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Media Glossary
A
ACTION CODE Something that happens in the narrative that tells the audience that some action will follow, for example a gun would indicate ensuing violence or death (see Roland Barthes theory)
ACTIVE AUDIENCE Audiences actively engaging with media products. This could be choosing a media text to provide a gratification, or re-editing a film trailer to change its genre or narrative (Shirky, Jenkins theory as well as 'Prosumer' culture)
ANCHORAGE The words that accompany an image (still or moving) contribute to the meaning associated with that image. An image with an anchor is a closed text; the audience are given a preferred reading. A text without an anchor is an open text as the audience can interpret it as they wish. The same image of a school in a local newspaper could include a negative or a positive headline, which may change the way in which the same image is viewed by the reader.
AUDIENCE CONSUMPTION The way in which audiences engage with media products (e.g. viewing a TV programme, playing a video game, reading a blog or magazine). Methods and platforms of consumption have changed significantly due to the development of digital technologies.
AUDIENCE POSITIONING The way in which media producers predict audiences will interpret or read a media text. Often through a shared ideology.
B
BAME: Acronym for ‘Black, Asian and minority ethnic’
BROADSHEET A newspaper with a large format, regarded as more serious and less sensationalist than tabloids.
BINARY OPPOSITION Visual, character or conceptual opposites found in a narrative that contrast each other (e.g white/black, young/old, positive/negative) provides conflict and adds drama to a story. See Strauss' theory.
BRAND IDENTITY The visible elements of a brand, such as colour, house-style, design, and logo, that identify and distinguish the brand in consumers' minds. Can also include values and ideology of a brand.
C
CAPTION Text that accompany an image that help to explain its meaning.
CHARACTER ARC The emotional changes a character goes through in the process of the narrative. The events in the story mean that they will 'transform' by the end of the story.
CIRCULATION The distribution of media products to audiences - the method will depend on the media form e.g. circulation of print magazines, broadcast of television programmes etc.
COMMERCIAL Making money through advertising, or when a text is created to make profit as its main priority.
CONCENTRATION OF OWNERSHIP The term given to the ever decreasing number of companies that run media industries through the production, distribution and exhibition of media texts.
CONGLOMERATE A big powerful company that own a lot of smaller companies in different media industries. Disney are an example of a media conglomerate.
CONNOTATION The suggested meanings attached to a sign, e.g., the red alarm connotes danger, warning, panic etc
CONTEMPORARY Modern, current. Of the time.
CONVENTIONS What the audience expects to see in a particular media text, for example the conventions of science fiction films may include: aliens, space, scientists, other worlds, gadgets etc.
COUNTERTYPE The subversion of a stereotype. Opposite to what is commonly presented.
COVERLINES Text on a magazine cover promoting the stories featured inside. These suggest the content to the reader and often contain teasers, star names, puns and rhetorical questions.
CROSS-MEDIA CONVERGENCE When a media text is promoted across a range of different media platforms. Companies with the power to integrate horizontally have the luxury of doing this.
CROSS-MEDIA PROMOTION When a company promotes it's product across the various media platforms it owns.
CULTURAL CAPITAL The (highbrow) media tastes, preferences and worldly knowledge of an audience, traditionally linked to social class/background.
D
DEMOGRAPHIC A group in which consumers are placed according to their age, sex, income, profession, etc. The categories range from A to E where categories A and B are the wealthiest and most influential members of society.
DENOTATION The literal meaning of a sign, e.g. the car in the advert is red.
DIEGETIC SOUND Sound that comes from the fictional world, for example the sound of a gun firing, the cereal being poured into the bowl in an advert, etc.
DISCOURSE Essentially an ongoing discussion around a particular topic or ideology. Discourse will include a series of opinion being shared, evolved and developed - media producers will reflect their views and opinions on an area of discourse (e.g feminism or racism) and become part of this discussion through the representations and ideologies found within their texts. The discourse of lifestyle magazines, for example, tends to revolve around gender roles, body image and narcissism.
DISTRIBUTION The methods by which media products are delivered to audiences, including the marketing campaign. These methods will depend upon the product (for example, distribution companies in the film industry organise the release of the films, as well as their promotion).
DIVERSIFICATION Where media institutions, who have specialised in producing media products in one industry, move into producing content across a range of media industries.
E
EDITING The way in which the shots transition from one to the other in moving image media, e.g. fade, cut, etc. Fast cutting may increase the pace and therefore the tension of the text, for example. Print editing can include post-production refinement such as airbrushing, cropping or Photoshopping
ENCODING AND DECODING Media producers encode messages and meanings in products that are decoded, or interpreted, by audiences (Hall audience theory).
