Select a topic<\/strong>\u00a0that is relevant for your studies. In the module SO881, you are encouraged to take a topic that is closely related to your master dissertation. However if a media analysis about this topic would to be to difficult, feel free to select any topic that is related to crime or its control. Let’s use here the following example: you want to study the way media reports about ‘mass shootings.<\/strong>‘<\/p>\n Preliminary research question: ‘How does the media report about mass shootings?’<\/p>\n Decide on a conceptual framework. In the module SO881 we will be looking at the work of ‘media representation<\/em>.<\/strong>‘ Some of the key works on representation can be found in the Bibliography<\/a>\u00a0of this blog.\u00a0Especially Stuart Hall’s writings on Representation<\/em> may be useful. His book ‘Representation. Cultural Representation and Signifying Practices’ <\/em>is often used in media and cultural studies as a textbook.\u00a0<\/em>His chapter on the concept of representation -Chapter III – can be found here\u00a0HERE.\u00a0<\/a>Don’t lose yourself in details when reading it and try to get a general sense about what this concept entails. This turns are preliminary research question in:<\/p>\n \u00a0‘How are mass shootings represented<\/em> in the media?’<\/p>\n These days the variety of media available us is almost indefinite. As such it is impossible to study ‘the media’ or ‘the mass media’ and even the ‘printed’ media \u00a0(magazines, journals, newspapers, books, comics, …). Moreover these days people often ‘transmediate’ (use a variety of platforms together) to look for information or explanations of the world (H. Jenkins\u00a0has published a lot on\u00a0transmedia storytelling,<\/a>\u00a0see also\u00a0Bibliography.<\/a> \u00a0‘How are mass shootings represented in the non-fictional<\/em> media?’<\/p>\n ‘How are mass shootings represented in the news<\/em>?’<\/p>\n ‘How are mass shootings represented in newspapers<\/em>?’<\/p>\n This research question still needs to be narrowed down to ensure the feasability<\/em> of your media analysis (see STEP II<\/a>).<\/strong><\/p>\n Back to main menu<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"2. Conceptual Framework<\/h3>\n
3. Media Selection<\/h3>\n
\nAs such we need to\u00a0 narrow down our research question by\u00a0selecting a media platform\u00a0 > a medium (news, films, etc.) > a genre <\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n
\n<\/em>Media products can be categorisied in genres<\/em> (French for ‘type’ or ‘class’). Media genres appear within a medium and in this module they refer to the catogeries\u00a0fiction, faction (eg. reality-tv) or non-fiction.\u00a0<\/strong>Be aware that within each genre different sub-genres are exist (eg. The genre ‘fiction’ has several subgenres such as thrillers, comedies, horror, drama). For the assignment of this module we focus on the genre\u00a0‘non-fiction’.\u00a0<\/strong>This turns are preliminary research question in:<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n
\nThe genre ‘non-fiction’ can still apply to many different forms of media, here: documentories, news, reporting, ethnographic films, etc.\u00a0For the assignment of this module we focus on the medium ‘news’.\u00a0<\/strong>This turns are preliminary research question in:<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n
\nThe media landscape today is a nexus of different media platforms which are strongly interconnected. Within the module so881, we use the concept ‘media platform’ to refer to one of those platforms, which distribute media content to consumers\u00a0that make up that nexus (television or weblogs or websites or newspapers, social media, …).\u00a0 Each platform has their own characteristics that should be taken into consideration when performing a media analysis.\u00a0For the assignment of the module SO881 we focus on the platform\u00a0‘newspapers’. <\/strong>Again be aware that these day many newspapers have online and paper copies. This turns are preliminary research question in:<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n