Looking at an edition of a national tabloid, in what ways are celebrity related stories presented in this edition? Account for these representations.
Celebrity stories are presented as exciting, important and newsworthy. For example an article in The Sun is about Katie Price getting a new tattoo with her new boyfriend, where the paper mentions the "X" over her Peter Andre tattoo. Although many people get a tattoo, this report appears to be more newsworthy because she is a celebrity with newsworthy history- such as her ex husbands. This represents celebrities lives as dramatic like a soap opera, which represents them as somewhat unreal or extra-ordinary.
Similarly, celebrity related stories are represented as important for having a neagtive effect on society. For example an article called X rated TV ban is about how celebries are often presented in the media and how it can have a negative impact on audiences. This is surtured by shots of scantily-clad celebs like Rihanna and Christina from their performance on the X Factor, which previously caused concern in the media for their inapprpriate dancing before watershed. This brings up issues of desensitisation, as more and more scantily clad celebrities are seen in the media,X Factor possibly thought audiences were desensitied to it and therefore added it to their 8pm results show. It also brings up issues to do with the copy cat theory. This is also sutured by a shot of little childrens bikinis with the caption "skimpy kids clothes", something that recently has become a moral panic in society. Although this issues have been a concern in the media, it all just reinforces negative steroetypes about celebiries; that they are bad and negatively influence their audiences. However this relies on audiences being passive.
A double page spread in The Sun was dedicated to a former Boxing champion, Hnery Cooper that recently died, which presents celebrity stories as "loyal shrines" in the media. The title "Our 'ero 'enery" is informal mode of address which puts audiences and the newspaper as loyal fans of the celebrity. They have selected a shot of him winning against Mohammed Ali, probably his biggest achievement, again relecting the positivity and loyalty of the newspaper, especially because he was the "Brit who knocked down Ali" showing patrotism. It appears that when a celebrity is alive, the media negatvily represent celebrities and comment on the bad things and their flaws. However, when they die, they become loyal and celebrate their acheivements, which argubaly is seen in this text.
Monday 2 May 2011
Uses and Gratifications- Exam Practice
Look at a TV listing. What evidence of audience uses and gratifications in consuming media texts can you see from this analysis?
Entertainment
Looking through the TV guide can somewhat be relaxing and allows escapisim from real life as audiences delve into the TV world- a parallel world where the TV guide is like a giant news report providing information on what to expect.
Identification
Audiences themselves might not be aware of it, but it could be argued that audiences identify their personal values or their own situations through the shows they watch. For example, audiences are looking to watch Boudica's Lost Tribe, they have intrests in history compared to someone who plans to watch Waterloo Road.
Social interaction
There is very little or no sociall interaction. This is because TV guide choices are well informing enough to provie what to you need to watch a show. If audiences want social interaction, they can get that through social networking or by talking to friends and family.
Information and Education
Most importantly, TV listings give audiences lots of valuable information for them to enjoy what they love watching. Audiences might actively choose to look in the guide to find out about a particular episode of Gossip Girl on Wednesday. However, they may not want to know about whats happening in Grand Designs on the same day. This gives audience power over what to watch. Passive audiences who might just be flicking through the paper without looking for anything will still get information. There is also a element of self learning for audiences who actively decide to look for particular texts rather than being told by the TV for example.
Entertainment
Looking through the TV guide can somewhat be relaxing and allows escapisim from real life as audiences delve into the TV world- a parallel world where the TV guide is like a giant news report providing information on what to expect.
Identification
Audiences themselves might not be aware of it, but it could be argued that audiences identify their personal values or their own situations through the shows they watch. For example, audiences are looking to watch Boudica's Lost Tribe, they have intrests in history compared to someone who plans to watch Waterloo Road.
Social interaction
There is very little or no sociall interaction. This is because TV guide choices are well informing enough to provie what to you need to watch a show. If audiences want social interaction, they can get that through social networking or by talking to friends and family.
Politics and Propaganda- Exam Practice
Choose a political party broadcast from a major political organisation (such as the Lbour party, Conservative Party or Green Pary) and give a detailed deconstruction of what ideologies are promoted in this text.
The first most noticable thing is the setting of the political parties, they are all outside. Some with trees behind them, some with rivers and some with housing. They also dress in earthy colours such as greens and browns. This reinforces their green party ideologies and ethics, making them look like a positive group.
