KEY MEDIA CONCEPTS

Media concepts encompass a wide range of ideas and theories related to the creation, distrubution, and reception of various forms of media. Here are some key media concepts:

• Audience: 

It is a very important concept throughout media studies. All media texts are made with an audience in mind, ie a group of people who will receive it and make some sort of sense out of it. And generally, but not always, the producers make some money out of that audience. Therefore it is important to understand what happens when an audience "meets" a media text.

• Genre:

Genre does not rely simply on what's in a media text but also on the way it is put together (constructed). This can be important, for example, when distinguishing between a horror movie and a thriller, which can deal with similar subject matter, and look the same — lots of action set at night — but belong to separate genres (a horror film takes the audience into a supernatural place, where a thriller sticks to reality). A media text is said to belong to a genre, as it adopts the codes and conventions of other texts in that genre, and lives up to the same expectations. Texts from different mediums may belong to the same genre (e.g. a tv programme like Dr Who and a comic book like The Incredible Hulk can both be categorised as Science Fiction.)

• Institution:

Institution refers to organizations or structures that play a crucial role in the creation, production, distribution, and regulation of media content. These institutions significantly influence the way information is disseminated and how media functions within society.Media institutions are responsible for creating, curating, and disseminating content across various platforms. They shape public discourse, influence public opinion, and contribute to the construction of social reality. Examples: Broadcasting corporations (e.g., BBC, CNN), publishing houses, film studios, social media platforms (e.g., Facebook, Twitter), regulatory bodies (e.g., FCC in the United States), and news agencies.

• Narrative:

In media studies, it is important to tell the difference between narrative and story. Story = a sequence of events, known correctly as the plot. Narrative = the way those events are put together to be presented to an audience. Therefore, when analysing a narrative we analyse the construction of the story ie the way it has been put together, not the story itself. You also need to consider what the story is about in its most basic terms, ie the theme (eg Love, war, winning). All media texts have a narrative, whether they are a six hour TV miniseries or a one paragraph newspaper story or a glossy magazine photograph.

• Media Forms:

Media forms refer to the various formats or channels through which information and content are communicated to an audience. Over time, the landscape of media has evolved, encompassing a diverse range of forms, each with its unique characteristics and modes of communication. Here are some key media forms: Print Media, Broadcast Media, Digital Media, Social Media, Film, etc.

Representation:

Representation = Understanding representation is all about understanding the choices that are made when it comes to portraying something or someone in a mass media text. It's impossible to portray every aspect of an individual in a photograph, or even in a feature film, so certain features of their personality and appearance get highlighted, and are often enhanced, when it comes to constructing the representation that the audience will see. When representing a person, media texts often focus on their:

• Age
• Gender
• Race/Ethnicity
• Financial
• Status
• Job
• Culture/nationality