BCM110 intro to media and comms lecture and tut notes PDF

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BCMINTRO TO MEDIA AND COMMSLECTURE AND TUTORIAL NOTESLECTURE 2Watching tv has evolved: Silent viewing of a small screen in a dark room (olden days) → distracted viewing (multiple screens in a large lit room) - current society - This means that tv viewing is dispersed and fragmentedHow are audiences ...

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BCM110

INTRO TO MEDIA AND COMMS LECTURE AND TUTORIAL NOTES

LECTURE 2 Watching tv has evolved: Silent viewing of a small screen in a dark room (olden days) → distracted viewing (multiple screens in a large lit room) - current society This means that tv viewing is dispersed and fragmented How are audiences measured? OzTam collects measurements of aus tv audiences The unitam1 system captures: Who is watching The time, duration and date Whether each tv is on or off The tv audio signal Panel sizes = how many households being measured Unitam measures quantitative research Quantitative research matters as it is the ‘currency’ in which the commercial tv industry used to trade - selling time to advertisers → now tv is all about data - eg. Netflix, HBO, stan BUT data doesn’t tell us: How many people are watching What they think about what they watch What needs, uses and gratifications the experience may satisfy - THEREFORE, we need another approach: → Qualitative research Uses research methods eg, observation, interviews Involved description and analysis What is an audience? Is it: The audience we can see? Those together in one place, at the same time, having the same experience? Being part of a media audience now: Involves the use of media technology, some form of content and an experience that is shared For every new media form, it can be viewed by society as: Utopian = good Dystopian = bad NINETEENTH CENTURY: Many fears audiences have about media started here Can be linked to the rise in literacy and mass media eg. printing press - started to enable the spread of knowledge 1 Once a household has been recruited onto the panel, all television sets in that home are monitored by a sophisticated metering system called Unitam which captures viewing to all broadcast television channels on all TV sets in that home. https://oztam.com.au/TheRatingsProcess.aspx#:~:text=Once%20a%20household%20has%20been,TV%20sets%20in%2 0that%20home.&text=whether%20each%20TV%20is%20on,the%20television%20audio%20signal

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Eg. Red Barn Murder (1827) - Maria Martin was shot dead by her lover William Quarter in England - became a popular folk story, was reported in the news, was serialised 2 and other forms of media came out of it later Provoked numerous articles, songs and plays, films

Media effects theory: where all media is said to affect the audience in a negative way Passive audiences: are viewed as Gullible Easily influenced ‘Feminised’ - too emotional ‘Childlike’ ‘Passive’ Active audiences: Make sense of the media Be critical of the media Be discriminating Use media to do things in their own lives

LECTURE 3 - REPRESENTATION AND INTERPRETATION -

Events can be read in different ways and its all about interpretation Early communication models are called LINEAR communication models

COMMUNICATION MODELS: (also in BCM113) Aristotle’s model of communication: Speaker → speech → audience → understanding (reception of the message) Linear (straightforward) communication model Relies on a passive audience to gauge what the speaker is saying Media effects model Proposed before 300BC Relies on the speaker to convey the message rather than the audience’s interpretation Lasswell’s model of communication: Communicator → message → medium (channel) → receiver → effect From 1948 Inspired by Aristotle’s model Linear model of communication Focus is on the speaker or the producer of the message Lasswell was trying to understand media propaganda, fears about the mass media and the effects that the media was said to have on the audience Focused on a one-way flow of information Shannon and weaver model of communication: -

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From 1949 Linear model of communication One way flow of information with emphasis on the speaker (transmitter of info) Noise is used to signify any outside disruption disturbing the transmission of information

Serialise: publish or broadcast in regular installments (google)

The problem with these LINEAR models: They assume there is a non-problematic, linear, transfer of knowledge Sender → message → receiver The sender encodes the message, the receiver decodes the message - BUT do they share the same code or have different interpretations of the code? ‘Magic bullet’ theory and ‘hypodermic needle’ theory both suggest audiences unproblematically assume messages that are put directly into their mind Both these ideas lead to the assumption of causal (harmful) effects of media messages on audiences (CAUSALITY) CAUSALITY: Causal or harmful effects of media messages will cause audiences to do certain things → One thing causes another thing to happen Eg. media says if you play violent video games - you will be more susceptible to violent tendencies

