In the week 8 practical, groups began to brainstorm and research each of their individual topics further and discuss possible ways to creatively produce media regarding this. As I have been given the topic ‘texts’, I began assembling references to complete an annotated bibliography with. Our group decided to focus on advertisements, which means we may include both found footage and our own footage if need be to show how texts such as advertisements are used and why. We will begin with a wider view, before narrowing down to specific examples. One particular advertisement was an old cigarette ad which promoted smoking, and we discussed linking this in with a newer government made ad displaying the harmful effects of smoking. This would show the progression of media texts in awareness, and their effects in sending messages to the audience. I have included my annotated bibliography(6 references) below which will be combined with the rest of my team during next weeks practical.

Annotated Bibliography

1. Tenenboim-Weinblatt, K. (2013). The Path to Political Substance: Exploring the Mediated Discourse Surrounding Controversial Media Texts. Political Communication, 30(4), pp.582-601.

This reference, a study of political substance in media, explores a path to understanding the political implications of popular culture based on the assumption that entertainment texts function in a broad intertextual field and that their impact does not lie solely as stand-alone texts. Tenenboirm-Weinblatt believes that their influence should be measured by how much the discourse is generated by the text in other media venues, such as mainstream news media. According to this, the democratic contribution of entertainment media is  but based on the text’s success in sparking substantive political discussions in other venues rather than direct exposure. This study has focused on docudramas in particular and the discourse generated by The Reagans and The Path to 9/11.

Tenenboirm-Weinblatt’s study was based on a content analysis of media items that referred to one of the two docudramas mentioned above in the U.S. news media, 2 months prior to and 2 months after the docudramas’ original broadcast date. The study demonstrated how the different types of political substance varied across the two docudramas and the time in which the discussions took place. The analysis was able to show the relationship between the type of journalistic item and it’s political substance, as well as the length of the text, however, it did not provide a clear answer to the question of how political substance was associated with different types of media outlets or whether the two docudrama’s constituted a strong enough discussion. This study may have an effect on my project as it discusses how the substance of media texts enables the creator to have an effect on the audience, particularly with political agenda/opinion.

2. Hall, A. (2003). Reading Realism: Audiences’ Evaluations of the Reality of Media Texts. J Communication, 53(4), pp.624-641.

This piece of writing discussed a study investigating how audiences conceptualize media realism. Forty-seven young adult participants were given interviews in which there were contrasts in the way realism was defined and applied. The participants statements supported the idea that media perceptions are multidimensional.

Hall discussed how media realism ‘has been advanced as a potential moderator of media influence by both media audiences and media researchers'(Hall, 2003). That is, the more realistic a media text is or isn’t, can change how much of an effect it has on an audience or how seriously they take it. The results of the study seemed to lean towards the idea that media perceptions of reality are multidimensional in that each person may interpret realism of texts differently, and that this may affect their application of the text to their lives. This is important to my research of texts as it discusses how realism plays it’s part in creating applicable texts and how indirectly and directly they can effect each individual audience member.

3. Strassman, B., MacDonald, H. and Wanko, L. (2010). Using Captioned Media as Mentor Expository Texts. The Reading Teacher, 64(3), pp.197-201.

This journal article asserts that most teachers/educators have boosted their content area curriculum with digital media from television, the Internet, and YouTube. Strassman, Macdonald and Wanko write that “Visual information enhances children’s learning while engaging them in the same constructive processes required in reading” (Strassman, MacDonald and Wanko, 2010). According to this piece, the 21st century requires children to be able to read and write in both print and the digital worlds and classrooms should not be restricted only to print examples of expository texts. The authors have included research of which the results show that captioned television aids the development of vocabulary and comprehension of students(including students who are hearing, deaf, bilingual, and learning disabled)(Adler, 1985; Koskinen & Gambrell, 1987; Koskinen & Wilson, 1985; Koskinen, Wilson, Gambrell, & Neuman, 1993; Koskinen, Wilson, & Jensema, 1985; Lewis & Jackson, 2001; Neuman & Koskinen, 1992; Nugent, 1983). This article is an important piece of my research and could be vital to our group assessment as it discusses the progression of media texts to a digital world, and the vast changes of media text form. Media texts are read in an entirely new way and can be used/manipulated in an entirely new way too.

