roland barthes - semiotic theory
- hermeneutic code (enigma) - elements of mystery
- Proairetic code (action) - significator that something is going to happen
- Semantic code (connotative) - secret meaning
- Symbolic code - image meaning something else
- Cultural code (referential) - country, nationality, ethnicity
Goodwin’s 6 conventions theory
- demonstrating the genre
- association betweel lyrics and visuals
- relationship between music & visuals
- Intertextual references
- focus on the star
- voyeurism
Livingstone and lunt’s regulation theory
Regulation is hard because
- It’s hard to understand what should and shouldn’t be acceptable
- Technology made regulation nearly impossible (people can bypass control like age restrictions)
- Powerful companies can avoid regulation (newspapers)
the aim is to balance between giving people choice and protecting them
- citizen based
- consumer based
Stuart Hall’s representation theory
Stereotypes are important because
- they reflect social attitudes
- they help understanding the character
- they help building character relatability
stereotypes can be reshaped or repurposed
stereotypes are effective means of social control:
- they increase the visibility of key groups
- they infer that negative traits are natural
Van Zoonen’s feminist theory
- we lears about femininity and masculinity through media representations
- women are objectified in the media
- ideas on gender vary depending on historical/social context
Stuart Hall - reception theory
- dominant-hegemonic reading - message understood and accepted
- dominant-negotiated reading - not full agreement
- oppositional reading - meaning is rejected
David Hesmondhalgh’s minimising risk maximising profit theory
- vertical or horizontal integration
- take advantage of other media platforms
- sticking to popular genres, stars
- make sequels, spin-offs
- diversification
- control release schedule
- detailed marketing campaign
George Gerbner’s cultivation theory
- media repeats the representations of groups
- the effect builds up over time
- create ideas on what is mainstream
Paul Gilroy - post-colonialism theory
- britain is struggling from the loss of empire
- sense of self is threatened by change
Steve Neale - genre theory
- genre is the way of classifying
- genres borrow, evolve, adapt over time
- balance between conforming to conventions and creating something new
- products have to adapt genre-based formulas to appeal to the audiences
Curran and Seaton’s media power theory
- industry is dominated by the small number of large companies
- media companies are all about money and profit (bbc is the exception to evaluate)
- horizontal and vertical integration
- the products tend to be repetitive and similar because companies are sticking to what’s popular to minimise risk
- if companies are independent their products are more creative
Levi Strauss
binary opposition theory
Blumer and Katz - uses and gratification theory
our 4 basic needs are gratified by the media
1. entetainment and diversion
2. surveillance
3. social interaction
4. personal identity
Clay Shirky - end of audience theory
- there’s no such thing as a passive audience
- media is based on interactions now
- audiences like to speak back to producers- more equality of power and less hierarchy
Curran and Seaton’s theory of sensationalism
the way for a newspaper to catch readers’ attention is to
1. make them angry
2. scare them
this is useful because irrational reactions lead to wider spread of news
fear - panic - irrational decisions - seek for soution - solution is influenced by authorities who benefit from it
mean world theory
media creates a feeling that we live in the mean world when we’re not and the world is actually nice
Todorov - narrative theory
- 3 part structure - beginning, middle, end
- Beginning - equilibrium - an average world in the beginning
- Beginning/middle - we are introduced a disruption
- Middle - recognition of the disruption
- Middle - repair. Restoring the equilibrium
- End - new equilibrium. New norm
