Participants will view clips of film sequences, ads, commercials, a cartoon, news articles, editorials, magazines and newspapers to examine how the media reconstruct reality. Participants will examine how form and content and audience expectations limit creativity in the various formats. Audiences negotiate meaning in the media. This session will examine how the media appeal to our personal needs and anxieties, the pleasures or troubles of the day, racial and sexual attitudes, as well as familial and cultural background. Participants will view clips of film sequences, ads, magazines and newspapers to examine how they are constructed to assist or limit our construction of meaning.
All media have commercial implications.
Media are the largest employer in the world. In order for the media to survive, they must make money. Participants will examine the role of audiences, advertisers and ratings in each of the media. Ownership, control and related effects will also be explored. Participants will examine the right to know and its commercial implications and potential abuses.