Michelle McKelvey
Media Studies - Professor Li
September 10th, 2010
McKelvey’s Media Model
Language, the first linguistic component of the media process involves vocabulary. The language of the medium consists of the tangible text of the medium, whether it is within a newspaper, online article or advertisement. It is also through the construct of this language, its prose, that the sender (author or company) of the media properly translates or encodes the message into words which are part of a language common to the reader (consumer). “However, the ‘meanings’ of all these media texts, like languages themselves, are social constructs that we ‘learn’ to read and make sense of according to particular social and cultural codes and conventions” (O'Sullivan 25). Through this language, the receiver (consumer) decodes the message. In order for this message to be properly decoded, the sender must make sure the diction serves the intended purpose.
The imagery component arises from the visual interpretation of the language, while the emotional component becomes an attachment derived from the physical medium. This emotional connection is established through imagery. When reading a physical medium, an image is constructed in one’s mind. For example, if one is looking at a Lexus advertisement (refer to Exhibit 3), or reading an article about a Penn State football player (refer to Exhibit 2), a picture is painted in one’s head. Once that image is formed, an emotional reaction is experienced. “Even though we often use the ‘realness of the images as a basis for evaluating whether we like or dislike particular representations, all representations ‘re-present’ the social world” (Croteau 196). For example, we see a Lexus advertisement (refer to Exhibit 3), and we see the words “Economic Climate.” A picture forms in our mind of a car trudging through the snow or a car driving through a tornado. That emotional reaction acts as a catalyst for the fourth component in the media process: change.
The change component requires an action and reaction to the aforementioned entities. Through media, change can be divided into intellectual change, behavioral change, or cultural change. “…computer networks, word processors, and digital technologies have all in the recent years been developed and marketed…they have contributed to an important series of changes in many households and domestic environments” (O'Sullivan 225). Cultural messages may shape how consumers view other countries, their behavior towards other cultures, or alter their thoughts about a certain ethnicity. For example, Americans primarily knew about the details of the Iraq War through watching prime media outlets (CNN, MSNBC, Wall Street Journal, etc.). Censorship was actively practiced during this time. Journalists were silenced (refer to Exhibit 4), which provided a skewed perception of the war and shaped our cultural perceptions of the “War on Terror”. Media is not a physical object: it is an agent of change which is constantly shaping society.
Media goes beyond its traditional view as a physical medium. It is a powerful process that dramatically impacts societies, perceptions, and behaviors. It blurs society’s notions of reality and perception. While the process stays the same, its outcomes are continuously changing.
Bibliography
"Oxford Dictionary." Oxford Free Press , n.d. Web. 10 Sep 2010.
225. Print.
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