Q: What is the difference between a consumer based media regulation system and a citizen based regulation system?
A consumer based media regulation system is giving the people what they want, the audience makes judgement themselves about the kinds of media they want for their consumption. Whereas a citizen based regulation system is a system which gives a positive form of media which is better for the wider audience.
Q. What impact did the 2003 Communications Act have on media regulation?
The 2003 communications act was designed by the then labour government to modernize the UK’s regulatory systems and help the television industry. The Act promoted independent television by requiring the BBC and Channel 4 to commission more content from smaller production companies.
The replacement of the British Standards Commission (BSC) and the Independent Television Commission (ITC), The Act significantly diluted the public service requirements of television broadcasting.
Q. What is the drawback of a self-regulated system?
There are some needs which may not be met, so niche audiences aren’t catered for. Some editors are sensitive to the needs and taste of their audience.
Institution orientated factors effect larger companies like BBC and Channel 4, in which they are obliged to provide citizen-based content as a result of their broadcasting license agreements.
There isn’t any proper guidance which is created outside of companies, so they can follow different guidance rules, which create their own specific audience due to the specific guidance due to that company.
Q. How do you regulate media content and organisations on a global scale?
In order to regulate media content on a global scale there needs to be globally set rules and standards which would be followed by all media companies, this allows for guidelines to be followed. There needs to be different regulations for the different media types. E.G for newspapers there should be rules and regulations stating that they cannot interfere with news stories or manipulate the truth to gain viewers, and if any media regulations are broken there should be punishments. This would deter anyone else wanting to break the regulations.
Who is the primary, secondary and tertiary audience for this product? The Primary audience is the viewers of the show that want to watch it for no reason other than enjoyment. The Secondary audience would be for the people that want to analyse it eg. Critics and students learning about it. The tertiary audience would be people that only watch it because they can relate to what’s happened or have a specific reason and then they don’t watch it again.
What audience theories can you apply to which help you to develop a better understanding of the potential target audience? It tries to reinforce certain aspects and ideologiea so that people know what’s good and what’s bad.
What organisations (rather than individuals) are involved in the production, distribution & exhibition of this product? An organisation that was involved in production was the ‘Danish national public service broadcaster DR’. It was distributed by the BBC4 on and exhibited on television and streaming sights.
No Offence
What needs to be studied? Key Questions and Issues This product relates to the theoretical framework by providing a focus for the study of: Media Language: No Offence is a television series in which the codes and conventions of the police procedural crime drama are intertwined with aspects of social realism. Detailed analysis of this media form including the process through which media language develops as genre will provide students with an opportunity to understand and reflect on the dynamic nature of genre. Analysis should include: • Mise-en-scene analysis • Semiotics: how images signify cultural meanings Narrative • Which narrative techniques are used to engage the audience in the opening episode of. (theory and theorist) No Offence? • How does the use of the narrative conventions of the crime drama – use of enigmas, restricted narration etc. – position the audience? • The ways in which the narrative structure of No Offence offers a range of gratification to the audience. such as enjoyment (self satisfaction Primary audieneces) • Narratology including Todorov Genre • Conventions of the TV drama series and the way in which this form is used to appeal to audiences. • Definition of the series as a hybrid genre, belonging to the drama, social realism and crime genres • Genre theory including Neale Media Representations No Offence provides a wide range of representational areas to explore; gender, place, class, ethnicity, race etc. • Negative and positive use – or subversion – of stereotypes, particularly around the representation of women and the police. • No Offence is unusual in popular television series due to the dominance of female characters. • Representation of place – Manchester – by implication the nation?
Media Industries The central way into an institutional approach is to consider No Offence as a Channel 4 programme and to examine how it can be seen to fulfil the demands of its Public Service remit. No Offence can be studied in the context of Channel 4’s commitment to be innovative and distinctive. • No Offence is an AbbottVision production, an independent company founded by the writer Paul Abbott who also wrote Shameless. • No Offence was a critical and commercial success in the UK, it was also a ratings success in France where it was shown on the national broadcast channel, France2. • Channel 4 uses series such as No Offence to add value to the channel through the availability of the ‘box set’ on All4.
