media key terms

Action code

Something that happens in the narrative that tells the audience that some action will follow

Active Audience

Audiences who actively engage in selecting media products to consume and interpret their meanings.

Anchorage

The words that accompany an image contribute to the meaning associated with that image.

Appeal

the way in which products attract and interest an audience

Arc of transformation

The emotional changes a character goes through in the process of the narrative.

Aspirational

a text that encourages the audience to want more money, up market consumer items and a higher social position.

Attract

how media producers create appeal to audiences to encourage them to consume the product

Audience categorisation

How media producers group audiences (e.g. by age, gender, ethnicity) to target their products.

Audience consumption

The way in which audiences engage with media products

Audience Interpretation

The way in which audiences 'read' the meanings in, and make sense of, media products.

Audience positioning

The way in which media products place audiences in relation to a particular point of view. For example, audiences may be positioned with a particular character or positioned to adopt a specific ideological perspective.

Audience response

How audiences react to media products

Audience segmentation

Where a target audience is divided up due to the diversity and range of programmes and channels. This makes it difficult for one programme to attract a large target audience.

Audio

How sound is used to communicate meaning

Avatar

A player's representation of themselves within a game.

Back story

Part of a narrative which may be the experiences of a character or the circumstances of an event that occur before the action or narrative of a media text.

Binary opposites

Where texts incorporate examples of opposite values; for example, good versus evil, villain versus hero.

Brand identity

The association the audience make with the brand, built up over time and reinforced by advertising campaigns.

Broadsheet

A larger newspaper that publishes more serious news, for example The Daily Telegraph

Camera angles

The angle of the camera in relation to the subject.

Camera shots

The type of shot and framing in relation to the subject

Caption

Words that accompany an image that help to explain its meaning.

Channel identity

That which makes the channel recognisable to audiences and different from any other channel.

Circulation

the dissemination of media products to audience/users

Connotation

suggested meanings attached to a sign

Conventions

what the audience expects to see in a particular media text

Convergence

the coming together of previously separate media industries/platforms; often the result of advances in technology

Cover lines

These suggest the content to the reader and often contain teasers and rhetorical questions. These relate to the genre of the magazine.

Cross-platform marketing

a text that is distributed and exhibited across a range of media formats or platforms. This may include film, television, print, radio and the Internet.

cultural capital

The media tastes and preferences of an audience, traditionally linked to social class/background.

demographic catergory

a group in which consumers are placed according to their age, sex, income, profession etc.

denotation

the literal meaning of a sign

diegetic sound

sound that comes from the fictional world e.g. sound of a gun firing

discourse

the topics, language and meanings or values behind them within a media text

distribution

the methods by which media products are delivered to audiences, including the marketing campaign

diversification

where media organisations who have specialised in producing media products in one form move into producing content across a range of forms

editing

the way in which the shots move from one to the other

encoding and decoding

media producers encode messages and meanings in products that are decoded or interpreted by audiences

enigma code

A narrative device which increases tension and audience interest by only releasing bits of information, for example teasers in a film trailer

Equilibrium

a state of balance or stability in relation to narrative

ethnocentric

belief in the superiority of one's own ethnic group or culture, for example, a newspaper will be more concerned to cover stories that are closely related to the reader and their concerns

ethos

The beliefs, values and customs of, for example, media organisations

fan

An enthusiast of a particular media form or product.

feature

in magazine terms, the main, or one of the main, stories in an edition.

flexi narrative

A more complex narrative structure with layers of interweaving storylines. This challenges the audience and keeps them watching.

franchise

an entire series of a media product e.g. an original film and all those that follow

gate keepers

he people responsible for deciding the most appropriate stories to appear in newspapers. They may be the owner, editor or senior journalists. They will only let the stories most appropriate for the ideology of the paper in

genre

a group that shares similar conventions

hegemony

the dominance of one group over another, often supported by legitimating norms and ideas.

horizontal integration

Where amedia conglomerate is made up of different companies that produce and sell similar products, often as a result of mergers.

house style

The aspects that make amagazine recognisable to its readers every issue. established through the choice of colour, the layout and design, the font style, the content and the general 'look' of the publication.

hybrid genre

Media texts that incorporate elements of more than one genre

hypodermic needle model

out of date media effects theory which suggests that an audiece will have a mass response to a media text - idea that a media product injects an idea into the mind of an audience who are assumed to be passive

iconography

props, costumes, objects and backgrounds associated with a particular genre

ideology

A set of messages, values and beliefs that maybe encoded into media products.

independent film

a film made outside of the financial and artistic control of a large mainstream film company

interactive audience

The ways in which audiences can become actively involved with a product

intertextual

Where one media text makes reference to aspects of another text within it

mass audience

traditional idea of the audience as one large homogenous group

media conglomerate

a company that owns other companies across a range of media platforms

media language

specific elements of a media product that communicate meanings to audiences

mediation

the way in which a media text is constructed in order to represent a version of reality

mise-en-scene

in analysis of moving image products, how the combination of images in the frame creates meaning, how individual shots have been composed

misrepresentation

certain social groups may be represented in a way that is not based on reality

mode of address

the way in which media text speaks to its target audience e.g formal or informal

narrative

the story that is told by the media text

niche audience

a relatively small audience with specialised interests, tastes and backgrounds

non-digetic sound

sound that comes from outside the fictional world

opinion leaders

people in society who affect the way in which others interpret a particular media text

passive audience

outdated idea that audiences dont actively engage in media products, but passively consume and accept the messages that producers communicate

Pick & Mix Theory (David Gauntlett)

audiences do not passively accepted everything they are told in media products, they select aspects that suit them best and ignore the rest

plurality

in a media context, this refers to a range of content to suit many people

privileged spectator position

Where the camera places the audience in a superior position within the narrative

political bias

Where a newspaper may show support for a political party through its choice of stories, style of coverage, cartoons, etc. It may be subtle and implicit or explicit as in the case of the tabloid newspapers on election day.

production

the process by which media products are constructed

realism

a style of presentation that claims to portray 'real life' accurately and authentically

regulator

A person or body that supervises a particular industry.

repertoire of elements

key features that distinguish one genre from another

representation

the way in which key groups or aspects of society are represented by the media

selection and combination

media producers actively choose elements of media language and place them alongside others to create specific representations or versions of reality

sexual objectification

The practice of regarding a person as an object to be viewed only in terms of their sexual appeal and with no consideration of any other aspect of their character or personality

sign/code

Something that communicates meaning, e.g., colours, sounds. The meaning of the sign changes according to the context

specialised audience

a non-mass, or niche audience that may be defined by a particular social group or by a specific interest

stereotype

an exaggerated representation of someone or something, where a small group are associated with a certain set of characteristics - can be quick ways of communicating information in media as they are easily recognisable to audiences

sub-genre

Where a genre is sub-divided into smaller categories, each of which has their own set of conventions

synergy

The combination of elements to maximise profits within a media organisation or product. For example, where a film soundtrack sells the film and the film sells the soundtrack.

tabloid

refers to a newspaper that focuses on lighter news, e.g. celebrity gossip/sport

target audience

the people at whom the media text is aimed

technical codes

underrepresentation

Certain social groups (usually minority groups) may be rarely represented or be completely absent from media products.

uses and gratifications

theory that suggests that active audiences seek out and use different media texts in order to satisfy a need and experience different pleasures.

vertical integration

Vertically integrated companies own all or most of the chain of production and distribution for the product

viewpoints

different perspectives in relation to values, attitudes, beliefs or ideologies

visual codes

the visual aspects of the product that construct meaning and are part of media language