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Institution: in A Nutshell: This Lesson Will Teach You That All Media Forms Do NOT Occur in Isolation!

This document discusses media institutions and their role in shaping audience understanding and consumption of media texts. It defines an institution as having an enduring existence, established rules and structure, and a collectivist nature. Understanding the institution that produces a media text helps audiences consume it with more confidence or a critical eye, as they can draw on their prior knowledge of the institution's values and aims. The document also covers different types of media ownership - commercial, governmental, and public service - and how this can influence audiences.

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Rachel Gray
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0% found this document useful (0 votes)
48 views

Institution: in A Nutshell: This Lesson Will Teach You That All Media Forms Do NOT Occur in Isolation!

This document discusses media institutions and their role in shaping audience understanding and consumption of media texts. It defines an institution as having an enduring existence, established rules and structure, and a collectivist nature. Understanding the institution that produces a media text helps audiences consume it with more confidence or a critical eye, as they can draw on their prior knowledge of the institution's values and aims. The document also covers different types of media ownership - commercial, governmental, and public service - and how this can influence audiences.

Uploaded by

Rachel Gray
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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In a nutshell:

This lesson
will teach
you that all
media forms
do NOT
occur in
INSTITUTION
isolation! “A means of promotion or manufacture
which has an agreed public character, a
stable form and a set of clear cut functions”
What is the first thing that comes into your head when you
see the following image:
What is the first thing that comes into your head when you
see the following image:
What is the first thing that comes into your head when you
see the following image:
What is the first thing that comes into your head when you
see the following image:
 Each of these logos have become global
or national images.

 The institutions they represent have


distilled their values, functions and
form into a single image!

 Just by looking at a logo, we


instinctively and implicitly recall
everything we have be told, and have
experienced, of the institution itself.
With this in mind, what does the following image make you recall?

St Phil’s, just like all the others, is an example of an


institution
AN INSTITUTION HAS...
 A concern with producing and distributing ideas,
information, artefacts

 The provision to link individuals and groups

 A public reception of its messages

 Voluntary reception and participation by said public

 Links to the market and industry

 A relationship with the state (i.e. Through


regulation)
IT ALSO INCORPORATES...

 An enduring existence

 Regulation and structure

 A collectivist nature
Look back over what
identifies an institution –
 Established rules can they be related to St
Phil’s?
 Status
WHAT IS IMPORTANT ABOUT INSTITUTION
IN RELATION TO AUDIENCE?
If a consumer or audience can come to a text,
product, film or advert with an understanding
of the institution from which it has been
produced, it is easier to consume with
confidence (or with a critical eye!).
FOR EXAMPLE
How many Big Macs do you reckon you have
eaten in your lifetime?

If you were given this


Big Mac, would you
know if it were good or
bad?

You would be able to critique this Big Mac because you have eaten
one before! You therefore have previous knowledge to help you
critique.
For example...

You easily absorb a BLP style of


teaching/learning because you are
already familiar with St Paul’s
values, demographics and aims. You
therefore have an understanding of
St Phil’s as an institution.

If an employee saw that you


were educated at St Phil’s,
what do you think they would
expect you to be like? How
would their expectations
change if they thought you’d
gone to…
IN A NUTSHELL...
Understanding media institution is about
understanding :

 who produces media texts


 what their set of codes and values is and
 their relationship to their audience

Asking ourselves these questions will help us to


determine how this will affect our consumption
of media texts as audiences
 OWNERSHIP
Who owns a media text and what affect could this
have?
 MARKETING
How an institution markets a text.
 AUDIENCES
AT
Ownership can affect how audiences receive a text.
 TECHNOLOGY
PR
The importance of new technologies. O
PUBLIC SERVICE
M

The cultural and financial differences between public


service institutions and commercial institutions.
 REGULATION
...of media institutions.
OWNERSHIP
There are three main types of
ownership of media institutions:

 Commercial
 Governmental
 Public Service
Commercial companies exist to make profits for their
shareholders, and do so by producing media products that
people want and are willing to pay for.

Free market/conglomerates – huge global business institutions that


are profit driven and lead market technologies, e.g. News
Corporation in news production, Disney in film animation
production.

In the UK, broadcasting companies raise money to pay for them


through advertising around the programmes. The content, style
and amount of advertising is regulated by Ofcom.
In the UK Channel 4 is only government
owned broadcasting channel. It is owned by
the UK government, but run as an
independent, self supporting (through
advertising), entrepreneurial organisation
with no government involvement.

State ownership – in China and previously Iraq, the


state owns and controls the media. It can be used
as a propaganda machine.
The BBC is the only entirely Public Service
media organisation in the UK.

The BBC is funded by the Licence Fee. This


is a compulsory tax, which every household
with a television has to pay.

It is entirely independent and has no links


whatsoever with the government. It also
carries no advertising.

As it is publicly funded
it often reinforces the
dominant values of its
mainstream audiences.
PUBLIC SERVICE BROADCASTING
(PSB)
 The main discussion over PSB is how it is
funded.
 The method of financing PSB in the UK is not
popular with commercial media institutions.
 They think that having a large, guaranteed
income via a non-negotiable tax (the Licence
Fee) gives the BBC an unfair advantage over
its commercial rivals
REMEMBER THE
‘MANUELGATE SCANDAL’?

In October 2008 a broadcast of Russell Brand


and Jonathan Ross leaving an answer phone
message for the actor Andrew Sachs was aired on
Radio 2. The message contained strong language
and comments regarding a sexual liaison between
Brand and Georgina
Baillie, Sachs’
granddaughter.

How could the BBC


influence our consumption
of this story?
Some might feel that:
 Public money should not be spent on
broadcasts that are inappropriate or
offensive
 The professionals at the BBC should show
better judgement
 How can such an offensive broadcast
maintain the BBC’s core values?
LETS RETURN TO OUR LOGOS...
Which of these logos do you think the
majority of the population of the
world have seen and understand?

Now, people from all over the world


can communicate with each other
simultaneously.

The media, therefore, is incredibly


powerful. WHY?
THIS IS CALLED...

GLOBALISATION
THE GLOBAL VILLAGE
It can be argued that we now live in a ‘global
village’.

Time and space are vanishing – people all over


the world can instantly communicate and gain
access to cultures and lifestyles.

The MEDIA, therefore is massively influential.

WHY?
YOUR TASK NOW AND FOR HOMEWORK
You may work in pairs OR alone:
You are to research one institution and make a brief
presentation to the class. You may use PowerPoint,
handouts, discussion tasks or worksheets.
Focus on:
 Its history
 What segments of the global media pie it has interests in
 How it is regulated
 What role does it play in the ‘global village’

Aol/TimeWamer Disney BBC


Viacom Warnerbros Channel 4
Sony Microsoft

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