Theorists

Question 1

Cultivation theory - Audiences

Answer 1

Gerbner

Exposure to repeated patterns of representation, long period of time. Shape the way we perceive the world.

Cultivation reinforces mainstream values (dominant ideologies)

Question 2

Media Effects - Audiences

Answer 2

Bandura

Media can implant ideas in mind of audience

Audience acquires attitudes, emotional response & new styles of conduct through modelling

M representations of transgressive behaviour, can lead audience members to imitate those forms.

Question 3

Ethnicity/post colonial theory - Representation

Answer 3

Paul Gilroy

Colonial discourses still inform contemporary attitudes to race & ethnicity in post-colonial era

Civilisationism constructs racial hierarchy’s & sets up binary oppositions based on notions of otherness

Question 4

Identity - Representation

Answer 4

David Gauntlett

Media provides us with tools / resources that we use to construct our identity’s

In past, media tried to portray straightforward ideas of men and women, today offers a more diverse range of stars from who we ‘pick & mix’

Question 5

Feminist theory / Van Zoonen - Representation

Answer 5

Gender constructed through discourse & meaning varies according to cultural and historical contexts

Display of women’s body’s as object, core element of western patriarchal culture. Visual & narrative codes used differently between men and women.

Question 6

Theories of representation - Representation

Answer 6

Stuart Hall

Creation of meaning through a system of signs, relationship between this is governed by codes

Stereotyping reduces people to simple characteristics of traits. Happens due to inequalities of power. Excluded groups are ‘different’

Question 7

Feminist theory / Bell hooks - Representation

Answer 7

Feminism is struggle. sexist/patriarchal oppression of women & ideology of domination

Feminism is political commitment rather than lifestyle choice. Race, class & sex determine the extent individuals are exploited

Question 8

Semiotics - Media language

Answer 8

Roland Barthes

Texts communicate meanings through signification, can have dénotations and connotations.

Constructed meanings can be self evident, achieving myth like status through process of naturalisation

Question 9

Genre theory - media language

Answer 9

Steve Neale

Genres dominated by repetition. Also marked by variation, difference & change.

They change & develop as they borrow & overlap. They exist within specific economic, institutional & industrial contexts

Question 10

Structuralism - Media Language

Answer 10

Levi Strauss

Texts best understood through examination of structure. Meaning is made through pairs of oppositions.

Way binary oppositions are resolved can have ideological significance.

Question 11

Narratology - Media Language

Answer 11

Todorov

All narratives share basic structure moving from one equilibrium to another.

Separated by imbalance, resolution is particularly ideologically significant

Question 12

Postmodernism - Media language

Answer 12

Baudrillard

Within postmodern culture the boundaries between ‘real’ world and the world of the media have collapsed and no longer possible to distinguish between reality and simulation.

In postmodern age of simulacra, immersed in a world of images which do not refer to anything ‘real’ & images have become more real than reality they represent (hyper reality)

Question 13

Theories of gender performativity - Representation

Answer 13

Judith butler

identity is constructed through performative acts, challenging that it is solely a result of expressions.

Identity is performative, not a hidden essence behind expressions.

Performativity involves repetition and ritual, not a singular act.

Question 14

Reception Theory - Audiences

Answer 14

Stuart Hall

Communication is a process involving encoding by producers and decoding by audiences.

three positions from which messages can be decoded: Dominant, Negotiated & Oppositional response

Question 15

Oppositional response - Reception / Hall

Answer 15

The message is understood, but decoder disagrees with it. Reading in a contrary or oppositional way

Question 16

Reception Theory - Audiences

Answer 16

Stuart Hall

Communication is a process involving encoding by the producers & decoding by the audiences

The audience may have 3 hypothetical different responses from which messages are decoded.

Question 17

Oppositional Response - Reception / Hall

Answer 17

The encoder’s messages understood, but the decoder disagrees with it, reading in a contrary or oppositional way

Question 18

Negotiated Response - Reception / Hall

Answer 18

The legitimacy of the encoder’s message is acknowledged, however, message is adapted to better fit decoder’s own individual experiences or context.

Question 19

Dominant Response - Reception / Hall

Answer 19

The encoder’s intended meaning/ preferred reading is fully understood.

Question 20

End of audience theory - Audiences

Answer 20

Clay shirky

The Internet and digital technologies have had a profound effect on the relations between media and individuals

Conceptualisation of audience members as passive consumers of mass media content is no longer tenable in the internet age. Consumers have become producers who ‘Speak back’ to the media in various ways. creating and sharing content with one another.

Question 21

Power and media industries - Media Industries

Answer 21

Curran and seaton

Media is controlled by a small number of companies driven by ‘Profit & Power’

Media concentration limits variety, creativity & quality. More socially diverse patterns of ownership help to create the conditions for more varied and adventurous media productions.

Question 22

Regulation - Media Industries

Answer 22

Livingstone & Lunt

Media regulation shapes content, addressing societal concerns.
It involves explicit and implicit rules for media producers.
The theory considers how regulations influence media content and audience perceptions.

Question 23

Cultural industries - Media Industries

Answer 23

Hesmondhalgh

Cultural industry companies try to minimise risk and maximise audiences/profit through vertical and horizontal integration and by formatting media productions.

Idea that largest companies now operate across many different cultural industries.

Radical potential of the Internet has been contained by its partial incorporation into a large set of cultural industries