Media Studies

This textbook provides students with a comprehensive and accessible introduction to the field of media studies. Written by two highly experienced lecturers, the volume covers media texts, media institutions and audiences and the media

Introduction IX

Part I Texts

1 How the Media Communicate 3

Media forms and conventions 4

Different mediums, different conventions: The X-Files 5

Suggestions for further work 11

2 Reading Media Images 13

Mise-en-scène analysis13

Semiotic analysis 19

The problems with textual analysis 27

Suggestions for further work 28

3 Ideology 29

What is ideology? 29

Althusser 31

Hegemony 33

Suggestions for further work 38

4 Representation 39

Representation: a definition 39

Stereotypes 40

Content analysis 44

A hegemonic approach 47

Images of youth 49

Suggestions for further work 56

5 Genre 57

Genre: a definition 57

Genre and production 58

Genre and film 60

Genre study and film criticism 61

Genre and television 62

The television western 62

Genre and ideology 63

Suggestions for further work 65

6 Narrative 66

Narrative models: some definitions 67

Conventions of narrative across media forms 68

Why is narrative important to the media industry? 69

Structuralism and narrative theory 71

The impact of structuralism on film studies 77

The problems with structuralist narrative models 78

Suggestions for further work 79

7 Intertextuality 80

Definitions 80

Postmodernism and intertextuality 81

Intertextuality and advertising 83

Intertextuality, politics and popular music 84

Intertextuality and film genre 85

Suggestions for further work 87

Part II Institutions

8 Approaches to Media Institutions 91

What is a media institution? 91

Critical approaches to media institutions 94

Media institutions in the context of globalization 103

Suggestions for further work 106

9 Public Service Broadcasting and the Market 107

The development of broadcasting in Britain 107

Information as a commodity not a service 119

Deregulation and consumer choice 120

The future: responses to change 121

Suggestions for further work 122

10 Media Professionalism and Codes of Practice 123

The professional: definitions 123

Occupational ideologies 125

Professional practice and newsroom studies 126

Professionalism and political conflict 129

Suggestions for further work 131

11 Independent Media 132

What is an independent? 132

Media structures 133

British television 135

Community radio 136

Independent cinema exhibition 138

Independent film distribution in the UK 140
Undercurrents 141

Suggestions for further work 143

Part III Audiences

12 Conceptualizing and Measuring Media Audiences 147

Conceiving the audience: television schedules 147

Measuring media audiences 151

Suggestions for further work 155

13 The Effects of the Media on Audience Groups 156

What are the aims of effects research? 156

The historical development of the effects tradition 157

The limitations of effects research 160

An early challenge to the effects tradition: uses and gratifications 161

The dominance of effects research in the 1990s 163

Suggestions for further work 167

14 Contexts of Media Consumption 168

The developmental context of the cultural studies approach 169

The cultural studies challenge to the power of the text 171

The cultural studies turn to ‘lived’ contexts of consumption 174

The power relations of media reception and technology 178

Cultural studies and consumption 181

Suggestions for further work 183

15 Minority Audiences and the Media 184

What do we mean by minority? 184

Black women as cultural readers 185

Sexual minorities and the media 187

Star images and gay men 189

Fans and fan culture 191

Suggestions for further work 193

16 New Technologies and Media Audiences 194

Technology and society 194

The development of colour cinema 196

Media technology and the individual 199

Suggestions for further work 202

17 Media Consumption and Social Status 203

Theories of consumption and social distinction 204

Television: a case study of a ‘vulgar’ medium 207

Media technologies, taste and social status 209

Suggestions for further work 214

18 Public Participation in the 1990s 215

The increase in audience participation in the 1990s 215

The ideological implications of ‘talk’ for audiences 219

Suggestions for further work 225

Epilogue: Research Methods in Media Studies 227

What do we mean by research? 227

Researching for assignments 228

Establishing objectives 228

Selecting relevant material 231

Using libraries 233

Writing up 235

Conclusion 239

Bibliography 242

Index 251

"Written in a clear and concise manner this introductory textbook offers a comprehensive overview of the central theoretical, empirical and analytical debates and issues in contemporary media studies. This is a valuable resource for undergraduate students on media studies or media-related courses who are new to the field; and those more familiar with its debates and issues." Sharon Lockyer, Bookends Lisa Taylor is Senior Lecturer in Media and Cultural Studies at the University of Wolverhampton. She has extensive experience of teaching media studies on both further and higher education. She is currently undertaking research on the cultural space of gardens.

Andy Willis is a lecturer in Media and Performance at the University of Salford. He has considerable teaching experience in both further and higher education and has acted as Chief Examiner for the AEB 'A' level media studies. He is currently completing a book on American martial arts cinema and editing a collection of essays on film stars.

This textbook provides students with a comprehensive and accessible introduction to the field of media studies. Written by two highly experienced lecturers, the volume covers media texts, media institutions and audiences and the media.

The authors offer a range of textual tools students might use as approaches to understanding the vast range of media texts. They examine the organizations which produce media texts and introduce readers to the dominant critical frameworks for understanding media industries, examining some of the key institutional debates in media studies. The section on audiences investigates the wide range of diverse perspectives on media audiences and the debates about the media and consumption.

Each chapter concludes with activities which encourage students to develop and apply critical approaches in contexts which develop their individual learning. The final section offers a set of techniques and case studies on methods of research which is specifically designed for undergraduate students.