The strange case of Mr Jefferies

The 'Sun' newspaper is doing a lot of apologising for the way it gathered and reported news in the past. Today an apology was given about the way the Sun represented Mr Jefferies, a retired teacher, in January 2011. Eight newspapers have since paid libel damages to him as they vilified him as a 'peeping tom' and 'nutty'. The way it was reported suggested that he may have some connection to the death of his tenant Joanna Yeates. Her killer Vincent Tabak was later convicted of the murder.

Jefferies was questioned by police and released without charge but the press ran stories about him being an 'unmarried oddball' and 'obsessed with death'. It was the way that they took the views of ex-students and then presented him as 'strange' that is now seen as unethical.

Not only was it contempt of court it was also libellous and damaging to the reputation and life of an innocent person.

Consider the damage caused by irresponsible journalism. What other cases can you find where reporting in tabloid newspapers has overstepped a moral and ethical line ?

The focus now, with the current 'Leveson' inquiry, is how can we make our newspapers more ethical and responsible. Each day there are further revelations about phone hacking and practices in news rooms that show journalism in a dim light. Many think that this outpouring of apology and regret is long overdue.

What do you think was the reasoning behind running these stories and does it reflect on our culture ? One could argue that it is the public's appetite for this style of story that led to this style of journalism taking root. At the time the 'Sun' sold 3 million copies a day, easily the best selling daily, and if you consider that each copy may be read by on average three people this gives it a readership of maybe 9 million. There are 60 million people in the UK.

Should tabloid newspapers be more responsible in their reporting considering the influence and affect they have on our daily diet of news ?

For more information look at www.guardian.co.uk/media for coverage of this story and the wider Leveson inquiry.

T-Mobile

Audiences often receive texts differently. They interpret the meaning in ways which may have not been originally intended.

In the 1930’s the War of the Worlds was played on radio. Listen to the broadcast. Many people believed that martians were invading the earth and there was panic in America.

In the 1957 the BBC ’s Panorama programme showed spaghetti growing on a tree as an April Fool’s Day trick. Many people believed it.

It maybe hard in our media saturated age to understand how audiences could have believed these stories but each year, particularly on April 1^st there are new attempts to trick audiences

In the 1930’s the theory of a passive audience believing everything they hear or se in the media was prevalent. This was known as the hypodermic model as it was believed that audiences received message like an injection from a hypodermic syringe questioning little

You need to research the ‘hypodermic model’ of effects theory.

In the 1970’s theory moved on to active audiences using media texts to gratify certain needs.

You need to research the ‘Uses and Gratification theory’ by Blumler and Katz

Audience theory today is complex and the media industries rely on a sophisticated understanding of the changing tastes and demands of modern media consumers.

You will use the recent T-mobile advert to explain how a media text can be read differently by different audiences

1) preferred reading

2) negotiated reading

3) opposite reading

Watch the T-mobile advert depicting the royal wedding

Research April Fool’s day tricks on you tube. There are some clever ones now and you can see how the media can manipulate audiences.

Trailer for Slumdog Millionaire

This task will allow an understanding of how film trailers attract an audience for a film before it is shown in cinemas and will allow an insight into how producers construct an audience

· the ways in which audiences can be categorised

Consider gender, age, ethnicity, social & cultural background, advertisers' classifications

· how media producers and texts construct audiences and users

· how audiences and users are positioned

to do this you will discuss preferred, negotiated and oppositional responses to that positioning

· Apply audience theories such as the uses and gratification theory

The criteria above will become clear as you work through the tasks

You must watch the film trailer made for UK cinemas. It can be found on the DVD also.

All media texts are made to be consumed by paying audiences. They are, on the whole, commercial enterprises and the creators hope to make a profit from their creative production and to recoup the money spent making them.

Their success depends on how well they target an audience and can be measured in the amount of profit they make. A recent success in Summer 2011 was the film of the television show ‘The Inbeteweeners’. An unsuccessful production such as the film ‘Charlotte Gray’ can lead to the failure of the company who paid for the film to be made. In this case Channel 4 films.

You must de-construct the film trailers for ‘Slumdog Millionaire’

You must complete an illustrated essay using screengrabs to illustrate your points

You must show an understanding of audience theories and apply Blumler and Katz’ ‘Uses and Gratification Theory

You must show an understanding of how audiences are constructed

You can discuss the task as a group and de-construct the film trailer in small groups

Analyse the original theatrical trailer and the posters for the film nd answer the following questions using the guidance on the web-log

How do the creators try to appeal to an audience ?

Who is the target audience for this film ?

· Age

· Gender

· Nationality

· Ethnicity

· Lifestyle

· Social and cultural background

Using Blumler and Katz ‘Uses and Gratification theory’ to discuss how different audiences may use this text to gratify their needs

What themes are there in this film ? For example, love or brotherhood. Explain which audience each theme would appeal to.

Analyse these technical codes and explain how their use targets an audience. Illustrate you points with screengrabs

· E Effects

· Pace and style of editing

· Use of colour

· Camera angles and types of shot

· Sound effects

· Voiceover

· Music

· Selection of clips

· Text / titles

Consider these further points ;

How does the film attract a global audience ?

Danny Boyle is the name used in the titles and he is the director rather than a star. Why is he billed but not the actors ?

Research the other films Danny Boyle has made and explain why they chose the Full Monty rather than, for example, Trainspotting

The film is billed as the ‘Feel good film of the Decade’ by the News of the World .Is this a fair representation of the content of the film or are the creators trying to construct a wide audience ?

The film has been classified as a 15 certificate. Does the trailer reflect this or is it aimed at a younger audience ?

Using Blumler and Katz ‘Uses and Gratification theory’ discuss how different audiences may use this text to gratify their needs

Further research could include showing the trailer to different audiences and asking if they would watch this film and why