The news has very powerful ways to shape and construct representations. Whilst it is often presented as ‘truth’, often news organisations construct news in specific ways to continue an ongoing story or so it is easily digestible to its audience. From the construction of news stories and interviews to the selection and order of some stories over others, the news media are heavily involved in creating representations.
Below is a significant example of how news outlets can manipulate footage to tell a story.
- How were the Sudanese in the original news cast represented in the media coverage? What decisions shaped this representation?
- Why do you think they were represented this way?
- Who do you think was the intended audience for these news pieces? How might this have shaped the representation?
Negative and Positive representation of Teens in the news.
Teen Representation Analysis
For each of these representations, write a response in the following format.
Opening Paragraph: What is a representation? Who is being represented? When was this aired, what show in what year? How is he being represented?
Paragraph Two: Describe two codes or conventions that have been used to create this representation. Give details of the denotation (use media terminology) and the connotation for each one.
Paragraph Three: Discuss something that has been selected or omitted by the producers to create this representation.
Paragraph Four: Who is the target audience for this segment? How would they have engaged with this representation?