Baudrillard

Lia Marie Johnson - simulacra or hyperreality as she is currently going through a drug problem yet her instagram appears normal and doesn't reflect this

Miley Cyrus - hyperreality as her posts are posters and modelling photos which do not reflect ordinary real life, or even her real life, as they just reflect her photoshoot and job

Kim Kardashian - heightened reality or simulacra as she has an unrealistic life and posts the best moments. Part of a brand.

Newspaper Theory Revision

Ownership

-ownership has slight influence on news politically. owners never interfere with the content of the newspaper. though murdoch (who owns much of News International) has expressed strong views about the EU, his newspapers (The Times, Sunday Times and Sun) took different views in the referendum.
-the Leveson inquiry into the press found that politicans of all parties had 'developed too close a relationship with the press in a way that has not been in the public interest', and that politicans' relationships with newspaper owners, managers and editors were not clear and open.
-For example Tony Blair visited Murdoch before he was elected in 1997 and received far more favourable coverage than his Conservative predecessor John Major who reportedly did not 'do a deal' with Murdoch.
-The owner appointing an editor is one form of indirect power that they wield, even if they never interefere with the editorial content.

Task discuss the reasons why the Daily mail reported the Leadership challenge and their (possible) interests in TM’s PM resignation.

(read page 39) on the influence of ownership on newspapers linked to “The harmsworth’s who own the Daily Mail” How might the Harmsworth’s benefit?

-They may be interested in TM's resignation because of the fact that it presents the standstill of our country and her struggle. Daily Mail called tories traitors when they voted against her, therefore backing her plan, so it can be suggested that they are covering her resignation because they support her efforts and want to generate sympathy.

Levenson enquiry https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-20543133

The Leveson inquiry was a judicial public inquiry into the culture, practices and ethics of the British press following the News International phone hacking scandal, chaired by Lord Justice Leveson, who was appointed in July 2011. A series of public hearings were held throughout 2011 and 2012.

News regulation - IMPRESS or IPSO (or refuse to join either like the Guardian)

IMPRESS

In 2016, an external review by former civil servant, Sir Joseph Pilling, found IPSO "largely compliant" with the recommendations of the Leveson Inquiry.^[10]

In 2013,^[11] a new group was formed by free speech advocate Jonathan Heawood^[12] called IMPRESS, intended to be a body fully compliant with the recommendations of Leveson.^{[citation needed]} IMPRESS was initially supported by individuals and groups including J.K. Rowling, the campaign group Hacked Off and the controversial Max Mosley.^{[citation needed]} In 2015, a charity, the Independent Press Regulation Trust (IPRT), agreed to provide £3.8 million in funding to IMPRESS over the next four years, with the IPRT's funding guaranteed by Max Mosley's Alexander Mosley Charitable Trust.^[5] By October 2016, it regulated around 40 specialist and local publishers.^[5]

IPSO

The Press Recognition Panel was created on 3 November 2014 as a fully independent body with the purpose of carrying out activities in relation to the recognition of press regulators. IPSO has said that it will not seek approval from the Press Recognition Panel (PRP)^[10], which has officially recognised the regulator IMPRESS.^[11]. The "Hacked Off" campaign has described IPSO as a "sham" and "the illusion of reform"

Livingstone and Lunt

 the idea that there is an underlying struggle in recent UK regulation policy between the need to further the interests of citizens (by offering protection from harmful or offensive material), and the need to further the interests of consumers (by ensuring choice, value for money, and market competition) 

 the idea that the increasing power of global media corporations, together with the rise of convergent media technologies and transformations in the production, distribution and marketing of digital media, have placed traditional approaches to media regulation at risk 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-47255380

-Cambridge Analytica was a political advertising firm that had access to the data of millions of users, some of which was allegedly used to psychologically profile US voters. The data was acquired via a personality quiz. How such data, particularly in terms of political campaigning, was shared by Facebook was at the heart of the inquiry, alongside the effects of fake news. "Democracy is at risk from the malicious and relentless targeting of citizens with disinformation and personalised 'dark adverts' from unidentifiable sources, delivered through the major social media platforms we use every day," concluded the report. "The big tech companies are failing in the duty of care they owe to their users to act against harmful content, and to respect their data privacy rights."

-In order to better regulate social media firms, the MPs suggested creating a new category of tech firm - one that was neither a platform nor a publisher but something in-between, which would tighten the legal liability for content identified as harmful.

-Facebook has repeatedly said it is committed to fighting fake news and works with more than 30 fact-checking organisation around the world. Two of those agencies - Associated Press and Snopes - recently quit working with the social network.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/apr/01/government-regulate-facebook-mark-zuckerberg-social-media

The Facebook chief executive has called for more government regulation of the internet. And what he has said is pretty sensible, if a little light on detail. The four areas Zuckerberg wants governments to regulate more are harmful content, election integrity, privacy and data portability. 

