MediaFocus: Overview of A-Level Media Studies Theories

Introduction

• Presenter: Michael Collins
• Focus: Overview of 19 theories in A-Level Media Studies
• Objective: Simplify each theory to one or two key points for exam preparation
• Purpose of Theories: Help answer questions and interpret media; they are not facts but interpretations
• Flaw in Theories: All theories have inherent flaws and should be critiqued

Categories of Theories

1. Media Language Theories
2. Representation Theories
3. Industry Theories
4. Audience Theories

Media Language Theories

1. Roland Barthes - Semiotics

   • Meaning through signs and codes (e.g., camera angles, colors, symbols)
   • Hermeneutic Codes: Pose questions (enigma codes)
   • Proairetic Codes: Action codes suggesting events
   • Symbolic Codes: Deeper meaning (e.g., red rose)
   • Referential Codes: Intertextuality, references to other media
   • Myths: Stories that explain the world

2. Todorov - Narratology

   • Narratives move from equilibrium to disequilibrium and back

3. Steve Neale - Genre Theory

   • Genres are categorized by repetition and difference (e.g., Beyonce's "Formation")

4. Claude Lévi-Strauss - Structuralism

   • Understanding through binary oppositions (e.g., human vs. robot)

5. Jean Baudrillard - Postmodernism

   • Breaking rules and hyperreality (e.g., social media personas)

Representation Theories

1. Stuart Hall - Representation

   • Media products are reconstructions, not reality
   • Representations affect reality (e.g., stereotypes)

2. David Gauntlett - Identity

   • Audiences construct identity through media

3. Liesbet van Zoonen - Feminist Theory

   • Male and female bodies represented differently
   • Spectacle of women's bodies

4. bell hooks - Feminist Theory

   • Feminism is for everyone; challenging patriarchal hegemony

5. Judith Butler - Gender Performativity

   • Gender is a performance; performativity impacts the world around us

6. Paul Gilroy - Ethnicity and Post-Colonial Theory

   • Racial presentations rooted in colonial past

Industry Theories

1. Curran and Seaton - Power and Media Industries

   • Media driven by profit and power, leading to repetitive products

2. Livingstone and Lunt - Regulation

   • Digital convergence bypasses traditional regulation

3. David Hesmondhalgh - Cultural Industries

   • Minimizing risk, maximizing profit through specialized industries and integration

Audience Theories

1. Albert Bandura - Media Effects

   • Audiences directly influenced by media (basic theory)

2. George Gerbner - Cultivation Theory

   • Long-term exposure cultivates ideologies

3. Stuart Hall - Reception Theory

   • Active audience interpretations: preferred, negotiated, oppositional readings

4. Henry Jenkins - Fandom

   • Fans interact and create new content (textual poaching)

5. Clay Shirky - End of Audience Theory

   • Audience as producers, blurring lines between consumer and creator

Conclusion

• Objective: Provide a simplified understanding of media theories for exams
• Importance: Understanding these theories aids in analyzing media products effectively