Glossary- Critical perspectives in media

Definitions
Collective identity: the individuals sense of belonging to a group who share a set of traditions and values, (part of personal identity).
Hegemony: leadership or dominance, especially by one state or social group over others.
Mediation: Is the process of selection and shaping, creating meaning from an original event.
Representation: Representation means the way ideas , objects , people, groups and life forms are depicted by the mass media.
Structuration: the process in which human agency and social structure are in a constant relationship ± the social structure is reproduced by the repetition of acts by individual people (and can therefore change)

Theories
Encoding and Decoding: A the intended meaning of a text and the perceived meaning of a text.



Hypodermic syringe model/Magic bullet theory: The hypodermic needle model (also known as the hypodermic-syringe model, transmission-belt model, or magic bullet theory) is a model of communications suggesting that an intended message is directly received and wholly accepted by the receiver.



Two-step flow theory: The two-step flow of communication model hypothesizes that ideas flow from mass media to opinion leaders, and from them to a wider population. It was first introduced by sociologist Paul Lazarsfeld et al. in 1944 and elaborated by Elihu Katz and Lazarsfeld in 1955 and subsequent publications.



Theorists:

David Gauntlet:

•  identity is now consciously constructed, and the media provides some of the tools to help us construct our identities. The media contains a huge number of messages about identity and acceptable lifestyles.
• At the same time the public have their own diverse set of feelings. The media and media consumers are engaged in a dialogue in which neither overpowers the other.

Anthony Giddens

•There is a social structure which shapes our lives (traditions, institutions, moral codes, established ways of doing things), but it relies on individuals following these structures.

•When they act differently the social structure can change. Structuration is the process in which human agency and social structure are in a constant relationship ± the social structure is reproduced by the repetition of acts by individual people (and can therefore change)