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Monday, 31 August 2020

Hooray For Vaccines



Naturally enough a recent post about the shapes of stories raises a question about the shapes of media stories. For example, many have the standard shape based around persuasion –

Good ----> Bad ----> Good

An obvious media story which fits that general shape is –

Obama Cool ----> Orange Man Bad ----> Comfy Joe Biden


Yet a very popular media story shape is often hidden within the drama of the story. For example a basic shape could be this –

Bad ----> Worse ----> Look at Me 

Examples of this basic shape in action might be  –

Smoking chimneys ----> Climate Change ----> My Solar Panels 
Your Dirty Car ----> Climate Change ----> My Electric Car 
Your Clothes ----> Sweatshops ----> My £300 Jeans 
Your Diet ----> Your Fat Kids ----> My Favourite Chef 


Another popular media story shape is –

Bad ----> Good ----> Feelgood Better

For example –

Unhappy Child ----> Give Money ----> Happy Child
Unhappy Celebrity ----> Give Money ----> Happy Celebrity
Coronavirus ----> Lockdown ----> Hooray Still Alive
Coronavirus ----> Lockdown ----> Hooray For Vaccines 
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2 comments:

  1. Sam Vega31 August 2020 at 14:08

    There's also bad ----> worse ---> feelgood better

    Covid ---> Boris mishandles it ---> NHS saves the day

    Imperialism ---> Huge numbers of migrants ---> Our cities get all lovely and vibrant

    Systemic racism ---> Riots ---> Legal immunity for black rioters

    ReplyDelete
  2. A K Haart31 August 2020 at 20:39

    Sam - ironically the NHS might have saved the day if a vast increase in population hadn't been nodded through.

    ReplyDelete

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