Is It Important for Media to Represent Its Viewers? Give Examples from One Media Form, I.E. Television, Newspapers, Radio, Internet Broadcasts Etc.
Is it important for media to represent its viewers? Give examples from one media form, i.e. Television, newspapers, radio, internet broadcasts etc.
It very often that a person turns on a television to watch programmes without really analysing the characters they see in the shows. As viewers, we mostly ingest what we see as pure entertainment. So is not always obvious to us about how certain groups of people are being portrayed in the media, what sort of messages are being implied, or the ramifications that arise from the various representations we see. To conclude how important media representation is to viewers, we have to first understand what media representation is, what is being represented, and how it impacts society and how we perceive what or whom that is represented. In this essay I will focus primarily on the media representation in television and its examples.
According to Long and Wall (2009), a definition of media representation is “to describe, or depict something; to call it up in the mind by description, portrayal or imagination. To represent also means to symbolise, to stand for, to be a specimen of or to substitute for” (p.79). In my opinion, television is one of the more impactful media form in representation. Television shows are capable of describing and depicting sceneries and people visually, and special emphasis on sound effects and such help make the scenes more vivid. So it is probably the media format that which communicates to us most straightforwardly. And by doing so, the television easily offers a sneak peak into the lives of various people living across the world, or the beautiful landscapes of exotic lands, of historical events and even political ideologies. It is an information provider for anyone who watches the television, so understandably, viewers may feel very knowledgeable as they can access all sorts of information through many different channels just by clicking on the remote control.
It is also important to
It very often that a person turns on a television to watch programmes without really analysing the characters they see in the shows. As viewers, we mostly ingest what we see as pure entertainment. So is not always obvious to us about how certain groups of people are being portrayed in the media, what sort of messages are being implied, or the ramifications that arise from the various representations we see. To conclude how important media representation is to viewers, we have to first understand what media representation is, what is being represented, and how it impacts society and how we perceive what or whom that is represented. In this essay I will focus primarily on the media representation in television and its examples.
According to Long and Wall (2009), a definition of media representation is “to describe, or depict something; to call it up in the mind by description, portrayal or imagination. To represent also means to symbolise, to stand for, to be a specimen of or to substitute for” (p.79). In my opinion, television is one of the more impactful media form in representation. Television shows are capable of describing and depicting sceneries and people visually, and special emphasis on sound effects and such help make the scenes more vivid. So it is probably the media format that which communicates to us most straightforwardly. And by doing so, the television easily offers a sneak peak into the lives of various people living across the world, or the beautiful landscapes of exotic lands, of historical events and even political ideologies. It is an information provider for anyone who watches the television, so understandably, viewers may feel very knowledgeable as they can access all sorts of information through many different channels just by clicking on the remote control.
It is also important to
Bibliography: Rodan, G. (2003). Embracing electronic media but suppressing civil society: Authoritarian consolidation in singapore. The Pacific Review,16(4), Retrieved from http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/0951274032000132236 Hall, S. (1997). Representation: Cultural representations and signifying practices. London, England: SAGE Publications LTD. Long, P., & Wall, T. (2009). Media studies: Texts, production and context. London, England: Pearson Education. Pierson, D. (2004, May 12). Sex and the asian man. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved from http://www.sscnet.ucla.edu/history/faculty/henryyu/history429b/Sex_and_the_Asian_man.pdf