ENIGMA CODE A narrative device which increases tension and audience interest by only releasing bits of information, for example teasers in a film trailer or narrative strands that are set up at the beginning of a drama/film that make the audience ask questions; part of a restricted narrative. A newspaper headline may intrigue us to read on.
EXHIBITION Where and how the audience consume the text. E.g film in a cinema, video game on a console.
F
FANDOM A group of fans that share a common interest in a particular media form or product.
FEATURE In magazine terms, the main, or one of the main, stories in an edition. Features are generally located in the middle of the magazine, and cover more than one or two pages.
FORM Type of media product, for example magazine, computer game, newspaper, advert.
FORM CONVENTIONS What we expect to see within a media form. E.g Masthead, main image, coverlines and a puff are some of a magazine's formal conventions.
FRANCHISE An entire series of, for example, a film including the original film and all those that follow (e.g. Avengers, Fast & Furious, Harry Potter).
G
GATEKEEPERS The people responsible for deciding the most appropriate stories to appear in newspapers. They may be the owner, editor or senior journalists. They will only let the stories most appropriate for the ideology of the paper 'through the gate'.
GENERIC CORPUS The body of films from a particular genre. Frankenstein, Dracula, Psycho, Halloween, Scream are all part of horror's generic corpus.
GENRE SLIPPAGE When producers deliberately 'play' with genre conventions and expectations to surprise audiences and subvert expectations.
GENRE Media texts can often be grouped into genres that all share similar conventions. Horror is a film genre, as are sport magazines, etc.
GLOBALISATION Worldwide - e.g. a media product with global reach is a product that is distributed around the world.
H
HEGEMONY This derives from the theory of cultural hegemony by Antonio Gramsci. Hegemony is the dominance of one group over another, often supported by legitimating norms and ideas that are accepted by society as being correct. For example, the dominant social position in society is taken by men and the subordinate one by women, middle classes over lower/working classes etc.
HOMAGE A form of intertextuality where something or someone is paid tribute to.
HORIZONTAL INTEGRATION Where a media conglomerate owns several different companies within a specific stage of a text's production. Microsoft for example own numerous video game production companies and have therefore horizontally integrated within video game production.
HOUSE STYLE The aspects that make a magazine recognisable to its readers every issue. The house style is established through the choice of colour, the layout and design, the font style, the content and the general 'look' of the publication. HYBRID Media texts that incorporate elements of more than one genre and are therefore more difficult to classify are genre hybrids. Stranger Things, for example, is a science fiction/horror television drama.
HYPODERMIC NEEDLE MODEL Generally acknowledged to be an out of date passive audience/media effects theory which suggests that an audience will have a mass response to a media text. The idea is that the media product injects an idea into the mind of an audience who are assumed to be passive and as a result will all respond in the same way.
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ICONOGRAPHY The props, costumes, objects and backgrounds associated with a particular genre; for example, in a police series you would expect to see, uniforms, blue flashing lights, scene of crime tape and police radios.
IDEOLOGY A set of messages, values and beliefs that may be encoded into media products.
INDEPENDENT Operating without the funding, distribution and creative control of a wealthy parent company.
INDEXICAL SIGN a sign which has a direct relationship with something it signifies, such as smoke signifies fire.
INDIRECT REPRESENTATION When someone or something is used to represent a wider or bigger group/place/issue/ideology.
INDUSTRY An area of the media such as film, TV, gaming, news, magazines, advertising etc.
INSTITUTION A big media company that produces texts for an audience. Disney, Bauer, Microsoft, Netflix for example.
INTERTEXTUALITY Where one media text makes reference to aspects of another text within it. For example, referencing a scene from a film in a television advertisement. Audiences enjoy recognising intertextual references.
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JUXTAPOSITION Two things being seen or placed close together with contrasting effect.
L
LAYOUT AND DESIGN The way in which a page has been designed to attract the target audience. This includes the font styles used, the positioning of text and images and the use of colour.
LINEAR NARRATIVE Where the narrative unfolds in chronological order from beginning to end.
M
MASCULINITY The perceived characteristics generally considered to define what it is to be a man. These can change according to sociological and cultural variations
MASS AUDIENCE The traditional idea of the audience as one large, homogenous group.
MASTHEAD The term used for the title on a magazine cover or newspaper front page.
MEDIA LANGUAGE The specific elements of a media product that communicate meanings to audiences, e.g. visual codes, written codes, technical codes, (Mise-en-scene, Camera, editing, Sound) as well as genre and narrative.
MEDIA OWNERSHIP When a conglomerate owns smaller company/companies in various media industries.