Media Audiences Issues of audience are also relevant throughout the other theoretical frameworks. In media language, the use of different formal structures to position the audience to receive and interpret meaning is central, while the study of representations has at its heart the reinforcement of social and cultural values for audiences. The study of institutions is also indivisibly linked to the need to define and attract specific audiences. • The production, distribution and circulation of No Offence shows how audiences can be reached, both on a national and global scale, through different media technologies and platforms, moving from the national to transnational through broadcast and digital technologies • No Offence was broadcast on Channel 4, can still be accessed on All4, it was also broadcast in France. • The way in which different audience interpretations reflect social, cultural and historical circumstances is evident in the analysis of No Offence which is explicitly linked to contemporary issues. • Audience positioning through the construction of characters who are morally ambiguous. • The advertising campaigns (trailers, websites at home and abroad) for the series demonstrate how media producers target, attract and potentially construct audiences. • Cultivation theory including Gerbner
• Reception theory including Hall Social, political, economic and cultural contexts No Offence deals with a range of social, cultural and political issues arising from contemporary contexts. The Manchester police force is used as a microcosm of society through which to examine changing gender roles, the focus of the case which features children and adults with Down’s syndrome examines the position of people with disabilities in the wider society. Political contexts are evident in the nature of the approach to police work which refers to a history of corruption and the role of police power in society. The economic context can be explored through patterns of ownership and production and how the product is marketed nationally and globally.
The Killing
What needs to be studied? Key Questions and Issues This product relates to the theoretical framework by providing a focus for the study of: Media Language The use of a noir visual style, conventions of the police procedural and multiple narrative strands. The Killing provides a rich area of study for media language, which would form the foundation for work on the other theoretical frameworks. Analysis should include: • Mise en scene analysis • Semiotics: how images signify cultural meanings Narrative • How does the use of the narrative conventions of the crime drama – use of enigmas, binary oppositions, restricted and omniscient narration etc. – position the audience? • A narrative approach to crime drama could include analyzing the appeals of the structure as reassuring and predictable – even when dealing with difficult subject matter. • Focus on multiple plot lines related to the central crime. • Narratology including Todorov Genre • Conventions of the TV series (The Killing had three series which had links but were also stand-alone series) and the way in which this form is used to appeal to audiences; how it is distinct from, but related to series and serials. • Definition of the series as belonging to the drama and crime genres • Analysing the current popularity of the crime genre • Genre theory including Neale
Media Representations The Killing provides a range of representational areas to explore, including gender roles, family structures and the political class. It can be argued that these are innovative representations which have been influential in the development of the genre. Part of The Killing’s original appeal was in its representation of Danish culture to a UK audience. • Representation of gender: The woman as police detective, representation of marriage, gender stereotypes etc. • Feminist debates – Violence and the representation of gender. This could include the controversy around using violent crime against women as popular entertainment • Representation of national identity – Denmark including issues of multiculturalism. • Analysis of how the representations convey values, attitudes and beliefs about the world • Theories of representation including Hall • Feminist theories including bell hooks and Van Zoonen
Media Industries The Killing was the catalyst for the wider distribution of foreign language crime programming on UK television, its unexpected success influencing BBC4’s scheduling but also that of other UK channels. The Killing was produced the Danish national public service broadcaster DR, providing the opportunity to study PSB in a different national context. • The regulatory framework of contemporary media, with the focus on PSB • The Killing provides a case study for the specialised nature of media production, distribution and circulation within a transnational and global context. • The Killing personifies a successful transnational, contemporary media product with long duration (it was broadcast in the UK nearly five years after its success in Denmark) has been shown in its original form across Europe and remade by Turkish and US TV (AMC) • Cultural industries including Hesmondhalgh
Media Audiences Issues of audience are also relevant throughout the other theoretical frameworks. In media language, the use of different formal structures to position the audience to receive and interpret meaning is central, while the study of representations has at its heart the reinforcement of social and cultural values for audiences. The study of institutions is also indivisibly linked to the need to define and attract specific audiences. • The production, distribution and circulation of the Killing shows how audiences can be reached, both on a national and global scale, through different media technologies and platforms, moving from the national to transnational through broadcast and digital technologies. • The way in which different audience interpretations reflect social, cultural and historical circumstances is evident in the analysis of the series which are explicitly linked to contemporary issues – often related to gender and feminist issues • New types of characters to construct alignment for the audience/audience positioning. • The advertising campaigns (trailers, websites at home and abroad) for the series demonstrate how media producers target, attract and potentially construct audiences. • Audience behaviour in response to the series – the interest in Scandinavian culture and lifestyle. • Cultivation theory including Gerbner • Reception theory including Hall
Social, political, economic and cultural contexts
The Killing is part of cultural phenomenon of the early twenty-first century which for the first time saw TV series not in the English language become part of mainstream UK broadcasting. That these series were dominated by the crime genre was part of a wider cultural phenomenon which saw the crime genre become the key form for exploring social contexts – particularly changing gender roles. The Killing was also a key factor in the surge in interest in Scandinavian culture in the UK. The Killing also uses the crime genre to explore contemporary political contexts of multiculturalism and debate the effects of immigration. The economic context can be explored through patterns of ownership and production and how the product is marketed nationally and globally
Curran and Seaton links
Radical free press- links to The killing as there is a female detective which supports feminism which is a radical ideology.
