Key aspects of Media Texts

Key aspects of Media Texts

Who would have thought that culture can be flexible enough to incorporate other elements that cause it to change to or even lose meaning? For so long in the history of man, people have thought that they have a specific culture that can be used to define a particular community and this culture most of the time differed with that of other cultures. The incorporation of modern technology impacted culture on both an actual dimension as well as a negative one. Through the media text, however, the study of communications continues to become expansive to accommodate E-media. Communication is an essential part of the human culture and analyzing the methods of communication, how these words are constructed, and the connection between people conversing on different platforms contribute to improving understanding of the role of media text in communication. Recorded of the visual message has a lot to pass to the receiver of the message than what meets the eye. As such, an -depth analysis into the content, structure, and function of the media texts can effectively enhance the ability of a person to understand the meaning and importance of media texts.

Voices carry information, and how they are understood is dependent on how they are heard. The voice is a powerful tool in communication because with it, lies the real message, the one which is not said by the speaker. Through attentive listening, the voice is enough to tell if a person is in distress, or if the communicator is happy instead. Kreiman supports that “speakers may sound young, or tired, or elated or distracted” (2). The voice that a person uses to pass information from one person to another presents with its power. This can also be supported by the argument that through listening to the voice, a person gets to know whether the speaker is a child or an adult. How then does the concept of voice apply and relate to the media? Voice can be used in conveying audio information, and the power of the Impact that the message might have on the listeners will depend on the voice. It is not always about the projection in most cases; however, voice is big enough to accommodate appeals of emotion, logic even allusion to a specific respected source that can make sense to the audience. An excellent example of this is music, which has been used as a tool for both entertainment and revolution. Songs such as war songs contain not only a powerful message, but the voice through which they are sung depicts strength, determination, and unity. As the soldiers sing these songs, they are bonding and, at the same time, promising to have one another’s back at the battlefield because they are brothers and sisters, and they are defending their country with their life. Taking this example, for instance, it is evident that voice does contain not only the message that it conveys in spoken form but also the message that it conveys through the impression that the recipient gets in response to the message.

Another aspect that is observable in media texts is the fact that every single message that is out there on text media is constructed. After a good understanding of who the target audience for the message is, the construction of the media texts is bent explicitly towards the direction of the audience. In other words, the creation of the text effectively employs the use of the words that are understood by this particular audience, and it may appeal to them. Howe illustrates that “Native stories are power. They create people. They author tribes. America is a tribal creation story. Creation stories, as numerous as Indian tribes, gave birth to our people” (118).  As much as people might view the native stories as a part of history recorded, it is a message that has been constructed for the foreigners, who have interest in the culture presented and since they cannot be part of the culture physically due to some reason, they can associate with the culture through the written stories. From this, people get to understand that media texts do not appear magically or by incidence, however, it was created with an intention and purpose. An excellent example of this is the numerous accounts of encroachment of land in many cultures, especially African nations, during colonial times. As much as these accounts might be real, most recorded information about these moments is not necessarily accurate. This is because most of it depended solely on the memory of those who recalled. However, this message is out there, and authors have not only written about it, intending to entertain their audience. Additionally, the authors might have a target of shaping personalities and cultures in a society in which they have an eye on. For example, talking about a nation’s struggle to gain independence is useful in shaping a person to learn to be resilient and determined because it is only through this that a person can get the right amount of inspiration that can cause this person want to associate with the legends of the land. The construction of stories, for instance, in the African culture for the storytelling sessions, was mainly directed towards achieving a specific goal that was all about morality. Through these sessions, the listeners, who were primarily the children, did not only enjoy, but they also learned lessons.

Furthermore, the construction of the media texts is usually done using creative language, and it has its own rules of construction. The different forms of media texts have their ways of contributing to appearing unique in the eyes and ears of the people. In other words, there are scary music and films, the big headlines, and the significance that this creates exists because of the unique creative aspect that each media text has to offer to stay relevant. Couldry argues that “symbolic content and the structure of the social and cultural activities are influenced by media environments which they gradually become more dependent upon” (4). The creative language most of the time is used in attempts to find common ground between the message that is being passed and the audience that the message target. This is because the only way media texts can work is through offering the right amount of entertainment or information to an audience that will understand the meaning that is being generated by the text. The rules that are commonly used in media texts include the language, the application of syntax, and metaphor. Understanding the language that an author uses to pass a message across is the most fundamental aspect of finding the relevance of the text. Due to these rules in constructing media, most artists of these kinds of work effectively in making a selection of the audience.

