The different between consume based media regulation & citizen based media regulation:

consumer based – audiences can chose the content they want to watch & gives producers freedom that audiences chose to watch (giving people what they want)

citizen based – media shapes society which educates and inform & defines the type of content that the media broadcasts (thinking about what would be better for society & culture)

The impact of the 2003 communication act on media regulation:

it diluted the public service requirements of broadcasting

brought in Ofcom, companies made content which was more commercial & consumer based, this resulted in content that was lacking civic-minded production

Ofcom gave little accountability for citizens, livingston & lunt say this is negative

the drawback of a self regulated system:

self regulation – media producers are left independently to decide their content.

This is a drawback as regulation is too ‘light touch’, consumers are happy but citizens may not be.

There is also a need for advertisers as they need to put adverts on content that match

how you regulate media content & organisation on a global scale:

we need laws

hesmondhalgh – faux benefits of cyberspace “technology as an anti authoritarian counter weight to traditional power sources”

missing – could relate to the missing in the sense that binary oppositions are used in regards to family vs community and law vs justice. This means that the traditional expectation is challenged in both sense.

hesmondhalgh – television “the internet is increasingly dominated by commercialized activity”

missing – Cooperation between the BBC, STARZ (USA) and the Belgian government’s Tax Shelter scheme. Means that because the BBC is a public service broadcaster, STARZ (USA, under lions gate entertainment), a commercial media company, aids to make profit through advertisements.

hesmondhalgh – serialization = enables producers to reduce the risk by constructing products that have an established audience.

missing – there was a spin off called “baptised” which had the same male protagonist and a similar plot line.

old post:

• About a family going on holiday but they lose their son
• It is an example of cooperation between the BBC, STARZ (USA) and the Belgian government’s Tax Shelter scheme
• It is the BBC’s response to the success of ITV’s ‘Broadchurch’
• It written by brothers Harry and Jack Williams
• The first episode aired on October 28, 2014
• The last episode was aired November 30, 2016
• There are two series
• There are 16 episodes

CHARACTERS	the detective who has a ‘natural’ instinct for law and order Both involve female children	The Killing, The missing has the main detective as female	PROPP
NARRATIVE	the first episode often introduces a lot of different characters	difference in what happens to the child (one gets killed, one goes missing)	TODOROV
THEMES	the use of binary oppositions around familiar themes: family, community, law and order, justice.	family justice	LEVI-STRAUSS
REPRESENTATION	reactionary representations of police, family, law and order, urban/rural	representation of a stereotypical victim	SEMIOTICS
TECHNICAL CODES / LANGUAGE OF MOVING IMAGE (music, setting, props, lighting, use of camera, editing etc)	opening montage sequence that often gives clues as to the whole series – themes, locations, characters, events etc.
SETTING	a forest & a more urban area	lake

Witnesses

• A french police procedural series
•  22 November 2014
• Set Normandy, France
• Protagonists – detectives Sandra and Justin
• They investigate when bodies of murder victims that are unearthed and left for discovery in the show homes of a housing developer

Similarities and differences:

There are two series of both, suggesting that there are other programmes better than these of the same genre

Curron & Seaton – horizontal integration, relates to the idea of the same genre of tv show being showed to people. Both programmes have the same premise, what makes them better than other detective series.

“Culture is controlled by social elites…”institutions work for the benefit of themselves.” Therefore they may make a detective show like these not with Maslows hierarchy of need in mind, but simply profit, although they provide escapism for watchers.

commercial media

the missing – STARZ (USA, under lions gate entertainment)

public service broadcaster

the missing – cooperation between the BBC and the Belgian government’s Tax Shelter scheme (is a government-approved tax incentive designed to encourage the production of audiovisual works in Belgium)

horizontal integration

Relates to the idea of the same genre, similar narrative structure of tv show being showed to people. Both programs have the same premise, what makes them better or different than other detective series?

BBC, Starz, Belgian government’s Tax Shelter scheme have worked together

vertical integration

stages of production

Media concentration/Media convergence

we lack media pluralism, a healthy balance of products made by media company types

The target demographic of my magazine would be teenage boys between 14 – 17 who play video games regularly, therefore middle class: they can afford it. The purpose of this magazine is to inform the target audience of what gaming used to be like which would provide entertainment as well as escapism. I want to base this off of the research I have done on the general layout of a games magazine cover and what sort of games are popular and how they are presented to persuade the public to buy it. This relates to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs as it would fit into the ‘esteem’ level given that video games allow teenagers to achieve something when they may be lacking in everyday life, such as school, therefore, giving them a sense of confidence. 

