Representation

Tessa Perkins and Festinger

Mediation
The way the media represent on idea to us.
Stereotypes overlook the individual
Place people in groups
Qualities often 'exaggerated' which leads to a caricature.

delineating
shortcut to describe something.

In many instances, stereotypes are used pejorativiely by dominant groups to describe subordinate groups.
Stereotypes are not always negative for example; Americans are good patronists.
Stereotypes are not also always about minority groups or the less powerful.
They can be held about ones own group.
They are not rigid or unchanging for example; MPs used to be highly respected, now not so much.
They are not always false.

Rayner- ' the process by which the media present the 'real world'.

Leon Festinger
Theory of 'cognitive dissanance'
Argued that we resist adujusting our attitudes unless faced with overwhelming evidence against it. Believed that we seek out confirmation of our thoughts/beliefs. This links with pluralism audience theory.

Selection Process
The decision over waht is chosen to be represented and what is rejected.
The choices made when organising the representation:
The options taken to focus the audience in a certain way.
Questions we would ask when analysing representation:
WHO or WHAT is being represented?
HOW is the representation created? (mise on scene)
WHO has created this representation?
WHY is the representation created in that way?
WHAT is the intention?
WHAT is the effect of the representation?


Gatekeeping
A theorist called White (1961) spoke of the 'gatekeepers'-that is the people who are part of the decision making process in the construction of media texts.
Examples of common gatekeepers:
-BBC, commissioners, various genres
-Law makers
-Directors
-Producers
-Editors
-Audience (recent phenomenon, test screening)

The construction approach
A useful way of thinking about representation is that the meanings are crated by the relationships between the producers, the text and the audience.
1) The representation is constructed with a set of ideas and values (producers intent/intended meaning).
2) The context of the representation is part of the representation (media, language choices, anchorage, media form, placement/location/genre expectations etc)
3) The audience reacts to this representation and this depends on thier own personal interpretational context; age, gender, political/religious beliefs, nationality etc. (negotiated meaning).

Richard Dyer The matter of Images
Dyer said 'How we ar seen determines how we are treated, how we treat others is based on how we see them. How we see them comes from representation.'