Representation

 to show or describe people, places, and events

representations can be made of:

Class

Age

Gender

Ethnicity

Disability

Stereotypes- An exaggerated feature of a group through certain features

used to reinforce dominant messages in society-see Barthes in media handbook

creates power bubbles/certain groups of people that are viewed in a more favorable light

stereotypes can be very useful shorthand for producers-not always bad or malicious

stereotypes are often exaggerated. a good word for a typical example is ARCHETYPAL

VIDEO 

Stuart Hall

*ivestigating power of media 

*suggested there were hidden ideologys in media

*presumed the masses are dumb and questioned who they are

suggested power isnt just at the top of media-people can hold their own online power throughh media

all messages have power 

commands the masses to disrupt the mass media power

Hall suggests that producers intend to encode a certain and preferred meaning, but its up to the audience to decide the real meaning

We must deconstruct the representations in order to decipher the meanings as media students

Many large newspaper brands used the title 'migrant/immigrant' in a negative way to make readers adhere to many untrue stereotypes. 

2 min task

The Daily Mail uses the headline 'immigrants spark housing crisis' in order to encode their preferred meaning and create a negative, dominant ideology on the topic that could influence the masses.

 Many large news platforms aim to create an 'us vs them' effect on their readers - This is known as binary opposites and unifies their reader base thus making them more loyal readers. One example of this would be The Daily Mails stories on immigrants 'harming' the country/economy/citizens

Term Task

Stereotype - An exaggerated feature of a group through certain features used to reinforce dominant messages in society - One example would be that immigrants came to the country to steal jobs

Archetype - A perfect example of something - spiderman

Countertype - Something that directly opposes a stereotype -  venom to spiderman

Ideology - The power behind the creation - democracy

Hyperreality - if your reality is permeated with hyperreal images - personal perception on what's real becomes warped - end up chasing the unattainable - the photoshopped picture becomes the norm and you become abnormal.

Post Modern - A product or item loosing its meaning - Jordan trainers being used for everyday fashion.

Liesbet Van Zoonen 

Representation - a summary

The representation of media is the ideas it conveys to its audience. This may include the dominant stereotypes of certain groups in society and their individual countertypes, archetypes of other groups and even binary opposites to unify the medias viewership against a select group.

Straying away from the news, many forms of media represent themselves in a certain way such as advertisements for products resulting in products loosing their meaning and intention - this is called post modernism an example of this would be Jordans being used for everyday footwear. These advertising companies also sometimes portray unrealistic messages thus alienating their audience, making them feel abnormal and thus more inclined to buy their products - this is called hyperreality - where consumers reality is warped by unattainable standards, objectives and items