This document provides an overview of key media concepts related to audience, institutions, representation, language, codes and conventions, and narrative theory. It defines audience as the recipients of a media text and discusses several theories of how audiences interact with media, such as the hypodermic needle theory. It also defines institutions as organizations that produce and distribute media, and representation as the ideas and identities constructed in media texts. The document then examines media language and various codes and conventions used in different genres. Finally, it summarizes several narrative theories including those proposed by Propp, Todorov, and others.

1. MEDIA KEY CONCEPT
RESEARCH
BY SOPHIA CHARALAMBOUS
•Media Forms
•Institution
•Genre
•Representation
•Audience
•Ideology
•Narrative

2. AUDIENCE
• DEFINITION: The recipients of a media text, or the people who are intended to
read or watch or play or listen to it. A great deal of media studies work is concerned
with the effects a text may have on an audience.
• KEY IDEAS:
• The Hypodermic Needle Theory
• The Uses and Gratifications Theory
• Two Step Flow
• Reception Theory

3. THE HYPODERMIC NEEDLE THEORY AND
THE USES AND GRATIFICATIONS THEORY
This was the first theory that was created to explain how audiences
may react to the mass media.
It is a very basic theory which suggests that the information from a
text passes into the mass consciousness of the audience, without any
thought and the intelligence and opinion of an individual is not
considered.
People are assumed to be “uniformly controlled by their biologically
based instincts and that they react more or less uniformly to whatever
stimuli came along”
In other words the public cannot simply escape from the media’s
influence
This theory suggests that an audience may easily be manipulated by
the creators and their behaviour and thinking may easily be altered.
This theory is sometimes used to explain why certain groups in society
should not be exposed to certain media texts, due to the fear they will
watch or read sexual or violent content and then act upon those ideas
and take in the fictional characteristics
In 1948 Lasswell suggested that media texts had several
functions for individual and identified them as being
• Surveillance
• Correlation
• Entertainment
• Cultural Transmission
Bulmer and Katz then expanded on this theory and created
their own in 1974, which stated that individuals might choose
to use a text for:
• Diversion: escapism from everyday problems and routine -
Personal
• Relationships: using the media for emotional and other
interaction, e.g.. Substituting soap opera for everyday
family life
• Surveillance: information which could be useful for living,
e.g.. Weather reports, financial news or holiday bargains.

4. THE TWO STEP FLOW AND
THE RECEPTION THEORY
The Two step flow was introduced originally as the Hypodermic needle
theory but became slightly difficult in interpreting the relationship
between a media text and its audience.
The two step flow refers to the way in which information regarding
media texts transfers to other people, for example between social
groups at school or in the workplace. Hence why it is called the two
step flow as it works as a pattern – the first person comes to know
some information through the media which they pass on down to a
second person and so on. Eventually a mass of people know and it in a
sense goes ‘viral.’
It came about through the political work of Paul Lazarsfeld, Bernard
Berelson, and Hazel Gaudet in their 1940 presidential election, when
they published the result in a newspaper. They found that information
flows from the text to ‘opinion leaders’ which is then passed on to other
people, who are now influenced by everyone else's views on the text.
For example, one person may have seen a film and hated it and then
told a friend this; influencing their actions of whether or not they
should watch it.
Reception Theory: In the 1980s & 1990s, the reception
theory was introduced the analyse and interpret how a
text is received even further, also affecting their age,
gender, ethnicity and class.
The reception theory is based on Stuart Hill’s work of
encoding and decoding – where the text is encoded (put
together) by the producer and decoded (taken apart) by
the reader. However, the readers way of decoding the
text is not passive yet interpret its meanings based on
their own cultural background and experiences. This
means that the meaning of the text is created through
the relationship between the text and reader, rather
than being within the text itself. It is a process of
‘negotiation’ and ‘opposition’ from the audience.

5. INSTITUTIONS
• DEFINITION: An organisation or company, public or privately
owned that produces and/or distributes media products’
• KEY IDEAS: The concept of institutions
• Media institutions are responsible for: Making the media
(production)
• Targeting the audience (knowing what appeals to them)
• Marketing the media (audience awareness)
• Reaching the audience (distribution)
• Presenting the media (broadcasting, scheduling, publishing,
exhibiting)
Some examples are the
media companies who
own: Film Studios, TV
Stations, Record Labels,
Magazines, Newspapers,
Books, Internet
platforms Some examples
of the institutions who
produce gameshows are:
the BBC, Channel 4 and
ITV etc.

