Wednesday 14 March 2012

Impact of New and Digital Media!

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/184XNCRFlA4j7vaUzVG3knq-GMLSfe6_Kd3DPjl_LXYU/edit

Friday 2 March 2012

Question 12...

Consider theoretical perspectives in relation to the impact of new/ digital media in your case study. E.g. Representation of certain groups as a result of changes, Marxism & Hegemony, Liberal Pluralism, colonialism, audience theories etc.

Marxism – proletariat who are the passive working class people, have gained power due to new and digital media. For example, Gillmor talks about the concept of “audience revolution” which suggests that audiences are no longer “passive” but due to social changes have become “active” and have the ability to reject a certain text and have an oppositional reading. Also they are equally able to construct media products like the producers and make them appear to the wider audience e.g. due to UGC they can make use YouTube and upload their videos online and pass their message across. This shows how new and digital media is benefiting their audience as they have gained more rights.
Hegemony – use of ideologies which producers use to maintain control. As the reception theory states, individual interpretations will vary according to personalities and personal experiences. This suggests that they can reject dominant ideology and accept alternatives or subcultures. For example although homosexuality is seen legal, it’s still seen anomie (not normal) in wider society however if you belong to a gay and lesbian households your acceptance of alternatives will increase. This shows how personal experiences effect you interpretation of a text. Hence, media is increasingly beginning to show alternatives and subcultures more frequently, which makes the audiences aware about contemporary society.
Plurism- society has become diverse in terms of what values that holds; also they have been fragmented into smaller groups. As a result there’s more competition amongst institutions to entice as many audiences, possibly niche audiences as possible. This is a good thing for audiences as they have more variety to choose from, which suggests that they have become increasingly important in shaping what the media produces.

Question 11...

Are there any cross-cultural factors and /or effects of globalisation involved in the impact of new technology on your case study? E.g. the internet has been said to be ‘globalising culture’ through its promotion of the English language.
Globalisation is the interconnectedness of different societies across the world. This is due to the development of technology which has made communication easier and quicker. For example people can sit across the world, away from each other however they can communicate face to face via Skype, communicate via social networking sites or emails. This culture has diversified, however some countries are still deprived – less economically developed countries. Sherry Turkle adds to this by talking about the concept of “global village”- due to globalisation little “villages” have been created behind our computer screens. This is explained via the digital divide, which shows that some countries are more technological advanced other. Other factors such as education, language barrier and economy of the country have a major input in how much access different countries have to technological facilities. For example countries such as China and Japan are developing countries and have gained enormous success in establishing a name. This is evident as they have produced many technological goods that have been distributed worldwide – this success was achievable because of literacy and educational facilities which suggest Chinese and Japanese people are the clevest ethnic group.

Question 10...

What issues may there be regarding media effects and /or regulation/ censorship as a result of changes due to new and digital media?
Censorship is when you have the ability to ban a programme or an advert because it has offence reference or discrimination to individuals. Organizations such as OFCOM have the responsibility to ban the advert as it may cause controversy in wider society. This organization was introduced in the late 2003, and every since they have been running successfully and have been meeting needs to their audiences. No doubt this has put restrictions on what the institutions can produce, and due to these limitations and threats they may struggle to entice new audiences. This is evident as many adverts and music videos have been ban in the past which can cause a lot of financial loss to institutions.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B18dtXWTHG4&feature=related this trailer which was initially promoting the GHD product however it was ban. This was due to the religious references it contained, which was clear due to the imitation of the phases “thy shall not”, which created controversy in wider society as the christans felt as if they were being mocked. Also the ideology was unrealistic – “wealth old man’s weak heart fall in love with me”, which was used to indicate that the dead man will come out of his grave, which is seen unethical.

http://www.media-awareness.ca/english/resources/educational/handouts/tobacco_advertising/censorship_in_media.cfm

Wednesday 29 February 2012

Questioon 9 ...

Consider the effects so far, and possible effects in the future, on media institutions involved in your case study (media production).

Considering my case study is based on audience responses to media institutions and its texts, recently audience have become more “active” in the sense that they question the text. This is explained by the reception theory- different audiences interpret texts differently based on individual experience and their intellectual levels. This may be seen as a major concern for institutions as they are constantly threaten by active audiences rejecting media products. Statistics show that citizen journalism has increased which will put pressure on institutions to sustain their survival in media- this will become increasingly difficult as people are going out there and constructing their own products. Furthermore this has become even easier for active audiences to spend their message across due to the UGC – such as YouTube which allows us to upload videos for free.

Threat to media institutions –
· Competitors
· Active audiences producing their own products; mutualisation
· Democracy
· OFCOM – censorship

Friday 24 February 2012

Question 8...

Audiences tend to respond to the new media by replicating their emotions upon the internet, as they tend to use social networking in a way to be heard and for people to have an outburst or a set out a moral panic within society. One major issue that has stricken the media world is the phone hacking scandal within News Corporation. This had set journalist around the world and institutions had worried, however they blamed News Corporation had fallen as they had fallen guilty for hacking into people’s phones and going against privacy rights, so that they could get their exclusive stories to sell papers across the nation. This then rippled and then further issues must of been done, therefore they done more research and they found that James Murdoch, Son of Rupert Murdoch (owner of News Corp) had been involved, which had meant that stakeholder and shareholders could strip him from his ability to take over the company after Rupert Murdoch leaves.
Furthermore this had also set out the Leveson Inquiry. This is where there was an eruption of people standing for their rights and fighting for their personal freedom as journalist, and editors have crossed the point where they are disrupting people’s lives and, stooped to a level where they have gone into J.K Rowling’s child’s bag and slipped a note into her bag, to pass messages to the writer herself.  http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/series/leveson-inquiry-live

Social – target mass audiences 

Question 7...

What concerns/ considerations are there (if any) for the media institutions involved in your case study as a result of the impact of new and digital media? (E.g. deskilling or multi-skilling of the workforce/ decline in workforce etc)
Audiences are concerned because they are the proletariat – wage slaves and owners of institutions such as Murdoch are the bourgeoisie. This is a concern as the owners have more power and control over passive audiences which means they have the ability to manipulate values and inject them into audience – this is evident in the hypodermic model.
Institution may also feel threatened by new and digital media, as active audiences have the ability to create their own media products; this is evident as citizen journalism has become more popular over the recent years. This is a result of UGC (people go out there and make news and post videos up on social networking sites and YouTube to share their message)
New and digital media has made it difficult for institutions to compete with one another and maintain their survival. It’s becoming increasingly difficult to win audiences as audiences have so many choices and there’s not monopoly.