For the cover, I imagine a person, real or animated, in the centre of the page to catch the audience’s eye. A male or female in the centre would be a reactionary sign due to the commonality of male protagonists in video games and a female being a ‘damsel in distress’ which relates to Todorov‘s narrative theory as he said that there are set, stock characters within texts that are recognisable to audiences. This visual impact should flatter the text surrounding it as well as the colours which I picture to be green and purple as they are associated with the concept of gaming. I want the title to be in a big, bold black font to stand out on the white and purple background. A purple concept is a symbolic sign which has connotations of power: protagonists usually pursue or destroy people in power. In addition, the colour red can be associated with anger and passion, assets which can be helpful in gaming, this can be shown on a sticker. This relates to audience theory as the shade could cement the fact that emotion is a useful tool in the gaming world. What’s more, strong emotions often aid in winning a game, therefore, colors allow the audience to believe that if they pick this magazine, they are more likely to succeed. I would like the contents page to feature similar photographs to the cover to link each in theme. If I use simple black and white text, it will flatter the image as it would juxtapose the bright colors. The addition of a white circle with curved text in it which flows with the shape in conjunction with use of arrows could bring attention to a word such as ‘WIN’ which would imply to the reader that if they buy this magazine they will win each video game they play, the ultimate goal. This relates to the idea of escapism as it virtually persuades the audience to play a game as if they have more of a chance at winning as opposed to people who have not read this magazine. The double page spread should have many visual aspects, like the same colors as the previous pages to evoke a motif which is clear to readers.

Jean Kilbourne – feminist critical thinker

“[adverts] use sex… to sell everything.”

“Women’s bodies continue to be dismembered in advertising.”

“Children growing up today are bombarded from a very early age with graphic messages about sex and sexiness in the media and popular culture.”

• fictional
•  1970’S – it shows the personality and the sexism typical of American society and culture at the time
• Sexy Women Carrying Big Game Hunter – Source is 1967 Playboy Magazine
• Because they use the females to create the idea that if they use the hair cream they will get girls
• The product is a liquid hair groom, with score’s scent, and greaseless look, you will be irresistible if you use it
• male gaze- 2nd wave feminism, hyper masculinity
• semantic field
• jungle = dangerous so there needs to be strong male character
• alliteration of ‘gr’ sound makes an animistic tone, relates to leopard print on the throne
• Score creates a narrative that females will ‘worship’ the man who wears this hair cream and that they will irresistible. 
•  Mise en Scene (setting the scene) – by the way the people have been positioned, where the male is being lifted by the women to show that he is above them as they ‘worship’ how good he is, the man is the one who appears to be smiling the most. We see that his masculine features are put in the frame clearly e.g his arms
• underlining message of empowering women? they are carrying a man implying that they are strong enough to do so, a task that would typically would be mans job
• The narrative in this advert audiences’ may respond has changed over time because there has been an increase in equality towards women. This would have been seen as sexist in earlier years as women are underneath men and their power, however, now there are more rights

1.  When they were first introduced – ie do they have a tradition?
2. Are they part of a bigger organisational structure?
3. Are they known for a particular political perspective?
4. What kind of journalism do they produce? What is their USP? What stories do they specialize in?
5. What kind of people run the paper? Produce the stories?
6. Do they have a similar readership reach?
7. Do they have a similar readership profile / target audience?
8. How are they currently doing? Increasing or decreasing sales and revenue?
9. How are they looking to embrace new media technologies?
10. Do they have a similar layout and design?

