Constructed Media
Constructed Media is the process by which a media text is shaped and given meaning through a process that is subject to a variety of decisions and is designed to keep the audience interested in the text.
Anchorage is when a piece of media uses another piece of media to reduce the number of connotations in the first, therefore allowing the audience to interpret it much more easily. For instance, in a newspaper, pictures are accompanied by a caption that allows us to understand what the picture is showing us.
Media are not windows on reality or mirrors of society - Media isn't showing us the full reality of the world, it's twisting the words to portray another view of the world. People in charge of media are aware of what they produce and it falls onto them to make the final decision on whether they publish it or not; of course, this means that the work that they are producing is bent to offer their reality and isn't necessarily portraying the full reality.
Trump on Mexico -
It isn't something new that President Trump has a strong distaste for Mexico, however, it doesn't stop Trump from surprising some people with his negative tone and words aimed towards Mexicans. During the press conference, Trump claims that Mexicans are "killing" them due to them not "sending their best" creating a "dumping ground for everyone else's problems". Trump framing Mexico for killing America's economy, of course, would cause the people watching him, believe in him as he has a higher label in society. Whilst standing in front of a massive crowd, Trump creates allegations that Mexicans are "killing [them] economically" and are "bringing crime" with things like drugs and rapists. Whilst Trump assumes there are good people in Mexico, he has previously spoken to border guards and what they tell him is apparently common sense. After Trump acknowledges that it isn't just Mexicans who are supposedly bringing the crime, he blamesSouth Latin America and the Middle East. Towards the end, Trump fails to deposit any faith in his people due to there being "no protection" and them having "no confidence" to do anything.
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| Trump's views on Mexico |
Throughout Obama's reign as President of America, it was clear there were some changes made for the best and a clear contrast to the way in which the current President of America is treating the Mexicans in a whole. Whilst Trump is set on making Mexico seem like one of the worst places in the world, Obama would rather set their "old mindsets aside" and essentially start fresh; helping Mexico become a progressive nation. It is obvious that Obama is aware of the "courageous people who sacrifice themselves for Mexico and is aware of the stereotypes that Americans hold to the Mexicans and the stereotypes that Mexicans hold to the Americans; causing misunderstandings between the two places.
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| Obama's views on Mexico |
Serena Williams' Tennis scandal -
Gender controversy in Lynx advertisement:
Serena Williams has recently been in a tennis match which she has been accused of being a "liar" and a "thief". During the match, Williams was caught "coaching" and proceeded to throw her racket down. Williams backlashed and claimed it was her sex and the colour of her skin that caused the penalisation. Her outburst of defence caused the watchers of the match to get uncomfortable and probably didn't want to watch what was happening in front of them. Her penalties have been compared to a fellow male tennis player, Novak Djokovic who recently got a warning for yelling at the umpire, yet Williams got a fine and point reducted. This can be seen in many different ways - Djokovic didn't exactly do something as severe in comparison to Williams so the treatment in which Serena has been receiving may be seen as fair. Some reckon that Williams' punishment isn't enough as she is only being fined $17,000; considering the amount that she has received from getting to the finals ($1,850,000) proving that she could easily pay off the fine.
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| Serena Williams' Tennis Match |
Many people have pointed out that Williams has been given a bigger nose and mouth than what she has which has been found offensive and especially over exaggerated. The owner, Mark Knight, claimed it was a "cartoon about Serena having a tantrum on the day" and didn't realise that it would have this big of a backlash; he has been recently compared to Jim Crow's style of work which has had even more backlash due to Crow's work being all about segregation. Due to Knight's age, he would know about Crow's work and should have known better. I can see how people view this as racist as whilst Williams is throwing a tantrum, Naomi Osaka can be seen in the background being asked if the win can be given to Williams.
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| Serena Williams' Cartoon |
Gender controversy in Lynx advertisement:
This advert is for Lynx which shows a woman cooking in the kitchen. It stereotypes women in the kitchen, being domesticated and that women in underwear will appeal more to men causing the men to buy it more. On the other hand, it is also offensive to men as it makes others think that this is the only thing that men are thinking of, which is not true, and are sex craved. It also portrays that women have to look like this to appeal to men and have men like them more.
