Telling+It+As+It+Is?+Questions+of+Media+Representation

=Telling It As It Is? Questions of Media Representation=

Summary
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The two concepts most commonly used to discuss representation are "bias" and "stereotype." Bias is prejudice that is in favor of or against a thing, person, or group. It is a tendency to depart from the straight and narrow. Accusations of bias are usually being thrown at those in the journalistic side of media. Within those media fields of news and information, bias usually means the systematic inclination to favor one side in a dispute, or to favor one interpretation, or to sympathize with one cause and not another. For these types of media outlets, objectivity is key. The problem with complete objectivity is that people experience subjectively and it is impossible to cover all of that experience without even a little partiality. Another problem is that there are some people who claim that media should not always be objective. There are people who get angry when media opinions and news views clash with those of national or public interest. The idea that there is no true objectivity, whether in the media, news, or any other outlet, is something that should be kept in mind by the general public when interpreting information. It is up to the receiver to analyze the content and pick out any bias or stereotypes that might sway his/her opinion.

Take Whitaker's example (1981) of taking a sentence and just slightly changing it around. To describe a broken egg, and a man named Joe, these are just some explanations: These are just a handful of the numerous ways you could mix up a sentence to switch the situation, the way things unfolded, and possibly even put the blame on someone else. This goes to show that people may twist facts to bring about a different idea.
 * the egg is broken
 * Joe broke the egg
 * Joe dropped the egg
 * Joe dropped the egg and broke it
 * Joe dropped the egg and it broke

An example of bias in the media can be found in video below where a talk show host gives examples about how biased Fox News is and how one of their guests, Peter Johnson Jr., inadvertently describes Fox' bias: media type="custom" key="24514618" Then there is stereotyping, which is generally reserved for fictional media forms, such as TV shows. Fictional media forms are not bound to any obligations of fairness and impartiality and there is doubt as to whether the concept of bias should be applied to other as they are built on imagination and subjectivity of the writer and all others involved in the production process. With these types of media, stereotyping is more applicable. The term "stereotype" is used to show that some representations are misleading, incomplete, or negative of a group of people in society. Through stereotypical representation the media have been criticized for portraying people wrongly. But stereotypes are sometimes seen as necessary evils due to the fact that they are essential in order to process the vast array of information flowing around modern society. An individual cannot personally experience the vast majority of events in which they might be interested in and therefore must rely on their own mental maps in order to make sense of what is going on. These mental maps are composed of different types of categories - which we need to group things that are similar in order to study and communicate about them. Stereotyping is the process of categorization. However, there are also limitations of this: the representations stereotypes give are, more often than not, biased and inadequate which makes them unfair in most cases. In the media world, there are three types of representation. There is underrepresentation, which is the limited presence of something in the media. Then there is overrepresentation, which is the excessive presence of something in media. There is also misrepresentation, which shows the wrong view of something in the media. Associated with this is the narrow and fixed representation. Another form of media stereotyping is the delegitimizing of a group by comparison with idealized images of how people should behave. This directly affects our society and the information we believe and absorb.

Within this topic, there are also two types of theories: genre theory and narrative theory. Despite the diversity in the media, the output can be divided into a number of particular kinds of product. This division encourages continuity and consistency while not necessarily hindering the creative dimension of media work. These divisions are labeled as "genres." Some famous types of genres are western, gangster film, musical, horror, romance, comedy, etc. Though they follow the same basic guidelines, the structure and contents of the various genres are all extremely different. Setting, plot, and themes all generate the meaning of a film genre. Viewers obtain understanding from the characters in the media, and use visual signs such as clothing, sets, signs, and so on. Genre theory allows for us to separate different types of movies for the ease and comfort of the viewer.

Narrative theory examines the ways in which storytelling frames the content and meaning of media messages. Narrative is central to how people communicate their understanding of the world, and stories are seen as the primary means by which we construct meaning about the world around us. In reality, we, as human beings, tell a lot more stories than we might think. From a simple conversation about your morning to a detailed description of the events in your past week, we use narrative to communicate and share information. Though different media tells stories in different ways, they are all constructing narratives that are vital to our understanding of one another, as well as each other.

Key Terms

 * Bias** - Prejudice that is in favor of or against a thing, person, or group.


 * Stereotype** - Used to show that some representations are misleading, incomplete, or negative of a group of people in society.

**Objectivity** - Representing both sides of an issue.


 * Genres** - Widely recognized principles for selecting and organizing material.


 * Narrative Theory** - Examines the ways in which storytelling frames the content and meaning of media messages.


 * Additional Material **

Here is an article that discusses how the media enforces gender stereotypes []

Here are some videos that show that NY Times is liberally biased, showing that it is unfair to say Fox News is the only biased news source: In this video, the actor who plays Obama says NY Times is his friend, playing off the fact that they very rarely, if ever, critique his or other Democrats' actions: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HbRd49chSxQ

In addition, the editor, Margaret Sullivan, herself even admits that the paper has a liberal bias in this video: http://townhall.com/video/new-york-times-editor-admits-to-papers-liberal-bias-n1667979 - Megan

If you want another example of a movie that breaks genre and stereotypes, you should check out The Seven Samurai, a movie considered one of the first westerns.

If you have Hulu plus you can watch it in it's entirety here

-Marissa

Here's a link to a Miami Herald article about the Latina stereotype that Sofia Vergara portrays in the TV show, Modern Family. Not many people know that she is originally blonde, but dies her hair brown to fill the stereotype that Americans have of Latinas.

-Rosana

This is a really nice article from the Huffington Post illustrating how the media was biased in favor of the NSA during that whole debacle. []

-Hisham