Similarities & Differences

1. The I was introduced in 2010 whereas The Daily Mail was introduced in 1896. Therefore, The I is less traditional.(Difference)

2. The Daily Mail is owned by DMGT – Daily Mail and General Trust plc (public limited company) whereas The I is owned by The Daily Mail & General Trust

3. The Daily Mail clearly supports the conservative party whereas The I has shown perspectives from both left (socialist) & right (conservative(traditional)) wing. The Daily Mail has endorsed the conservative party in all general elections and put down other views, for example in 2013, it was criticized for an article on Ralph Milliband, father of Ed Milliband the then labor leader, titled “The Man Who Hated Britain”. Ed Miliband said that the article was “ludicrously untrue”

 Ralph is a Jewish refugee from the Holocaust which the artcile commented on saying “Jews can’t be trusted because of their divided loyalties’

A Jewish newspaper described the article as “a revival of the ‘Jews can’t be trusted because of their divided loyalties’ genre of antisemitism.”

James Curran wrote ‘Mass Media and Democracy’ which focuses on Habermas and his idea of the public sphere. Curran stated that “Public service broadcasting organizations tend to be unduly influenced by the political class.” and argued that the developments the mass media, as well as education, makes it simpler to access information related to the government, authority and control. This relates to liberal theory as it discusses the freedom to publish in the free market to “ensure that the press reflects a wide range of options”. Habermas believed democracy depended on the public and came up with the theory of the public sphere which is an area in social life where people can come together to freely discuss and identify problems. This could possibly influence political action. Both theorists described the press as ‘watchdogs’, suggesting that it is more of just a way of providing information to the public, but discreetly persuading people’s political viewpoint though lying or “twisting the truth”. 

In terms of The Daily Mail, it was introduced in 1896, whereas The I was introduced in 2010, therefore, The I is less traditional. Since The I is owned by The Daily Mail & General Trust, it is curious that The Daily Mail clearly supports the conservative party whereas The I has shown perspectives from both left (socialist) & right (conservative(traditional)) wing. This brings up the question: why do they not support the same political views?  The Daily Mail has had a lot of criticizing accusations made against them in regard to racism, homophobia, and sexism, not to mention the questionable reliability and the power they hold over politicians. “Immigrant-bashing, woman-hating, Muslim-smearing, NHS-undermining, gay-baiting” is how a critic described The Daily Mail on intelligence2.com who are partners with New York Times. The Daily Mail has endorsed the conservative party in all general elections and put down other views, for example in 2013, it was criticized for an article on Ralph Milliband, father of Ed Milliband the then Labour leader, titled “The Man Who Hated Britain”. Since Ralph is a Jewish refugee from the Holocaust, the article constantly referred to this negatively and described him as untrustworthy. Ed Miliband said that the article was “ludicrously untrue”. A Jewish Newspaper described the article as “a revival of the ‘Jews can’t be trusted because of their divided loyalties’ genre of antisemitism.” With regard to politics, Ministers may ask themselves “What would the Mail say?” when considering any new policy as this newspaper determines a certain amount of the public’s opinion on said policy. Relating to Noam Chomsky, he came up with the idea of manufacturing consent which states that the mass media has the power to use propaganda to persuade the public. The press sets an agenda, meaning the public’s awareness & concerns of big issues are caused by the media which links to the idea of  ‘conditions of consumption’ which means the media actually decides how the mass audiences interpret it. “A political economy perspective has sometimes tended towards ‘conspiracy theory’” he writes, relating to the concept of gatekeepers which is the process through which information is filtered for dissemination which is the action of spreading information widely. This is apparent in The Daily Mail since they strain through the information that fits their political views which raises their stance and puts down alternative notions. 

On the other hand, The I is much more tame, which is staggering considering that The Daily Mail bought it for £49.6 million in November of 2019. This conglomerate recognises that people with alternative views would not be interested in their stories and information, which perhaps is what caused them to allow The I to publish views from different political parties. A copy of The I from the 5th of November 2020 featured presidential candidate Joe Biden on the cover in which clearly encouraged him, stating that “Biden edges closer to power.”. It is as if they collected data from this election to see which side the masses are on as an ominous online media presence. This idea of watching and surveillance is used to protect or observe the public which relates to Shoshana Zuboff who wrote ‘The Age Of Surveillance Capitalism’ and says there is an “emerging behaviour control technology” to establish the public as one, however, she says that we are no longer a mass, but individuals in which technology is being pushed on us which “gives one man [power] to impose his views and values on another.” The fact that is it possible for a newspaper to publish information taken from online sources shows that their political stance can dominate the public’s knowledge, permitting right and left wing views to become less distinguishable.