Encoding/decoding model - Stuart Hall - 1973

Semiotics: The science of signs With its origins in linguistics

DENOTATION (literal): the literal, presented, physical meaning of an image or word CONNOTATION (figurative): the meaning the word/image suggests - the interpretation - what can be inferred Ideology (oxford online): System of ideas/ideals Set of beliefs and characteristics of a social group or individual

‘The nationwide audience: David Morley and Charlotte Brunsdon (1980) showed the same tv show (nationwide) to 29 audiences Found 3 types of audience reading of the text 1. Dominant or preferred readings - reads the text and accepts the message intended by the sender 2. Negotiated readings - have a mixed reaction - accept some messages the media is sending but rejects others - they still fully understand the texts but their opinions differ with certain parts of the text 3. Oppositional readings - audience understands the text and the message it’s trying to get across but rejects the message - they instead, change the meaning and add to it often the opposite of what the sender meant (opp. to dominant)

LECTURE 4 - MEDIA INDUSTRIES AND OWNERSHIP ‘Media is the nervous system of a democracy; if it’s not functioning well, democracy can’t function’ (Jeff Cohen, Founding Director of the Park Center for Independent Media) Media: Outfoxed: a documentary that exposes Murdoch’s editorial and ideological control of Fox News Significant as one of the first creations to expose the ideological control of Rupert Murdoch Big media owners in Australia: Rupert Murdoch CBS - own channel 10 Bruce Gordon owns WIN news John singleton Kerry Stokes Anthony Catalano

IDEOLOGY: Beliefs and ideas which are the product of our social practices and experiences which may be challenged or reinforced by the media Within a democracy, there is often ideological conflict - Debates about how society should be and how we should be governed Propaganda: Information of a bias and misleading nature used to promote a political cause or point of view Anxieties about media ownership and propaganda: Dealing with this historical fear of Hitler’s use of propaganda and the ideological control of the media Lead to a deep suspicion of the media and its power

Frankfurt school of thinking: Developed ‘critical theory’ - to reveal what is wrong with society and how to change it Included a critique of the role of the media especially the ‘entertainment industries’ Their thesis: ‘The mass media has contributed to the loss of reason in society by disseminating works that are too easy, with the result that our critical faculties become enfeebled…’ - Oxford Dictionary of Critical Theory Posed a cultural divide: High culture v Low culture HIGH CULTURE (not easy to interpret) ART -

vs Art Classical music Literature Theatre Opera

POPULAR (LOW) CULTURE (too easy to interpret) ENTERTAINMENT -

Commodified and standardised Mass entertainment ‘pop/ular’ music Film and tv Popular fiction

New media bargaining code: Proposed by the Australian Government as a voluntary code between tech giants (Facebook, Google etc) and local media companies The Australian government decided not enough progress made; July 2020 makes code mandatory – leading to disputes with Google and Facebook. The Leveson inquiry: Lord Justice Leveson opened the hearings on 14 November 2011 He said: “The press provides an essential check on all aspects of public life. That is why any failure within the media affects all of us. At the heart of this Inquiry, therefore, may be one simple question: who guards the guardians?” Witnesses (newspaper reporters, police, politicians gave evidence to the inquiry under oath and in public Recommendations were given incl. New press standards Were some prosecutions - part 2 was cancelled by the ruling conservative party on 1 Mar 2018 (BBC Word News)

LECTURE 6 - AUDIENCES, REPRESENTATION AND INDUSTRY IN PRACTISE: FAN STUDIES Fan studies: The present and future of studying what audiences ‘do’ with texts Demonstrates the move beyond the ‘passive audience’ → what we ‘do’ with texts and how this intersects with creative (media) industries Fandom: Requires a special knowledge of texts and other texts (intertextual references - Umberto Eco) Fandom/s a place to find identity; belonging; an ‘imagined community’ (Anderson,1983) – or a ‘community of imagination’ (Duffett, 2013) The Internet made fan communities more visible than ever - has enabled us to talk about audiences as ‘produsers’ – users and producers (Bruns, 2006) History of fans: Hills (2000) and Newman (2008) have identified ‘fan like’ behaviour over 100 years ago 1970-90s: pop culture began to emerge - academic studies on subcultural groups (Hebdige, 1979; Fiske, 1991; Thornton, 1995) Fandom characterised as a disease: “… fans allegedly lost control of their senses…” (Barbas, 2001) Textual poachers - Harry Jenkins (1992) One of the first academic texts entirely devoted to the study of fans Jenkins was inspired to change the perception of fans

