media theories

who created the theory of semiotics and what did it mean?

Roland Barthes created the theory of semiotics which said

• texts communicate their meanings through a process of signification

• where signs, consisting of a signifier and a signified, convey cultural meanings

• meanings associated with or suggested by the sign

• audience look or signs to interpret the narrative

what are the 5 codes for Roland Barthes’ theory of semiotics?

• action code - action that implies further narrative action e.g. drawing a gun

• cultural code - any element that is dependent on people’s knowledge about how the world works because of where they live e.g. could be uses of pop culture reference like things used in The Simpsons or intertextuality

• hermeneutic code/enigma code - any element that is not explained and therefore exists as an enigma for the audience and raises questions, common in horror movies

• semantic code - elements that suggest additional meanings through connotations, giving the audience an insight into a character, setting or plot e.g. costumes to show wealth

• symbolic code - similar to semantic but deeper, often opposing meanings that create tension or wider level conflicting ideas e.g. the use of binary opposites like hot and cold to emphasise the difference

who created the genre theory and what does it mean?

Steve Neale created the genre theory

• repetition is needed to help audiences identify genres but differences are needed to create interest and sustain a genre

• genres can change and develop and merge with other genres

• audiences gain pleasure from how genres can produces something recognisable but new

• genres exist within specific economic, institutional and industrial contexts

who created the structure and equilibrium theory and what does it mean?

Tzvetan Todorov created this theory. It adds a structure to a narrative.

1. state of equilibrium - calm normal

2. disruption of equilibrium - disrupt of normality

3. recognition of disruption - realise something needs fixing

4. attempt to repair disruption - climatic fix

5. reinstatement of equilibrium - enemy overpowered/ disruption fixed

• 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.

who created the structuralism theory and what does it mean?

Claude Levi - Strauss created the theory of 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

• narrative is driven forward through opposing forces like light and dark, poverty and wealth, youth and age

who created the postmodernism theory and what does it mean?

Jean Baudrillard created this theory.

• 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 (images) 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)

who created the representation theory and what does it mean?

Stuart Hall created this theory.

• the idea that representation is the production of meaning through language/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)

who created the identity theory and what does it mean?

David Gauntlett created this theory.

• 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

who created the feminism (in media) theory and what does it mean?

Liesbet van Zoonen created this theory.

• the idea that gender is constructed through discourse (written or spoken communication), 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

who created the feminism (within people) theory and what does it mean?

bell hooks (don’t use capitals for her name) created this theory

• feminism is the struggle to end patriarchal society and fighting for equality

• feminism isn’t a lifestyle choice, you have to be politically active to call yourself a feminist

• women aren’t all discriminated against in the same way, oppression can have levels

• class and ethnicity can also influence levels of discrimination

who created the gender performativity theory and what does it mean?

Judith Butler created this theory.

• gender is a construct through performance - acting a certain way

• behaviour has to be on a regular basis, part of your routine

• actions affects views of what it is to be male/female

• the way media teaches people on what you have to do to be more male/female through what people do routinely e.g. female influencers showing themselves putting on makeup/ talking about certain things like clothes/shoes

• gender has been reproduced over time by what is show through the media - what people should be like to be male or female

who created the ethnicity and postcolonial theory and what does it mean?

Paul Gilroy created this theory.

• the idea that colonial discourses continue to inform contemporary attitudes to race and ethnicity in the postcolonial era

• the idea that civilisationism constructs racial hierarchies and sets up binary oppositions based on notions of otherness

• can still see effects of colonialism

• miniorites are often shown as powerless, dehumanised

who created the power and media industries and what does it mean?

Curran and Seaton created this theory.

• 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

who created the regulation theory and what does it mean?

Sonia Livingstone and Peter Lunt

• they say that regulation is becoming more difficult

• most regulation rules are to protect consumers from offence or harm

• this creates struggle in regulation policy between the need to further the interests of citizens by offering protection from harmful or offensive material, and the need to further the interests of consumers by ensuring choice, value for money, and market competition

who created the cultural industries theory and what does it mean?

David Hesmondhalgh created this theory.

• minimise risk, maximise profit

• ensure your company is vertically or horizontally integrated - makes company more powerful and diverse

• use different technologies and media platforms - diversify into other area of media and work across different platforms e.g. film and TV and radio and social media

• focus on what is successful and popular e.g. genres/ stars/ format(copying style of media)

• control release schedule of product e.g. releasing film at same time throughout all countries to decrease risk of pirating or spoilers OR e.g. limit release to make it seem more rare and increase hype

• good marketing campaign across different platform (360 degree marketing)

what does vertically and horizontally integrated mean?

• vertically - company buys out/ takes over another company that that does another part of production process e.g. production company buys a distribution company, two companies operate within main/umbrella company e.g. Universal, Disney

• horizontally integrated - when company buys up/takes over/shuts down companies that make similar products to make them products or shut down competition or diversify their company e.g. film company buys video game company

who created the media effects theory and what does it mean?

Albert Bandura created this theory

• the idea that the media can implant ideas in the mind of the audience directly

• the idea that audiences acquire attitudes, emotional responses and new styles of conduct through modelling

• the idea that media representations of transgressive behaviour, such as violence or physical aggression, can lead audience members to imitate those forms of behaviour

who created the Cultivation theory and what does it mean?

George Gerbner created this theory.

• 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)

• can create stereotypes of certain groups

who created the reception theory and what does it mean?

Stuart Hall created this theory.

• 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

who created the fandom theory and what does it mean?

Henry Jenkins created this theory.

• the idea that fans are active participants in the construction and circulation of textual meanings

• the idea that fans appropriate texts and read them in ways that are not fully authorised/intended by the media producers

• the idea that fans construct their social and cultural identities through borrowing and inflecting mass culture images, and are part of a participatory culture that has a vital social dimension

who created the ‘End of audience’ theory and what does it mean?

Clay Shirky created this theory.

• the idea that the Internet and digital technologies have had a profound effect on the relations between media and individuals

• the idea that the conceptualisation of audience members as passive consumers of mass media content is no longer tenable in the age of the Internet, as media consumers have now become producers who ‘speak back to’ the media in various ways, as well as creating and sharing content with one another

what did YOUNG and RUBICAM say about audiences?

4C’S - cross cultural consumer characterisation

They divided them into 7 groups depending on four core motivations.

• explorer - discovery

• aspirer - status

• mainstreamer - security

• succeeder - control

• resigned - survival

• struggler - escape

• reformer - enlightenment

who created the uses and gratifications theory and what does it mean?

Blumler and Katz created this theory.

• diversion - escape from everyday life entertainment

• personal relationships - emotional and other interactions, substituting media for family life

• personal identity - finding yourself reflected in texts, learning behaviour

• surveillance/info - news, weather, sports

who created the stock characters theory and what does it mean?

Vladimir Propp created this theory.

This theory says that there are typical character types in media

• hero

• villian

• donor - provides for hero

• false hero - pretends to be hero

• helper - sidekick

• princess - saved by hero

• dispatcher - sends hero off on task

who created the star theory and what does it mean?

Richard Dyer created this theory.

A star provides 3 things (doesn’t have to be all)

• construction - different version of the person, like a performance/stage presence is different to real personality

• ideology - represents a certain social group, fans copy style and adapt values e.g. Beyonce’s ideology of women being powerful

• commodity - stars created for profit e.g. concert tickets, merch, partnerships, movie ticket sales

who created the male and female gaze theory and what does it mean?

• male gaze - women are forced to watch themselves from a male’s perspective, women are sexualised and objectified

• female gaze - women are shown as strong, shows real female emotions and experiences on a deeper level to male gaze