Unit 31: Social action and community media

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.