Life hack vs war of the worlds, talk about audiences and industry.

Show evidence of listening to the programmes- eg use quotes and textual reference. Do not analyse the programme, just use evidence to support your answer. For example- in the 3rd minute this presenter said… vick and katie

children’s mental health week, how people cope. A lot more inclusive with the audience

BBC- life hacks, PBS made by us for us. Charter, and ethos, to entertain, inform and educate.

Centred around younger audience – episode ‘ expressing yourself and lockdown hair disasters’

Casual talk, rather than scripted, less injecting information more chatty and discussing things, unlike war of the worlds which is hypodermic model where media and radios aim was to inject the mass with certain thoughts. It is more active rather than passive

War of the worlds 1937, technological development things have changed.

PBS- tv licence to pay for this service, minimise risk- ‘media is a risky business’ as hesmondhalgph.

production of culture- should the bbc stay? when it isn’t used just for information and education.

New generations challenge everything are more active.

Curran and seaton- diversification, bbc life hacks cater to everyone but not all at once

Radio is now personal, especially during lock down in the uk.

Essay- decide on what argument and carry through the essay, the value of PBS , we don’t need PBS, technology has changed the way people think. More participatory, interactive( life hacks ask audience to call in and tell stories. As well as online votes which influence what the radio discuss.

Needs to be interesting for people to interact or listen at all.

diversity and representation- PBS everyone is includes, men and women voices, different sounds.(life hacks) where as war of the worlds- older men telling you what i what

More democratic (life hacks) theory of preferred reading as well as uses and gratifications

Structure of my essay- Radio is more democratic- 1930’s Laswell hypothermic model, War of the worlds after he world war audience is passive takes in information and doesn’t challenge it. War of the worlds= aliens attacking the earth

1960 uses and gratification- escapism, uses the media for certain things for example watching a film at a certain time and just being a passive audience.

Stuart hall – preferred reading 1980’s, Encode decode oppose people consume things differently depending on their demographics ( age,race, gender ect..)

Shirky- 2000’s , theory of end of audience, audience is now proactive no longer passive. Can interact with publishers and producers , more of a ‘community’ people can now “talk back”. people can share comment like different things. Thanks to twitter people can put their input into productions and tell the producers what they like and dislike. For example life hacks is more interactive and is less top down but more of a flat hierarchy. People can interact with the radio as they can call in, suggest songs, chat with the host, vote for certain things.Things have change dramatically due to technology. For example ‘ 14.51, Vik and Katie introduce Racheal a listener about the silliest thing they have done’ Connecting and supporting people ‘ your not alone’. PBS- is made for the people by the people and is now used especially during the global pandemic. 81199 is announced to text in to the show to be included.

BBC- provides for all, allows people to have a voice, rather than dominating one overall message or certain things for profit, BBC is a non profit organisation.

War of the worlds is produced by the CBS radio network. Talking about the aftermath of an invasions by Martians on earth. The producer proceeds to say “Is there anyone on the air? Isn’t there… anyone?” with no response in the first section of the broadcast – this made people believe that this broadcast was real, and not a science fiction. 

Radio has wider representation and more participatory rather than closed off. This is due to new tech and ideas. However, this leads to a lack of PSB and traditional media.

War of the Worlds

By Columbia Broadcasting Company – large top down approach.

1938 – part of Halloween special.

Reception theory by Hall

Life Hacks

‘Children’s Mental Health week’ – ‘express yourself’

BBC works with a charter (regulations) and ethos – educate, inform and entertain. Is it important as they talk about lockdown hair disasters – pay for BBC through tax. Not target audience as only young people. – Public Service Broadcasting

New tech such as streaming services could dominate the BBC.

Curran and Seaton diverse landscape – Life Hacks is very intimate and applies to certain audiences

Not top down – by the people – Clay Shirky and Jenkins rather than WotW which is made by large company to ‘inform’ rather than participate.

Diversity – Run by two women including a black lady part of life hacks and interactive while WotW by Orson Welles who is a white man.

Theory

Hypodermic vs Two Step Flow Model

Hesmonhalgh – BBC mitigates risk by PSB and WotW by vertical and horizontal as big company.

Curran and Seaton diverse radio landscape – Life Hacks more

Jenkins on participatory culture and Shirky on audience feedback

Representation leads to uses and gratifications as people see themselves.

