Independent NDM case study: Media Factsheet research

Analysing Media Texts

• In Media Studies “text” refers to any media product such as a television programme, a film, photographs, web pages, advertisments etc.

Media Language 1: The Moving Image

• As audiences, we have a sophisticated understanding of the way moving image techniques are used but often we are unaware of precisely how sophisticated we are.
• Media producers are aware of how audiences interpret their choices and so their choices can be seen as deliberate attempts to create certain meanings.

Representing the world

• Representation is: the constructed and mediated presentation of people, things, ideas, places etc.
• Everything in the media is a representation – everything we see is being represented.
• The media re-presents people, ideas and events. What we see in the media is in some way a ‘second-hand’ version – it is clearly not the thing itself. The representation has been created or constructed by the selection of specific media language elements. In addition, everything we see in a media text has gone through some process to get to us – this is called mediation
• Sometimes, representations are seen to be a deliberate attempt to create associations and ideas for the audience.
• Advertising can be seen in this way too as the linking together of ideas and images to a product is used to persuade the audience to act in a certain way.
• Even though some media texts can be seen to be very deliberately creating ideas and associations through representations, this way of viewing the media can lead to an undermining of the audience. There is an assumption here that these intentionalist methods are always successful and the audience is ‘victim’ to the ideas created by the media. It assumes they are passive and unable to recognise the techniques being used. Clearly this is a simplistic view of the audience and does not take into account their ability to interpret information for themselves. However, advertising does work. Successful products and brands rely on it to alert the audience to the existence of their product and to persuade them to choose it over the alternatives that are available. They pay large amounts of money for space on TV, in magazines, on billboards etc. specifically for this purpose.

Stereotypes: Simplifying the Complex

• Stereotypes are: Simplified representations which focus on certain characteristics of the group and assumes these to be shared across all group members. Inherent within a stereotype is a judgement on this characteristic (usually negative – but not always).
• The media uses stereotypes to communicate complex information about a character, time period, location etc. as quickly as possible. They are able to do this as, they do not simply create stereotypes, they reflect the stereotypes that already exist within a culture. By using these stereotypes, the media can be said to be reinforcing the ideas behind them and consolidating the views they contain. Often the media is criticised for creating stereotypes, but they are usually part of the audience’s way of thinking about the world anyway
• The theorist Perkins noted that stereotypes usually have an element of truth in them which makes them plausible. 

Introduction to Audience

• Every media text is made with a view to pleasing an audience in some way. Success is measured by the audiences response to a media text and those that do not attract and maintain an audience do not survive. At the heart of this is the fact that all media texts are created in order to make money.
• If a media text is deemed successful it needs to attempt to ensure it offers appropriate pleasures (gratifications) its audience. Each media text will be targeted towards a specific group and the way it is constructed will be carefully considered in light of who the target audience is.
• Some media texts attempt to appeal to a broad range of people. Although difficult to achieve, this is an ideal way to create very large audiences and, therefore, maximise the potential for success and ultimately profit. This group, consisting of males and females, young and old and a wide range of social groups is often called the mainstream or mass audience.
• The mass audience is not the only one that can make a lot of money for media producers. Some media texts are created with a specific sub-section of the audience in mind - a niche audience. Whilst a niche audience is likely to be smaller in number than a mass audience, there are many ways appealing to a specific group can be profitable
• It is important for media producers to recognise and identify who their target audience is. It is the knowledge of who the audience is assumed to be that enables media producers to make specific choices about how to construct their media texts. This knowledge will help them decide on what content to include and how to present the content. The first consideration will always be attempting to appeal to and maintain the interest of the identified audience. Media producers are keen to give their audience what they want so that the audience are more likely to watch or read again.
• Members of a media audience cannot all be exactly the same. Media producers need to consider their target audiences as a mass in order to attempt to appeal to them. In reality there will always be differences in the way audience members access texts and the interpretations they make. The aspects of ourselves which make us individuals may also impact on the way we interpret a text. These aspects have been called subjectives… they are the things which add to the way we view and define the world around us and include: • Gender • Age • Nationality • Life experience. 
• Subjectives may go some way to explain why you and your parents like different media texts – the differences in your age and life experience means you will interpret media texts differently, will have different ways of being entertained and will have different perspectives on the content of texts. Products which aim at a niche audience attempt to capitalise on these subjectives but texts which aim at a mass audience attempt to limit their impact by focusing on things that different people are likely to share. 

Ideology: Ideas and Values within Contemporary Media

• A media text may reflect the dominant values of our culture, or indeed it may actively reinforce the dominant values, but it is important to note that media texts often challenge, contradict or even subvert the dominant values to be found in our society.
• Audience and Ideology: Stuart Hall’s critical approach A text may seek to confirm (agree with) dominant values, challenge them or even undermine them, but the text’s intention doesn’t necessarily dictate the audience’s response. Outlined below are three broad ways (developed by Stuart Hall) in which the audience could respond to the ideological messages in a text. 1. A preferred reading, when the audience responds by accepting the intended meaning of the producer and finding it relatively easy to agree with the ideological messages in the text. 2. An oppositional reading, when the audience rejects the intentions of the text. 3. A negotiated reading, when the audience works hard to accept some messages and reject others The most common type of reading is probably the negotiated reading. It is incorrect to assume that audiences simply seek out texts that will reinforce their existing beliefs and try to avoid texts that will challenge them. Audiences are capable of actively accepting and rejecting ideological messages from the same text. You can use Stuart Hall’s terms to describe the three possible ways an audience could react to a text’s ideology.