News question 1

Question 1

  • compare two unseen sources
  • sources could be front cover or website
  • asked to apply representation theorist

Stuart Hall

  • Present, absent, different
    • producers can create meaning by choosing which stories to keep, change or leave out entirely
  • stereotypes
    • repeated representations lead to stereotypes which are usually harmful
    • anti-stereotypes don't fix the stereotypes, they just fix them in a different way
    • nurses as heroes are an unhelpful anti-stereotype which doesn't present them as complex regular people
  • producers use power to fix a preferred meaning

practice question

analyse the different social and cultural representations in sources A and B. Apply Hall's theory of representation in your answer  

Plan

  • the Mirror has royal family looking happy and positive despite its political leaning but still mentions a 'war' with Harry, Royals mentioned because of economic state and decline of news
  • hard news mentioned in the Mirror as it supports the political leaning with a red 'YOU' to create an anti-stereotype of heroic nurses
  • Daily Mail has the feature image of the Royal Family to appeal to right wing audience with a royal purple outline
  • hard news still in headline but not as important as Royals because the Royal family appeals to a right wing older audience

Structure

Paragraph 1
  1. outline theorist with a brief summary
  2. outline story
Paragraph 2/3
  1. give examples of how theory is proven
  2. zoom in on media language
  3. disprove theory?
  4. conclude - how far theory represents

10 marks - 15 minutes
'the producer uses media language technique to position audiences'

model paragraph

Stuart Hall's representation theory explores how producers use their power to 'fix' meaning to match their viewpoint. By presented information as 'present', 'different' or leaving it 'absent' entirely, producers are able to create a 'preferred meaning'. In sources A and B, both papers cover Boris Johnson's last days in government and his party gate scandal.
In the news industry, news producers are able to use media language to 'fix' meaning to match their political point of view. We can apply Stuart Hall's theory to source B, where he is presented as a strong, resourceful leader through the body language of the main image. Likewise the headline uses sensationalist, emotive language such as 'defiant' and 'unbowed' to present Boris as powerful despite the political landscape. source B also chooses to keep Johnson's recent scandal party gate absent, in order to fix a preferred meaning that Boris finally got his government under control.


Van Zoonen Question



Van Zoonen's feminist theory suggests that women are made to seem weaker, objectified and sexualised because of the patriarchal society that controls the representation of women in the media. This representation of gender in the media also determines how gender is portrayed in society as gender is a performed construct.

In source A Van Zoonen would suggest that women are objectified on the front page. This evidenced in the main image of the porn star Stormy Daniels. While she is currently in court for a disputed case of hush money, the producer chooses to use an image from her past career in the adult industry, framing her in a revealing dress. Zoonen would argue that she is portrayed as a sleazy, sultry woman defined by her appearance, and not covering her role within the court process and challenging men in power. In contrast, the main image of Trump depicts him in a suit in a courtroom, smirking in the face of the woman he allegedly paid money to. The captions reinforce the binary opposition between the 'porn star' and 'in court'. Finally, Zoonen might say that Trump's depiction of as a powerful man in control of his future is due to the patriarchal ownership of the news industry, where culturally men in power continue to use their influence to push repeated narratives about strong men and objectified women.

Source B depicts a woman being victimised by male 'yobs' as we see in the main image of a man in a hoodie standing with his back to the camera in a stereotypical teenage costume of a grey hoodie and jeans. The secondary image of the woman has angry and frustrated body language however has a much smaller image than the main image of the faceless 'yob' giving him more power even without a face to show that it is this group of 'street yobs' that hold the power. Van Zoonen would argue that this dominant position given to the male character is because of the stereotypes made by a patriarchal society. The stereotype of the old defenceless woman being victimised by the male teenagers has been reinforced not only by the images but the headline calling her a 'victim' who 'lives in fear' to further cement this meaning.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

News question 1 practice

 Stuart Hall's representation Media companies create a preferred meaning trough the way they represent certain stories, they can make a story present, absent or different depending on how much they want people to see it. This means they have the power to make people love or hate someone depending on how they show them. This means they can create an idealised version of the story that will match their ideology and convert people to it. This is also done through stereotypes. For example a story about the royal family doing something bad might be present in a left wing newspaper like The Guardian but might be different or even absent in the Daily Mail. Question 1 Stuart Hall's reception theory discusses how media producers use their power to create a preferred meaning by what information they leave present, absent or different. This theory is applicable to the how the Daily Mirror and Daily Express present juxtaposing views of Boris Johnson's final days in government.   The ...
Read more

Theorists

Steve Neale Intertextual relay suggests that genres are constantly evolving and are being influenced by each other to form hybrid genres David Hesmondhaigh The theory of vertical and horizontal integration was made for general integration of how companies approach a market. Horizontal integration means a company buying all stages of production for a product while vertical integration means buying other companies in the same market. The internet is powerful and has potential but is used wrongly by people in power. Clay Shirky End of audience theory suggests that consumers are now producers and that consumers now require some level of interactivity in their media products but professional publishing means the theory isn't completely accurate. Tzvetan Todorov Narratology references the structure of narratives with the common structure proposed being: equilibrium(the norm where everything is peaceful), disruption(breaks the equilibrium and needs to be fixed), transformation/ chain of ...
Read more

News question 3

Model paragraph The UK news industry is oligopolistic, with 86% of the industry in the hands of just three conglomerates. Culturally expectations of the UK have shifted where consumers now expect news to be free. As well established news brands compete with online 24 hour news, it has become increasingly important for producers to create effective, monetised websites to match this changing cultural demand. Despite declining print sales in the industry, established UK news brands are choosing to retain their print version due to historical and cultural prestige associated with the British news industry. This allows news brands to leverage the reputation of their printed version. We can see how cultural contexts can affect the way audiences interact with print and online news in The Guardian and the Daily Mail.
Read more