theories (c) Flashcards
What is Stuart Hall’s Reception theory?
-how the audience view a media and how the newspaper/editor/writer accomplishes this
-preferred/dominant reading= how the newspaper wants something to be portrayed and the audience/readers see it that way
-the audience decode the meaning of things instinctively and then have an opinion of what they’ve decoded->Hall’s theory is about how different media is decoded by an audience and whether the producers ideas and meanings behind the media has been viewed accurately
What is Roland Barthes’ theory of semiotics?
-anything in culture can be a sign and send a specific message
-there are hidden meanings in media
-a sign isn’t always pictorial
-icon=shared tangible qualities with the object (a real heart)
-index=applied association with the object (a love heart)
-symbol=is a matter of convention and the symbols have to be taught until known (clutching chest=heart attack)
What is semiotics?
-the study of signs and symbols and how they can communicate meaning in different contexts
-it can help you create effective media messages by understanding how your audience interprets the signs and symbols you use in your content
What’s an a/b test and what does it do which supports Barthes’ theory of semiotics?
-they do an a/b test to see what is easier to understand and create a careful design to learn a new function and to see how the audience will depict the main intent of the object and see if it needs to be changed in any way
What is Agenda setting theory?
-suggests that the media is able to influence how we think or feel about particular topics
-this may be to serve a particular agenda such as inciting fear of immigration
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What is agenda setting function theory?
-the media can’t tell us what to think but it can tell us ideas about what to think
What is Gerbner’s cultivation theory?
-analyses the relationship between the media and you
-the media has a gradual effect on its audience
-the more you consume the more you’re impacted
-the media convinces the audiences views
-it can alter the audience’s viewpoints on the world and the more you consume the more it impacts you
-eg playing violent video games makes you more violent over time
What is Baudrillard’s theory of simulacra, simulation, postmodernism and hyperreality?
-he argues that media products evolve and society ‘wants more’
-we have media products like the news which can be more heightened (intense) version of reality->could dramatize the reality
-orange is reality
-orange juice is heightened version of reality/orange
-simulacra=packaged to look like reality but is an artificial copy
-hyperreality=a state where we cannot tell the different between the reality and simulacra
-eg Disney World is the embodiment of simulacra->the reality of the real world is taken away
What is Gilroy’s theory of race and post-colonialism?
-the period of colonisation (1500-1900) still has a massive impact on today
-ethnic minorities are misrepresented and marginalised ->British minorities are more powerful
-representations based on binary opposition create divisions and boundaries between groups of people
-people from non-white ethnic groups may demonstrate diasporic identities which are complex and hybrid (and are misrepresented or under-represented in the media
What is Hall’s theory of representation?
-how the audience plays a key role in interpreting media messages
-what we bring to the text to help us interpret it->could lead to us rejecting it due to our race or upbringing
What is Todorov’s theory?
-narrative forms in media ->equilibrium, disequilibrium and (new) equilibrium
What’s Neale’s theory?
-different genres through different factors->overall aura of media-> identify the genres of a piece of media->jump scares in horror/thriller
What’s Gaunlett’s theory?
-people are individual but belong in larger groups->media doesn’t create groups it represents them-> focuses on culture
What is Curran and Seaton’s theory?
-powerful companies only care about profit and power->smaller businesses find it harder to get bigger->large amount of the media is owned by just 3 people
What is Bandura’s theory?
-people learn from their own experiences as well as watching others
-the long term effects of media on shaping people’s perceptions of things and beliefs
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