Transcript Media
Media Chapter 8 What is Media - P247-251 Medium – a channel of communication - ie – print newspaper, internet, television, etc. Media – channels of mass communication through which information is sent and received. (plural of medium) Typical Characteristics of “Old Media” - impersonal – sender does not know the receivers - lacking immediacy – audience has no involvement with the production - one-way – from producer to consumer - organized – requires a receiver (printed paper, internet, television set) - large scale and simultaneous - commodified – comes at a price New Media New Media – contemporary channels of communication characterized by their interactivity, individualization and network capabilities. Characteristics of New Media - one-to-one – such as email - one-to-many – such as Facebook, Twitter, or Periscope - many-to-many – sharing work documents, pirated videos, etc. Does anyone know what Napster was? Media Owners Private Ownership – companies run for a profit by individuals or shareholders. - ie – Rupert Murdoch (FOX), Michael Bloomberg (Bloomberg LP) State Ownership – government controls that differ between societies - ie – China’s tight regulation of nearly all media. Censorship – the deliberate suppression of communication or information. - ie – News during Vietnam ***Owners have the potential to decide what sort of information that the audience receives. Concentration and Conglomeration Concentration – media is increasingly owned by a small number of large corporations and powerful individuals. - fewer owners and larger corporations is a trend Conglomeration – the same company developing interests across different media. - ie – Disney Studio created Disney Channel, bought Marvel, Pixar, etc. Cross-Media Corporation – corporation that owns different types of media, - example of conglomeration Marxist Perspective Marxist Perspective – 2 classes (proletariat AND bourgeoisie) - Bourgeoisie (ruling class) owns and controls the ideological institutions (cultural institutions) and therefore shapes how people view the social world. Whoever controls the media wields a great deal of power Determinist approach – the media is powerful enough to decide people’s thoughts and behaviors. Media supports the status quo by: - support for capitalism - rationalize and justify inequality - defend private property - negatively label alternatives to capitalism Marxism Continued… Ideology – system of related beliefs - through media, the ruling class teaches an ideology that favors the bourgeoisie Marxism views the media as a tool used by the bourgeoisie in a conspiracy. - this can be challenged, ie – occupy wall street Marxist portray the consumer as a passive recipient of whatever the media wants to publish. Hegemony Hegemony – leadership with the consent (real or implied) of those who are led. Hegemonic influence does not view the media as directly manipulating the classes. Owners and controllers of the media have common economic interests - must make profits for the business to survive - managers rely of profits for their jobs, salaries, and lifestyles Managers who reflect the views of the owners are selected and often given autonomy Activity Activity on p249 Media Manipulation – p252-259 Pluralism – social groups compete against one another in the marketplace. - different newspapers competing for readers - different political groups competing to promote their views Managerialism – Consumers are in control. Media must adapt to consumers, otherwise they will go out of business. Competition for customers. Globalization – various processes – economic, political, and cultural – that occur on a worldwide basis. - brings more diversity in the media Comparison Activity Lets take 2 minutes to compare Marxism to Pluralism… Things to consider - consumers - employees - suppliers of various content - regulators - rival producers - wider cultural beliefs of a society Marxists - The Role of the Media Media controls the nature, extent, and type of information on which they make judgements. - the media is a tool to influence public opinion - views reflecting those of owners are given access - views contradicting owners are not given access Mass Culture / High Culture Mass Culture – media appealing to the masses, trying to create unity in society and can be manipulated to reflect interests of ruling class - shark tank? Restaurant startup? The profit? High Culture – idea that some cultural products and practices are superior to others. Ie- art, music, literature Media Manipulation – various ways in which the media attempts to influence and control how information is received and understood by an audience. Neo (Hegemonic) Marxism The media reflects the complexity of class relationships and interests in contemporary societies. The media creates and sustains broad consensus around a set of core values, instead of “directly manipulating” people (like Marxism) - neo-Marxists believe the role of the media is to maintain the status quo Media sets the agenda which persuades people in certain ways Propaganda – selective, partial and one-sided forms of communication designed to influence the attitudes of an audience towards a particular view. Pluralism Pluralism covers a range of perspectives that reject Marxism There are a range of views available – Diversity in the Media - this is enhanced by New Media Diversity and choice give the viewers the power - if the producer does not accommodate the consumer, they go out of business. This brings about diversity. Media consumers are active, not passive. Owners of media get profits, and