Media Studies Theories + Case Studies

Hypodermic Needle Theory 

Not really considered a working theory any more. The belief that the audience is a sponge, and accepts any message from the media without any question.

Case study -> Orson Welles' radio adaptation of The War of the World (1938) was clearly announced as a drama but some people believed it to be true.

Cultivation Theory - George Gerbner

Exposure to media over time will reinforce existing ideologies. People will choose to consume media that already agrees with their opinions. repeated exposure to media messages that are consistent with a particular worldview or ideology can "cultivate" or shape an individual's attitudes and beliefs about social issues, violence, and other topics.

Mean world syndrome: People believing that the world is a dangerous place after continuous exposure to violent contents.

Case study -> Mean girls (2004) portrays bullying and stereotypical mean girls at school leading to young females to believe the potential of them getting bullied

                        Euphoria (2019) tells a story about a life of a group of high school students facing the issues of drugs, sex and violence which leads to high school viewers to normalize those issues.

Desensitisation (Compassion Fatigue)

Occurs when an audience is repeatedly exposed to shocking or violent content. They become less compassionate about what they are seeing and the events become 'normalised'

Case study -> Video games that includes gun violence like GTA, PUBG or Fortnite and superhero movies including violence that are exposed to kids or teenager has made them them numb. They may perceive violence as a normal thing in their life. 

Reception Theory - Stuart Hall 

Media producers encode their texts with meaning. The audience decodes the text to understand meaning. However, all audiences are different and so receive the message differently. 

- Preferred Reading - audience decodes media text as the producer intended

- Negotiated Reading - audience understands the meaning of a text, however they choose to reject certain elements

- Oppositional Reading - audience rejects the text's meaning or might not even engage

Uses and Gratification - Bulmer & Katz

Suggests that media users play an active role in choosing & using media.  The audience is actively using the media to satisfy some of their base social needs;

- Diversion - A form of escapism from the stresses of everyday life

- Personal Identity - The media supplies us with role models

- Social Relationships - 1) People make connections with people they see on screen. 

                                       2) People can build their own social relationships

- Surveillance - People use the media to inform themselves about the world around them. 

Representation Theory - Stuart Hall

Media does not reflect meaning, media creates meaning. 

Stereotypes are used as a result of a lack of diversity in production. 

Meaning is created by hegemonic groups (rich, white, straight men) in order to maintain power.

Social Learning - Albert Bandura

Social learning theory suggests that audience learn attitudes, behaviors, and values through observation and imitation of what's presented in the media.

After consuming media, the audience might go on to repeat what they have seen (in particular violent acts). Bandura admitted that there may be other processes that contribute to behaviour)

Case study ->  Deadpool 2 (2018) is full of profanities and inappropriate jokes, children may repeat Deadpool's action in real life.

Two-Step Flow

A development of the hypodermic needle theory. The media is untrustworthy, so the audience has their interpretation formed by opinion leaders (trusted members of the community. Think celebrities, influencers)

Genre Theory - Steve Neale

Genre is a matter of repetition and difference. A text must conform to the conventions enough to be recognizable, yet subvert them enough to be different and interesting. This is to:

1) Provide pleasure and meaning for the audience. 

2) Offset against financial risk

Genre is useful because it gives the audience expectations, provides a template for the producers, and provides distributors with an audience to target. 

Case study -> DC Films has released different Batman movies over the decade. Although those movies has the same superhero theme and action sci-fi genre they're all different enough for the audience to look forward to. They follow a specific genre to give the producer an outline and to give distributor an idea of audiences to target. The Lego Batman movie (2017)  and The Batman (2022) follows the same theme of superhero, however, they both has different styles and targets audiences in different age range. Other Batman movies such as, Batman and Robin (1997), Batman Begins (2005) and Justice League (2017) are all recognizable as a Batman movie, they also has the same concept of Batman to satisfy audiences. However, they all has something different which can make audiences curious.

Identity Theory - David Gauntlett

Identity theory suggests that media can play an important role in shaping individuals' sense of identity, particularly through the media's representation of social groups and individuals. Media can reinforce existing identities or create new identities through the representation of social categories such as race, gender, and sexuality.

Gauntlett believes that while everyone is an individual, people tend to exist within larger groups who are similar to them. He thinks the media do not create identities, but just reflect them instead.

This theory is sometimes referred to as the 'pick & mix' theory, as it allows audiences to pick which aspects of a text they want to construct their identity.

Heavy exposure to the media could effect audience to use media products to construct their own identity. As Gerbner suggested in his cultivation theory, the media might shape how we see the world.

2 parts:

• Audience Identity - Audiences gets a sense of their own identity through the media products they consume. ex: Girls get ideas of who they are (& how they should dress and act) from Teen Vogue which includes a lot of representation of teenager.
• Gender Identity - Older media involves very shallow and straightforward representations and clear binary opposites (men & women) of gender. ex: Men consume media that includes stereotypical (one sided representation) strong & muscular men which led them to believe that men should act and look like that. On the other hand, newer media includes a wider range of gender representations which has made finding gender identity more challenging and complex.

Demographics and Psychographics

Demographics: Age, Gender, Social Class, Ethnicity/Race, Income, Location, Political Leanings, Star Appeal 

Psychographics: Personality, Behaviour, Values, Interests, Spending Habits

Case Study -> The Walt Disney company features characters from different ethnicity (chinese-canadian protagonist and Korean, Indian, White friends) with certain interest (boyband, 4TOWN) to target certain audiences, which are primarily asian teenage girls in the movie Turning Red (2022).

