'Practise without theory is empty; theory without practise is blind.'

At A2 you can't afford to answer an exam with generalisations, you need some substance to back you up, and if it's not with hard facts and case studies, then you'll need your 'guide to theorists' to help you.

There are a few ways that you can reference a theorist in an exam, you can do this directly by quoting from an article or book of theirs, citing the author, publisher and year of publication; or you can paraphrase.  Paraphrasing allows you to interpret another theorists idea in your own words or simplify their point, whilst still giving them credit for the point you've made (Mayers, 2010).  Click on the guide to referencing here if you want to get it right.

Your guide to theory begins here: (a working pdf file will soon follow whilst this list is updated...again!)

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Acland Althusser Coates	Argued that representations of delinquent youths help reinforce hegemony - the 'ideology of protection' model. Suggests that 'ideological state apparatus' is enforced by media, education, religion and family who maintain hegemony and enforce dominant values. Examined that there are 4 ways to understand a society (linked to ideology)
Cohen, S	Coined the term moral panic in 1972 - Media was often seen as the trigger for a decline in moral standards in society. Also came up with the  concept of 'fold devils'.
Corner, John	Examined the process of realism within media texts
Defleur	Development of the hypodermic needle effect - he stated that it was dependent on the psychology of the individual (psychodynamic)
Dutton	Developed an extension of Galtung & Ruge's news values - 12 most significant
Eisenstein	Developed the form of film with his use of montage
Fiske	Stated that there are 5 factors that determine the social position of an audience
Galtung & Ruge	Process of gatekeeping and news values - to define how editorial choices are made
Gauntlett Gerbner	He challenged the effects model on audiences and has investigated the impact of web 2.0 on identity and audiences.  Media Studies 2.0 Studied the effects of television on peoples perception of crime - linked to cultivation theory and 'mean world syndrome'.
Gillmor Giroux	The notion of audience revolution in the construction of their own media products (we media) Focused on youth representations as 'empty categories' because most media representations are constructed by adults.
Gramsci	That dominant ideologies can change over time, moving away from heritage and tradition if enough audiences/groups enforce their own discourse (we media)
Grossman	Examined the effect of video games on audiences
Hall, Stuart	Mediation is the process by which all media products are read by audiences.  Theories of representation linked to encoding and decoding.  Types of readings
Hartley, John	The idea that there is a 360 degree consumption.saturation of the media for modern audiences.  An advocate for media literacy.  7 Factors can affect audience interpretation of a text.
Kaplan	Feminism - defined women as a distinct group in two approaches - essentialist approach and anti-essentialist approach (women constructed by male society)
Kutner & Olsen	Conducted research into the effects of video
Leiss, Kline & Jhally	Developed 4 formats for advertising
Lyotard, JF	Developed concept of postmodernism - Media texts are self aware, independent from modernism and able to pick and mix meaning from real life and vice versa.
Marshall	Examined the changing relationship between games and movies (2004)
Marxist	The idea that Media and mass communication supports the ruling class/governments by reinforcing their ideology.  Ideals and cultures can be enforced upon the masses.
Maslow	Created a hierarchy of needs (pyramid with 5 descriptors originally although developed), useful when examing advertising.
Mayers, R	Author of SPIKEZ and shameless promoter of his work on his own websites, including this one.
McLennon	Developed theory of ideology and that 3 conditions needed to be present.
McQuail	examined models of communication - including modes through the media and how processes have changed.  Developed models of society out of Marxist theory.  Claimed there are 4 methods for measuring audiences.
McShane	Highlighted 5 points/methods that journalists follow
Meehan	Study of feminist representation in the 1970s - useful to contrast to modern day studies.
Morley	Stated that the position and interpellation of media groups affects how texts are decoded
Mulvey	Feminist Theory - the concept of women as objects in media and men as subjects.  Contested in some modern films/adverts of today
Neale	Identified genres by their use of audience expectations and common conventions
O'Brien, W	Conducted a study into the development of 3rd generation gaming through historical commentary
Parkin	Examined audience positioning when looking at readings of media texts - dominant, negotiated, oppositional.
Perkins	Representation - Gave arguement that the use of stereotypes can be good, that stereotypes can change and even be positive (1979)
Propp, V	Examined the importance of character within narrative after studying classic folk tales - 32 character profiles
Saussure	Concept of semiotics and language (linguistics) 1974 - the extended connotations of within a cultural system
Tapscott & Williams	Linked Web 2.0 to a new strand of economics (wikinomics, 2006)
Todorov, T	Identified 5 stages of narrative/story and the notion that plots have a circular narrative.  Equillibrium and Disequillibrium. (film)
Tudor	Defined and categorised the types of montage used by Eisenstein
Williams	Identified 3 core characteristics in Drama and also categorised 9 forms of the TV programme.

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