themediablog

Media Diary

 The consumption of media texts is composed of many elements – the amount and range of media texts that an individual consumes [the ‘saturation’ element] has already been addressed.  The other key elements of media consumption are type and purpose

Type of consumption – patterns and connections

On the surface this might appear quite obvious – a film, a computer game, a magazine – but within this there are important elements that media students need to be aware of.  Is the film an action adventure, a sci-fi or a romance?  Answers to this give us our first brush with how we categorise media texts and the idea of genre. When this information is linked to other media products that an individual consumes and facts about their age, income, ethnicity, gender etc then the more certain we can become in our assertions about individual and group patterns of behaviour and media consumption.  We can begin to ask relevant questions [why is the prime audience for horror films 16-24 year old males?] and use these answers to begin to make assertions about the target audience for particular texts that are grounded in research.  We are beginning to construct an audience profile. We are treading in the area of demographics.
 

 

Question:  Why is this important?  How can this be used? By who? 

 

Task: Outline the way you think that a film company might use information on patterns of media consumption. [consider production decisions, marketing, advertising, release, budget etc]

 

Task: Think of a situation where the pattern of media consumption of individuals or groups is seen as relevant or crucial or is utilised in a specific manner? E.g. the blaming of the Colombine high school shootings on the fact that the students involved listened to Marilyn Manson music and visited ‘Goth’ web sites; the Jamie Boulger case

 

 Purpose – needs and gratifications

It may sound obvious, but each of our interactions with a text is driven by a purpose [a need] – often the avoidance of boredom, but sometimes with a specific goal such as the acquisition of information.  These needs have been categorised by psychologists such as Maslow and used by media theorists to quantify and explain audience reactions to the media.  You will encounter these later in the course in more detail, for the moment it is sufficient for you to consider what drives your own use of the media and the extent to which these needs are gratified.

Task:

This will be your first piece of Media research, and as it’s on yourself it shouldn’t be too difficult to gather quality data. You are going to keep a media diary.  Each day over a period of a week spend 5-10 minutes noting:

·    What media interactions you have been involved with

• Approximate time involved
• What you watched/involved with
• Why?
• What pleasures/uses it provided?
• How far it gratified or disappointed you?