6. • DEFINITION: Representation is the construction of ideas of reality which is presented in media. These ideas could be stereotypes. For
example, cultural identities, race, gender and class. The media rely on the audience being able to depict a representation.
• It is not possible for the Media to present the world as it is because the media constructs meanings about the world they can change,
mediate or manipulate whats really there.
• WHEN STUDYING REPRESENTATION MEDIA STUDENTS TYPICALLY WOULD ANALYSE:
Who or what is being represented?
Who is the preferred audience for this representation?
What are they doing?
Is their activity presented as typical, or atypical?
Are they conforming to genre expectations or other conventions?
Why are they present?
What purpose do they serve?
What are they communicating by their presence?
What's the preferred reading?
Where are they?
How are they framed?
Are they represented as natural or artificial?
What surrounds them?
What is in the foreground and what’s in the background?
REPRESENTATION
THEORIES:
• FEMENIST THEORY
• PSYCHOANALYSIS
• TRADITIONALIST VS POST
TRADITIONALIST VIEWS OF
SOCIETY
Age - Gender - Race/Ethnicity - Financial Status - Job
- Culture/nationality –
Signs and symbols are shorthand to understand.
To represent these characteristics and important
attributes to their characters. We are always quick to
jump to these assumptions about who the character
is (usually by comparing them to similar characters
we have encountered before), and this allows us to
put them in a category and "read" them in context.

7. THE FEMINIST THEORY, PSYCHOGRAPHICS
AND THE TRADITIONALIST VS POST
TRADITIONALIST THEORY
• THE FEMINIST THEORY – Laura
Mulvey
• She believes that the apparatus of the
Hollywood cinema puts the audience in
a masculine dominated position with
the woman on the screen seen as an
object of desire, like a ‘prize’ of some
sort. Film and cinematography are
structures upon ideas. The
protagonists are generally men. People
who criticise her ideas say that she is
ignoring the fact that all genders –
male and female want to feel
dominated and overwhelmed by the
cinema experience. Also, she ignores
the fact that men are capable of
‘metaphoric transvestism’ whereby
they are able to view the film from the
perspective of a woman.
• PSYCHOGRAPHICS –”The Mirror” ,
Lacan
• Lacan’s theory of “the mirror” is the
idea circling identity. He considers the
point at which a person develops a
sense of self and conscious identity. He
also considers the point at which a child
recognises their own reflection and
begin to consider how others perceive
them, modifying their appearance to
satisfy their perceptions of how others
see them. Lacan stretches this idea
when she writes about “the silver
screen” which she suggests operates like
a metaphorical mirror; reflecting back
to the female viewer representations of
female identity, but these
representations are not generic
reflections of the viewer but rather male
perceptions of idealised femininity.
• TRADITIONALIST VS POST
TRADITIONALIST THEORY - Anthony
Giddens
• Media representations of society can be seen as
traditional or post traditionalist. An example of
traditional societies are ones in which
individual choice was limited by its generic
customs and traditions. On the other hand post
traditionalist societies are one where the ideas
set by previous generations are not as
important than those of individuals. Post
traditional societies no longer feel so dependent
and limited to time and place. Anthony says,
we are living in a post traditional society where
we have become much less concerned with
precedents set by previous generations and
that our options are only limited by what the
law and public opinion allows. We have
replaced seen/discreet systems with remote
‘expert’ systems, institutions and corporations.

8. GAMESHOW REPRESENTATIONS
• The type of host chosen to host a gameshow is very important for quiz shows. The
host is small link between shows, and the person the audience most closely
identifies with and recognises. The contestants change from week-to-week but the
host usually stays the same. Hosts are often chosen because they are already very
well known by the target audience. Each host will should present certain ideas to
the audience and attract a certain group of people to watch the show.

9. MEDIA LANGUAGE
• DEFINITION: This is how the media communicates to theaudience. There are
different types of media languages which include written, verbal, non-verbal, visual
and aural.

