Process of manipulation

The role of advertising – Used to persuade and manipulate people into wanting to buy the product and making a product known to the world

Agenda setting – Creation of public awareness and concern of the big issues by the news media. The media attempts to influence viewers, and establish a hierarchy of news importance

Framing – How something is presented to the audience, influences the choices people make about how to process the information. It’s also a form of second level agenda-setting

Media myth making – Agenda setting and framing can create myths within media about how the world should be, things we value and how we should act

audience reception THEORY

AGENDA- media set an agenda (use term agenda setting in essay) – influence viewers, and establish a hierarchy of news importance

FRAMING – influencing the audience to look at the media in a certain way/ how its presented to the audience. the media present it in a way to influence how the consumers process it and view it.

MYTH MAKING – framing and agendas support myths and common beliefs.

CONDITIONS OF CONSUMPTION – everyone has own person views and beliefs. Media on shapes our views

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AGENDA SETTING

the media concentrate on a few issues as well as distorting the reality of an actual event

in order to force an agenda they ‘frame’ it – which adds extra connotation to the headline. This creates a stronger feel and allows the intentions to shine through more

there are conditions of consumption – consumers will not accept media straight away. They need to be ‘nudged’. this is why targeted advertising is aimed mainly at those with centrist political views

noam chomsky MANUFACTURING consent

in the book ‘manufacturing consent’ Chomsky proposes that the mass communication media of the U.S. “are effective and powerful ideological institutions that carry out a system-supportive propaganda function, by reliance on market forces, internalized assumptions, and self-censorship, and without overt coercion”

  • Structures of ownership
  • The role of advertising
  • Links with ‘The Establishment’
  • Diversionary tactics – ‘flack’
  • Uniting against a ‘common enemy’

Habermas PUBLIC SPHERE IN PUBLIC INTEREST

“a public space between the private domain and the state in which public opionion was formed and ‘popular’ supervision of government was established”

The public sphere connects people together and it is the idea that we are connected horizontally. This could be through communication in public spaces or social spaces for example a coffee shop or your workplace. Reading, writing and newspapers is a part of this as it allows us to connect with each other and different parts of the world. The invention of the internet has allowed us to have connections with each other too.

Habermas explores the way in which the news is discussed in the public sphere.

The concept of public interest:

  • The mass media carry out some essential tasks for the wider benefit of society
  • something is in the public interest if it serves the whole of society instead of a specific group
  • public control or deregulation (extension of the free market)

Habermas the Public Sphere

Habermas – Suggested that with the media, individuals could form their own opinions and beleifs instead of being dictated by the government/ people of higher positions. This idea was labelled the ‘Public Sphere’. Global connection.

Quote – ‘A public space between the private domain and the state in which public opinion was formed and ‘popular’ supervision of government was established’

The theory of communative action – marxism and pitfalls of modern world due to capitalism

Public Sphere – free space, free opinion, free press – bourgeouise as it excludes the poor.

Initially, horizontal relationships were created in the public sphere not vertical whereby the higher social staus would have more control. (Coffee Shop Culture – Gossip)

Growing power of the publishing industry (media) 1830

Originally new media tech was good and allowed people to globally comunicate faster. Though as companies nd conglomerates grew, this new media was used as a way to present different ideas and propaganda. e.g Cambridge Analitica ‘stealing’ peoples data

For a democracy to work the public must have knowledge on current events otherwise the government would have more control as the public ‘wouldn’t care’ and therefore would’t vote or influence future ideologies and ideas.

People can be anonyms on the internet and therefore may share more exteme views. – Questionable quality of discussion.

Habermas wrote extensively on the way that information, news and events are processed in the public sphere.

He believes that the mass media has resulted in a reduction in PLURALITY – there are fewer voices discussing the news.

‘The mass media are not the same as any other business or service industry, but carry out tasks for the wider benefit of society’ society has the right to know what is going on.

‘The media can legitimately be held accountable for what they do or not do’

How do you organise it in the public interest?

Public control OR Deregulation = Extension of the free market

The government or state will own all the media as (they know what is good for society) or the Public can own all of the media. – The public interest the majority of people doing well, but who organises this?

James Curran – Due to price increases of some PSBs some citizens are exluded by price