Lecture 10 The content of mass
communications (Cont.)
Objectives:
Have an idea on the linguistic approaches to
the study of the content;
Learn about several analytic tools that
media studies engage;
Have an understanding on content analysis
as one of the research methods.
Review,Approaches to the study
of content
Social
Cultural
Linguistic
Political economy,on advertising and
commercialism; commercialization of media
content; media content and hegemony
Information theory,media content as (measured)
information
Content and media performance
Review,Social approaches and
cultural approaches
Media content and social reality
Media content and power/inequality
Media content and (organizational) bias,e.g,
journalists,journalism practices
Media content and social problems,e.g,violence,
gender inequality
Media content and cultural values and traditions
Media content and mass culture
Media content and popular culture (and a variety
of sub-cultures)
Media content as cultural text
Linguistic approaches,how meaning
is generated?
Semiotics or Semiology,studies of signs
Structuralism,uncovering structures that
indicate relationships
Discourse analysis,analyzing the
implications of language use and the
relationship between language and its users
Semiotics,meaning and signs
Semiotics sees communication as the generation
of meaning in messages— whether by encoder or
decoder,
Meaning is not an absolute,static concept to be
found neatly parceled up in the message,but an
active process,It is generated,created,or
negotiated between person and message.
Meaning is the result of the dynamic interaction
between sign,signifier,and signified,Thus,
meaning is historically located and may well
change with time.
Signification,analyzing meaning
Denotation,the common-sense and obvious
meaning of a sign
Connotation,the interaction between the sign and
its user when the sign meets the feelings or
emotions of the users and the values of their
culture.
Myth:
Symbol,standing for sth else through convention,
E.g,a Rolls-Royce is a symbol of wealth and
status.
Myth
A myth is a culture’s way of thinking about
something,a way of conceptualizing or
understanding it,
Myth is a societal story that expresses
prevailing ideals,ideologies,values,and
beliefs.
Myth is a kind of narrative structure.
Exercise,tell each other what occurs to your
mind when you see or hear the following
words,
Women,men,diamond,perfume,policeman,
Myth
Myths are pre-existing and value-laden sets of
ideas derived from the culture and transmitted by
communication.
Myths are the meanings by which society
organizes itself and symbolically comes to terms
with faults and problems that arise,thus
maintaining its value consensus,
Binary oppositions,good and evil,civilization and
wilderness,law and lawless,etc.
Discussion,new myths in reforming China
Structuralism
Structuralism vs,empiricism,how people
make sense of the world vs,what the world
is.
Structuralism in linguistics,language is a
structural system to cover all cultural
process,All languages are different,But all
languages share a structure of differences
and combination.
Content analysis,brief
introduction
Have a hypothesis;
Choose a sample or samples;
Establish a set of key word or phrase that
best represent your hypothesis;
Choose a unit of analysis from the content of
your samples;
Count the frequency of the references to
relevant word or phrase,per chosen unit of
content
Express the results as an overall distribution
of the complete universe or chosen content
Other issues in content studies
Cultural quality
Ideology
Bias in news
communications (Cont.)
Objectives:
Have an idea on the linguistic approaches to
the study of the content;
Learn about several analytic tools that
media studies engage;
Have an understanding on content analysis
as one of the research methods.
Review,Approaches to the study
of content
Social
Cultural
Linguistic
Political economy,on advertising and
commercialism; commercialization of media
content; media content and hegemony
Information theory,media content as (measured)
information
Content and media performance
Review,Social approaches and
cultural approaches
Media content and social reality
Media content and power/inequality
Media content and (organizational) bias,e.g,
journalists,journalism practices
Media content and social problems,e.g,violence,
gender inequality
Media content and cultural values and traditions
Media content and mass culture
Media content and popular culture (and a variety
of sub-cultures)
Media content as cultural text
Linguistic approaches,how meaning
is generated?
Semiotics or Semiology,studies of signs
Structuralism,uncovering structures that
indicate relationships
Discourse analysis,analyzing the
implications of language use and the
relationship between language and its users
Semiotics,meaning and signs
Semiotics sees communication as the generation
of meaning in messages— whether by encoder or
decoder,
Meaning is not an absolute,static concept to be
found neatly parceled up in the message,but an
active process,It is generated,created,or
negotiated between person and message.
Meaning is the result of the dynamic interaction
between sign,signifier,and signified,Thus,
meaning is historically located and may well
change with time.
Signification,analyzing meaning
Denotation,the common-sense and obvious
meaning of a sign
Connotation,the interaction between the sign and
its user when the sign meets the feelings or
emotions of the users and the values of their
culture.
Myth:
Symbol,standing for sth else through convention,
E.g,a Rolls-Royce is a symbol of wealth and
status.
Myth
A myth is a culture’s way of thinking about
something,a way of conceptualizing or
understanding it,
Myth is a societal story that expresses
prevailing ideals,ideologies,values,and
beliefs.
Myth is a kind of narrative structure.
Exercise,tell each other what occurs to your
mind when you see or hear the following
words,
Women,men,diamond,perfume,policeman,
Myth
Myths are pre-existing and value-laden sets of
ideas derived from the culture and transmitted by
communication.
Myths are the meanings by which society
organizes itself and symbolically comes to terms
with faults and problems that arise,thus
maintaining its value consensus,
Binary oppositions,good and evil,civilization and
wilderness,law and lawless,etc.
Discussion,new myths in reforming China
Structuralism
Structuralism vs,empiricism,how people
make sense of the world vs,what the world
is.
Structuralism in linguistics,language is a
structural system to cover all cultural
process,All languages are different,But all
languages share a structure of differences
and combination.
Content analysis,brief
introduction
Have a hypothesis;
Choose a sample or samples;
Establish a set of key word or phrase that
best represent your hypothesis;
Choose a unit of analysis from the content of
your samples;
Count the frequency of the references to
relevant word or phrase,per chosen unit of
content
Express the results as an overall distribution
of the complete universe or chosen content
Other issues in content studies
Cultural quality
Ideology
Bias in news