Also the use of cut aways from the woman to the man suggest they have gender equality, and gender has no object in their party. Also the man almost represents nature and the woman represents technology as each refer often to their own topic in their dialogue. By mixing the shots from both people, they are suggesting that their party is able to let techology and nature work together bringing positive changes to society.
The use of the close up shots towards the end of the text allow audiences to see the positivity in their lives and the repetion of the shots almost signify the unity within the party.
The first most noticable thing is the setting of the political parties, they are all outside. Some with trees behind them, some with rivers and some with housing. They also dress in earthy colours such as greens and browns. This reinforces their green party ideologies and ethics, making them look like a positive group.
Also the use of cut aways from the woman to the man suggest they have gender equality, and gender has no object in their party. Also the man almost represents nature and the woman represents technology as each refer often to their own topic in their dialogue. By mixing the shots from both people, they are suggesting that their party is able to let techology and nature work together bringing positive changes to society.
The use of the close up shots towards the end of the text allow audiences to see the positivity in their lives and the repetion of the shots almost signify the unity within the party.
Electronic media and the information society- Exam practice
"The news automatically becomes the real world for the TV user and is not a substitute for reality, but is itself an immediate reality" (Marshall McLuhan). Do we watch the news for information of for entertainment?
Some audiences consume the news for information. They want to know what's going on in the world and whats happening in their area.
However some audiences watch the news for entertainment due to different factors. Some may watch it due to the cult of the celebrity; audience's fasination with celebrities and the media's representation of their lives as "news", has created this demand for entertaining news rather than factual news.
Another factor could be the desensitisation of the media. Audiences love dramatic and exciting things, wheather its violent video games or epic films. As factual and the fictional are slowly merging, audiences are expecting entertainment from the real world.
Do you recieve the reality for the information of the "reality" of the entertainment?
Some audiences consume the news for information. They want to know what's going on in the world and whats happening in their area.
However some audiences watch the news for entertainment due to different factors. Some may watch it due to the cult of the celebrity; audience's fasination with celebrities and the media's representation of their lives as "news", has created this demand for entertaining news rather than factual news.
Another factor could be the desensitisation of the media. Audiences love dramatic and exciting things, wheather its violent video games or epic films. As factual and the fictional are slowly merging, audiences are expecting entertainment from the real world.
Do you recieve the reality for the information of the "reality" of the entertainment?
Globalisation- Exam practice
Some critics argue that the growing Disney brand is a good example of cultural imperialism at work. Do you agree?
Disney is a very popular American conglomerate that is internationally recgonised. Cultural Imperialism argues that "American values and ideologies are imposed apon the rest of the world through media texts. For example Disney films are the most popular are still are today with films like Cinderella, Beauty and The Beast and Dumbo. Interestingly, they were made in the 1930's and 40's so still have some historical values such as the fairytale ending of a passive princess who gets saved by a heroic hansom man- usually of high status and wealth. Even these values are still carried on by these texts as they are still widely available in shops today.
However, more recently the brand has reconsidered and changed some of their values and imposed them in their texts. For example, Tangled and Toy Story 3 challenge some of those traditonal fairytale endings and characters for more modern ones such as the dominant and revengful Barbie and the very camp Ken. Althogh some may argue that Disney are following modern trends rather than creating them. However, its their power as a conclogorate that have forwarded these modern American values onto the rest of the world.
Disney is a very popular American conglomerate that is internationally recgonised. Cultural Imperialism argues that "American values and ideologies are imposed apon the rest of the world through media texts. For example Disney films are the most popular are still are today with films like Cinderella, Beauty and The Beast and Dumbo. Interestingly, they were made in the 1930's and 40's so still have some historical values such as the fairytale ending of a passive princess who gets saved by a heroic hansom man- usually of high status and wealth. Even these values are still carried on by these texts as they are still widely available in shops today.
However, more recently the brand has reconsidered and changed some of their values and imposed them in their texts. For example, Tangled and Toy Story 3 challenge some of those traditonal fairytale endings and characters for more modern ones such as the dominant and revengful Barbie and the very camp Ken. Althogh some may argue that Disney are following modern trends rather than creating them. However, its their power as a conclogorate that have forwarded these modern American values onto the rest of the world.
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