REALISM AND THE CONTEXTS OF THE MEDIA

REALISM AND THE CONTEXTS OF THE MEDIA

An obvious starting point for the study of the various forms of the Mass Media (television, films, newspapers, etc.) is the issue of Realism, that is, the relationship between particular mass media forms/examples and the "reality" that is being represented. This consideration applies as much to the analysis of television or newspaper "News" ("how true is it"), as it does to the basic criticism of films or television drama ("how lifelike is it?"), or even to the analysis of advertisements ("what is the relationship between the proffered image and 'real life'?"). The word "media" itself should direct us towards this: a medium is that which carries, transmits or relays messages or processes. In the case of the "mass media" we are concerned with media which deliver a view of the world, re-present reality, and inevitably we need to be aware of the ways in which those media transform, distort or re-process the "reality" which they present to us.

Question:

Can you think of some examples where the issue of realism in the media or representation is most obvious or significant? (eg. stereotypes, political bias, etc)?

Question:

Why do you think that it is worth raising this issue of 'realism'? Doesn't everyone already know that the reality presented by the media is not really real? Isn't this simply a form of intellectualising about forms of popular entertainment which weren't really meant to be taken (or "read") seriously?

	My view would be that "media literacy" is, for people in the 1990s, vital, largely so that we can be aware of the prevalence, influence and social effects of what is presented to us (or of what is not presented to us) as "real" and true". The Media Industry has been described as a "consciousness industry", in other words, it produces forms of consciousness, beliefs, values, perspectives, etc. However, precisely because film and television are so powerful in directing our beliefs, values and ideas, (possibly because they emphasize "viewer-passivity") we need to develop an understanding not just of how they operate, but also why they operate, so that we can retain a sense of "critical distance" and have the chance to think about what we are being "sold" in films, programmes and advertisements. To become media-literate is to become more conscious of the materiality of the medium, to be aware of the ways in which the medium itself is the "message". It also involves becoming aware of some of the aesthetic, cultural, technological, economic and social factors which are at work in media representations and which prevent them from being straightforward reflections of reality and "the world". A starting point might be to examine a number of media artefacts and to begin to examine them critically, becoming aware not only of the particular view of "reality" which is being presented, but also of the ways in which that view of the world presented, and the reasons why this is so. I'll suggest three possible ways of doing this:
(i)	we might do a basic content analysis of particular programmes or films, looking at things like the exclusion of certain social or racial groups, professions or lifestyles.
(ii)	Alternatively, we might consider different versions of the same "reality", such as documentary versus soap opera accounts of social issues.
(iii)	A third approach might involve looking at the potentials and weaknesses of particular forms - what can films do that newspapers, advertisements or programmes cannot do, and why?

Activity:

Take one of the above approaches and apply it to an example of your choice: work in groups of three of four, and see what emerges from you discussion.

From this starting point it will be clear that a number of factors - technological, social, cultural - do govern the ways in which a particular media text will present its particular view of the world, and the "message" which it delivers about that reality. If a film or television programme presents a particular view of the world it does so on its own terms, and within its own contexts and conventions. We can proceed further by isolating some of the factors which determine the text and affect the way in which it represents the world. The following points are presented in note form, but I'd like you to try to flesh each of them out, citing examples and recording your responses.

(i) Sociological and Economic Factors. What external influences (political, social, economic, etc) influence the ways in which the media present or construct "reality"?

- the relationship between media texts or forms and the political order (questions of control, regulation and censorship)

- the ownership of means of production and distribution of film, television and newspapers within the wider economic system (questions of social control, profitability, marketing and targeting, "commercial" considerations)

- the relationship between the media and its audience, and the more general issue of the role and influence of the media (questions of marketing, audience research, targeting, distribution, and related questions of whether or not the media reflects, informs or directs "popular" taste, knowledge or values).

- cultural considerations and the avowed or actual cultural role of the media in society (notions of "popular culture" and the place of the mass media within cultures/national culture?).

(ii) The Media Text Itself. To what extent, and in what ways, does the nature and form of film, television, adertisement, etc, influence what is (or is not) presented as "reality"?

- The aesthetic and technological nature of the form, including its language and codes (nature of the medium, of visual images, the interrelationship of sound, image and text).

- "narrative" structure and the selection, editing and presentation of the "story" (sequence, plot, order).

- time and duration (eg, a film may last 120 minutes, but present 5 years of action)

- characterisation. (i.e., the need for films or programmes to present character in certain ways; the effect of "stars",)

- function (e.g. educational, commercial, entertainment?)

- implied audience, and encoding of the reader or viewer. (who is the film/programme for, and who is it not for?)

- genre: what kind of film/programme is it?

- point of view, and the inclusion/exclusion of certain points of view.

- relationship to other media texts and forms (intertextuality)

- "message" and meaning: ideology and the "message" which the text asserts, implicitly or explicitly, about the view of the world which is being presented.

(iii) Viewers and Readers. Finally, what is the role and significance of the viewer in terms of "decoding" and responding to the "reality" that is presented?

	- the psychological nature of the viewing/reading process (including visual processing, meaning-making and illusion, and "reality formation") - the conditions and contexts of viewing/reading (including duration, concentration, social setting) - viewer/reader familiarity with the conventions of the media form, and recognition of those conventions. - the pleasures and expectations of viewing/reading. - targeted or encoded viewers/readers. - "message" processing, including processing of denotative/connotative messages, recognition and identification (psychological and social), and questions of ideology, value and belief. The transaction or negotiation of meanings? Do we see what we want to see, and believe what we want to believe? Do we simply believe all that we told or shown?
*		*		*		*		* All of the above factors come into play when considering the reasons why media texts present "reality" in particular ways, and are recognised and experienced by the reader or viewer. In this course we will be exploring some of these factors in greater detail, particularly those concerned with the analysis of individual media texts (films, advertisements or television programmes), their form, codes and languages, the ways that they work to present a picture of the world, (ii) above. Also we will be concerned with viewing and reading, to emphasize the point that individual viewers and readers are not simply passive respondents, but rather actively involved in the processing and evaluation of media texts and images.

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