Revision Theory

Shirky's end of audience theory

~No longer such thing as a passive audience
~active audiences and interaction
~technology has changed our expectations and behaviour (expect interaction with products)
~Audiences like to 'speak back' to producers
~More equality of power

• Old models of producer-audience have broken down. 
• New audience- groupings have grown up: 
• collaborative projects, 
• Crowd funding, 
• crowdsourcing,
• publicity campaigns
• run by volunteers. 
• ‘End of Audience’ Model 
• "Every consumer is also a producer, and everyone can talk back.”
• Media had been a hierarchical industry—in that one filtered first, and then published. 
• "All of that now breaks down….....
• People are producing who are not employees or media professionals. So we now publish first, and then filter. ” It’s all about connections, participatory networks

Jenkin's Fandom Theory

 ~textual poaching

~fan fiction

Gerbner's Cultivation theory

The Cultivation Theory, also known as the Cultivation Analysis or the Cultivation Hypothesis, is a social theory that studies long-term effects of media on viewers’ ideas and perceptions, especially through the television medium

Its main causal argument is that “Mass communication, especially the TV, cultivates concepts of social reality of its viewers,” giving the theory its name. 

Gerbner observed on the basis of the “people religiously watching TV” that we know some things not because we have experienced them but because we see them on media. Therefore, according to this theory, there is a direct relationship between TV time, the frequency that a person watches TV, and reality perception, how realistic a person thinks something is. The more frequently viewers watch TV, the more they are likely to believe what they see on TV. Furthermore, in his 1982 Violence Index, the results showed that violence is at least ten times (10x) more on TV than in real life. In other words, violence and other “realities” shown on TV are exaggerated. So if this was what the people were seeing on TV, these people were likely to have believed a distorted perception of reality.

The Cultivation Theory is considered a stalagmite theory. A stalagmite is a mass of accumulated deposits that grows on cave ceilings, and so, it is a metaphor for the long-term effects of media. 

•How does Gerbner’s Theory and Shirkey’s Theory, impact the way consumers respond to news content  within modern day media?

•Use examples from the Daily Mail and Daily Telegraph to back up your answers.

•Use previous case studies and your own examples in support of your arguments.

Many consumers reject the news that they don't agree with and criticise newspapers instead of being passive, supporting Shirkey: 

Making fun and jokes on social media about the telegraph - 

Able to interact with others about the story. Comments on Daily Mail website. Relates to Shirkey -

Opinions from verified accounts (often celebrities or well known figures) get more publicity. Spreading opinions on news on social media can work to cultivate audiences

Criticisms of the telegraph. 

Gerbner's cultivation theory, examples of pessimistic outlooks and other effects.

Baudrillard 20.5.19

postmodernism

reality vs artificial

used to see reality in the media (real people, real locations).
now in a world of artificial realities.
heightened reality (intense)
artificial copies = simulacra. a copy of reality that is so artificial its not really linked to reality at all. we are surrounded by simulacra of media products
hyperreality = glossy, copy of reality. simulacra.
audiences often prefer simulacra to real life



examples of heightened reality, simulacra and hyperreality

Gauntlett

find examples.
bbc documentary - prince william depression and talking to other vulnerable men. provides a varied representation


Butler


gender is a social construct based on what we do
woman (makeup, high heels, dresses)
behaviours - performing these tasks everyday constructs what it means to be female
these are like 'rituals'
e.g. zoella

Theories (linked to LFTVD)

Curran and Seaton

-Companies are often conglomerates. Must consider if they are power-hungry and generating profit and etc.
-News Corp. Huge conglomerate - (Sky, Daily Telegraph, The Times, previously Fox)
-SixteenFilms is an example of a company who clearly aren't just working for profit as the films they generate are risky and artistic
-Products made are repetitive, similar, and have little choice and diversity
-Fast and Furious 7 films - example of companies repeating what was successful
-More socially diverse patterns of ownership help to create the conditions for more varied and adventurous media productions
-MONEY - Netflix profit and power can relate to House of Cards, American politics is a spectacle for people who do not live in America e.g.  When Netflix reported its fourth quarter of 2012 results on January 23, 2013, days before "House of Cards" debuted, the company had 33 million streaming subscribers. Its quarterly sales were less than $1 billion. The company's market value was $5.7 billion.
-POWER - represents politicians in a negative way

-cultural industry companies minimise risk and maximise audiences through vertical and horizontal integration and by formatting their cultural products. The largest companies or conglomerates now operate across a number of different cultural industries. The radical potential of the internet hjs been contained to some extent by its partial incorporation into a large, profit orientated set of cultural industries. (HESMONDHALGH) 
----NETFLIX is an emerging threat though it is not part of big 6. It is a sequel to the original House of Cards UK version so taps into overseas market. Profitable. Complex plot and mixed genre makes it more appealing.


