Media Theories

Stuart Hall - looked at how media works, how it constructs representations. He said representation is 'mediated through language' (spoken or visual language).

'Reality is mediated through language' - I think that this means that the big corporations control what we think, what we see, what they want us to see. They want to paint their vision of the world and push their agenda about anything that exists. They have their own 'version' of truth of reality.

Whatever you get in the media isn't factual, the truth is filtered and the versions of the event you're being shown is from the eyes of the person making the piece of media content.

Media can influence us but the media corporations don't realize that not everyone is gullible and will believe everything they're told, we have our own minds, we can think for ourselves (constructionist view)

The Guardian: reaction to Trump's victory.
There were a variety of reactions following Donald Trump's victory in the US presidential election.

Some news outlets were horrified by the news with the Daily Mirror using a photo of the Statue of Liberty with its head in its hands. The Statue of Liberty is a famous American landmark, and the metaphor could be that the Statue of Liberty having its head in its hands is a representation of what the world as a whole thinks of the news of Trump's election. It's joined with the headline 'What have they done?' which is a rhetorical question asking the American population what they were thinking when they elected this man, the Daily Mirror are clear in their political views, they are quite clearly anti-Trump and their cover only backs this theory.

However, some outlets took a more neutral stance, not showing their political beliefs in their front cover. Most newspapers focused on the victory itself, and how much of a shock it genuinely was, because regardless of who you supported in the US election, nobody genuinely thought Trump was going to win, and most newspapers were shocked with the outcome as it seemed that Hillary Clinton would've came out of the election with an easy victory, the focus was on how this was possible, how a reality TV star managed to become president of the US, more analytical rather than opinionated. Some outlets also seemed like they were waiting to see what happens next, because this news created a lot of suspense to the general public as many are unsure what to expect of Trump, given he had no prior political experience before getting the biggest political position in the world. Nobody knows what to expect, even the media themselves aren't sure what'll happen.

Richard Dyer - stereotypes are reduced/limited to a few characteristics.
Stereotypes exaggerate difference, which may cause conflict between certain groups.
The media don't create stereotypes, they reinforce them.
Stereotyping are a way of quickly conveying info
Identities can be constructed and communicated via stereotypes.
Those with power stereotype the less powerful.