Task 1
Task 1
Introduction
Social action and community media is used to promote a
community and increase public
understanding and awareness of different social concerns.Social action media
then brings these problems to the public’s attention which would then encourage
the public to take action to the problems. Using things like videos and adverts
to get the audience’s attention which may possibly persuade them to make a
change in either their lifestyle or the life of others around them. Although we
know through research that only a small amount of the population will actually
act thanks to the effects of this advert. As part of this unit I will be making
an anti-smoking video to persuade an audience to stop smoking.
Purpose
The purpose of this media is to bring about local change and
it does this by working with the community by going to events and raising the
profile of events in the local area. The purpose of making an anti-smoking
video is too making an audience quit smoking and too persuade an audience not to
start smoking. There are many things that are used to make people to stop or
start smoking including adverts by the NHS. They also do newsletters, radio and
television broadcasts and they offer quitting help to patients and to help
them.
Different social action groups have different effects on
different topics of social media. An example of this is the organisation World
Wildlife Fund which is an international organisation or a local organisation
such as the Butterwick hospice. We see the difference in the videos just by
watching them for example the world wildlife fund makes its videos to appeal to
an international organisation.
The idea is that a film or a picture will
deliver some sort of impact to an audience and that it will make an audience do
something. If the result of the media
presented to that audience is that they don’t do anything about your cause then
your message has been lost or was never there in the first place and this means
that the media product as a concept has failed.
Another use of these videos is to raise awareness of a campaign
or a cause for example a charity may use it to raise awareness of their campaign
or a political party may make a film to promote their causes.
Now the media is used by all kinds of organisations
and charities. Examples of these are political parties and unions, which use
media to fight their cause more. Political party’s employee several tactics in their
videos and will often make many different ones to appeal to many different
demographics. Unions often try to encourage an action for example the NUS is
currently encouraging students and young people to vote in the next general
elections and even if they don’t then they show young people the other options
of what to do.
Another use of social action media is to
challenge mainstream media for example in Stockton on tees an media group set
up the loudest whisper which was used to show the other side to a Channel 4
show called Benefits street which was set in the town. This is a prime example
of the community media challenging the mainstream media in their ideas of the
town.
What is community media?
Community media can be defined as media
produced and circulated within a particular community to help the community. The
media produced by such companies or organisations in a local area are usually
produced for the local area by the people of the local community. Community
media is often associated with Radio but there has been a recent rise in
television stations in local communities. There are many radio stations that
operate for the community around the country and in my case in the north east
region. Such radio stations often invite locals to participate in the
production of shows and allow them to discuss issues relating to the area. An example of local radio is ignition radio in Stockton on tees which has recently been set up and works with the community.
Community media can also be used to bring the
community together and make a community interact with each other. It can also strengthen
community ties for example if there is a dysfunctional community or there is a
mixed community. It can also inform and educate a community,
which can bring a community together, and also I can solve many problems and
this can use for example by charities to show their cause to the world and give
it a bit more backing.
What is the impact?
People can change their lives after just one viewing
of one of these videos for example the NHS in Britain runs campaigns against smoking
and we can see the effect of these videos for example the amount of people who
have cut down on smoking cigarettes since the first introduction of these
videos, posters and radio campaigns has been huge.
Of course, these videos are just made by
organisations such as the NHS. Organisations and charities make videos for
example Zoe's place in Middlesbrough is a hospital for young children and they make media (usually videos) to encourage financial backing from the general public or just wealthy backers from around the local area or on an international scale.
In my final statement, I would say that social
action media could have a big effect if made in the right way; proof of this is
in many charity campaigns because if they didn’t generate any funding then the
campaign would fall flat and end up costing the charity. I have also seen how
community media brings a community closer together and how it takes on the
media giants in the field of representation. The videos I have seen from the
examples that I have used have shown me what I need to do to make a good and
persuasive anti smoking film.