consumers get content that they want. Selection and Presentation of Media Activity - P256 – Captions in Positive/Negative Light Selection and presentation of media content – various ways in which media content is chosen and given to the audience in order to influence their understanding of an issue. Selection and Presentation of Media Factors influencing selection and presentation of media - economic – cost associated with production - political – what government allows - ideological – news only becomes news when someone with power decides so - news values – p258, lets look at particular values within the news profession Some Vocabulary…. Agenda Setting – neo-Marxist concept that argues that decisions made by editors and owners about what and what not to report ‘set the agenda’ for how the public receives and perceives news. Gate Keeping – The ability to limit access to the media. Editors decide what is news and police the news values of an organization. Folk Devils – individuals and groups singled out for special attention and blame because they are seen as a threat to the existing moral order. - ie – Nazi Germany P260-266 – Media and the State Marxist View Marxist View – state uses media to promote and maintain values of the ruling class. ie – media in Venezuela - wealthy and powerful aligned with state. Justify social inequality Marginalize dissent Socialize exploited groups to accept their exploitation Scapegoat minority groups – ethnicity and social class - set working class against one another (ie- immigrants taking jobs) ISA – Ideological State Apparatus – Marxist, argues institutions such as media push values favorable to ruling class in capitalist societies. Media and State - Pluralism Pluralists see the states role as ‘balancing interests’ of different groups. The state is neutral, and different groups voice opinions through freedom of speech. Pluralist - State’s Role - regulations governing fair competition to ensure all opinions are heard - handle legal disputes – copyright and other rights concerns Media and State continued…. New Right – Similar to pluralist, however they want no government intervention. Media self-regulation is appropriate. - When government gives funding to public broadcast, it takes away competition in media. Postmodernism – globalization makes any relationship problematic - idea of a ‘global village’ - different social networks produce and consume networks, without institutions such as state involved. New Media and Society New Media Features - requires computer technology - information can be individualized (think browser cookies) - everyone in the network can share and exchange - not hindered by physical borders Linearity - Old media has a beginning, middle, and end. - New media has nested information (hyperlinks) - Connects text, images, sound, video – interconnected - encourages creativity New Media - Issues Easy to copy and reproduce media products on internet. (free/paid services) Peer-to-peer networks have brought about much theft - legal prosecutions (napster, megaupload) New Models – free services, but a charge of premium ‘extras’ (iePandora/Clash of Clans) Hacking - cyber warfare of governments, ie-China/USA - individuals creating viruses and malware Loss of privacy – ie-Facebook – Free Service in exchange for losing privacy - sharing of personal information Monday p267-272 – Media Representation and Effects Media Representation – the various ways the media portray ideas, individuals and groups. - accurately – describing how something ‘really is’, like in a picture - inaccurately – through deliberate or accidental misrepresentation Working class portrayed by the media as - dangerous and unpredictable - involved in illegal and immoral activities - dependent on the state and upper classes for generosity Mass/Popular Culture Mass/Popular Culture – ‘culture of the masses’, as opposed to the high culture of the ruling elite. Characterized as simple, worthless, mass-produced. -working class has less access to controlling media, so they are often portrayed in a negative light Stereotypes – assigning a particular, one-sided, partial, characteristics to whole groups, regardless of their individual differences. - working-class stereotypes: inarticulate, old-fashioned, uneducated, lazy - higher-class stereotypes: greed, selfishness, criminality (2008 recession) Moral Panics Moral Panics – heightened sense of fear of behavior seen as a threat or challenge to the moral order in society. - fear of terrorism in society today - marijuana in 1960s Fears about youth and technology today - rebellion - disrespect - selfishness - obsession with sex Stereotypes of the Elderly Images in the media of Elderly - Senility - Illness both mental and physical - unattractiveness Stereotypes - grumpy, interfering, lonely, stubborn, not interested in sex, silly, irritable Elderly women are beginning to become portrayed in a new light of fashionable, active, and sexual beings – perhaps because of elderly watching much TV and Gender in Media Representation Body Representations - change: today male bodies are used more frequently in advertising, as sexually desirable for women, and culturally desirable for men. - Women’s bodies still used to sell everything in advertising, and women have less ‘acceptable’ body shapes than men. Young women are portrayed as ‘objects of desire’ but elderly women are not. Women socialized through women’s magazines with topics such as beautification, child-rearing, housework, and cooking. Good Housekeeping 1955 https://larrytemple.wordpress.com/2008/05/01/actual-1955-goodhousekeeping-article/ It is argued that women are increasingly portrayed as more capable in today’s media Ethnicity Past – racism as seen as ‘biological’ differences Today – racism shown through ‘cultural’ differences which are seen as problematic to society, as opposed to showing social problems. News portrays whites as ‘saviors’ to the minorities, helping them with natural disasters, etc. The White Gaze – representation of blacks in the media through sport, fashion and music – stereotypes of athleticism and animism - cultural differences seen as cause of social problems Postmodernism Modernist approaches focus on how and why the media misrepresents certain groups. – distorting reality Flaws of Modernism – support of Postmoderism – class and race are socially constructed, so media is constructing representation of representations. - ‘reality’ is different depending on who you are. Everyone has a different perspective. All perspectives are ‘authentically real’ - the reality of everything from class, age, gender, ethnicity do not have one specific definition Postmodernism Hyper-reality – postmodernist perspective that the media creates realities that are ‘more real’ than the ones they purport to represent. - ie – Wild West, Africa (war, famine, corruption, poverty) *Postmodernists challenge Marxists and Feminists - with social media, producers and consumers of media content are the same people. - many centers of information, each with different representations Activity Paris – looking for stereotypes in the media Wednesday p273-278 Social Patterns in Listening, Viewing and Reading Digital Convergence – today people consume different types of media on the same device. Ex - use iPhone to read news, listen to music, watch movies Listening – older generations listen to much more radio - Emerging Markets (BRIC) – radio growing faster than TV - Spotify/Pandora Reading - decline around the world in reading a daily newspaper - majority of daily newspapers read by elderly - highbrow ‘superior or refined, middlebrow ‘highbrow but lacks depth’, lowbrow ‘lacks sophistication’ Viewing Media Television – 85% of people in industrialized countries watch TV in free time. - elderly are the highest consumers of television - families are less likely to watch TV together, due to cheaper cost of TV sets Effects and Uses of the Media Media Effects – the various ways in which the media affects of influences people. Direct – media has a simple, direct and effective relationship between media and the audience Hypodermic Syringe – media messages are like a drug injected directly into the audience’s mind in ways that change their behavior - the media is the ‘cause’ and the audience reacts ‘effect’ – directly related – audience is passive, isolated from other views Culmination Theory – prolonged exposure can change behavior / desensitize - ie – violent video games Transmission Models Transmission Model – direct effects of media on recipient, but are mediated through other channels and sources. Transmission Parts – information source (government announcement) - transmission source (newspaper or TV report) Types of reporting change the message: -Direct Reporting – possibly showing a speech by an official -Indirect Reporting – picking segments of a speech for a story Vulnerable Audiences – children are more likely to imitate behavior or be influenced because of their lack of social experience Indirect Effects of Media Cultural-Effects Model – Neo-Marxist theory, argues that although media effects are strong in the long term, they are slow, cumulative and may become part of an audience’s cultural background. - the more the media plays a valued role in everyday interaction, the greater the consumption, and the greater the influence. Bandura’s Bobo the Doll Experiment – shows evidence of watching violence produces violence in children. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dmBqwWlJg8U Other studies show little effect on behavior Neo-Marxist - Cultivation Cultivation Theory – people who watch a lot of television gradually take on the beliefs and attitudes to which they are exposed. - long-term effects - if crime is constantly portrayed on television, people become fearful of it Media effects built up through a range of techniques - consistent promotion of particular ideas - marginalization of dissenting views - repetition of ideas until they are taken for granted Audience Reception Audience Reception – media-effects theory based on the idea that media message always have a range of possible meanings and interpretations. - The Media leads people to particular ideas - There are ‘intended’ messages and ‘unintended’ messages (read into by audience) Encoding – what the author wants the audience to grasp Decoding – how the audience interprets the message, social background and context may shape the decoding process. How an Audience Interprets a Message ‘Codes’ Hegemonic Codes – the audience share the assumptions and interpretations of the author and reads the message in the way it is intended Negotiated Codes – although the audience broadly shares the author’s views, they modify their interpretation in the light of their own feelings, beliefs, or attitudes. Oppositional Codes – an audience is antagonistic towards the author and therefore rejects or attempts to challenge the message. Professional Codes – the values used by editors and journalists to guide their assessment of media content and presentation. - Further affected by agenda setting, framing and myth making. Reception Models Normative Model – model of media effects that argue that the