AQA – A2 - SECTION B – ‘REPRESENTATIONS’

Media Studies -Renier van Loggerenberg

How has globalization and cultural

imperialism affected media representations

of minority groups?

MEST 3 EXAMINATION SECTION B – CASE STUDY

1. REPRESENTATIONS IN THE MEDIA2. THE IMPACT OF NEW/ DIGITAL MEDIA3. CHOOSE & ANSWER 1 Q ONLY4. 1HR – 48 MARKS5. IN-DEPTH AREA OF RESEARCH INVOLVING THE

CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF A RANGE OF MEDIA TEXTS

6. DEVELOP VIEWS UPON REPRESENTATION/DIGITAL MEDIA

7. WRITE ABOUT YOUR VIEWS IN THE EXAM. SUPPORTING THEM WITH EVIDENCE AND EXAMPLES FROM YOUR OWN CASE STUDIES

8. DETAILED REFERENCES TO SPECIFIC TEXTS YOU HAVE STUDIED

9. http://filestore.aqa.org.uk/subjects/AQA-2570-W-TRB-U03EXECAN2JUN11.PDF

YOU WILL NEED TO:1. ANALYSE HOW REPRESENTATIONS ARE

CONSTRUCTED IN VARIOUS MEDIA TEXTS2. CONSIDER THE POLITICS OF

REPRESENTATION AND THEIR PRODUCTION

3. CONSIDER CROSS-CULTURAL FACTORS (IF RELEVANT)

4. EXPLORE THE APPEAL OF REPRESENTATIONS FOR AUDIENCES AND HOW AUDIENCES INTERPRET REPRESENTATIONS

Globalisation http://reniermedia.wordpress.com/2013/0

6/07/globalisation-theory/

Audience Theories

http://reniermedia.wordpress.com/2012/06/04/audience-theories/

Your case study Gay men Lesbians Black men Transgender Muslims Mental disabilities. East Asians.

WHICH THEORIES APPLY?

Theories you must know Dyer's (1979) theory that the powerful often stereotype the less powerful. e.g. Hegemonic institutions

such as The Sun who often stereotype vulnerable groups such as teenagers who are portrayed to be violent and hedonistic.

Chomsky's (1988) theory that hegemonic institutions such as the Hollywood factory are related to Political Economy.

Butler's (1990) theory that heterosexuals gain much more representation in media as compared to homosexuals.

Del Sola Poole's (1977) theory that new media has utopian qualities - Mention 'Public Sphere' and the opportunity of people representing themselves through new media such as E-Media. 

Laura Mulvey's (1995) theory that males are often the subjects whereas females are often the objects - The 'Male Gaze' - Females are viewed voyeuristically.

Habermas's (1991) 'Cultivation theory' that violence and sex in media has caused people to be 'desensitised' due to repeatedly viewing it.

The 'Uses and Gratification' theory - "What do we do with media?" Relates to active audiences. Relationship of media and personal lives, escapism etc

The 'Hypodermic needle' theory - Relates to passive audiences. The idea that the media influences are thinking and opinions

Representations and stereotyping

Gerbner and Gross

Gender and sexuality

Dis/difability

Marxism and hegemony

Tessa Perkins and stereotype

MEDIA STUDIESAudience Theory

Audience Theory Three questions:1) Why do audiences choose

to consume certain texts?2) How do they consume

texts?3) What happens when they

consume texts?

Audience Theory There are three theories of audience

that we can apply to help us come to a better understanding about the relationship between texts and audience.

1. The Effects Model or the Hypodermic Model

2. The Uses and Gratifications Model3. Reception Theory

The Effects Model The Effects Model The consumption of media texts has an

effect or influence upon the audience It is normally considered that this effect is

negative Audiences are passive and powerless to

prevent the influence The power lies with the message of the

text

The Effects Model This model is also called: The Hypodermic Model

Here, the messages in media texts are injected into the audience by the powerful, syringe-like, media

The audience is powerless to resist Therefore, the media works like a drug

and the audience is drugged, addicted, doped or duped.