Public service broadcsting- The killing is on DR, public serice broadcatser
Commercial Media
PSB-Public service broadcasting
The killing- produced the Danish national public service broadcaster DR
No Offence-Chanel 4
Horizontal integration
The Killing- DR, produced by BBC
No Offence-
Vertical integration
The Killing-
No Offence- AbbottVision an independent company
Hesmondhaughl
Case Studies:
Genre-Based formatting “Genre based media allows audiences to identify potential rewards”
Both shows “no offence” and “the killing” are crime based Thrillers, which will attract a primary audience of those who watch these genre type of shows for enjoyment.
Television “hybridisation of television and internet to produce on-demand services”
The killing was produced by DR and broadcast on the BBC and can also be found on prime. No Offence was produced by Channel 4 (terestrial and online distribution)
what is the difference between a consumer based media regulation and a citizen based regulation system?
Consumer based media regulation is the idea that audiences choose what media they want to watch and see, the media producers have the freedom to create products that those audiences choose to consume.
Citizen based media regulation is the term that the media released provides information to its citizens as it is significant in shaping society. Made to educate its audiences.
What impact did the 2003 communications Act have on media regulation?
Significantly diluted the public service requirements of television broadcasting. This resulted in independent television companies were freed up to produce content that was more commercially viable. But lacked civic-minded republicanism that had been in previous frameworks. Created OFCOM.
Livingstone and Lunt – “Little equivalent activity or accountability was forthcoming regarding actions to further citizens interest.”
Consumer-orientated regulation is designed to encourage media plurality and to ensure that a diversity of broadcasters operate within the media landscape. It is a regulatory system in which choices regarding content are largely devolved to audiences and where media makers are given as much freedom as possible to make the media that audiences want to consume.
Citizen based regulatory systems outline a civic role for the media and encourage media makers to produce content that contributes to the social and cultural health of the societies in which they operate.
What impact did the 2003 Communications Act have on media regulation?
The 2003 Communications Act was designed by the British Labour government in order to create modern Regulatory System’s within the UK and help the television industry become competitive with the globalized media landscape. This means that independent television production companies were freed up in order to create content that was more commercially viable, resulting in a more Consumer based regulatory system.
What is the drawback of a self-regulated system?
If Media companies do their own self-regulation than it may be easy for them to act within their own interests which is not always within the public’s interest.
What is the difference between consumer-orientated regulation and citizen-based regulation?
Consumer-orientated regulation is initially designed to encourage media pluralityand to ensure that a diversity of broadcasters operate within the media landscape.
Livingstone and Lunt argue that citizen-based regulation provides a content focused framework that directs media makers to “contribute to the enrichment of cultural and social life and the potential for self-development of individuals, groups and communities”.
In other words…citizen-based regulation takes everyone into account.
What impact did the 2003 Communications Act have on media regulation?
Communications Act designed by Labour government in order to modernise the UK’s regulatory systems and help UK TV industry to become more competitive in globalised media landscape of late 20th century. The Communications Act significantly diluted public service requirements of TV broadcasting. Independent TV production companies were freed up to produce content that was more commercially viable. This resulted in production of programming lacking civic-minded republicanism that had been fostered within previous regulatory frameworks.
What is the drawback of a self-regulatory system?
Most media organisations construct their own self-regulations which isn’t beneficial and doesn’t help to resolve issues (possibly put forward by members of the public) regarding their media.
maximizing costs and minimizing risks – horizontal and vertical integration
Capital -> produced by KUDOS which is a part of news corp, horizontally integrated through partnering with BBC for broadcasting and production
Serialization
Companies are likely to continue serials if they are successful as it minimizes risks of losing out on profits. For example Deutschland 83 has 3 seasons and one sequel from 2018 ‘Deutschland 86’
Star Formatting
The use of popular stars in order to lure in a certain audience that possibly enjoys seeing that particular star. Capital uses a famous actor called Toby Jones, who is likely to reel in a certain audience to the show
