Representation in the Media

Today in ICT we took notes about how media is represented.

Media can be fake, yet it can be real. It is not controlled by us. It is controlled by people or organizations most likely the government. Media does not necessarily have to be the Television News. It can be things you hear on a radio, glossy magazines, newspapers, flyers, posters, etc. And quite a lot of it is artificial. But yet at the same time if we didn't have these types of artificial media, our knowledge is limited. Yet at the same time the media needs to make some sense of reality.

Media can also be bias. You may see in many movies, history programmes or documentaries, that they only show one side of the war. And they say this side is so-and-so cruel because of so-and-so. But then what about your side? You have probably done so-and-so, but they don't reveal this for many reasons including politics. This means that media can be bias. The producers only highlight some of the events that have occurred, and most of the time can be bias. Therefore when receiving media you should consider:

•Who produced it? (Was it a journalist, country, student, organization, etc.)
•Who is in the presented piece of information? (American soldiers in Afghanistan fighting, are civilians included, etc.)
•How is it represented? (Is it represented only from the standpoint of the American soldiers? Are there viewpoints from civilians and fighters in Afghanistan?)
•Why was it presented in that particular form? (Japanese slaughtering dolphins. Why did they present it as a movie. Why not present it as a newspaper article?)

So before taking in what everything the News says, think about the above. And try to differentiate whether it is true or false data.


Things that are included when presenting media (Gender categorization)


When you pick up a newspaper, you literally notice the difference whether it is for boys or girls, or men and women. This is a way of advertising in newspapers, or in different types of media. But gender is not only associated to humans, but it can also be associated with objects.

What makes them appeal to you that it is targeted for men/ women  is simply by presenting it as masculinity or femininity, which determines which audience it is intended for.

Typical masculinity characteristics are often revealed as a strong man with a six pack. A man who is tough, sweaty and hard.

On the other hand, feminine characteristics are often described  fragile, soft and fragrant

For example, in advertisements you will often see a car advert with a man driving the car. But on the other hand, if there were an advert for an airline they would use a female to represent it.

When a female is presented in an advert, they tend to highlight:
•beauty
•size/ physique
•emotional
•relationships

They tend to give the image they are part of a family and they work as part of a team.

Whereas, a male is represented as:
•strong (physical and intellectually)
•physique
•independent

Male characters tend to be presented as isolated, as if they are the 'spotlight' type of person.

Before this lesson, I knew that the media was controlled, and obviously there is lots of bias action that takes place. I did not know that much about artificial material in media as much as I have a understanding now.

I generally don't pay much attention to gender categorization in the media, but after writing down some notes, I now have a solid understanding.