Life hacks

Described as:

“Life Hacks is an example of a transitional media product which reflects changes in the contemporary media landscape (it is the replacement for a previous, similar programme, The Surgery). Life Hacks is both a traditional radio programme with a regular, scheduled broadcast time, but is also available online after broadcast for streaming and downloading. The broadcast itself and the accompanying website provides opportunities for audience interaction, which is central to the programme’s address to its audience. Life Hacks also exemplifies the challenges facing the institution as a public service broadcaster that needs to appeal to a youth audience within a competitive media landscape.”

Media Industries:

• Life Hacks is a Radio 1 product and therefore has a public service status as part of the BBC.
• Identification of funding for Radio 1 through the license fee, concept of a hypothecated tax.
• 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.
• Consider the programme as distinctive in its public service remit.
• 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? – ‘expressing yourself and lockdown hair disasters’
• Consider the way that external factors – such as demographics and psychographics – are likely to also affect audience response and produce differing interpretations
• opportunities for audience interaction and self-representation –  life hacks is involved in audience interaction through texts and calls.
• 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.

War of the worlds

• Andrew Crissel wrote a book about radio language and understanding radio. He said “Radio is a blind medium” meaning you can’t see it.
• War of the worlds has an important historic context – the alien invasion could represent something else going on in the 1930’s such as Stalin, Hitler or the beginning of world war 2.
• McDougall says in his book that hard times are a breeding ground for misinformation/fake news.
• It was first broadcast on October 30th 1938
• Performed and directed on radio by Orson Wells
• War of the Worlds was broadcast by Columbia Broadcasting Company (CBS) – an institution still in existence today.
• It is a hybrid genre
• Suspending disbelief
• People were panicking as they believed aliens were coming. Or were their reactions fake?
• Regulation – radio broadcasting was regulated by the Federal Communications Commission and it investigated the broadcast to see if it had broken any laws.
• war between online news and newspapers – Radio broadcasting was seen as direct competition to newspapers which had previously been the only way of receiving news.
• Every time something bad happens it is because of the media. – (Stanley Cohen) said this is and example of moral panic.