Media Studies Theory
Our guides to the most important theories, theorists and concepts in media studies.
Introduction
Media theories are useful tools to help us analyse and evaluate the complex relationships between the media and society. Some approaches consider the economic influences on media production. Other theories look at how media messages reflect and shape our cultural values and beliefs. It is also important to critically assess the impact the media has on the audience’s behaviour.
If you want a deeper and more rigorous understanding of these issues, you need the right critical frameworks to examine the construction and circulation of media texts.
Contents
Semiotics
Semiotics is the study of the signs we use to communicate our thoughts to each other and the world. Exploring the ways media producers create meaning through signs can help us evaluate those messages more effectively, especially when we need to challenge our assumptions about culturally important codes.
Representation
Media representations can have a significant role in shaping our identity and influencing our opinions on different issues and groups. By analysing these representations which often reflect and reinforce cultural values, we can become more aware of the harmful stereotypes that are perpetuated in the media.
Signs are selected and combined to encode a message. Editors edit. Even selfies posted on social media are filtered. Representation, therefore, is the mediated version of reality.
Find out more about ideology and how values and beliefs are encoded into media texts.
Audience
Audience theories help us understand why people consume media texts and how they make sense of the messages they receive. The critical perspectives are also useful in evaluating the increasingly dynamic relationship between producers and consumers.
Media Industries
Some of the conglomerates involved in the cultural industries are among the largest and most profitable in the world, so it is important we understand their economic impact and to what extent their power can influence our lives and shape our opinions.
Narrative Theory
From traditional fairy tales to modern pop culture, narrative theory offers a power framework for appreciating the different ways storytelling can influence our perceptions of ourselves and our world.
Genre
Explore how genre is a socialising agent which reinforces society’s dominant ideology through representations.
A semiotic approach to understanding the differences between performance, narrative, and concept music videos.