habermas created The Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere: An Inquiry into a Category of Bourgeois Society in 1989

How can the Media act in the ‘Public Sphere’ in the ‘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” (p. 82: 1996)

– the media as watchdog

“instead of providing a conduit for rational-critical debate, the media manipulated mass opinion” – james curry

state media v free market media

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

chomsky is an American linguist, philosopher, political activist, author, and lecturer.

Chomsky is a left wing major activist

Chomsky created a book called “manufacturing consent” about the manipulation of dominant ideologies in the media enforced by the elite

these ideas are enforced by advertising, giving flack to those who go against the dominant ideology,

advertising is done by selling your information

To what extent is Teen Vogue constructed to respond to the demands of various interested groups? In your response you should consider groups which have influence online, for example consumers, advertisers and competitors.

age of surveillance capitalism:

In a Twitter targeted-ad experiment, IBM found that it could significantly increase click through rates and follow rates by targeting individuals with high “openness” and “neuroticism”

two way conversation – one way conversation

new media undergoes two way conversation – media brands and other consumers can easily interact with the consumer

new media:

• live
• binge
• endless
• conversation

old media:

• story
• creative
• share?

Who really benefits from a digitally networked society? Big business or individuals? Refer to ‘loop theory’ and the ‘Dunbar number’

• networks rely on others to interact with them (network theory) in order to work and to sell their product.
• Big Business attracts different kinds of individuals via an attractive product. then, it collects marketing data and sells it to companies
• individuals may benefit a little but not that much

Q: How does big business benefit? What commodity do they trade in? Answer: predictive human behaviour. Write out an answer in your own words.

• big business collects data about visitors and sells this data to companies who wish to use targeted ads
• loop theory

Re-cap Questions

• What is the network effect?
• the network effect is when the product becomes more valuable when people are connected to it. eg facebook
• (Theodore Vail)
• Can you remember what ‘feedback loop theory’?
• in order to effectively hit the target, a plan to entice the user must be focused on prediction not present
• (Norbert Wiener) 21 mins into video
• What is the Dunbar number? (Robin Dunbar)
• 150

ted talk

Marshall McLuhan: The Medium is the Message – a good theorist to quote in your exam.

“Societies have always been shaped more by the nature of the media by which men communicate than by the content of the communication” (p. 8: 1967)

For many the role of technology is actually the most defining aspect of Media, for example Marshall McLuhan proposed in 1964 that the Medium was the message, or as he deliberately titled his book ‘The Media is the Massage’.  In other words, the medium (the technology) is more significant than anything else in determining meaning ie over companies, organisations, governments, individuals, representations, texts etc etc

Technological determinism – your biology and society is predetermined by the medium at which you are receiving the message