Ideology

The ideology of a media text is the idea behind a media text, this is often a hidden message that the producer wants the consumer to understand. It is and always has been a part of media texts as ideologies can and often do alter the way a person views areas of their life and the world around them.

Ideology can be broken down in to three categories called readings so called because of how the audience reads the media text. A preferred reading is achieved when the consumer of the text comes away from the text agreeing with what the text's producer is trying to convey for example the preferred reading of most disaster films, most notably "The Day After Tomorrow," is centered on climate change and the fact that unless we as the human race don't change our ways of pollution and destruction the planet we call home will destroy us. On the opposing side is an aptly named; oppositional reading reading where the viewer comes away with the opposite idea to what producer wanted to convey e.g. Breaking Bad the oppositional reading would be that working in a meth lab is a good source of income. Between these two readings is the Negotiated reading where a viewer partially agrees and partially disagrees with the media text for example in the The X Factor shows how easy it is to become and international superstar but in that ten week period the contestants are working for up to eighteen hours.

Top Boy- The preferred reading of this popular Channel 4 TV series is that while yes the young people in these gangs do have fun on occasion there are more cons than pros; bad things do happen and people do get hurt and in the long run it is better to avoid involvement in gangs. An oppositional reading would be that gangs are cool, I want to get a gun and steal cars.

The opposed reading would be an interest in gang culture and the want to buy a gun.