MEDIA PLATFORM The range of different ways of communicating with an audience, for example newspapers, the Internet, radio, smart phones and television.
MEDIATION The way in which a media text is constructed in order to represent a version of reality; constructed through selection, organisation and agenda.
MISE-EN-SCENE How the combination of visual information within a frame creates meaning.
MISREPRESENTATION Certain social groups (usually minority groups) may be represented in a way that is inaccurate and not based on reality.
MODE OF ADDRESS The way in which a media text 'speaks to' its target audience. For example, teenage magazines have a chatty informal mode of address; the news has a more formal mode of address.
MONTAGE putting together of visual images to form a sequence. Usually used to condense a long period of time over a few minutes.
MORAL PANIC an instance of public anxiety or alarm in response to a problem regarded as threatening or dangerous to society and hegemonic values.
MULTI-STRANDED NARRATIVE When a narrative has more than one central storyline, sometimes they interlink and overlap.
N
NARRATIVE The 'story' that is told by the media text. All media texts, not just fictional texts, have a narrative. Most narratives are linear and follow a specific structure (see Todorov).
NARRATIVE DEVICE A technique used to help tell part of a story. Common devices include: Flashbacks, dramatic irony, foreshadowing, pathetic fallacy etc.
NEWS AGENDA The list of stories that may appear in a particular paper. The items on the news agenda will reflect the style and ethos of the paper.
NEWS VALUES factors that influence whether a story will be picked for coverage.
NICHE AUDIENCE A relatively small audience with specialised interests, tastes, and backgrounds.
NON-DIEGETIC SOUND Sound that comes from outside the fictional world, for example a voiceover, romantic mood music etc.
NON-LINEAR NARRATIVE Here the narrative manipulates time and space. It may begin in the middle and then include flashbacks and other narrative devices.
O
OLIGOPLOY When a media industry is owned by a handful of powerful institutions/companies.
OLIGARCHY A small group of media companies that dominate a media industry.
OPEN WORLD In an open world computer game the player can move freely though the virtual world and is not restricted by levels and other barriers to free roaming.
OPINION LEADERS People in society who may affect the way in which others interpret a particular media text. With regard to advertising, this may be a celebrity or other endorser recommending a product.
P
PASTICHE A form of intertextuality where ideas, visual styles have been copied or imitated.
PARENT COMPANY The company that own a smaller company (E.g Microsoft are Mojang's parent company)
PARODY A form of intertextuality where the original text is exaggerated for comical effect.
PASSIVE AUDIENCE The idea (now widely regarded as outdated) that audiences do not actively engage with media products, but passively consume and accept the messages that producers communicate.
PATRIARCHAL CULTURE A society or culture that is controlled by men.
PLATFORM The medium used to consume a text. Historical platforms such as newspapers and radios are less popular today with the rise of platforms such as computers, mobile phones, tablets etc.
PLURALITY In a media context, this refers to a range of content to suit many people.
POLITICAL BIAS Where a newspaper may show support for a political party through its choice of stories, style of coverage, cartoons, etc. It may be subtle and implicit or explicit as in the case of the tabloid newspapers on election day.
POSTMODERNISM Anything that challenges the traditional way of doing things, rejecting boundaries between high and low forms of art, rejecting rigid genre distinctions, pastiche, parody, intertextuality, irony, and fragmentation.
PSYCHOGRAPHICS a way of categorising consumers into groups through their personality and motivational needs. The main groups were Mainstreamers, Aspirers, Explorers, Strugglers, Succeeders and Reformers.
PRIVILEGED OPPOSITION The side within a binary opposition that is favoured by a media producer (and the audience) because it is considered to be socially and morally correct. Peace over war for example.
PRIVILEGED SPECTATOR POSITION Where the camera places the audience in a superior position to the characters within the narrative. The audience can then anticipate what will follow, similar to dramatic irony.
PRODUCTION The process by which media products are constructed.
PRODUCTS Media texts, including television programmes, magazines, video games, newspapers etc. as well as online, social and participatory platforms.
PROTAGONIST The main character who the story is centred around (usually the hero).
PUBLIC SERVICE BROADCASTER (PSB) A radio and television broadcaster that is financed by public money (e.g. the BBC's licence fee in the UK, DR in Denmark) and is seen to offer a public service by catering for a range of audiences and providing information, as well as entertainment.
R
REALISM A style of presentation that claims to portray 'real life' accurately and authentically.
READING 'THE Z' The method of reading through a print advertisement. Starting in the top left and following a Z line down to the bottom right of the image. Key elements of the advert are placed at each point of the Z.
