Writing assignment of media studies. Part One: Logic of Safety.

There will be two parts in this writing assignment.

Length is open; however, Please limit your answer to no more than 250 words (1 double-spaced page) for each part.

Part1 and part2 are not related.

1. The first part is a short essay about Logic of safety. The definition I found on the website is: A strategy of profit maximization rooted in risk avoidance and the logic of sequels, remakes, and spin-offs. This strategy keeps doing whatever has already been succeeded because it believes change is financially risky and nothing succeeds like success.

First part of your paragraph: logic of safety is …………(describe the theory in a few concise sentences using ONLY your own words.

Second part of your paragraph: logic of safety is important to understanding media because (present a key issue or idea about the implications of the concept; this is your “So what?”

Reminder of your paragraph: explain the issue in depth. Your short answer will be scored on the depth and quality of your analysis. You should draw on two specific media examples and analyze it in terms of Logic of safety and the issue you are discussing. What’s at stake in your media examples in light of the term?

You’re answering the question, “What’s at issue in Logic of safety, and how does my media example illustrate or speak to this issue?”

1. The second part is about a picture.

Pitcure is here:

REUTERS/Tyrone Siu

Anti-extradition bill protesters wave flags with Chinese calligraphy that reads "Liberate Hong Kong, the revolution of our times", at a mass demonstration after a woman was shot in the eye during a protest at Hong Kong International Airport, in Hong Kong, China August 12, 2019.

What meaning does the photograph construct? How does it construct this meaning?
What are the implications of this meaning?

Critical media studies theory à applied to photograph + “So what?”

Using the analytic framework offered by Dona Schwartz in “To Tell the Truth: Codes of Objectivity in Photojournalism” and Roland Barthes “Rhetoric of the Image” and drawing on the theoretical lens of the pircutre, provide a one-page critical analysis. (choose 3 points below)

Dona Schwartz: To Tell The Truth: Codes of Objectivity in Photojournalism

1.Emotional impact: means good pictures can "grab at the heartstrings of the reader”

-  Journalists should focus on the human side of any tragedy since readers relate to people pictures

2.Drama : draws viewers in and provokes an emphatic impact

-  Close up suggests intimacy

3.Naturalism: is what photojournalists want to construct-even if the photos are not candid, they should appear as if they record actual behaviors

4.Simplicity of design: must be present in photos even when showing a complex scene-simply and effective are the key ideas

-  Visual impact

-  Centre of interest: the main subject of the picture, must be clearly seen by viewers. Through framing, selective focus, leading lines

5.Rule of thirds: frames a photo effectively to assure a dynamic composition, better balanced.

-  The main subject should be placed at one of the four intersections in order to produce an active composition with visual interest.

Roland Barthes: Rhetoric of The Image

1. Linguistic message: the text in an 1mage

-  The caption and labels on the products

-  Anchorage: images have multiple meanings and understandings, anchorage happens when the text is used to focus on one of the multiple meanings, or when the text is used to direct viewers to interpret the image through certain meaning

2.Relay : when the text adds meanings to the image' s meaning, and when both the text and image work together to deliver a certain meaning.

1. Denotation: the literal message

-      Tomato represents a tomato

-      Pepper represent a pepper

1. Connation: the symbolic message