key to understanding how mass audiences respond to media messages is through a knowledge of how messages are filtered through informal, interpersonal relationships. Two-Step Flow Model – (normative model) messages flow from the media to opinion formers, who then interpret such messages for people in their social network. - ie - discussing the debate with my 6th period. Two-Step Model is supported by the concept of noise, where the original message may become lost, oversimplified or misrepresented through social interactions. Uses and Gratification Uses and Gratification – (normative model) consumers pick and choose both media and messages. Media is used by audiences to gratify their own particular uses and needs - social solidarity – watch a show because your friends do - entertainment – diversion from everyday life - identity – Fashion magazine, facebook – maintain sense of who we are - surveillance – news and information about a complex world Diversion – break from every day life, to relax, for mental stimulation. Activity Groups – Make diagrams about theories of how media affects audiences - Direct - Hypodermic Syringe - Indirect – Cultural Effects - Uses and Gratification Friday p279-284 Negative Impact of Media Economically – large media corporations create oligarchies that - prevent entrance into markets - restrict competition - limit consumer choice Politically – Governments use New Media for population surveillance -ie – track facebook, track cellphones Culturally – global media encourages cultural hegemony, dominant cultures ‘colonize’ local cultures with products and lifestyles -ie – US films, nike, coca cola Marxists see media as manipulating societies into participating in a ‘dumbed down consumer society’ (economic exploitation) Deviance Amplification Deviance Amplification – theory of deviance that argues that a range of social reactions, particularly those orchestrated though the media in terms of moral panics, have the effect of creating more serious forms of crime. Moral Panics Moral Panic – a situation in which a condition, episode, person, or groups of persons emerges to become defined as a threat to societal values and interests. – Media is central to moral panics - moral panics are geared towards anything that threatens social cohesion (ie – 1950s unmarried female teacher living with an older man) Moral Panics - set moral boundaries for acceptable behavior - create moral and social solidarity in a time of change and uncertainty Moral Panics Theories Interpretivists and Marxists Interpretivists see ‘social values as emerging from day-to-day interactions - media expresses public concerns - moral panics develop from ‘anxiety in grassroots of communities’ - media audiences are seen as ‘active and critical’ Neo-Marxists see moral panics as political phenomena - ruling class exercise control by condemning a threat (Iran speech about USA) - developed because ruling class hegemony is threatened Moral Panics occur in capitalist societies during economic and political crises. - public is distracted from the real causes of such crises by generating panics around groups and behaviors. - scapegoats or ‘folk devils’ are created (ie-Jews in Nazi Germany during Great Depression) Media Sensationalism Media Sensationalism – process whereby the media attempt to increase the dramatic content of an issue or story. - Media sensationalism contributes to moral panics - moral panics lead to the increased surveillance and surveillance and control of subject populations (ie - Japanese Internment Camps – WWII) For Neo-Marxists bringing about ‘public safety’ during a moral panic means ‘the interests of the powerful elites’ Media and Negative Effects Television – some evidence that television brings about prejudice Video – evidence of watching violence towards women brings about aggressive attitudes and behaviors towards women. Internet – online bullying, pedophiles Violence Imitation – Immature and vulnerable audiences imitate behavior. ie-Bobo the doll experiment (Bandura). Columbine 1999 – some attribute it to students playing violent video games like “Doom” 1993 in UK, 3 year old murdered by two 10 year old boys. Judge attributed it to them watching “Childs Play 3”. (no evidence they watched it) Cultivation Theory / Social Development Models Cultivation Theory – involves the idea that ‘heavy media consumption’ cultivates attitudes more consistent with content being watched than reality. ie – watching violent movies makes one see the world as a violent place Social Development Models – reject the idea that there is a ‘one-way relationship’ between media and violence. - Do violent films make people violent, or do violent people choose to consume violent media? Discourse Analysis – method of media analysis that examines how language shapes the way people think about something. Desensitization Theory – emotional responses to media - ie – the more violent media you consume, the more you accept it in society Positive Impacts of Media Relaxation / Entertainment Community – brings us together Identity – develop a sense of self Empowerment – especially with New Media. Youth and women can voice their opinions. Awareness – information to keep up with what’s happening in the world Media may bring about political change, bringing a voice to alternatice views Metanarratives – more positives Metanarrative – a ‘big story’ that attempts to explain ‘everything about something’. Developing social networks of like-minded people aids the political process New Media brings about discussion and self-expression. Wednesday p285-287 + review