RED TOPS Slang term for tabloid newspapers with a red masthead.
REGULATOR A person or body that supervises appropriate content in a particular industry. E.g OFCOM, ASA, BBFC.
REPRESENTATION The way in which key groups or aspects of society are presented by the media, e.g. gender, ethnicity, age, class & status, etc. Literally, a re-representation or constructed version of that which is shown.
ROTOSCOPING: Early animation process where artists trace over film footage for greater realism of movement and form.
S
SELECTION AND COMBINATION Media producers actively choose elements of media language and place them alongside others to create specific representations or versions of reality.
SEXUAL OBJECTIFICATION The practice of regarding a person as an object to be viewed only in terms of their sexual appeal and with no consideration of any other aspect of their character or personality.
SHOWRUNNER The creator/visionary for a TV show who is given creative control over the shows production.
SIGN/SIGNIFIER/CODE Something which communicates meaning, e.g., colours, sounds. The meaning of the sign changes according to the context, e.g., the colour red can mean passion, love, danger or speed depending on how and where it is used.
SIMULCAST The streaming of live radio programmes (such as The Live Lounge) from the website at the same time as they are broadcast on the radio.
SOCIAL GROUP How audiences are determined through their age, gender, class, ethnicity, sexuality, ability, nationality
SPLASH The image-led story that is given the most prominence on the front page of a newspaper, very little text.
STEREOTYPE An exaggerated representation of someone or something. It is also where a certain group are associated with a certain set of characteristics, for example 'all old people are grumpy', 'blondes are dumb', etc. Stereotypes can be quick ways of communicating information in adverts and dramas, e.g. the rebellious teenager in a soap opera, as they are easily recognisable to audiences.
STRIPPED A technique used in radio and television whereby a certain programme is broadcast at the same time every day. In radio this attracts an audience who associate a particular programme with their daily routine, for example driving home from work. The BBC Radio 1 Breakfast Show has a daily stripped schedule.
SUB-GENRE Where a genre is sub-divided into smaller categories each of which has their own set of conventions. For example, the television drama genre can be sub-divided into teen drama, hospital drama, costume drama, etc.
SUBJECT-SPECIFIC LEXIS The specific language and vocabulary used to engage the audience. Subject-specific lexis used on the front cover of the magazine will make the reader feel part of the group who belong to the world of that magazine. For example, terminology used on the front covers of gaming magazines.
SYMBOLIC CODES visual codes that help to communicate meaning in a media text (mise-en-scene).
SYNERGY When different media companies work together to produce, distribute or exhibit a product. Shared profit.
T
TABLOID Refers to the dimensions of a newspaper; a tabloid is smaller and more compact in size. However, there are further connotations attached to the term and it also tends to refer to a newspaper whose content focuses on lighter news, for example celebrity gossip, sport and television.
TARGET AUDIENCE The people at whom the media text is aimed.
TECHNICAL CODES These are the way in which the text has been produced to communicate meanings and are part of media language - includes lighting, cinematography, editing and sound.
TECHNOLOGICAL CONVERGENCE When different forms of technology come together in one device (e.g The iPhone).
TENTPOLE FILM A major 'blockbuster' film designed to make money for the studio so it can fund other projects.
TEXTUAL POACHING The way in which audiences or fans may take particular texts and interpret or reinvent them in different ways e.g. by creating fan fiction (Jenkins audience theory).
THEMES The main ides found in a media text's narrative. For example, themes in Romeo & Juliet are love, family, relationships, violence, death etc.
U
UNDERREPRESENTATION Certain social groups (usually minority groups) may be rarely represented or be completely absent from media products.
USES AND GRATIFICATIONS Suggests that active audiences seek out and use different media texts in order to satisfy a need and experience different pleasures (Blumler & Katz theory).
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VERTICAL INTEGRATION Vertically integrated companies own all or most of the chain of production and distribution for the product. For example, a film company that also owns a chain of multiplex cinemas to exhibit the film and merchandise outlets.
VIEWPOINTS Different perspectives in relation to values, attitudes, beliefs or ideologies.
VIRAL MARKETING Where the awareness of the product or the advertising campaign is spread through less conventional ways including social networks and the Internet. Viral marketing is so named because many of the messages use 'hosts' to spread themselves rapidly, like a biological virus.
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WRITTEN CODES text and language used within a media text that helps to communicate meaning (e.g. masthead, coverlines, slogan, tagline etc) as well as language used, lexical fields, mode of address and size/fonts etc.
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XEROX Old fashioned animation technique used by institutions such as Disney where animation frames were photocopied for cheaper and faster results.