RACE, GENDER AND

MEDIA CONCEPTSJOUR 4250/5210

Ways of examining media

Framing: Making sense of the events around us. We use story lines with references/knowledge learned through the culture. Journalists frame their stories.

Symbolic annihilation: To be represented in media is a form of power. Absence of representation is absence of power, trivialization, condemnation, marginalization.

Intersectionality: We all have several identities—female, male, gay, black, white, deaf, bisexual, etc.

Media studies

Social construction of reality: We learn through interaction with others what it means to be a member of a certain social group. By being treated a certain way, we learn to accept being treated that way. We learn what it means to be a boy or a girl, a man or a woman.

Discourse: Interpretive frameworks to discuss social phenomenon like racism or sexism.

Cultural/social identity: We have the sense that we belong to a particular cultural group.

Ideology: Deeply held ideas about the way the world ought to be. One ideology, the dominant ideology, is usually accepted by most members of society. Media play a role in perpetuating the dominant ideology.

Critical thinking

What do I see?

What do I think it means?

How did it get that way?

Is this appropriate/fair/effective?

What does this tell me about

society?

Why do I think what I think?

Media literacy

Interpreting how people use media in their

everyday lives.

Understanding complex relationships among

audiences and media content

Recognizing social and cultural contexts in

which media is produced

Understanding the commercial nature of

media

Recognizing the motivations of media

producers as well as their ethical concerns

and responsibilities