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Jenkins opposes the idea of crazed fans saying “fandom functions as an alternative social community”

Stereotypes of fans: Encyclopedic, ‘trivial’ knowledge Obsessive Awkward Cosplayer Something to fear Fanatic Anxiety about perceived lack of distinction between fandom and reality – causing ‘the bad fan’ Fans become visible: The Rocky Horror Picture show (1975) The Rocky Horror Picture show (1975) demonstrates the creation of fan communities, active production and participation Austin (1981) conducted an audience study of fans for the Rocky show - he concluded that attendance is more than just viewing a film - “The preparation, the waiting, and finally the active participation in the viewing of the film itself appear to be part of a group ritual which characterises the audience of the cult film”(1981, 53) The study was significant for mapping repeat viewing patterns and fan practices around TRHPS - led the way for future fan research Digital fandom: Study of digital media is crucial in understanding how fans and audiences operate in the current media environment Jenkins work identifies the current atmosphere of media engagement as typical of ‘convergence culture’, where: “… old and new media collide” and to locate: “where grassroots and corporate media intersect” (2008, 2) Fans have the ability to shape media Produsers and belonging: New technology and the online environment has highlighted the creativity of fans Eg. BRONIES - adult male fans of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic (2010) Object of their fandom viewed as inappropriate for their age, gender Fans in this community extremely creative produsers - they raised the funds for the documentary through Kickstarter Fandom, collecting and consumerism: Consumerism is often linked to fandom - often cited as a reason to dismiss it as a valid study Collecting is also strongly gendered - female fans have often been characterised as ‘mere consumers; whilst men are collectors or archivists Fan identity: Hills (2000, 73) fandom as a ‘project of the self’: where fans create identities based on the relationship they form with texts For Thompson (1995, 222): “… being a fan is an altogether ordinary and routine aspect of everyday life…” Fandom and industry: Stanfill (2019, 130) observes: ‘…sometimes industry invites fans to interact but actually wants them to react and consume, other times industry does actually recruit engagement and productivity’ Fan labour and fan fiction: Booth (2015) states how ‘fan cultures have traditionally been modelled on a gift economy of sharing or gifting fan texts, objects, and products, the media industry is finding ways to commercialise fan gifting’ Fanfiction complicates the gift economy Fierce debates about fan labour, and the appropriation of fan activities for commercial gain – the tension between business interests and fan desires Who is missing in fandom: gender and race: Key issues in fandom reflect those of the wider society Especially inclusiveness in creative industries, representations of minority groups

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Fans are often at the forefront of speaking out against misrepresentations in hollywood incl. Lack of women, people of colour and different races in fan texts Lack of female character merchandise

Remakes: Remakes raise the overlapping issues of the ownership of texts, and hierarchies of fandom Fan activism: “Fan activism" refers to forms of civic engagement and political participation that emerge from within fan culture itself.” (Jenkins, 2012) Moved from a crisis response to, program cancellations into a consistent, ongoing engagement with real-world concerns Fan studies now: Move from thinking of the audience as passive, influenced by media texts (media effects theories) → to being active, having influence over, and making texts (Fan Studies) Fan studies can tell us a lot about how people engage with media and what they do with texts and how the media industry is paying attention - this is through a rise in producers, revivals/remakes and fan activism

LECTURE 7 - MORAL PANICS A feeling of fear spread among many people that some evil threatens the well-being of society. -

‘Moral panic’ term was created in 1972 by Stanely Cohen Cohen states that moral panic happens when "a condition, episode, person or group of persons emerges to become defined as a threat to societal values and interests". Moral panics often created by people in power eg. politicians, media owners (rupert murdoch) Moral panics are intended to direct what society worries about and focuses on The subject of panic can be new or existed for a while but has reappeared

