Tuesday, November 26th 2013
Final Essay
After reading “Adolescent Room Culture: Studying Media in the Context of Everyday Life” by Jeanne Steele and Jane Brown, study the uses and gratifications of literature. Have a look at your life. Where do practice and theory seem to match up, and where do they pass like ships in the night? Keep a “media uses and gratifications” diary for you and your family or friends for a week. Use the diary as raw material for your study. Organize the diary to deliver information about questions you want answered. Can you apply Steele and Brown to what you have observed, or do you need to modify their model? Can you think of a better representation? How will you construct your model? Which questions is it intended to address? In all cases, take adequate time for reflection at the end of your essay: What did you achieve? Where did you go wrong? How could you improve? And how does this project affect your opinion of existing research? Check with your tutor for ethical guidelines if you wish to use data from other people.
Mass Media in the Context of Everyday Life
Mass media is almost omnipresent in the modern life. It clearly has a very impactful effect on individuals, however it forces us to wonder just how influential it really is. Many theories have postulated what effects media has, and the extent to which they help shape our values as well as affect us on a daily basis. In order to answer this question, I will create a journal log of the television shows and movies that I watched over the span of a week and apply the uses and gratification theory to understand the underlying motivations that lure me towards these specific genres of entertainments. I will base my theoretical analysis primarily off the “Adolescent Room Culture: Studying Media in the Context of Everyday Life” by Jeanne Steele and Jane Brown in order to understand the possible gratifications my choice of television entertainment provides me with.
Cited: Steele, Jane & Brown, Jane. "Adolescent Room Culture: Studying Media in the Context of e." Journal of Youth and Adolescence 24.5 (1995): 551. ProQuest. Web. 24 Nov. 2013. Griffin, Emory A. A first look at Communication Theory- 8th Edition. 1221 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY. McGraw Hill, 2011. Ruggiero, Thomas E. Mass Communication & Society; Winter2000, Vol. 3 Issue 1, p3-37, 35p