1. Media Influence Introduction

2. Introductory Activity 1: Do you know this?

3. Introductory Activity 1: Do you know this?

4. Introductory Activity 2 – some questions to think about If nobody believes the ads, why do we have them? If the media makes us violent, why aren’t you? If the TAC ads really do work, why do bloody idiots still drink and drive? If cigarette advertising is banned, how do cigarette companies tell us about their product? How come you can still sing the Sesame Street theme and why does it make you smile? How come Muslims get such bad press? Why are so many old people scared of teenagers, even if they are grandparents to some? Why are people so scared to walk down a dark street late at night? Why do we know more about some celebrities than we do about many people in our own communities?

5. From the Study Design… This area of study focuses on an analysis of media influence. Students explore the complexity of the relationship between the media, its audiences and the wider community in terms of the nature and extent of the media’s influence. Students examine arguments and evidence arising from a range of historical and contemporary developments, including a range of media texts from different periods of time.

6. Key knowledge & skills Key knowledge: • communication theories and models and their application to media forms and texts • theories of audience, their relationship with communication theories and models, and application to media forms and texts • arguments and evidence about media influence on audiences and the broader society • arguments surrounding the rationale for and regulation of the media • appropriate media language and terminology. Key skills: • identify, compare and contrast communication theories and models • apply communication theories and models to media forms and texts • substantiate arguments about media influence • discuss the relationship between audiences and media forms and texts • analyse the rationale for and arguments about the regulation of the media • use and apply appropriate media language and terminology.

7. What is ‘communication’ and ‘mass media’? Read ‘Communication and Mass Media’ pg 224 of HeinemannMedia and complete activities 1– 4 Task: In your own words, define the term ‘mass media’. Provide examples of mass media in contemporary society

8. Communication models & theories Just as you read the letters, words and sentences in a paragraph to make meaning, when you watch a media product you put the pieces together to make meaning. You view images, sounds and/or text to make this meaning You also use things like prior knowledge and cultural understanding to also help you get the meaning of something.

9. Add to glossary Communication: the means by which a message is relayed or transmitted from a sender to a receiver. Modes of communication include TV, film, radio, print, the internet and other new media. Communication models: ways of thinking about the process of communication. Communication theories: theories devised to help people understand the complex relationship between the media and audiences.

10. Communication theories are ideas that have been devised to help us understand the possible effects the media can have on audiences When studying communication models & theories, its important to remember that not one model or theory is totally ‘correct’. You’ll see that some theories have similarities, but there will be differences too. Therefore you need to understand each theory separately, and know what their strengths and weaknesses are.

11. Communication theories and models Read ‘Communication Theories and Models’ from pg 226 from Heinemann Media Complete the 5 Learning Activities on pg 226 Read ‘Early Communication Models’ from pgs 226-7 of Heinemann Media Complete the 3 Learning Activities on pg 227

12. Media influence theories and communication models There are THREE different academic approaches to media influence theories and communication models: The effects tradition Cultural studies model Political economy model We will spend time looking at each of these, and the different communication theories that come under each branch

13. The effects tradition Says that media forms and content have strong effects on individuals and society. This model sees the media as powerful agents of change Read: pg 225 from Heinemann Media for more information

14. Cultural studies model Says that it is culture – which includes the political economy and the media – that explains the individuals’ relationship with the media. The media serve as the communicative space within which cultures and other forces in society can interact

15. Political economy model Says that the media are simply part of an economic system where power and control reside in political and economic institutions. Under this model, the media transmit the messages these institutions determine.