Media Messages MWI 3

Media Messages  Media messages are those distributed by organizations with the intent of communicating an idea or ideas to a wide audience.  Media messages are constructed in different ways for different purposes.

Media Messages  Communication methods influence the ways people define and act on issues.  Media messages affect public opinion on issues.  Organizations adjust their messages for different audiences.

Media Messages  Propaganda- Information designed to persuade, is used widely in advertising and politics  The goals of these campaigns vary but all attempt to influence the audience to act a certain way, whether that is to vote for a certain candidate or buy a product.

Media Messages  Children in presidential ads serve as a lens through which to view the wider concerns of the nation, such as nuclear war drugs or affordable health care  However, many candidates oversimplify issues, arousing emotions with drastic predictions about the future of our children that are based on little or misleading information

Media Messages  Ads that focus on the emotions of viewers or attack the competition have been prevalent in recent election campaigns  Studying how presidential commercials have returned to the same themes throughout the past half-century helps us to understand the reasons for the repetition of certain types of imagery.  Political ads featuring children have been common since the 1950s. Some ads use images of a candidate with his own children or grandchildren to help establish him as a "family man."  Others portray anonymous or "real" children who are not related to the candidate in order to elicit powerful emotions, including fear, anxiety, and hope for the future.

BRAINSTORM  Brainstorm about the reasons why a candidate for president might refer to or use children in a campaign commercial.

Assignment  1. Define Media Messages.  2. How might an organization change their message depending on the audience they are trying to reach?  3. What are examples of media that you use everyday? Provide an example of media message that targets your demographic  4. Why do politicians use emotions in their ads?  5. What types of emotional responses are they hoping for? Give an example.

Assignment  Watch the following ads ("Family/Children" (George H. W. Bush, 1988) and "Dangerous World" (George W. Bush, 2000) and answer the following questions  Describe the children in these ads. Is there one child, or are there many?  What are the children doing?  How do these ads make you feel? Why?  What is each ad about?  Are children used effectively in these ads? Why or why not?  Do you think the impact of using children in these ads would have been different for older viewers and younger ones?