Applying media theories to media text.

 Applying media theories to media text.

In this section of my blog I will be applying some media theorist’s views to certain areas of media text. One such article is the medias coverage of the late Jade Goody, her life story and how she became a household name almost over night. A lot of people may think that Jade Goody’s first step into the lime light was on Channel 4’s reality Tv show Big Brother, but in fact like most contestants chosen for the show all have had some insight in one form or another of trying to sell themselves publicly. Jade Goody appeared on many televised talent shows before big Brother was even thought of. 

When jade Goody stepped into the big brother house it marked the beginning of the end within a matter of weeks. She was caught up in everything from public sexual humiliation, racist’s slurs, to being renowned as completely clueless and the unfortunate circumstances that lead to her death. Within a matter of weeks the media had completely shredded everything Jade Goody had stood for and the public were engrossed with the new allegations produced by the media on a daily basis.

Jade Goody’s story interested the public because it fitted perfectly into the catorgies of news that so interest the public. A theorist called Mc Shane set out 5 central tenets that journalists tend to follow to make a news article captivate the audience. Jade Goody’s reported antics in the big brother house suited all 5 catorgies.

Mc Shane

      1.    Conflict – Jade was the centre piece of the show and constantly being televised     crying, fighting and arguing with other housemate and the media portrayed her as if this was her everyday day behaviour on the outside world.

      2.    Danger to the community – Jade wasn’t exactly a danger to the community as such but when she was caught up in the racial slur with fellow house mate Shilpia Shetty it caused quite a stir between many Countries not to mention communities closer to home.

      3.    The unusual – Jades clueless attitude to life itself made her unusual. The famous phrase “ginger minger” was broadcast by the media on an hourly basis.

      4.    Scandal – The awful, un-romantic pictures of jades carry on with a fellow housemate conducting sexual acts for the world to see.

      5.    Individualism – once the media tapped into the unfortunate circumstances of Jades fight with cancer, they began to portray her as a hero and roll model only months after slating her every move.

Applying media theories to media text.

Another theorist called Dutton gave 12 of the most significant news values from the work of Galtung and ruge (1973) that can be applied to Jade Goody’s life in the public eye through the media.

1.     Frequency – The media printed a new story on Jade Goody on an hourly basis in order to sell papers. Over a matter of weeks she turned from villain to hero with amazing contrasting stories printed by the same newspapers.

2.     Threshold – Reality Tv was just taking off at the time of Jade Goody’s involvement in the public eye. Big Brothers ratings were through the roof and the media locked on to this in order to sell papers. This contributed to the fact that millions of people were effected by what channel 4 televised and what the media wrote about Jade.

3.     Unambiguity – Almost every single person in the world could relate to Jade Goody in one way or another. She was a simplistic girl next door, with feelings and worries like everyone else.

4.     Meaningfulness – Jade Goody’s story involving the racial slurs and her rise from villain to hero had major impacts across the board in both senses. Her unfortunate death has risen huge awareness of the dangers of cervical cancer for women today.

5.     Consonance – Jade Goody lived her life no different to any other average girl and the media wanted everyone to familiarise themselves with her so that the public would want to read their articles and buy their papers.

6.     Unexpectedness – the unexpectedness of Jade’s cancer fight was a whole new turning point for the media and how they would portray her. If they continued to slate a young woman fighting for her life it could easily cause public up roar, so did they take the easy route out?

7.     Continuity – Jade’s story has become world renowned and without her even knowing, she created a legacy that she will be remembered for in rising awareness of the dangers of cervical cancer.

8.     Composition – Again Jade’s time in the big brother house and all the controversy surrounding her certainly added to the value of composition news, not to mention when the news broke that she had cancer. 

9.     Reference to elite nations – The only way jades story comes into this value is were Jade was accused of racial abuse against famous Bollywood actress Shillpa Shetty. This caused a lot of upset between nations and people of different race and cultures.

10. Reference to elite persons - The medias involvement in Jade Goody’s life transformed her into the elite person covered in every news story. Her husband Jack Tweed only got a mention because of her fame and when he was accused of cheating on her.

11. Personalisation – Jade Goody’s whole big brother experienced televised daily for the world to see.

12. Negativity – The medias coverage of Jade Goody and the reports that where published out-weigh the bad over the good by a large number. For weeks upon end the media printed and reported shock story after shock story.