Audience theory 1: blog tasks

 Hypodermic needle model


1) Read this Mail Online article about the effects of videogames. How does this article link to the hypodermic needle model?

This article links to the hypodermic needle model as it states that playing too much violent video games consistently can have a negative effect on young adults and can turn them into violent young people.  

2) How does coverage of the Talk Talk hacking case (see Daily Mail front page below) link to the hypodermic needle model? Why might someone criticise this front page? 






The Article makes it out to seem as though the main reason for the security breach was the fact that the teen had expressed his interest in highly violent video games and through the hypodermic needle theory the media producers assume that the consumers will take that point as a fact without taking in other factors such as the teen being in a run down estate and looking at socioeconomic factors rather than just the fact the 15 year old teen enjoys violent video games.

3) What do you think of the hypodermic needle theory? Do audiences believe everything they see in the media?

I believe that with the effort put in to try and find and look for certain details makes it so many people do not passively take in information and take it in as fact but instead to some extent analyse the text and form opinions that may not be the intended/ hegemonic reading from the producer.

Two-step flow model

1) Summarise the two-step flow model. What is an opinion leader?

People do not take in information passively and the audience's reaction to a piece of media is influenced by social factors that can come from 'opinion leaders' or better known as 'influencers'


2) How do influencers like Zendaya fit into the two-step flow model? 

They use their media to allow for different interpretations of their work so that people can come up with their own opinions and ideas through the medium of their work


3) In your opinion, is the two-step flow theory still relevant today?

I would say it is still highly influential in society due to the expanding industries of influencers on platforms like TikTok and YouTube as more people use these places to take in their media now much more than the previous generation meaning that more younger people are seeing these products.


Uses and Gratifications theory

1) For each of the four categories, write about one media text (e.g. film, TV programme, newspaper etc.) that fits that particular audience use or pleasure. Make sure you explain WHY it fits the category and use images or clips to illustrate your points. The first one is done for you.

Diversion: Film - Blinded By The Light. Entertaining and offering escapism for fans of Bruce Springsteen or anyone that enjoys coming of age films or culture-clash comedies.

Personal Relationships: Pulp Fiction- As the audience stays gripped on the characters story such as Vincent Vega (John Travolta) and Jules Winnifield (Samuel L. Jackson) 

Personal Identity: EastEnders (Soap Opera)- As the audience can relate to the characters story and the narrative that builds in the drama. 

Surveillance: ITV news- As the viewers at home watching the TV can learn something new about what is going on in the world today. 


Dependency theory

1) Do you agree that audiences have become dependent on the media? What evidence or examples can you provide to support your view?

I think that to some extent people have definitely become more reliant on the media as a lot of what is shown online is never always fact checked by a credible source and so it happens to be that some information lacks validity and some take it on as fact and in this case it seems as though people become to dependent on the media for information and so are manipulated in their viewpoints.

2) How has the growth of new and digital technology in the last 15 years changed people's dependency on the media? Is this a new problem?

I believe that this is not necessarily a new problem but the extent to which it reaches people has greatly increased as before more modern technology the media of newspapers was notoriously known for being used as propaganda in some cases to support certain causes and viewpoints that are then taken on by the consumer as to them it is a credible source and the same can be said with modern media however because of the variety of media and the fact there are many different places to get media from, it allows for many different views and somewhat forces a consumer to think about what they are consuming rather than taking it in passively like the hypodermic needle theory states.

3) Reflecting on your own media use, how does your media consumption impact your emotions? Does the media have an overall positive or negative impact on your health and well being? Why?

I believe its a double sided coin, a double edged sword, because it can work both ways, media can make someone happy due to a certain event occurring like your favourite celebrity now has announced that their having a child while on the other hand it could be that that celebrity has passed away and it makes you sad as the information came through the media and so its widely distributed. In terms of my own media consumption I believe its the same way by which i watch movies that make me both sad and happy due to narrative or the enjoyment or frustration of playing a game, overall it is not either or but both that happen due to different reasons.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Audience theory 2 - blog tasks

  1) Social learning theory has been criticised for simplifying the causes of violence in society. Do you think the media is responsible for anti-social behaviour and violence? I think its both a yes and no answer. This is because the media has the power to influence the public's views or interpretation on things but it is also how the public decide to take in the information they get from the media and how they retaliate back at it.  2) How is social learning theory relevant in the digital age? Are young people now learning behaviour from social media and the internet? Give examples. Social learning theory is relevant in the digital age as young people are now these days learning new and different types of behaviour from social media such as knife crime. This is because if social media platforms carry on advertising knives even if they are doing it in a appropriate fashion it might still give out the wrong message to younger people from the audience  and persuade them to go out an
Read more

Representations of women in advertising

  Academic reading: A Critical Analysis of Progressive Depictions of Gender in Advertising Read  these extracts from an academic essay on gender in advertising by Reena Mistry . This was originally published in full in David Gauntlett's book 'Media, Gender and Identity'. Then, answer the following questions: 1) How does Mistry suggest advertising has changed since the mid-1990s? Advertising has increasingly employed images in which the gender and sexual  orientation of the subject(s) are markedly (and purposefully) ambiguous. T here are also a growing number of distinctly homosexual images - and these are far removed from depictions of the camp gay employed as the comic relief elsewhere in mainstream media. 2) What kinds of female stereotypes were found in advertising in the 1940s and 1950s? After 1945, women were stereotyped as being staying at home wives to cook and clean and look after their children and husband and be submissive to them. In 1950's a women magazine c
Read more

Genre blog tasks

Image
  Read  Media Factsheet 03 - Genre: Categorising texts  and answer the following questions: 1) What example is provided of why visual iconographies are so important? Visual Iconographies are so important as it helps the audience to feel more into the film or tv programme they are watching. For example, the mise en scene of deep space, usually indicates the genre of  sci-fi. Sometimes, however, the iconographies work together to  indicate the genre. Someone sitting behind a desk is not genre  specific. However, add high key lighting, a modern mise en scene  and a screen behind the character at the desk and the combination  of media language choices creates an image we associate with a  news broadcast. 2) What examples are provided of the importance of narrative in identifying genre?  Film  westerns will share codes and conventions with TV westerns.  Although there are many differences between films and television  programmes – they have different production values and often use  differe
Read more