This relates to Althusser who said that society is structured to keep you in your place as the political views presented in such news sources are able to create falsehoods which ignorant masses will easily regard as truthful. He coined the phrase ‘socially constructed’ meaning that the ruling ideology constructs us and that we are interpellated in this system. He wrote “All ideology hails or interpellates concrete individuals as concrete subjects…”. In terms of The Daily Mail, a prime example of this would be an article written by Jams King in 2015 for Gawker, a New-York based blog, titled ‘My Year Ripping Off the Web With the Daily Mail Online’ as he formerly worked in the Mail’s New-York office. The article alleged they rewrote or reworded stories from other reporters with little to no credit as well as journalists publishing pieces that they knew were untrue. In September 2015, the Mail’s US company filed a $1 million lawsuit against King and Gawker Media, showing how untrustworthy this conglomerate is.

Finally, both newspapers have established their political views despite The Daily Mail’s questionable reliability. Perhaps that is strategy to keep their paper relevant, by using controversy the public is a target to be influenced by said views.

• B.F Skinner – behavioral science, operant conditioning
• he says the notion of free will is fiction
• control of environment
• how messages are passed on & shaped behavior
• schedule of reinforcement
• fiction of free will, reduces us to animals

• Harold Lasswell – wrote ‘propaganda technique in the world war’, hypodermic model theory = direct injection = passive audience
• said powerful people could brew up a ‘subtle poison which industrious men injects into the veins…’
• propaganda in overly political & manipulate whereas persuasion often appears invisible

• Shoshana Zuboff – wrote ‘the age of surveillance capitalism’
• says there is an ’emerging behavior control technology’
• ‘forms of persuasion are used to stimulate certain type of behaviors while suppressing others…’
• ‘..technology has begun to develop new methods of behavior control.’
• ‘The power [of] this technology gives one man to impose his views and values on another.’

Cambridge Analytica – Alexanda Nix = chief executive

1920/30 – Lasswell, hypodermic

WHO, SAYS WHAT, THROUGH WHAT CHANNEL, TO WHOM, TO WHAT EFFECT

This theory suggest we are ‘spoon-fed’by the media.

Lasswell’s model applied to a newspaper story:

Who – Bim Afolami, a journalist

Says what – Says that the left’s hypocrisy on radical equality is causing profound damage

Through what channel – The Mail on Sunday, pg 44

To whom – people who read the paper, possibly the older generation & people who are interested in politics

What effect – Makes left wing party & supports look bad

1940’s – Shannon & Weaver (1949),  Paul Lazarfeld – 2 step flow

Said there is stuff missing from Lasswells model. It was adated by Shannonn & Weaver to the Transmission model of Communication. This included other elements such as noice, error encoding & feedback.

Paul Lazarfeld – 2 step flow

Step 1 – from media to opinion leader

Step 2 – from opinion leaders communicate to the masses

 This theory suggests that the audience are active, not passive.

1960’s – Uses & gratifications (Katz, Gurevitch, Hass)

This idea of active audience, we choose information based on what we want – information / education, empathy and identity, social interaction, entertainment & escapism.

Related to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs (1954).

Applied to newspaper story – Knowledge about the world, safety and self-actualization

1970’s – Cultivation Theory – Gerbner (Chomsky vs Skinner)

Looked at the relationship between violence on television and violence in society. Suggests that we an use the media to change peoples behavior & what the think/believe in over time.

“Television cultivates from infancy the very predispositions and preferences that used to be acquired from other primary sources.” (Gerbner et al 1986).

Althusser –  raised the idea that the State asserted power and control through a number of key agencies and structures, he called this idological state apperatice.

1980’s – Stuart Hall, preffered reading

The idea that we can take an opposite stance, we don’t have to believe these things. He says there are 3 ways to read a text: a dominant position, a negotiated position or an oppositional position.

2000’s – Clay Shirley, end of audience

There is no such thing as audience, there is only individuals. WE are not one, we are many, the idea of intersectionality. A mass of individuals not just a mass.

“The more ideas there are in circulation, the more ideas there are for any individual to disagree with.” Shirky – TED Talk 2013

2019 – Zuboff, surveillance capitalism

Subservience Capitalism – we are no longer a mass, but individuals.