Media Strategies

As part of our theory unit, we have been asked to answer the question, "How have audiences affected the creation and transmission of contemporary programming".

We started off by picking apart "Skins" and "Grange Hill" , both of which were made for the same age group , and dealt with controversial issues, yet because they are thirty years apart, they are both extremely different.

(Grange Hill series 1, episode 1, part 1)

Audiences today expect a much faster pace when watching television shows. They expect to be hooked and entertained very quickly. This is because today we have hundreds of channels, all fighting for ratings, and so, as an audience member, we have a far greater choice, and can simply change channels if we are not satisfied. This can be seen across all genres and formats, as well as shows targeted for different ages.


Yesterday, we looked at how a change in representation legislation and political correctness, has also affected how audiences have changed the creation and transmission of contemporary programming. 


The idea of "representation' in the media is about how people are used, presented and represented in television and films. It can cover issues relating to:


Disabilty
Income/class
Values/culture
Ethnicity and Race 
Religion
Sexuality/sex/gender
Isuses e.g. crime, violence, gang culture
Tokenism i.e. shows that tick boxes and have the token asain/gay/black/white
Youth/Middle/Old age


This has also changed considerably from the days of "love thy neighbor", where it was acceptable to portray racist people as normal and common, to programes that are made where everything revolves around being sensitive and politically correct. Recently, however things have gone full circle,  where documentary makers and film makers alike, are trying to challenge the audience to see a world where PC has gone way to far,  to mock what it stands for and to make us feel uncomfortable, in order to highlight the fact that it can alienate groups even further.


Here is a clip of "love thy neighbor" 1970's before, the word PC was even mentioned:

In today's culture, with so much legislation about racial, sexual, disability, age, faith and gender discrimination, people always find something to be offended by , even kids television programmes like Rastamouse:

Some shows however, although maybe trying to represent certain groups in a new way and bring insight, they end up falling back to and showing the typical stereotypes. My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding, 2011, C4, does show the traveling community to be very moral with a strong sense of respect and protectiveness for one another. However the show can not help itself but to focus on the outlandish weddings, fighting and oppression of women, arguably causing a worse image in the face of any hope of non travelers and travelers living in harmony.

Others like Cast Offs (C4) and a scene with the "token" disabled person on the work force in Come Fly With Me (BBC1) , try and tackle over political correctness, to show things have gone to far, and that people are afraid or saying anything and throwing common sense out of the window.

(come fly with me) 

I think this is a very interesting topic, and one I want to cover in my essay.