. For example, a film company that also owns a chain of multiplex cinemas to exhibit the film and merchandise outlets.
Viewpoints
Different perspectives in relation to values, attitudes, beliefs or ideologies.
Viral marketing
Where the awareness of the product or the advertising campaign is spread through less conventional ways including social networks and the Internet. Viral marketing is so named because many of the messages use ‘hosts’ to spread themselves rapidly, like a biological virus.
Visual codes
The visual aspects of the product that construct meaning and are part of media language, for example clothing, expression, and gesture (see Section 8).
Window on the world
The idea that media texts, particularly those that present aspects of reality, for example news programmes, are showing the audience the ‘real’ world as it happens.
Stuart Hall - Reception
Reception
The idea that communication is a process involving encoding by producers and decoding by audiences
The idea that there are three hypothetical positions from which messages and meanings may be decoded:
The dominant-hegemonic position: the encoder’s intended meaning (the preferred reading) is fully understood and accepted
The negotiated position: the legitimacy of the encoder’s message is acknowledged in general terms, although the message is adapted or negotiated to better fit the decoder’s own individual experiences or context
The oppositional position: the encoder’s message is understood, but the decoder disagrees with it, reading it in a contrary or oppositional way.
