L
Media Language
|
I
Industry
|
||
Genre conventions: Changed to tabloid size
in 200 but retains many genre conventions of its original broadsheet form:
Masthead- blue
with white font- recently changed from sans serif to a serif, slightly more
ornate font, perhaps to connote/signify more serious or sophisticated brand
Headline-
paraphrases Trump’s denial of criticising the British PM; the recently coined
phrase “fake news” is synonymous with Trump and creates slightly mocking
representation of the US president. See industry.
Splash and copy- words with negative connotations
used to describe Trump as “rambling and occasionally surreal” in an “extraordinary
press conference” covering a “dizzying range” of topics. The discourse implies
incompetence and focuses on Trump’s unconventional presentation style that he
is often ridiculed for.
Images- Large,
central, slightly comical image that represents Trump as bullish and domineering
through gesture codes, confidently striding whilst holding the British PM
firmly by the arm. The US and UK flags connote patriotism and act as a
reminder of the special relationship the countries have historically.
Supplements-
Positive lexis “incredible journey”,
“award-winning”; direct address “your” with attractive images to promote
them.
|
Steve Neale-
genre is a process by which genre codes and conventions are shared by
producers and audiences through repetition in media products.
Roland Barthes-
semiology is the study of signs. Signs have denotations and connotations.
These can create ‘myths’.
This is when
ideological meanings are formed by repetition. E.g. Trump’s rise to power, as
a populist ‘anti-establishment’ businessman turned politician is a myth he
himself promotes. His hair is a ‘signifier’ of this and a “magical object”
that people come to associate with his mythology.
|
Ownership:
Funded by Scott Trust, existing solely
to support the production of the Guardian and purports to uphold journalistic
freedom and liberal values
Advertisers include car manufacturers,
wine clubs, electrical stores, supermarkets (co-op), tech brands which
generate revenue for the Guardian newspaper.
Regulation:
UK has free press.
Self-regulated rather than IPSO. Administered
by an independent readers’ editor with an appeals panel back-up.
Distribution/circulation:
Print sales in decline due to
technology and availability of free online news. Offers a subscription service
to encourage regular customers, which rewards with reduced price. Also offers
home delivery service within M25. See Audience. Still considered more
trustworthy as a source than online outlets and most print newspapers (e.g.
compared to Daily Mail, audience trust scores are high) with high standards
of fact-checking and impartiality which would not be possible online due to
the expectation of fast news by audiences.
|
Curran
and Seaton- Power and Media
Industries
The Guardian is unique in that it is not
owned by a conglomerate. C &S looked at how capitalism creates a pattern
of increasing concentration of ownership into fewer hands which narrows the
range of opinions and puts profit ahead of creativity or quality.
Hesmondhalgh- Cultural Industries
Cultural production owned and
controlled by a few conglomerates- not in the case of the Guardian.
Livingstone
and Lunt- Regulation
Looked at how technology (digital
media, media convergence, globalised media industries) has made traditional
regulation (like Ofcom/IPSO) more difficult.
|
A
Audience
|
R
Representation
|
||
Demographics: lower % of over 65s (DM has highest), 28% are
Millenials (under 35s) , with an even gender split. 86% are ABC1 and 65%
educated to degree level or higher.
Psychographics: Guardian say- progressive, active fashion and tech
consumers, well-travelled, finance savvy, affluent and well educated, passion
for food, art and culture.
Political affiliations:
Left wing. Tend to be Labour or Liberal Democrat voters. Therefore discourse
tends to favour more liberal, progressive narrative. This is reflected in the
representation of Trump. It may also cultivate that opinion in its readers
|
Stuart
Hall- reception theory
Text producers encode, audiences
decode. Their responses are shaped by a range of social, cultural factors and
may be preferred, negotiated or oppositional. A preferred reading of the
splash and main image would be one that sees Trump as lacking finesse and
ability as a politician.
Clay
Shirkey- End of Audience
Print newspapers use the old model of
‘filter then publish’, hence more reliable than online. See Industry.
|
Trump is represented
as confident, bullish and somewhat incompetent. See Media Language.
The image depicts
him as in control, front and centre compositionally; head raised to the
cameras, whilst May faces the floor, his hand on her arm (as if she is being
escorted somewhere). His raised hand connotes a playfulness but when anchored
by the headline about fake news, is also conspiratorial, which further
reinforces ideas about Trump’s unconventional relationship with the media.
Men are represented
in two ways in the splash and the teaser for the World Cup souvenir. In the
Trump story, we can see a traditional representation where the male
politician appears to be in control and have political power. This is
contradicted somewhat through the article’s undermining of Trump’s
credibility. Nonetheless, he still remains the focus of the lead story about
their meeting.
The footballers display a range of emotions
but the main one is Harry Kane, teeth bared in a show of passion or
aggression. Overall, the images represent men in a traditional way: athletic
and competitive, but it could be suggested that the image of Jordan Pickford
crying offers a more modern representation.
|
Stuart Hall-
representation is not about whether the media distorts or reflects reality
because that suggests there is a ‘true’ meaning, when in fact many meanings can
be generated in the audience.
Gauntlett-
identity
Media helps
audiences to shape their own ideas about identity. The media offers a diverse
range of identities for us to consider, particularly new media.
Van Zoonen- Feminist
theory
In patriarchal
culture, women’s bodies represented as objects, mens’ as spectacle.
|
LIAR Grid for Newspapers
Use this grid and adopt your notes depending on the edition you are revising from. Keep adding to it as you learn more facts .