                                                  

Prosumerism 

A fan is someone who strongly identifies with a media product, character etc, often form groups “fandoms” and are often portrayed as geeks, ‘other’ in the media.

Prosumerism is when a fan plays an active role in influencing the media.

Case Study -> https://kanna-regentsmedia.blogspot.com/2022/10/prosumerism.html

Narrative Theory - Todorov

All linear narratives follow the same structure: Equilibrium, Disruption, Recognition, Attempt at repair, New equilibrium.

Case Study -> https://kanna-regentsmedia.blogspot.com/2022/08/todorovs-theory-of-narrative.html

Binary Opposites - Levi Strauss

We all understand the world in terms of opposites. It is the conflict of these opposites that drives a narrative forward. The winner is often the ideology of the producer. 

Case Study -> https://kanna-regentsmedia.blogspot.com/2022/08/levi-strauss-binary-opposites-theory.html

Five Narrative Codes - Roland Barthes

- Hermeneutic Codes - Enigma, deliberately withheld information to create mystery

- Proairetic Codes - Action, plot points that move the story forward

- Semantic Codes - Connotation, Codes that have a deeper meaning than their denotation

- Symbolic Codes - Thematic or structural devices. Aided by Binary Opposites. 

- Cultural Codes - Prior knowledge to help the reader decode all of the signifiers correctly.

Case Study -> https://kanna-regentsmedia.blogspot.com/2022/08/roland-barthes-5-narrative-codes.html

Media Ownership

- Media Consolidation: the concentration of ownership of our media sources (news, film, TV, radio, video games etc)  into the hands of fewer and fewer corporations.

In the US, only 6 major companies are distributing almost all media: https://www.webfx.com/blog/internet/the-6-companies-that-own-almost-all-media-infographic/

- Vertical Integration: When a company owns more than one company in the development line

Production -> Distribution -> Exhibition

- Horizontal Integration: When a company owns more than one company in the same stage of production

- Benefits: 1) Able to provide content for niche audiences

                  2) Improved quality due to better funding

                  3) It’s cheaper for the audience

                  4) Converging technologies (eg. We can now get our TV, phone and internet form the same company, making things simpler)

                  5) Diversification - Less risk for the media company. (if something fails, it’s not too much of an issue)

                  6) Can reach a larger audience

- Drawbacks: 1) Smaller/Independent media outlets can’t compete with the production quality

                        2) Illusion of choice - lack of competitiveness and alternate view points. Every TV channel is expressing the same viewpoint. 

                        3) The focus is on making money, not good content. 

                        4) Less local news

- Synergy: Synergy is the process by which media institutions use a range of platforms to promote, sell and distribute their products.

Case Study -

Vertical Integration - Marvel comic (acquired 2009) -> Marvel studios -> LucasFilm (acquired 2012) -> Disney+

Horizontal Integration - Disney (Marvel; Pixar; Lucas Film; National Geographic)

Synergy - Warner Brothers -> promotes, sell and distribute Batman (DC Films; Rocksteady games; DC Comics; Warner Animation Group)

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1CJtxcASBeLfXE0wgO_1L8FzXkRwpO0j1UTbwlnKb36k/edit?usp=sharing

Richard Dyer's Theory of Stardom

Star theory refers to the idea that celebrities are commodities manufactured by institutions. Dyer believes that celebrities are constructed to represent 'real people' experiencing real emotions in order to relate to audiences and sell products such as films or music.

Case Study -> https://kanna-regentsmedia.blogspot.com/2022/09/theory-of-stardom-harry-styles.html

Male Gaze Theory - Laura Mulvey

Women are passive in a narrative, and their only purpose is as an object for the male characters to look upon. This is shown through camerawork (angles, close-ups, slow movement), Mis-en-scene (revealing clothing), eye contact (sometimes looking at the camera directly)

Feminine Discourses - Van Zoonen

Van Zoonen’s theory suggests that gender is constructed by the media through stereotypes and portrayal of gender roles. 

The media believes this reflects dominant societal values (men in charge). However, this is unfair because the media is run by men (hegemony group). Constant negative portrayals of women in the media reinforces a patriarchy; Society ran by men, for men. With women being oppressed as a result. 

"Your sex is biological, your gender is behavioural. "

Sex: refers to the biological and physiological characteristics that distinguish males and females, such as reproductive organs and chromosomes.

Gender: refers to the socially constructed and culturally determined roles, behaviors, and expectations associated with being male or female in a given society. Gender is more fluid and can encompass a range of identities and expressions.

Postmodernism - Baudrillard

Note: Baudrillard did not create the theory of postmodernism, he just added to it. He suggests that everything is just a copy of a copy of a copy. Media has moved from reality, to heightened reality, finally to hyper reality. This hyper reality is a simulation where it is difficult to determine what is real and what is fake.. Baudrillard also thinks that people would prefer to live in this simulation because it is better that our real lives. He also says that this simulation is full of simulacra, a representation of reality that no longer exists or never existed in the first place. 

Eg. An Instagram model presents themselves in a certain way, however their real life might not be anything like the one depicted on their account. This account, and the photos/videos on it, are simulacra, a representation of reality that does not exist. 

credit: Most theories and definitions are from Mr Nick's blog 

https://paknick-regentsmedia.blogspot.com/2022/10/all-your-theories-in-one-place_24.html