Terms of Representation in Media

Representation Terms

Micro: Small, Insignificant

Micro in Media:
  • Tagline
  • Anchorage (Words that accompany an image)
  • By-line
  • Barcode
  • Price

Macro: Large, Noticeable

Macro in Media:
  • Register
  • Representation
  • Tone
  • Target audience
Representation: How different groups of people, idea and ideologies are presented in the media. Walter Lippman's theory suggests there needs to be a shared recognition of people, situation, ideas and stereotypes in order for representation to be meaningful to audience.
Stereotype: A simplified image and idea of a thing or group of people.
Roland Barthes- The Rhetoric of the Image: There are two levels to any sign or visual representation; Connotation and denotation.
Semiotics: An investigation into how meaning is created and how meaning is communicated. This is done by a sign (object), its signifier (physical aspects) and signify (the objects mental concept).
Ideologies: A set of belief's or philosophies connected to a person or group.

Codes

Symbolic codes: A symbol that represents something commonly known (red plus symbol of health, cross symbol of Christianity, bats symbol of vampire)
Semantic codes: Parts of media the audience knows has a deeper meaning and connotation (red and black in horror symbolizes death and blood)
Proairetic / Action codes: Actions that symbolize a meaning to an audience (if someone pulls out a gun, someone's going to get shot)
Hermeneutic / Enigma codes: Engages the audience to look into the media source more (Hinting to continue reading a magazine to find out more about an interesting topic)
Cultural / Referential codes: Referential and cultural codes which are used to engage a group or culture and how its used in a source of media)

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