PSEB SS Media Studies key terms

Any finished media product, such as a film, poster, news bulletin, advertisement or social media post, that can be analysed for its meaning, form and intended audience.

The shared rules and repeated techniques a medium uses to communicate meaning, such as camera angles in film, headlines in newspapers or hashtags on social platforms.

The visual, verbal and audio elements through which a media text creates meaning, including images, sound, layout, colour, typography, editing and spoken or written words.

A category of media product sharing recognisable features, such as horror, romantic comedy, documentary or soap opera, which helps producers package work and audiences predict what to expect.

The way events and characters are arranged and told in a media text, including the order of scenes, the use of conflict, and how a story reaches resolution.

Everything placed within the frame of a moving image shot, including set design, props, costume, lighting, actor positioning and facial expression, all of which shape meaning.

The position from which a camera records a subject, such as high, low or eye level, which influences how powerful, vulnerable or equal the subject appears to viewers.

The process of selecting and joining recorded material into a finished sequence, controlling pace, continuity, emphasis and the relationships created between separate shots.

The way media texts portray people, groups, places and ideas, always a selective construction rather than a simple reflection of reality, and often analysed for stereotypes and bias.

A simplified and widely repeated generalisation about a group of people that reduces individuals to a few assumed characteristics, often used in media to make quick sense for audiences.

The people who receive and interpret a media text, who may be targeted as a mass group or a niche segment and who actively make their own meanings from what they consume.

The specific group of people a media producer aims a text at, defined by factors such as age, gender, income, location, interests or lifestyle, and reflected in content and advertising placement.

Statistical characteristics of a population such as age, sex, income, education and occupation, used by media organisations to describe and segment audiences and to sell advertising space.

The classification of audiences by attitudes, values, interests and lifestyle rather than by simple statistics, helping media planners predict what kinds of content and appeals will attract particular people.

An approach holding that audiences actively choose media to meet needs such as information, entertainment, personal identity, social interaction or escape, rather than being passively affected.

The view that audiences interpret, negotiate with and sometimes resist media messages instead of absorbing them uncritically, bringing their own experience and knowledge to the text.

The meaning a media producer most wants audiences to take from a text, built into its codes and conventions, which some viewers accept and others negotiate or reject.

A system of beliefs and values that a media text expresses or assumes, often without stating them openly, such as assumptions about gender roles, success or national identity.

The process by which dominant groups maintain influence by making their values appear normal and common-sense, so that audiences consent to them rather than being openly forced.

The study of signs and how meaning is made, examining how images, words and sounds function as signs whose meanings depend on cultural agreement rather than on the objects themselves.

The two parts of a sign: the signifier is its physical form, such as a word or image, and the signified is the concept it brings to mind.

The additional cultural or emotional meanings a sign carries beyond its literal content, such as the associations of a particular colour, gesture or piece of music.

The literal, descriptive meaning of a sign, the basic object or event it refers to before cultural associations and emotional overtones are taken into account.

The way one media text refers to, borrows from or plays on other texts, such as a parody of a famous film scene or a news item quoting a popular song.

Broadcasting funded and regulated to serve the public interest, required to provide news, education, culture and programming for minorities rather than only chasing commercial ratings.

The question of who controls media organisations, ranging from state and public bodies to private companies, which affects the range of voices and content available to audiences.

A large company owning many media outlets and brands across different platforms, which can concentrate influence, share content across outlets and reduce the diversity of independent voices.

The rules and bodies overseeing media content and conduct, intended to protect audiences, ensure fairness and accuracy, and limit harm such as offensive material or invasions of privacy.

The suppression or restriction of media content by a government or authority, usually justified by claims of national security, public morality or harm prevention, and debated as a limit on expression.

The principle that people may communicate opinions and information without unjustified interference, a right usually subject to legal limits such as defamation, hate speech and incitement.

The process by which editors and media professionals decide which events and voices become news and which are excluded, shaping what audiences come to regard as important.

The idea that media coverage influences which issues the public considers important, not necessarily by telling people what to think but by telling them what to think about.

The criteria journalists use to judge whether an event is newsworthy, including timeliness, proximity, prominence, conflict, novelty, human interest and impact on the audience.

The journalistic ideal of reporting facts fairly and without personal bias, usually pursued through attributed sources, verified evidence and separation of news from comment.

A systematic slant in media content that favours one side, group or viewpoint through selection, framing, word choice or omission, whether intentional or unintended.

The way a story is presented so that certain aspects are emphasised and others downplayed, guiding audience interpretation through angle, wording, images and context.

Paid communication that promotes a product, service or idea to a chosen audience, using persuasion, repetition and emotional appeal, and providing most commercial media with their main income.

A social and economic emphasis on buying goods and services as a route to satisfaction or status, which advertising both reflects and encourages in media content.

The gap between people with reliable access to digital technology, skills and connectivity and those without, which affects who can use online media, services and information.

The merging of previously separate media forms, devices and industries, so that newspapers, broadcasters and online platforms deliver text, audio and video through shared digital channels.

Online platforms where users create, share and interact with content, blurring the line between audience and producer and raising questions about moderation, privacy and misinformation.

False or misleading information spread without necessarily intending to deceive, often amplified by social platforms where content circulates quickly and with little verification.

The ability to access, analyse, evaluate and create media messages, including recognising persuasion, checking sources and understanding how platforms shape what is seen.