Mass Media and Media Content
COM 3703
MEDIA STUDIES: MEDIA CONTENT AND MEDIA AUDIENCES
SEMESTER 2, 2013
PORTFOLIO
TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE
1. INTRODUCTION 3
2. COMMUNICATION AND MEDIA SEMIOTICS 3
3. TEXTUAL ANALYSIS 3
4. NARRATIVE ANALYSIS 5
5. MEDIA AND VISUAL LITERACY 7
6. MEDIA,LANGUAGE AND DISCOURSE 8
7. CONCLUSION 10
8. SOURCES CONSULTED 10
9. SELF ASSESSMENT 10
10. ADDEDUM A
11. ADDENDUM B
12. ADDENDUM C
13. ADDENDUM D
14. ADDENDUM E
1. INTRODUCTION
This portfolio focuses on media content and media audiences. We look at the different signs in media. Newspapers were analysed and commonalities and differences picked up. A closer look at the content of drama series were also looked at.
2 Communication and Media Semiotics
2.1 Introduction
In Media, communication occurs by means of signs. This is because media is seen as a representation and an imitation of reality. Semiotics is made up of four principals namely, the sign, the sign system, codes and the meaning. We will take a closer look at the kinds of signs such as iconic, symbolic, arbitrary and indexical. (Fourie 2009:51)
2.2 Discussion of Theory
According to De Saussure, a sign is made up of three parts. These are the signifier, the referent and the signified. The Signifier is the physical quality – that which is tangible e.g. the word or picture. The signifiers purpose is to represent something else or refers to something else, the ‘something’ referred to is the ‘referent’, it is therefore the idea, concept or object being referred to. The 3rd part, known as the signified is the meaning attached to the signifier by the recipient of the message.
The signifier is not constant as the meaning may vary from one person to another. From the relationship formed, there are different types of signs that can be seen.
The first type is the Arbitrary sign. This is a linguistic sign, such as a word. And there is no resemblance between the signifier (what is seen) and what is
MEDIA STUDIES: MEDIA CONTENT AND MEDIA AUDIENCES
SEMESTER 2, 2013
PORTFOLIO
TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE
1. INTRODUCTION 3
2. COMMUNICATION AND MEDIA SEMIOTICS 3
3. TEXTUAL ANALYSIS 3
4. NARRATIVE ANALYSIS 5
5. MEDIA AND VISUAL LITERACY 7
6. MEDIA,LANGUAGE AND DISCOURSE 8
7. CONCLUSION 10
8. SOURCES CONSULTED 10
9. SELF ASSESSMENT 10
10. ADDEDUM A
11. ADDENDUM B
12. ADDENDUM C
13. ADDENDUM D
14. ADDENDUM E
1. INTRODUCTION
This portfolio focuses on media content and media audiences. We look at the different signs in media. Newspapers were analysed and commonalities and differences picked up. A closer look at the content of drama series were also looked at.
2 Communication and Media Semiotics
2.1 Introduction
In Media, communication occurs by means of signs. This is because media is seen as a representation and an imitation of reality. Semiotics is made up of four principals namely, the sign, the sign system, codes and the meaning. We will take a closer look at the kinds of signs such as iconic, symbolic, arbitrary and indexical. (Fourie 2009:51)
2.2 Discussion of Theory
According to De Saussure, a sign is made up of three parts. These are the signifier, the referent and the signified. The Signifier is the physical quality – that which is tangible e.g. the word or picture. The signifiers purpose is to represent something else or refers to something else, the ‘something’ referred to is the ‘referent’, it is therefore the idea, concept or object being referred to. The 3rd part, known as the signified is the meaning attached to the signifier by the recipient of the message.
The signifier is not constant as the meaning may vary from one person to another. From the relationship formed, there are different types of signs that can be seen.
The first type is the Arbitrary sign. This is a linguistic sign, such as a word. And there is no resemblance between the signifier (what is seen) and what is