HALL 

•      Dominant or Preferred Reading

–     This is when the text is read in the way the producer intended the text to be read.

–     The audience agree with the messages and ideology that the producer has placed behind the text.

-    House of Cards is intended for audiences to follow Frank and be interested in the political corruption

--  Preferred reading of Deutschland 83 is that we are rooting for Martin

•      Negotiated Reading

–     This is a compromise between the dominant reading and the oppositional reading of the text.

–     The audience accepts the views of the producer but also has their own input and understanding of the text.

•      Oppositional Reading

–     The audience rejects the producers preferred reading and creates their own reading of the text, usually this is the opposite of what the producer intended.

–      The reader rejects the meaning completely as they do not agree with the message that is being presented to the audience.

--   This may occur if people reject the political corruption in the show as nonsense. Also Kevin Spacey's reputation now since scandals may make it harder for audiences to like his character 

Gauntlett
argued that the media have an important but complex relationship with identities. now an expectation that individuals make choices about their identity and lifestyle. For example the success of popular feminism and increasing representation of different sexualities has created a world where the meaning of gender, sexuality and identity are increasingly open.


Van Zoonen
the way women's bodies are represented as objects in patriarchal culture is different to the representation of male bodies as spectacle. She agrees with Butler that gender is performative and contextual.
Zoe Barnes v-neck shirt used to manipulate Frank
Claire Underwood subverts the theory as she is powerful and almost matriarchal


hooks
concept of intersectionality
intersections of gender, race, class and sexuality create a 'white supremacist capitalist patriarchy' whose ideologies dominate media representations
In House of Cards the powerful figures are white, male and middle class - reflecting this but in a grotesque manner
In Deutschland 83 there are two parallel power structures but the show criticises the socialist one in favour of the capitalist one, suggesting endorsement


Butler
theory of gender performativity is a very high level theory that cannot be tested against particular media products, but it also draws attention to representations of those very performances. Gender is socially constructed. Male/female behaviour and roles are not the result of biology but reinforced through media and culture. 'gender trouble'



Gilroy
The USA was founded upon racial and ethnic inequality as well as anti colonialism. So any representation or lack of representation of race in their media products now fits this theory. The shows don't engage with what Gilroy calls the 'black Atlantic', this common culture gives the African diaspora an ethnic dimension (sense of belonging based on inclusion) as well as a racial one (similar experience of exclusion) . Many of the African American characters are represented in bureaucratic roles such as the police chief in House of Cards or General Jackson in Deutschland 83 - represented as integrated into the culture of the predominantly white gang. All defined by the dominant white culture rather than members of a vibrant culture to be celebrated on its own terms.


BINARY OPPOSITES

Media Theory

James Curran and Jean Seaton

Newspapers should reflect the interests of an audience otherwise they will go out business. They should be liberal and anyone should be able to make one. However, this does not happen in practice and the press can be used as a propaganda tool to influence the audience.

·       “The free market makes the press a representative institution…newspapers and magazines are to respond to the concerns of their readers if they are to stay in business.”

·       “The broad shape and nature of the press is ultimately determined by no one but its readers.” (John Whale).

·       The freedom to publish in a free market ensures the press reflects a wide range of opinions and interests in a society. If a viewpoint is missing in the press, this is because it lacks a sufficient following to sustain it in the market place.

·       “Some liberal theorists view the market as an analogue of the electoral process. They claim that newspapers submit themselves to public judgement every time they go on sale…consequently, newspapers are closer to the people than are their elected representatives.”

·       “The press is the people’s watchdog, scrutinizing the actions of government and holding the country’s rulers to account.”

·       However, since the press has been industrialised, the ‘assumption that ‘anyone is free to start a paper’ is an ‘illusion’.

·       Since the advent of the internet, entry costs have been lowered. However, “the list of the ten most-visited sites is dominated by large news organisations like BBC News, the Guardian, The Times, The Sun and Telegraph.”

·       Whilst the press used to be independent of outside financial interests, most British press was bought up in the 1960s and 1970s by conglomerates. The press have become a subsidiary of these companies and harms their independence.

·       Furthermore, anti-monopoly legislation has been ineffective, allowing the creation of large media monopolies, which allows individual companies a great deal of power when the desire to publicise a message to vast amounts of people is enacted.

·       Curran found evidence that media owners did interfere and manipulate newspaper content at the expense of the independence of journalists and editors . Rupert Murdoch in 2003 strongly wanted a war with Iraq and its no coincidence that all of his 175 newspapers around the world that he owns supported this view in their articles