Media Construct Reality

The Key Concepts of The Key Concepts of MediaMedia

1. 1. Media Construct Media Construct RealityReality

• We all have a construct: the picture we have built up in our heads—since birth—through observations and experiences, of what the world is and how it works

1. 1. Media Construct Media Construct RealityReality

• a major part of those observations and experiences come to us pre-constructed by the media

1. 1. Media Construct Media Construct RealityReality

• much of what we know and believe about the world we have learned through the media

1. 1. Media Construct Media Construct RealityReality

Did you know?

• 65% of Americans spend more time with their computer than their spouse

• teens spend an average of 31 hours per week—about 4 hours a day—online (UK study)

1. 1. Media Construct Media Construct RealityReality

Did you know?

• 2.5 billion text messages are sent each day in the USA (people send, on average, 357 text messages per month)

• the average person spends 4 hours and 45 minutes a day watching television

1. 1. Media Construct Media Construct RealityReality

Did you know?

• In November of 2009, it was reported that the average web user - went on the web 51 times… - visited 86 domains… - clicked through 2,603 web pages… - spent an average of 57 seconds on any one web page!

http://www.digitalhome.ca/2009/12/u-s-web-users-spent-66-hours-on-the-web-last-month/

1. 1. Media Construct Media Construct RealityReality

1. 1. Media Construct Media Construct RealityReality

Low- TechNeck Care

Low- TechNeck Care

1. 1. Media Construct Media Construct RealityReality

• the media have built-in attitudes, interpretations, and conclusions

1. 1. Media Construct Media Construct RealityReality

• the media have built-in attitudes, interpretations, and conclusions

1. 1. Media Construct Media Construct RealityReality

• the media have built-in attitudes, interpretations, and conclusions

1. 1. Media Construct Media Construct RealityReality

• the media have built-in attitudes, interpretations, and conclusions

1. 1. Media Construct Media Construct RealityReality

• therefore, THE MEDIA, rather than ourselves, are constructing our reality

1. 1. Media Construct Media Construct RealityReality

• For example, our impression of a city or country, as shaped by the media, may be quite different from the impression we get when we actually visit the place

1. 1. Media Construct Media Construct RealityReality

1. 1. Media Construct Media Construct RealityReality

Another Example:Laugh Tracks! Television shows often

superimpose “audience laughter” when theydeem appropriate. Would the shows be as

funny without the tracks?

1. 1. Media Construct Media Construct RealityReality

Popular shows with laugh tracks…

• The Flintstones • The Jetsons • Scooby-Doo• Bewitched• The Beverly Hillbillies • The Muppet Show• I Love Lucy

1. 1. Media Construct Media Construct RealityReality

Even today!

1. 1. Media Construct Media Construct RealityReality

Is this funny?

1. 1. Media Construct Media Construct RealityReality

Or this?

1. 1. Media Construct Media Construct RealityReality

Or this?

1. 1. Media Construct Media Construct RealityReality

The previous examples were constructs of “reality” through selection.

• Media creators select certain images and information to create a unified picture

1. 1. Media Construct Media Construct RealityReality

However, this reality is also created through omission

• Media creators omit (leave out) certain images and information to create a limited picture

1. 1. Media Construct Media Construct RealityReality

For example: “Florida Woman Calls 911 three timesAfter McDonald's Runs Out of McNuggets”

1. 1. Media Construct Media Construct RealityReality

A 20:1 ratio of footage shot to footage usedis common.

1. 1. Media Construct Media Construct RealityReality

That means, for every 20 minutes shot, viewerssee 1 minute of what was recorded.

1. 1. Media Construct Media Construct RealityReality

Questions producers ask themselves:

• What content will have the most audience appeal?• What material looks best?• How should a person, object, animal, or event be presented?• what will grab—and hold—the audience’s attention?

1. 1. Media Construct Media Construct RealityReality

In the end, you have to ask

yourself…

1. 1. Media Construct Media Construct RealityReality

1. 1. Media Construct Media Construct RealityReality

1. 1. Media Construct Media Construct RealityReality