AQA GCSE Media Studies Unit 1 Investigating the

Transcript:AQA GCSE Media Studies Unit 1 Investigating the:
AQA GCSE Media Studies Unit 1 Investigating the Media Exam Topic: Television News Lesson 28 – A Window on the World: Representation, Ideology, Audience Theory 1 Photocopiable/digital resources may only be copied by the purchasing institution on a single site and for their own use © ZigZag Education, 2014 Lesson 28 Starter Consider the following: ‘Television news is a “window on the world” because it allows the audience access to all news, whether it is regional, national or global.’ ‘Television news is not a “window on the world” because it is constructed and therefore open to interpretation by gatekeepers.’ Discuss with a partner the meaning of these two statements. 2 Fiske’s Transparency Fallacy Fiske (1987) argues that TV news reporting involves just a representation of reality; in other words it is constructed and therefore open to bias. The ideology involved in TV news reporting is that it is considered to represent a neutral ‘window on the world’. 3 Fiske’s Transparency Fallacy This theory, however, can now be contradicted, now that the audience can access their own information on news stories through social media and various Internet websites and make up their own minds. 4 Fiske’s Transparency Fallacy Although the audience can make up their own minds about validity and truthfulness of TV news reporting, there are various audience theories that consider the effect that the media can have upon us in persuading us to believe what may or may not be true. 5 Hypodermic needle model This theory states that people watch/read media texts and they believe every part of every media message they are told. They consume it like a drug straight into the brain. It is the effect of BRAINWASHING someone. If the hypodermic needle model is to be believed, then these audiences are PASSIVE. The opposite of this is the ACTIVE participant who chooses to investigate and find out more information about the media message they are told. 6 Two-step flow model The two-step flow model details that there are opinion leaders in society. Opinion leaders are people who have seen the media text and have been able to make up their own mind about its qualities and messages. These opinion leaders are ACTIVE; however, except for deciding which opinion leaders to believe, the rest of the audience is PASSIVE. 7 Audience theories These theories rely on the consumer making ACTIVE choices to seek further information and