MEDIA AND INFORMATION

LANGUAGES
Lesson 6
 HOW DOES THE MEDIA INFLUENCE
YOU?

• Name your favorite TV advertisement.

• Why do you like it?
• What is it all about?
• Who is your favorite TV personality?
• What do you like about him/her?
• If you were given a chance to have a job in the media
industry, what would it be? Why?
 KEYWORDS
• Language - pertains to the technical and symbolic
ingredients or codes and conventions that media
and information professionals may select and use in
an effort to communicate ideas, information and
knowledge.
• Media Languages - codes, conventions, formats,
symbols and narrative structures that indicate the
meaning of media messages to an audience.
 CODES
systems of signs, put together (usually in a sequence) to create
meaning
• Technical Codes
Camera techniques, framing, depth of field, lighting,
exposure and juxtaposition
• Symbolic Codes
Objects, setting, body language, clothing and color
• Written Codes
Headlines, captions, speech bubbles, language style
 KEYWORDS
• Technical codes include sound, camera angles, types of
shots and lighting. They may include, for example, ominous
music to communicate danger in a feature film, or high-
angle camera shots to create a feeling of power in a
photograph.
• Symbolic codes include the language, dress or actions of
characters, or iconic symbols that are easily understood. For
example, a red rose may be used symbolically to convey
romance, or a clenched fist may be used to communicate
anger.
• Convention - In the media context, refers to a standard or
norm that acts as a rule governing behaviour.
• Messages - the information sent from a source to a receiver.
• Audience - the group of consumers for whom a media
message was constructed as well as anyone else who is
exposed to the message.
• Producers - People engaged in the process of creating and
putting together media content to make a finished media
product.
• Other stakeholders - Libraries, archives, museums, internet
and other relevant information providers.
CODES
 CODES
The Languages of TV & Film
• Camera
• Lights
• Sound
• Editing
• Setting
• Costume
• Actor expressions
CONVENTIONS
 MESSAGES
• When media consumers think of media messages, they may
think of televised public service announcements or political
advertisements.
• These obvious examples provide a venue for the transfer of
a message through a medium, whether that message is a
plea for fire safety or the statement of a political position.
• But what about more abstract political advertisements that
simply show the logo of a candidate and a few simple
words? Media messages can range from overt statements
to vague expressions of cultural values.
 PROPAGANDA AND PERSUASION

• Encyclopedia Britannica defines propaganda simply as the

“manipulation of information to influence public opinion
(Britannica Concise Encyclopedia).”
 MEDIA AND BEHAVIOR

• Although the mass media send messages created

specifically for public consumption, they also convey
messages that are not properly defined as propaganda or
persuasion. Some argue that these messages influence
behavior, especially the behavior of young people (Beatty,
2006). Violent, sexual, and compulsive behaviors have been
linked to media consumption and thus raise important
questions about the effects of media on culture.
 VIOLENCE AND THE MEDIA

• On April 20, 1999, students Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold entered their
Denver-area high school, Columbine High School, armed with
semiautomatic weapons and explosives. Over the next few hours, the
pair killed 12 classmates and one faculty member before committing
suicide (Lamb, 2008). The tragedy and its aftermath captured national
attention, and in the weeks following the Columbine High School
shootings, politicians and pundits worked to assign blame. Their targets
ranged from the makers of the first-person shooter video
game Doom to the Hollywood studios responsible for The
Matrix (Brook, 1999).
 SEX AND THE MEDIA

• In many types of media, sexual content—and its strong emotional

message—can be prolific. A recent study by researchers at the
University of North Carolina entitled “Sexy Media Matter: Exposure
to Sexual Content in Music, Movies, Television, and Magazines
Predicts Black and White Adolescents’ Sexual Behavior” found that
young people with heavy exposure to sexually themed media
ranging from music to movies are twice as likely to engage in early
sexual behavior as young people with light exposure. Although the
study does not prove a conclusive link between sexual behavior
and sexually oriented media, researchers concluded that media
acted as an influential source of information about sex for these
youth groups (Dohney, 2006).
 CULTURAL MESSAGES AND THE MEDIA

The media sends messages that reinforce cultural values.

These values are perhaps most visible in celebrities and the
roles that they adopt. Actors such as John Wayne and Marilyn
Monroe came to represent aspects of masculinity and
femininity that were adopted into mainstream culture during
the mid-20th century. Throughout the 1990s, basketball player
Michael Jordan appeared in television, film, magazines, and
advertising campaigns as a model of athleticism and
willpower. Singers such as Bob Dylan have represented a
sense of freedom and rebellion against mainstream culture.
 AUDIENCE

• Audience is the important part of communication process. By media

audience we mean the recipients of Mass Media messages. There is the
audience of newspaper, television, radio, theatre, film and non-broadcast
media. Audience of the above media re heterogeneously scattered. They
are a mixture of age, sex, profession, education and social class etc. and are
strangers to one another.
• Audience is the ultimate source of Mass Media revenue. If there is no
audience to purchase movie tickets and recording, subscribe to newspapers
and magazines and attend to radio and TV programmes, no mass medium
could stay in business. The messages of TV newspapers and film etc,. are
determined according to the nature and behaviour of the target audience.
 VARIOUS CATEGORIES OF MEDIA
AUDIENCES

The Elite Audience comprises of highly educated people and their number in
the society in relatively small.
The Mass Audience represents the dominant majority in a society. They are
relatively average people. Mass audience represents almost all segments of
the society.
The Specialized Audience refers to the special interest groups in the society.

The Interactive Audience consists of those who have control over the
communication process in a society. They may be newspapers journalists or
Radio or TV broadcasters.
 PRODUCERS

• What do Producers do?

• A Producer sets the situation for the production of a television show or
movie.

A film Producer initiates, coordinates, supervises and controls all

aspects of a production, from fundraising and hiring key personnel, to
arranging for distributors. The Producer sees the project through to the
end, from development to completion. Traditionally, the film Producer
is considered the chief of staff while the director is in charge of the
line. This "staff and line" organization mirrors that of most large
corporations and the military.