1. Key Media Conventions

2. All Media are Constructions

3. All media are constructions.
 Constructions reflect many decisions and
result from many determining factors.
 Our view of reality is affected by media
messages that have been pre-constructed.
 Attitudes, interpretations, and conclusions
are already built in.

4. Question 1: Why might you argue that facebook profiles, like this one, are carefully crafted social constructions?

5. The Media Constructs Reality

6. Question 1: What does Grey’s Anatomy tell us about what it is like to be a doctor?
Question 2: Do you think this is a realistic representation of what goes on in hospital?

7. Audiences Negotiate Meaning in Media Texts

8. Each person interprets messages differently.
 People who view the same media texts do
not have the same experience or come away
with the same impression.
 People interpret messages differently based
on age, culture, life experience, values, and
beliefs.

9. Question 1: Why would watching a sitcom like the 70s show be a very different experience for someone who grew up in the 70s than it would be for a viewer today?
Question 2: What does it mean to “negotiate meaning”?

10. Media Have Commercial Implications

11. The media have special interests (commercial, ideological, political).
 Most media is created for profit; advertising is generally the biggest source of revenue.  Advertising takes many forms: commercials, product placement, sponsorships, prizes, pop-up ads, internet surveys, endorsements, etc.  Some media are created for specific ideological or political purposes.

12. Question 1: How might this ad encourage someone to buy this car
Question 1: How might this ad encourage someone to buy this car? What is the suggestion here?

13. Media Contains Ideological and Value Messages

14. The media contain beliefs and value messages.
 Producers of media texts have their own
beliefs, values, opinions, and biases.
 Producers choose what will and will not be
included in media texts, so they are never
neutral.
 Due to the mass-communication nature,
messages can have great social and political
influences.

15. Question 1: What are the ideological and value messages in this ad?

16. Media Have Social and Political Implications

17. Question 1: What would you conclude about Stephan Harper after seeing this cartoon? Question 2: How might it persuade you politically?

18. Form and Content are Closely Related in the Media

19. Question 1: How does the form (shape) reflect the content of this poem?

21. Question 1: What are the unique characteristics of a newspaper?
Question 2: What makes it aesthetically appealing?

22. Controversial Gadaffi Costumes Hit Fancy Dress Shops For Halloween
Huffington Post UK   Felicity Morse And Cosima Ungaro   First Posted: 26/10/11 14:13 GMT Updated: 26/10/11 14:13 GMT

23. Bad taste Colonel Gaddafi jokes sprung up across the Internet even as unconfirmed reports of capture first filtered through to media channels. Twitter users wrote "Gaddafi doesn’t Libya anymore" while a Facebook group called itself 'I can’t think of a Gaddafi gag, you’ll just have to *in-sirte joke here*' a pun on the former leader's hometown of Sirte, where he was found. Another wrote: Muammar Gaddafi has been killed. In other news, four thousand people have figured out their Halloween costumes. Fancy dress shops seemed to have anticipated this, offering a range of Gaddafi costumes ready for 31 October. A rubber Gaddafi mask hangs alongside a Shrek mask in China, while a full outfit remembering the dictator’s military days is possible with a £40 costume of the Colonel from Escapade. A different mask of the African despot complete with gold lamé hat is available in the UK. “Bring some controversy to your party with this latex mask of the fearsome Libyan ruler” the tagline to the picture says.

24. A glance at eBay also shows costume shops are not the only ones to try and cash in on the death of the dictator. One opportunist is attempting to sell a copy of The Daily Express newspaper, its front page picturing a bloodied Gaddafi and the headline: "Gaddafi gunned down in Sewer" for £54.00 with £8.00 postage. That’s a hefty increase from it’s original price of 30p, less than a week after his death .For a starting bid of nearly £10,000 you can buy Internet domain name In MemoryOf MuammarGaddafi.Com. It's not the first time that masks of terror figures have gone on sale. Osama Bin Laden masks have been available for over a year now and have been "updated" since his death with a missile through the terrorist's head. Russell Brand was fired for coming into work dressed as Osama Bin Laden a day after the 9/11 attacks. Huffington Post UK asks: is it bad taste to dress up as Gaddafi for Halloween?

25. Question 1: How are the form and content related
Question 1: How are the form and content related? Question 2: What do the headlines/layout reveal about the content?

26. Each Medium Has a Unique Aesthetic Form

27. Each medium has its own language, style, form, techniques, conventions, and aesthetics.
 Media create meaning differently using certain vocabulary, techniques, and styles.  E.g: When a scene in a TV show dissolves, it usually indicates time passing.  Through familiarity, we become fluent in the “languages” of different media.

28. Question 1: What makes graphic novels unique from other forms of media?
Question 2: Why are they aesthetically pleasing?

29. In groups consider the following questions:
How can the effectiveness of an ad be measured? When do we know whether an ad has been successful?
What are the effects of featuring scantily dressed men and women in advertisements? Do such images distract from the product or do they draw our attention to the product?
Are we simply creatures of imitation? In other words, do we all want to be like the people in the ads?
Can advertisements instigate social progress? Can they emancipate a group? If women are frequently pictured in top-level position, will they begin to be treated as equals with men as far as employment opportunities are concerned?
Is culture for sale? An the spaces around us, from basketball courts, to hospital beds, be branded or sponsored?