The Only Way Is Essex (TOWIE) portrays Essex to be a place where it can get very argumentative, everyone speaks with a lot of slang such as "of my nut", everyone has an accent - in reality, no one really has the accent -, and it is all fake. As seen in the TV show, everyone has a robotic sound to their words, where their speech sounds scripted and rehearsed. The whole reality show is a caricature to what Essex actually is, portraying the people of Essex to wear excessive amounts of makeup, certain types of clothing, the gaining a relationship way too quickly, be filled with distaste for one another and taking risks (not always in the best of ways). The camera work either shows just their faces, from the waist up and close-ups with the camera rotating in a semi-circle like movement showing all angles and having sudden zoom features for effects. The editors use different shots quickly, showing different people in just a few seconds; accompanied by a dark and saturated washover, sparkly effects and loud music in the background. Overall, it gives the outside world a negative view on Essex and if you were to mention that you were from Essex, you wouldn't get the nicest of views - you'd be expected to fail, be lazy and argumentative to those around you.
Constructed Media (print)
On the left newspaper article, Jeremy Corbyn can be seen standing with a bold stance, making his posture straight and cause there to be a professional vibe from him; there's an overbearing and powerful feeling from the way he stands causing him to look more important. Due to the background being blank, it causes the view of the reader/viewer to be more focused on him and not everywhere but him. The serious tone of his "hostile takeover" and clean-shaven face signifies it is important and it is not a joke about him running for Prime Minister. On the contrary, Jeremy Corbyn has been made a joke in the newspaper article to the right. The pin "cor-bin" creates a silly and mocking tone to the whole newspaper; contrasting it to the newspaper on the left completely. The photoshop of Corbyn being in a bin causes a bad reputation; the background being rubbish, dull and stinky is a representation of what the writer believes that Corbyn will cause if he was to become Prime Minister. The listing of hyperbolic pessimistic phrases and words is persuading the audience to agree with the writer, true or not; the massive lettering is bold enough for everyone to read and not miss out on.
Halls Theory of encoding and decoding
The theory states that media texts are encoded by the producer meaning that whoever produces the text fills the product with values and messages. The text is then decoded by the audience.Different spectators will decode the text in different ways, not always in the way the producer intended. A text can be received in one of three ways;
Dominant or Preferred Reading
–This is when the text is read in the way the producer intended the text to be read.
–The audience agrees with the messages and ideology that the producer has placed behind the text.
Negotiated Reading
–This is a compromise between the dominant reading and the oppositional reading of the text.
–The audience accepts the views of the producer but also has their own input and understanding of the text.
Oppositional Reading
–The audience rejects the producers preferred reading and creates their own reading of the text, usually this is the opposite of what the producer intended.
– The reader rejects the meaning completely as they do not agree with the message that is being presented to the audience.
This picture portrays a view that cigarettes are a good thing to smoke and people are encouraged to smoke them. The message behind this poster is to promote the "fact" that smoking is better for you than eating lots of food. Although eating lots of food can cause obesity and cause many conditions, smoking can cause lung cancer - though this was something that was known at the time. The double chin on the shadow represents the obesity that the people of that time period thought would happen if you ate too much. Ironically, the cigarettes have been called "lucky", though the outcomes of smoking aren't so "lucky". This means that the Preferred Reading is that smoking should be something that everyone does and whenever someone is in need of food that they should smoke instead. The Negotiated Reading is that smoking probably does stop the addictions of eating as it stops the person from focusing on the food as much; however, this then causes the person to then become addicted to cigarettes and thus have negative side effects from this. The Oppositional Reading is that the viewers completely disagree and that cigarettes shouldn't be used at all to stop the addiction as all it does is bring along another addiction - it may not even fully stop the food addiction and just add more costs to the addictions as a whole.
Lauren Goodger
By just being in her swimsuit, Lauren Goodger's audience is no longer just people who are looking for makeup (which is frequently shown on her Facebook page). Through looking at her whole page, I believe her page is in fact constructed due to her pictures attracting people for her looks and the plenty advertisements that show off her products accompanied with pictures of her with the product on. Although this is a page about her, it may not necessarily be written by her - due to her being a celebrity, she is about to be under some kind of management, and due to her management would hire someone who would, in turn, be in charge of her social media. Therefore, although her pictures are of her and the page is all about her, she isn't entirely in control of what is put on there and it isn't created by her. The purpose of having all the features on her page is to, of course, attract people of all kinds (to look at the makeup and what she is advertising, and then any other people who are attracted to her looks).
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| Lauren Goodger's Facebook |
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