Elements of Media: 4 Key Concepts

 1. Audience:

The main idea behind the audience is to explore who is being represented and why, by whom, and how they are being represented, to find our "target audience", or the consumers who we are trying to appeal to. Whether its the general masses or a niche group of individuals, fairness in representation is key. Every piece of Media should have a target audience in mind, and deciding that is essential. We have to ask who the preferred audience is and how they might interpret it. If its an advertisement for a product, will they buy it? If it's the opening for a film, will they be interested enough to keep watching?

2. Institutions:

Media institutions arrange, create, design, broadcast and distribute different types of media products to the masses. It's important to know how these institutions work and how they influence aforementioned media products. A company with a large funding may be looking for something different than a small, local production.

3. Language:

Language is a powerful tool that can be used to encode messages left for the audiences interpretation. Encoding, being the process by which a source performs conversion of information into data, and interpreting, being the reverse; can help bring depth into your media and involve the audience further into the narrative you are trying to show.

4. Representation:

Representation is the is the portrayal of ideas in reality presented through media. More common examples of representation in media is through social issues such as class, race and gender.