Representation refers to the 'construction' of media texts; what we see is a representation of events, people or ideas. This is also known as mediation - 'the act of going between' (in this case, between the real world and audiences).
It is not possible for the media to present the world as it really is because the media constructs meanings about the world.
Dominant - The hegemonic response, people share the code and preferred meaning.
Negotiated - They accept what the text is saying and adapt it according to their social background.
Oppositional - They understand, but they reject the message.
Daily Mirror - Oppositional
Meaning is established by representation, by what is present, what is absent, and what is different.
Thus, meaning can be contested.
A representation implicates the audience in creating its meaning.
Power - through ideology or by stereotyping - tries to fix the meaning of a representation in a 'preferred meaning'.
There are 3 steps in the journey between the real world and the reality presented by newspapers: their representation.
- Selection
- Omission
- Construction
Newspapers and reporters are supposed to provide their readers with:
- Objective information
- Unbiased
- Reliable information
Key Terminology
- Ideology
- Discourse
- Ideological Discourse
- Dominant Ideology
- Hegemony (Gramsci)
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