4. Tyler, J. (2010). Media Clubs: Social Class and the Shared Interpretations of Media Texts. Southern Communication Journal, 75(4), pp.392-412.

In this article, Jill Tyler explores the meandering practises of media clubs- groups of friends who gather for the purpose of consuming, interpreting, and talking about media messages and texts. Tyler has used participant observation, qualitative interviewing, and critical discourse analysis to explore media interpretation and the way the interactions of friends and society are mutually constituted in everyday discourse. Tyler has looked at how media clubs(small groups of individuals who gather regularly with the purpose of interpreting and interacting with media texts such as books, films or shows etc.) offer rich insight for the study of human social interaction with public texts and messages. According to Tyler, her study “brings together insights regarding individual identity and agency with social structure and societal forces, placing them in positions of mutual influence, deepening our understanding of how human interaction serves both personal and social ends” (Tyler, 2010).

This study/journal article shows that media groups work to privilege personal experience, to negotiate similarity and agreement, and to maintain their views which serve to confirm their personal identities and affiliations and then to conform beliefs and values to be more similar to one another. These activities are consistent in groups across varying lifestyles and contexts. Tyler writes that “by encouraging self-disclosure and sharing of personal

knowledge and experiences, group members invite deeper understandings of one another and give ample opportunities for self-expression and self-celebration”(Tyler, 2010). Reliance on these perspectives, however, can also mean new opinions are hard to be shared through media texts. This is an important piece of research as it investigates how media texts are used in groups, and why they have such an effect on society such as through ‘media clubs’.

5. Moores, S. (1990). Texts, readers and contexts of reading: developments in the study of media audiences. Media, Culture & Society, 12(1), pp.9-29.

Shaun Moores explores the different theoretical frameworks and understandings of the relationships between media texts and the audiences that consume them in his study. Mass communications research has long been concerned with this relationship. He raises a number of questions, such as ‘How do media texts construct for their readers particular forms of knowledge and pleasure, making available particular identities and identifications?’ and ‘How does the context of reading influence the ways in which the media are made sense of in everyday life?'(Moores, 1990).

Moores discusses a number of different shots in media texts such as films which create a sense of unity within the viewer, which reveals the vast effects a text can have. This piece of writing displays the power of media texts, as they can be used to omit feelings to the audience and both obviously and subtly push them in different directions. Texts are a way of communicating one idea to millions, they are a way to send messages between people and not just to entertain(which we may forget).

6. Adams, J., Tyrrell, R. and White, M. (2010). Do television food advertisements portray advertised foods in a ‘healthy’ food context?. Br J Nutr, 105(06), pp.810-815.

This journal article traverses the influences of exposure to food promotion on food preferences and diet. The authors write that “as food advertisements tend to promote ‘less healthy’ products, food advertising probably plays some role in the ‘obesity epidemic’ “(Adams, Tyrrell and White, 2010). In a study, the writers explored

whether the wider food context in which food is advertised on television is ‘healthier’ than the advertised foods themselves.

The increased regulation of food advertisements in the U.K is discussed, as well as a variety of health-promoting initiatives linked to marketing such as the ‘Be Treatwise’ campaign. This raised awareness exhibits the effectiveness of advertisements as media texts to communicate an idea effectively to an audience. By controlling advertising campaigns raising awareness of obesity, the U.K has changed many views on the topic. The study’s findings indicate that when foods are advertised in a wider food context, that context is generally ‘healthier’ than primary foods being actively advertised. They write, however, that “Perceptions of the ‘healthiness’ of advertised foods are also likely to be influenced by a wide variety of other factors, including non-television marketing and promotion”  (Adams, Tyrrell and White, 2010). This indicates that although the advertisements had a large effect, there are many other factors which change perceptions of ‘healthiness’.

As I am focusing on advertisements for my next project, this study has provided me with a good background in the effects it can have as a media text. Advertisements are everywhere, and so having an understanding of how they affect audience perceptions is important.