Media theories

Semiotics

Barthe

The study of signs and codes, media products show rhese through connotations and denotations which are encoded by the producers to be decoded by the audience

Genre theory

Neale

The way that media prodcuts are categorised. They are dominated by repitition and as genres change they borrow and overlap from eachother

Structuralism

Levi-Strauss

Binary opposition, In media products there is often things that directly contrasts, these can be seen as good and bad

Post modernism

Baudrillard

The idea that the boundries between the real world and the world of media has collapsed. This has lead to media to become ‘simulacura’ which is a representation of reality

Representation theory

Hall

media texts present or "represent" reality, emphasizing that identities such as race, gender, or class are not fixed but constructed through media.

Identity theory

Gauntlett

People use media content to construct their identity and explore the diverse ways they could be

Feminist theory (1)

Van Zoonen

Gender and its meaning is constructed on cultural and historical context

Feminist theory (2)

hooks

Not only gender but also race, social class and sexualtiy affects how individuals are presented in media. She particularly focuses on the representation of African-American women

Gender performativity

Butler

Gender is a performance rather than a universal who you are

Post colonial theory

Gilroy

Colonialism continues to inform contemporary attitudes to race and ethnicity for example society creating a hierarchy of races which can be shown through the belief that white people are better than black people

Power and media industries

Curran and Seaton

The media is controlled by a small number of companies driven by a small number of companies, driven by profit and power this limits variety, creativity and quality

Regulation theory

Livingstone and Lunt

The needs of a citizen are in conflict with the needs of the consumer, because protection can limot freedom

Cultivation theory

Gerbner

Long term exposure to media shapes how media consumers perceieve the world and conduct themselves

Reception theory

Hall

Media products are encoded/decoded with dominant/perfered, oppositional and negotiated readings

End of audience

Shirky

Modern audiences are turning into creators, audiences are no longer passive due to social media. Audiences can now interact with producers in ways never seen before