Lecture 9 The content of mass
communications
Objectives:
Have an idea on different approaches to the
study of the content;
Learn about several analytic tools that
media studies engage;
Have a beginning understanding on one of
the research methods,content analysis
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
Social 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
Discussion,do media content show
organizational bias?
Cultural approaches
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
Semiology,signs and meanings
Connotation and denotation
Discourse analysis
Analytic tools,genre and myth
Genre (in moving image media studies)
Largely based on description and classification;
,Formula” (cultural) products;
As a kind of narrative,it shows frameworks of
structure,function,features,themes,content and
so on.
A convenience and common ground for both
producers (senders) and audience (receivers).
Contests,actualities,persuasions and dramas
Example,film genres
Western
War
Epic
Detective
Romance
Science fiction
Thriller
Romance
Comedy
Exploration
Action
Suspense
Activity 1 Television genres
List as many as possible television genres
that both we see in China and we can find
in other countries.
Summary
News
Current affairs
Sports
Music
Talk show
Interviews
Quiz show
Business and finance
Documentary
Nature
Situation comedy
Soup opera
Game show
Lifestyle
Docudrama
Infotainment
Myth
Myths are pre-existing and value-laden sets of
ideas derived from the culture and transmitted by
communication.
Myths are the the meanings by which society
organizes itself and symbolically comes to terms
with faults and problems that arise,thus
maintaining its value consensus,
Myth is a societal story that expresses prevailing
ideals,ideologies,values,and beliefs.
Myth is a kind of narrative structure.
Binary oppositions,good and evil,civilization
and wilderness,law and lawless,etc.
Discussion,new myths in reforming China
Assignment
Choose either of the following group works:
Do a simple research on a medium (a newspaper,
a magazine,a TV channel etc.) and answer the
question,Who are speaking?”
Choose one film or television genre and study it
by answering these questions,examples of films
or programmes,what are they about? Who are
their main audience? Why do they watch? What
does it suggest? And so on,
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
communications
Objectives:
Have an idea on different approaches to the
study of the content;
Learn about several analytic tools that
media studies engage;
Have a beginning understanding on one of
the research methods,content analysis
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
Social 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
Discussion,do media content show
organizational bias?
Cultural approaches
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
Semiology,signs and meanings
Connotation and denotation
Discourse analysis
Analytic tools,genre and myth
Genre (in moving image media studies)
Largely based on description and classification;
,Formula” (cultural) products;
As a kind of narrative,it shows frameworks of
structure,function,features,themes,content and
so on.
A convenience and common ground for both
producers (senders) and audience (receivers).
Contests,actualities,persuasions and dramas
Example,film genres
Western
War
Epic
Detective
Romance
Science fiction
Thriller
Romance
Comedy
Exploration
Action
Suspense
Activity 1 Television genres
List as many as possible television genres
that both we see in China and we can find
in other countries.
Summary
News
Current affairs
Sports
Music
Talk show
Interviews
Quiz show
Business and finance
Documentary
Nature
Situation comedy
Soup opera
Game show
Lifestyle
Docudrama
Infotainment
Myth
Myths are pre-existing and value-laden sets of
ideas derived from the culture and transmitted by
communication.
Myths are the the meanings by which society
organizes itself and symbolically comes to terms
with faults and problems that arise,thus
maintaining its value consensus,
Myth is a societal story that expresses prevailing
ideals,ideologies,values,and beliefs.
Myth is a kind of narrative structure.
Binary oppositions,good and evil,civilization
and wilderness,law and lawless,etc.
Discussion,new myths in reforming China
Assignment
Choose either of the following group works:
Do a simple research on a medium (a newspaper,
a magazine,a TV channel etc.) and answer the
question,Who are speaking?”
Choose one film or television genre and study it
by answering these questions,examples of films
or programmes,what are they about? Who are
their main audience? Why do they watch? What
does it suggest? And so on,
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