10. CODES AND CONVENTIONS
• CONVENTIONS: are the generally accepted ways of doing something. There are general
conventions in any medium, such as the use of interviewee quotes in a print article, but
conventions are also genre specific.
• CODE: A system of signs which can be decoded to create meaning. In media texts, we look at a
range of different signs that can be loosely grouped into the following:
• CODES AND CONVENTIONS are used together in any study of genre – it is not enough to discuss
a technical code used such as camera work, without saying how it is conventionally used in a genre.
For example, the technical code of lighting is used in some way in all film genres. It is a convention
of the horror genre that side and back lighting is used to create mystery and suspense, an integral
part/ key ingredient of any horror movie. The conventions of Game Shows are: Host/presenter,
audience, set design, prizes, rounds, contestants, teams, buzzers, table, theme music, assistant and
scheduling.

11. CODES
• -Technical Codes - all to do with the way a text is technically constructed - camera
angles, framing, typography.
• -Verbal Codes - everything to do with language -either written or spoken.
• -Symbolic Codes - codes that can be decoded on a mainly connotational level - all the
things which draw upon our experience and understanding of other media texts, our
cultural frame of reference.

12. PROPPS THEORY
• The Russian theorist came up with a theory concerning 8 main characters.
The dispatcher The Character who makes the lack known and sends the hero off.
The (Magical) helper Helps the hero in the quest.
The Princess or “prize” The hero deserves her throughout the story but is unable to marry
her because of an unfair evil, usually because of the villain. The
hero’s journey is often ended when he marries the princess, thereby
beating the villain.
Her Father Gives the task to the hero, identifies the false hero, often sought for
during the narrative. Propp noted that functionally, the princess
and the father cannot be clearly distinguished.
False Hero Takes credit for the hero’s actions or tries to marry the princess
The Villain The unfair evil, who struggles against the hero.
The Donor Prepares the hero or gives the hero some magical object.
The Hero/or victi/seeker hero Reacts to the donor, weds the princess

13. PROPPS THEORY CRITICISM
• Propp’s theory of narrative comes across as based in a male orientated environment (due
to his theory actually reflecting early folk tales) and as such critics often dismiss the
theory with regard a film. However, it may still be applied because the function (rather
than the gender) of characters is the basis of the theory. E.g. the hero could be a woman;
the reward could be a man.
• Critics argue that Propp’s strict order of characters and events is restrictive. We should
rather apply the functions and events randomly as we meet new narratives. E.g. the
hero may kill the villain earlier than Propp expects. Changing the traditional format will
change the whole way the text is received. Some critics claim there are many more
character types than Propp suggests and we should feel free to identify them.

14. NARATIVE THEORY TODOROV
• This theory
most basically
states that
most stories or
plot lines
follow the
same pattern
or path
• This pattern
has 5 steps
• THE
EQUILIBRIU
M
• The first part
of the story will
display an
upbeat start,
where the
majority of the
characters are
content and
everything is
‘perfect’
• THE
DISRUPTIO
N
• The second
part of the
story will
feature a
problem or
something
will disrupt
the
happiness
• THE
REALISATIO
N
• This s the
part of of
the plot
where
everyone
realises the
problem and
havoc is
reeked.
• ORDER IS
RESTORE
D
• This part
of the plot
is when the
characters
attempt to
repair the
damage
and restore
the
problem.
• EQUILIBRIU
M AGAIN
• This is the
final part of
the plot where
the problem is
resolved and
normality can
resume again.

15. SEMIOTIC ANALYSIS
• Semiotics or semiology is the study of signs.
• Semiotic Analysis is to consider the meaning of these signs.
• Signs give us information about what is all around us. Obvious signs we may
consider are road or street signs which tell us where to go or how to drive.
• On the other hand, in media we would consider subtle signs. If someone was
wearing a suit we could consider that a sign that they’re a business person , that
they have wealth or that they’re professional whereas if someone had a scar we
would see that as a sign that they’ve been in a fight or involved in violence

16. DENOTATION AND CONNOTATION
An example is the colour red- connotation- a bright colour denotation- danger, love,
passion and romance. Or a dove- connotation- A lightly coloured bird, denotation-
peace and freedom.
Signs which have many different meanings are called Polysemic.
CONNOTATION: LITERAL MEANING
DENOTATION: AN INTERPRETED MEANING

17. BINARY OPPOSTITION
• The contrast between two mutually exclusive concepts or things that creates conflict
and drives a narrative until, some sort of balance or resolution is achieved. e.g.
good/evil, day/night, male/female, presence/absence, old/young.