Media Term Thursday #41

News

Information about recent important events. Reported in newspapers, radio, television and the Internet. Events may be local, national or international and are usually investigated and presented or written by journalists or reporters.

As a television genre, the news follows conventions in structure, language and visual presentation. The news begins with recognisable and often dramatic theme music followed by the newsreaders introducing themselves and giving a brief summary of the news items to be covered. The most dramatic and important stories (with vision) are shown first, followed by local interest stories, sports and weather.

News reports need to be accurate, concise and objective and often include quotes, statements from experts, emotive words and phrases, and descriptive language.

News stories are constructed to give the facts about who, what, when, where, why and how, in the order of most important information down to the least important.

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Media Term Thursday #35

Saturation

The belief that western society is saturated by all types of media messages – news, entertainment, advertising – through all forms such as television, radio, film, print, internet, and that this is so overwhelming it affects our daily lives. This instant gratification affects our ability to think freely and make voluntary judgements with regard to what products to buy, what issues are presented etc.

Also, the pervasive nature of a particular message being promoted across all forms of media (television, radio, film and print) does not give the audience a chance to escape from that message.

A business can also saturate the market with advertising, often past the point of gaining any benefit.

The level of colour (chrominance) in an image.

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Media Term Thursday #2

Mass Audience

The concept of mass audience began in the early days of cinema, radio and television. It is the notion of something being communicated to an enormous number of people from all walks of live with diverse values, beliefs and attitudes and the impact or influence it has on them.

It is commonly acknowledged that the theory of mass audience is in decline, our lives are more media-rich (we have more choices) and we are increasingly interacting with media on a one-to-one basis.

Excerpt from Media Key Terms and Concepts