• The aliens in War of the Worlds could be a metaphor for the enemies because the War of the Worlds podcast was produced in 1930s, which was when the Great Depression, the American Dust bowl and WW2 began.
• It is a radio podcast of a science fiction novel that was written by H.G Wells
• War of the Worlds radio drama had left listeners into suspended disbelief and became famous because it tricked people into believing aliens were invading Earth due to the “breaking news” style of the broadcast.
• “The War of the Worlds” was the 17th episode of the CBS Radio series The Mercury Theatre on Air, which was broadcast at 8 pm ET on Sunday, October 30, 1938.
• H. G. Wells’ original novel tells the story of a Martian invasion of Earth. The novel was adapted for radio by Howard Koch, who changed the primary setting from 19th-century England to the contemporary United States, with the landing point of the first Martian spacecraft changed to rural Grover’s Mill, an unincorporated village in West Windsor Township, New Jersey. 
• The science fiction drama was broadcasted from CBS, which is the Columbia Broadcasting System
• The radio science fiction drama was directed by Orson Welles and was adapted by Howard Koch
• It was described as an anti-war film by Debra Sanders
• It is a hybridization of the science fiction genre and the mystery genre.
• Normal radio episodes were broadcasted and then there was a gap before War of the Worlds was played, which makes it seem as if these broadcasts are a metaphor for other things
• War of the Worlds was a Halloween special
• In 1938, radios were just being introduced,s o it can be interpreted that War of the World was fake news to try and get more people to listen to CBS and buy radios.
• On it’s opening evening, it was estimated that around 30 million people were tuning into the broadcast and around 80% of Americans owned a radio then.

Overview:

– It’s a programme/podcast from BBC Radio 1

– The show replaced ‘The Surgery’ in 2017 and took the Sunday Teatime slot

– The programme is hosted by Katie Thistleton and Vick Hope

– The show was previously hosted by Cel Spellman, Katie Thistleton and Radha Modgil

– The programme includes discussion of health and social issues such as exam stress, sexual health, alcohol and drugs.

– Although both ‘The Surgery’ and Life Hacks ran in scheduled broadcast slots, in recent years the programme has been available as a podcast and encourages digital consumption and interaction. 

How it attracts a young audience:

– The language used and the way the presenters present themselves suggest that they are trying to appeal to more of a youth audience as they tend to use informal language as if they were speaking to a friend – this also makes it more personal which may make the listeners feel as if they are being directly addressed.

– The content discussed is mainly targeting a youth audience as it specifically discusses growing up and going through life from a teenager/ younger persons position (university etc)

What audience pleasures are offered by ‘Life Hacks’? (Using uses and gratifications theory):

Audience pleasures that are offered by Life Hacks would be Diversion, education and personal relationships.

Personal relationships: the feeling of support that is experienced as a result of knowing that there is an area/space for advice and help- knowing that people are going through the same thing as you. 

Personal identity: Being able to relate to stories being told and seeing your character reflected in the different topics mentioned.

Education: learning about different ways of handling problems etc.

Diversion: listening to different podcasts( reflecting what you are going through)- able to escape from what you are going through by seeking help and allowing yourself to listen to other people’s stories etc.

What does the title “Life Hacks” Suggest?:

‘Life hacks’ is a terminology associated with the youth demographic – suggests that the show is targeting youth/millenials

Listening Stats:

– Radio listening figures in the UK- 90% of the population tune in to the radio every week 
– 61% tune of the population tune in to digital radio every week.

transitional media product– reflects changes in the contemporary media landscape (it is the replacement for a previous, similar programme, The Surgery

traditional radio programme with a regular, scheduled broadcast time (Sunday 6pm 14/02/21)

available online after broadcast for streaming and downloading. 

opportunities for audience interaction (Audiences can take part in their projects as it is simple to follow along with common equipment)

Media Industries
Life Hacks is a Radio 1 product and therefore has a public service status as part of the BBC. (Tax Payer funded)

Identification of funding for Radio 1 through the license fee, concept of a hypothecated tax. (The hypothecation of a tax is the dedication of the revenue from a specific tax for a particular expenditure purpose. This approach differs from the classical method according to which all government spending is done from a consolidated fund. ) Video

Issues around the role of a public service broadcaster – how does Life Hacks reflect the need to represent the nation. Arguments over the need for addressing a youth audience
already catered for commercially. (Why should programmes be made for a demographic that already has enough media content already by the private sector such as youtube and TikTok).
The influence of new technology on media industries – Life Hacks as multi – platform media product.

Media Audiences
Life Hacks is reflective of the way the industry targets niche audiences and provides an opportunity to consider industry regulation and the availability of new technology shapes audience targeting and response.
• What techniques does the broadcast use to target a youth audience? Using online media instead of printed media so it is more accessible to the youth as they use online media much more.
• Consider the way that external factors – such as demographics and psychographics – are likely to also affect audience response and produce differing interpretations
• Consider the opportunities for audience interaction and self-representation viewers can follow along and make the same life hack as the people in the media creating a sense of gratification and satisfaction from completing the life hack
• cultivation theory including Gerbner
• reception theory including Hall

Social and cultural contexts
Life Hacks reflects an acceptance of diversity and a degree of openness in contemporary culture around personal, social and identity issues.