The embedded values, as well as the point of view of these media texts are specific. Since they are constructed, these media texts carry a subtext of something, a content that is important to the audience. If the text does not respond to a person, then it does respond to race, or gender, and age. These are some of the things that contribute to the relevance of the text to the applied. An excellent example of this is depicted by the written document of Silko, which explains the concept of race. According to Silko, racism was propagated by both the black through alienating themselves from the white people, and the white people did the same through frustrating the black. Silko illustrates that “they want us to believe that all evil resides with the white people, then we will look no further and see what is happening”.  In this case, the texts are used to push the community of the blacks far away from the white, claiming that all evil resides in these people. The depiction of this aspect of the concepts of racism in this text is the author’s way of appealing to a specific audience. Additionally, this is an embedded value that is specified in this narrative is that racism is an issue in the society and the author believes that if they keep away from the white communities, these people can be free from any forms of abuse or suffering that results from the interaction from the two races. In other words, any author of any media text usually has a message that he or she is passing across to a specific audience. Through embedding the values that the author believes are worth sharing, the article or document that he is writing becomes relevant to the audience that he is targeting. The incorporation of a specific value or concept in a written document tends to narrow down the work of the author to a particular audience.

Considering the nature of the media texts, it is agreeable that they are mostly organized to generate profits. An example of a media text that can be applicable in this aspect is advertisements, which are mainly used to increase the number of sales through creating awareness of the product. The internet in contemporary society has created platforms through which the business entities get the chance to enlighten the people about the products they are selling.  In modern society, for instance, many business people take advantage of the internet to advertise their products. Through these platforms, they get the chance to sell their products effectively. Dreher points out that “contemporary neo-liberalism offers proliferating opportunities for voice, but not necessarily listening – ‘a system that provides the formal voice for its citizens but fails so markedly to listen to exhibits a crisis of political voice ‘a recognition crisis” (158). Selling through online platforms has become the norm of the global economy. Trade has improved, and so are the revenues generated from these platforms. Also, technological advancements have provided the option for audio forms of advertisements in which the consumers of the message are enlightened about the product, and they are also taught about the uses of the product and the price at which it is sold. Through this platform, communication through voice is enhanced. Media texts should be aimed at making additional income on the amount of money that is used to invest or create the text. Taking an example of television stations, for instance, the films and shows are created and issued on specific channels, most of which are paid for.

The voice is yet another aspect of depicting media texts that enhances the construction of messages on online platforms. The voice is a potent tool in the communication industry. Most of the people believe that it is through the voice that messages are passed to make different senses and meanings. Dreher argues that “Specifically, we must attend carefully to the practices and politics of ‘listening’ in order to achieve meaningful voice” (158). Voice can be used as a tool for appealing, instead of initiating a political move. When talking about the voice, it is usually not directed on the projection of the voice and the quality of the voice that is used by the listeners. Taking an example of a political forum in which the politician aims at presenting his manifesto to urge the voters to give him a chance. Most of the time, the politician are selective on the message that they send to the public as they selectively make a specific choice of words that will make him sound like the right candidate. It is important to note that the voice takes advantage of sound when making references and passing information. As such, evaluating the performance of sound on the ear as well as the impression of the citizens who might be interested in taking the votes. As the voice of the speaker pierces through the ears of these individuals, the feeling they get matters on different scales. For instance, the power in the voice is felt by the listeners, and the articulation of the words is also explored, and these factors determine the impression of the listener. At this point, the listener is in a better position to express the opinion and the decision that he made regarding the speaker.

Digital storytelling is a concept that has gained popularity in the modern world. As such, media text has found a new forum through which messages and information can be passed without the worry of the audience. It has been noted, however, that digital storytelling is a factor that brings with it several other consequences, most of which impact harmfully to society. Couldry explains that “At stake here is not so much the laboratory potential of digital storytelling (although I want to clarify that, too), but the precision with which we understand media’s complex social consequences” (3). These stories tend to misguide the readers and the viewers of these digital media platforms to begin leaving in fantasy other than in reality. Most people would want to imitate the lives that are led by the characters displayed in the digital storytelling mediums. Most importantly, the people within the digital storytelling context are mainly involved in activities that are unrealistic and good for the viewers to see. Even so, the consumers of digital storytelling are primarily engaged in creating entertainment for the public and on a positive light, also create a platform through which people can communicate and share some constructive information.

Conclusively, exploring the critical concept that is involved in the creation, distribution, and reception of text contributes hugely to understanding the media platforms and their roles in society. The voice, for instance, has so much power to communicate from a different perspective. Other than the words that have been articulated, the voice can communicate in silence. In other words, the impression that the listener will get from hearing the voice determines the understanding of the message that is being passed across. Digital media has improved communication in contemporary times. Due to this, most people communicate through these platforms and also use them to advertise their products. It has, however, some demerits that tend to impact negatively on people, but it also offers benefits that enhance its usage.