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what are the worlds reality lives in?
the real world the media world
why do we journey into the media world?
the real world is too limited
we therefore enter media world to
get experiences and information we cannot obtain in our real lives
regarding media and real world, we sometimes fail to:
differentiate between the two
the magic window
very young children cannot differentiate between the media world and the real world
kids under 3:
view things like TV as a magic window to the real world (supported by research)
kids 3-5 mature enough cognitively
to develop a skepticism about the literal reality of media messages
most 3-5 year old can distinguish between:
fictional programs and news or documentary
adult discount
the shift away from the magic window, where kids begin thinking like adults
by age 12
kids have fully incorporated an adult discount into their thinking
kids may understand __ arent real, but dont understand __ arent real
cartoons live action presentations (real world)
criteria for reality-- we consider:
whether a portrayal actually happened the social utility of the portrayal whether and how well we identify with the characters in the portrayal
we go to media to get certain messages for two basic reasons:
its impossible to get certain messages in real life (not everyone can go to superbowl) the costs of getting messages from the media are much lower than getting them in real life (a ticket to superbowl vs. watching it on TV)
next step reality
the media message is presented as realistic with a little something more (characters seem realistic but are way funnier than anyone you know)
programmers use media reality to:
add a little something to the stories, characters, and situations to make them slightly more interesting than the real world (instead of girl meets boy, how about boy meets boy!)
by messing with media reality,
they spin reality making it look more exciting than the real world and therefore attracting people away from their real lives
entertainment formulas commonly use:
story telling formulas
the audience relies on formulas just as much as
the message creators
with the formulas, it makes it:
easier for the audience to follow the action and characters
simple formulas usually have
the largest audiences
common feature of a drama
tragedy: characters perceived as good or bad mystery: an important element of the plot is missing action/horror: good and evil fight it out in a conflict
all formats change with time because:
tastes of public evolve changes in real world
the media world is:
full of constant expression of strong emotions ignore things that are not visually, aurally, or mentally interesting the everyday things that comprise most of our day arent important enough to document
gender soap operas? cop shows?
male outnumber females 3:1 1:1 5:1
ethnicity
80% white americans 16% afircan american (rising) 3% latino 1% asian and native american
stereotypes are totally necessary because
they allow us to recognize character types and move through stories more quickly
stereotypes can be harmful because
we use them to type people and places we havent experienced
popular TV character ages
between the ages of 20 and 50 (75%:: in real life 33%)
know marital status?
yes for 80% of women yes for 45% of men
wealth
50% are wealthy or ultra wealthy 10% are poor
professional
33% are professional total misinterpretation of workforce, 12 times more private detectives than production line workers, and 12 times more prostitutes than machinists
health
pain rarely follows violent behavior doctors are only for cataclysms eating occurs constantly no one gets fat
professional responsibility perspective
journalists cover news that they feel have a social, moral, and professional responsibility to cover
marketing perspective
producing news they feel will generate the largest audiences
some news media are less likely to take up extreme political positions
newspapers national network TV evening news
marketing responsibility
producing news that will generate the largest audiences tendency to broadcast events that perhaps shouldnt be
story formulas
expectations on the part of the public deeper issues being ignored
inverted pyramid
important aspects additional aspects depending on importance
narrative news reporting
delivering a story as though it is fictional all the makings of a good novel starts by grabbing attention continues by keeping audience in suspense
simplified extended conflict
journalist picks an angle of conflict in the story focuses on the characters as well tends to polarize audiences
resource constraints
time space talent place
time
deadlines need to be met stories need to be timely finite amount of time to give broadcast news
space
only so much space to print stories finite amount of time to give broadcast news
talent
some journalists are simply better than others
place
some places are more likely to be covered
agenda setting and walter lippman
he was concerned with the power the media had to present images to the public
in agenda setting, firshand experience is
limited
in agenda setting, we depend on the media to
describe events we havent personally experienced
bernard cohen says:
the media tell us what to think about
McCombs and Shaw found
relationship between issues covered in the press and issues people think are important
agenda setting: need for orientation
the higher the need for orientation, the more likely a person is to be influenced by the media in determining the importance of issues
agenda setting: larger news organizations
set agenda for smaller ones
where are ads?
film newspapers radio TV computers non media (buildings, toilets, police cars, schools, sporting events)
to introduce a new product, an advertiser must spend...WHY?
$50,000,000 in advertising to get it noticed because there are so many messages out there
popular surface criticisms of advertising
advertising is excessive advertising manipulates us into buying things we dont need advertising debases the language advertising is offensive or in bad taste advertising perpetuates stereotypes
deep criticisms
advertisers fail to be socially responsible advertisers use deception seldom do they outright lie
puffery: pseudo claims
(x fights cavities)
puffery: comparison with an unidentified other
x does something better than the leading brand
puffery: comparing product to its earlier form
x is new and improved
puffery: irrelevant comparisons
x is the best selling product of its kind
puffery: pseudo survey
4 out of 5 recommend x
puffery: juxtaposition
smiling faces appear on product that is for negative aspects

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