PREVIOUS PANICS: Starts with conflicts between the mods and rockers during subcultures in the uk in the 60s/70s The panic was essentially 2 groups of young people with opposing interests who had a conflict and older people just didn't understand it and so they panicked - ‘young people are out of control’ etc MODERN PANICS: Obesity Eshays/gang behaviour When 9/11 happened - moral panic about being wary of cultures and cultural behaviours Realistic panic to the events (terrorism) but spread beyond to ridiculous and overproportioned PANICS ABOUT CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE: Babies on ipads Corporate pedophilia - 2006 ‘Corporate pedophilia’ used as a metaphor to describe the selling ofproducts to children Suggests such advertising and marketing is an abuse of children and contravenes public norms Evidence: Magazines intended for teenage girls eg. dolly Advertisements featuring and/or directed at children The assumption of exposure to adult material - eg. videoclips Argument was: exposing children to this was making them grow up too quickly and look older than they were Reports underlying assumptions: Sexualisation of children is a real and present danger There is such things as the ‘unsexualised’ or ‘natural child’ Childhood sexuality is a source of danger rather than a healthy exploration Theoretical underpinnings? Semiotics- the connotations of the signifier The ways in which we read and make sense of an image are very complex

LECTURE 8 - MEDIA TOOLBOX THEORIES What is a theory? A system of ideas intended to explain something. Theories are: Proposed by people They are propositions: If they have ‘explanatory power’ If they are useful Can be adopted and applied to different examples MEDIA THEORIES AND PEOPLE Media effects/causality

Alfred Bandura

Linear models of communication

Aristotle

Idealogy

Louis Althussar

Semiotics

Peirce and Saussure

Coding/encoding

Stuart Hall

‘THE PUBLIC SPHERE’: Created by Jurgen habermas Wrote ‘The Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere’ (1962) Habermas ‘imagined’ public sphere to be a place to get the news and debate about ideas Habermas defines the ideal public sphere to be: The ‘ space ’ in which citizens debate about common concerns; separate from the state separate from the official economy egalitarian and open The public sphere is: A ‘theatre/arena’ for debating and deliberating rather than for buying and selling. Who participates in the public sphere? Largely the middle class Who has been excluded? Women and other minorities High critique of public sphere because it excludes^ TODAYS PUBLIC SPHERE: Its highly mediated because: The media often provokes debate about issues People use the media to debate issues Eg. insight: tv show where the host holds a discussion with a panel of experts regarding the latest social, economic and political issues from across the world. A ‘model’ of the ‘public sphere’ in which citizens come together to debate the issues of the day This is a mediated public sphere - provided by a public service broadcaster Web modern examples: Facebook Youtube

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Two conflicting views: 1. The public sphere has been degraded and fragmented by the forces od consumer capitalism and the fragmentation of the media 2. The public sphere has been enhanced by the emergence of different publics and different spaces

LECTURE 9 - MORE ABOUT REPRESENTATION: CELEBRITIES AND THE MEDIA TODAY: Celebrities as media owners Celebrities use their profile as a platform to raise awareness of social issues Discussion of competing ideologies can occur in the public sphere Celebrity + attention: The power of celebrities to attract attention; ‘attention economy’ as a source of value Celebrities and digital culture: Changes to contemporary fame - social media = the ability of fans to feel more connected to celebrities - a parasocial relationship Social media essential to public image management of celebrities across multiple platforms Most popular celebrities and memes where celebrities are ‘just being themselves’ Eg. memeification of keanu reeves Draws on topic: Star vs celebrity persona Celebrity is structured: ‘… by discourses of cultural value; used to indicate a more fleeting conception of fame [or used] when fame rests predominantly on the private life of the person, as opposed to their performing presence’ (Holmes, 2005: 9) Ageing celebrities: Idea that celebrities are ageing yet ageless eg. keanu reeves - 56yrs old Ageing celebrities = ageing fans Fan nostalgia Celebrities and branding: Celebrities as brands; their value in the contemporary attention economy is: “their capacity to bring attention to particular causes, struggles, and issues” (Marshall, 2017, 1) Suggested that we are now living in a time that the individual becomes the brand Authenticity: Seen as central to the appeal of celebrities Celebrity authenticity: “…the perception that a celebrity behaves according to his or her true self” (Moulard, Garrity, and Rice, 2015, 173) Celebrity activism and trust? Does the mistrust of ‘experts’ translate to the mistrust of celebrities? Lesser appeal of field experts Authenticity of celebrity commitment to various causes Celebrity activism accused of being superficial - removing focus from real issues -

The immediacy and intimacy of social media = effective mobilisation of fans

Eg. Angelina Jolie and George Clooney Angelina Jolie and George Cooney – ‘super celebrity activists’ (Totman, 2017) for their long term advocacy and expertise Both work with the UN; and Council of Foreign Relations Jolie a...