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