This document provides an introduction to media studies, defining key concepts and terms. It explains that media refers to any medium that transmits messages, and defines a media text as anything that can be accessed through media, such as books, films, websites, and more. It discusses how media texts are encoded by producers and then decoded by audiences. Key concepts in media studies are explained as media language, audience, institutions, and representation - looking at how media shapes and portrays information and people.

1. What is Media?
Introduction to AS Media Studies (MEST 1)

2. What is a Medium?
It’s anything that gets between the “message”
being sent and the “message” being received.
So it could be a pen!

3. in other words...
• The media is how messages are
transmitted.
• The “message” could be anything,
including news, facts about the world
(documentary), drama, comedy, music,
opinion: anything you can access through
the media.

4. Texts
In media studies, to
save the confusion of
talking about
messages and
messengers, we talk
about texts.

5. A media text could be...
• A book
• A newspaper (or article)
• A magazine (or article,
picture etc.)
• An advert
• A Film or trailer
• TV programme
• A recording
• A poster
• A web site or page
• A graphic novel
• A pop promo/video
• A documentary
• A YouTube video...

6. But...
What does the medium do to the message?
(In other words, what happens in between?)

7. Packages
• Media texts come in individual packages
(newspaper stories, TV or radio programmes,
films, magazine spreads, web sites etc.)
• To create these packages, producers encode
them using the conventions of that media
platform
• The package is then decoded by the
consumer (the audience)
• (We’ll discuss this business of encoding and
decoding more later.)

8. Simple Example
Message
(encoding)
Recipient
(decoding)
Medium
(+noise)
What is the medium doing to the message?

9. Mixed Messages
• The media are often accused of
dumbing down the message.
• They’re often accused of bias
• The media can be very selective of the
facts they tell us
• The media can distort the truth or
simply get things wrong

10. Mediated experience
• Something that happens to you is a
direct experience.
• But most of your knowledge about the
world is indirect.
• You learn about the world through media
texts: mediated experience

11. Key Concepts
• In Media Studies, we look at all these texts with a
particular focus on key concepts.
• The key concepts are:
• Media Language
• Audience
• Institutions
• Representation

12. Media Language
• What we mean by “media language” are the
forms and conventions used in media texts to
encode and convey meanings.
• In a film, for example, the “media language”
being used might include the way the camera
moves, or the way music or lighting is used
• Both genre and narrative are important
aspects of media language

13. Audience
• Who are the audience?
• Who is the spectator?
• What does the audience get out of using
the media?
• How is the audience affected by the
media language being used?
• How is the audience targeted?

14. Institutions
• Who makes media texts – and why?
• Who owns and runs the media – and
why?
• Who controls and regulates the media –
and why ?
• Do they do a good job?

15. Representation
• Does the media reflect or distort reality?
• Does it give a positive or negative view of
individuals and groups?
• In other words, is it biased, racist, sexist –
offensive?
• What are the effects on the audience of media
portrayals of certain issues?
• What are the possible effects of being exposed to
these representations for a lifetime?
• What do these representations tell us about the
values and ideology of our society?

16. Review
• List some of the media texts you have
accessed in the last 24 hours.
• How did you access these texts – and
why?