Key Consepts

There are seven key consepts used in media. The easiest way to remember them all is by remembering the word`MIGRAIN` this stands for:

Media Language-this means  the media communicates to us and the forms and conventions by which it does so.

Institution-Institutions are structures and mechanisms of social order and cooperation governing the behavior of a set of individuals

Genre-A category of media texts characterized by a particular style, form or content.

Representation-The process by which a constructed media text stands for, symbolises, describes or represents people, places, events or ideas that are real and have an existence outside the text.

Audience-The group of consumers for whom the media text was constructed as well as anyone else who is exposed to the text.

Ideology-How we as individuals understand the world in which we live. This understanding involves an interaction between our individual psychology and the social structures that surround us. Mediating between these are the individual processes of communication, as well as the technological processes of the mass media.

Narrative-How the plot or story is told. In a media text, narrative is the coherent sequencing of events across time and space.