Media texts and Genre

Keywords: Media Text, Genre.

Media Text
Media text = any constructed media product or piece of communication, whether print or audiovisual, which can be analysed and deconstructed.
Think of a media form such as Radio, TV, Newspaper, Magazine or Website and a text as being a 'product' of that form.

For example: 

Media form = TV 
Media text = Match of the Day

Media form = Magazine 
Media text = FHM

Media form = Newspaper
Media text = The Daily Mirror

Genre
Genre is the French word for type. 
Genre is a means of classification for texts based on common elements and shared characteristics - the correct term for this is 'generic conventions and elements.' 

When working out what genre a media text is, the following generic 'ingredients' need to be analysed (when you 'channel hop' or surf the Internet, the brain does this subconsciously because all genres have certain common characteristics the brain picks up on):

1) Mise-en-scene (iconography, props, set design, special effects, lighting, costumes, cast, shot types, camera angles etc.)

2) Typical narratives (historic/contemporary/medical/crime etc.)

3) Generic/stock characters e.g. doctors, police, stereotypical gender roles, different classes etc.

4) Themes e.g. police v criminals, affairs, youth v age, working class v upper class etc.