The Effects Model Key evidence for the Effects Model

1. The Frankfurt School theorised in the 1920s and 30s that the mass media acted to restrict and control audiences to the benefit of corporate capitalism and governments

2. The Bobo Doll experimentThis is a very controversial piece of research that apparently proved that children copy violent behaviour

The Effects Model The Bobo Doll

Experiment This was conducted in 1961 by Albert

Bandura

The Effects Model In the experiment: Children watched a video where an adult

violently attacked a clown toy called a Bobo Doll

The children were then taken to a room with attractive toys that they were not permitted to touch

The children were then led to another room with Bobo Dolls

88% of the children imitated the violent behaviour that they had earlier viewed. 8 months later 40% of the children reproduced the same violent behaviour

The Effects Model The conclusion reached was

that children will imitate violent media content

There are many problems with the experiment. What do you think are the flaws with the methodology? Does it indeed prove that children imitate violent media content?

The Effects Model The Effects Model (backed up by

the Bobo Doll experiment) is still the dominant theory used by politicians, some parts of the media and some religious organisations in attributing violence to the consumption of media texts.

The Effects Model Key examples sited as causing or being

contributory factors are: The film Child’s Play 3 in the murder of

James Bulger in 1993 The game Manhunt in the murder of

Stefan Pakeerah in 2004 by his friend Warren LeBlanc

The film A Clockwork Orange (1971) in a number of rapes and violent attacks

The film Severance (2006) in the murder of Simon Everitt

The Effects Model In each case there was a media and

political outcry for the texts to be banned In some cases laws were changed, films

banned, and newspapers demanded the burning of films

Subsequently, in each case it was found that no case could be proven to demonstrate a link between the text and the violent acts

The Effects Model The Effects Model contributes to

Moral Panics whereby: The media produce inactivity, make

us into students who won’t pass their exams or ‘couch potatoes’ who make no effort to get a job

The media produces violent ‘copycat’ behaviour or mindless shopping in response to advertisements

The Uses and Gratifications Model

It is still unclear that there is any link between the consumption of violent media texts and violent imitative behaviour

It is also clear the theory is flawed in that many people do watch violent texts and appear not to be influenced

Therefore a new theory is necessary This is called the: Uses and Gratifications

Model

The Uses and Gratifications Model

The Uses and Gratifications Model is the opposite of the Effects Model

The audience is active The audience uses the text & is

NOT used by it The audience uses the text for its

own gratification or pleasure

The Uses and Gratifications Model

Here, power lies with the audience NOT the producers

This theory emphasises what audiences do with media texts – how and why they use them

Far from being duped by the media , the audience is free to reject, use or play with media meanings as they see fit

The Uses and Gratifications Model

Audiences therefore use media texts to gratify needs for:

Diversion Escapism Information Pleasure Comparing relationships and lifestyles

with one’s own Sexual stimulation

The Uses and Gratifications Model

The audience is in control and consumption of the media helps people with issues such as:

Learning Emotional satisfaction Relaxation Help with issues of personal identity Help with issues of social identity Help with issues of aggression and

violence

The Uses and Gratifications Model

Controversially the theory suggests the consumption of violent images can be helpful rather than harmful

The theory suggests that audiences act out their violent impulses through the consumption of media violence

The audience’s inclination towards violence is therefore sublimated, and they are less likely to commit violent acts

Reception Theory Given that the Effects model and the

Uses and Gratifications have their problems and limitations a different approach to audiences was developed by the academic Stuart Hall at Birmingham University in the 1970s

This considered how texts were encoded with meaning by producers and then decoded (understood) by audiences

Reception Theory The theory suggests that: When a producer constructs a text it is

encoded with a meaning or message that the producer wishes to convey to the audience

In some instances audiences will correctly decode the message or meaning and understand what the producer was trying to say

In some instances the audience will either reject or fail to correctly understand the message

Reception Theory Stuart Hall identified three types of

audience readings (or decoding) of the text:

1. Dominant or preferred

2. Negotiated 3. Oppositional

Reception Theory

1. Dominant Where the audience decodes

the message as the producer wants them to do and broadly agrees with it

E.g. Watching a political speech and agreeing with it

Reception Theory

2. Negotiated Where the audience accepts,

rejects or refines elements of the text in light of previously held views

E.g. Neither agreeing or disagreeing with the political speech or being disinterested

Reception Theory

3. Oppositional Where the dominant meaning is

recognised but rejected for cultural, political or ideological reasons

E.g. Total rejection of the political speech and active opposition

Reception TheoryAudience Decodes

Meaning/Message

Dominant or preferred

ProducerEncodes NegotiatedMeaning

Oppositional