Preferred Meaning and Reality Being Mediated
The reality of this piece is the presence of mass numbers of people rioting in the streets of Cairo. Both groups have different 'agendas', one group are supporting President Mubarak and the other are against him. This is what is currently happening and would happen even if there was no presence of media to capture the events as the happen. From watching the piece and listening to the audio it seems that the preferred meaning being put across is that there is no chance of peace being restored to the nation until there is a resolution put in place. This can be noticed at the start of the piece when the reporter says;
"I've never seen anything like this in a riot before."
This is in a response to people fleeing down a street as horses charge behind with one of the riders being pulled from his horse and beaten on the ground.
Five Key Questions
1. Who created the message?
The news report is from Sky News, the way in which it has been edited together shows that consideration was taken as to which shots were used to represent the events that are taking place on the streets. Several times throughout the clip, the same piece of footage has been used which shows people throwing rocks at each other from the two separate groups of rioters. Also reused in the clip was a shot of rioters charging at each other.
2. What creative techniques are used to attract my attentions?
Throughout the piece the position of the camera is usually positioned above the crowds of people to make the receiver/viewer feel that they are looking down on the chaos in the streets. The audio in the piece has not been altered to help us appreciate the confusion and fear that many innocent people caught up in the actions of these groups are feeling.
3. How might different people understand this message differently than me?
When I look at a piece of text like this I get a feeling of pity and sadness for innocent people caught in the midst of these kind of riots. Many people may also feel this way but others may feel that this is trouble is as a result of the President refusing to stand down and bring an end to trouble in the nation, others may feel that the military or police should be doing more to try and quell the riots and that they may be a cause of many people being injured or killed.
4. What values, lifestyles and points of view are represented in, or omitted from this message?
Throughout the piece the footage concentrates on the people who are engaged in rioting or fights, while there is no footage of officials being interviewed about what is happening or plans of how to stop it from getting worse. Also omitted from the piece is any opinions of locals who are not partaking in the riots. This could be seen as a ploy by the news to make the situation worse than it may actually be as there is a reuse of several pieces of footage.
5. Why is this message being sent?
This message is being sent to show how people go to extreme measures to demonstrate how strongly they feel about their beliefs. The news channels know that if they keep a situation like this updated on a regular basis they will be able to keep high viewer rating over other rival news networks.
Presence of Conversationalisation
Throughout the piece we can hear the use of simple easy to understand language and words that help to reinforce the choice of images used. Words such as "surged around" when we see the image of camel riders fleeing the chaos and the mass mob of people trying to surround him. Also used was "charge after charge" when we can see the protesters running towards each other helps us visualise the chaos that the people are experiencing. The use of phrases like these are employed by many news broadcasters so that their viewers can better understand what is happening and so that they can grab the gist of the story if they are not paying full attention to the report or watching what is happening on screen.
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