Why and how do we study the media? STUDYING THE MEDIA Why and how do we study the media?

Why do we study the media? ● tell us what is going on in the world ● are a central part of our lives ● are influential ● are very profitable Domestic media hardware has become a key part of our homes and our lives

How do we study the media? Three main approaches are used in this course: TEXTUAL ANALYSIS AUDIENCE ANALYSIS INSTITUTIONAL ANALYSIS Other approaches: HISTORY THEORY

TEXTS We can ask questions about media messages and their form(s): MEDIA SEMIOTICS explores questions such as – What are the elements making up the messages? How are media messages structured? What stereotypes are used? What genres are used? Are there any subtexts present in the message?

AUDIENCES We can ask questions about how people receive media messages: AUDIENCE STUDIES explores – How people receive the messages – do all people receive them in the same way? Do different groups of people interpret and make use of the messages in different ways?

INSTITUTIONS We can ask questions about the production and diffusion of messages: The POLITICAL ECONOMY OF THE MEDIA explores – Who owns the media? Who controls what can be said? How are the messages disseminated? How are the media regulated?

HISTORY We can ask questions about how the media have developed over time: MEDIA HISTORY explores questions such as– Remediation or, how do successive media forms build on each other? How have the media affected society? How have the media contributed to individual and social identities?

THEORY We can consider the media at a more general theoretical level: MEDIA THEORY explores questions such as- What is the relationship between the media and democracy? Do we shape the media or do they shape us? What is the relationship between the media and individual and group constructions of identity?

How and why do we study the media? We need to understand how the media influences and impacts on us: □ aesthetically □ socially □ politically □ economically. So media studies draws on ideas from visual + cultural studies,literary studies, psychology, sociology, political + economic studies ….