hybrid radio form

The broadcast and the initial response to it has historical significance as an early, documented, example of the mass media apparently having a direct effect on an audience’s behavior. 

War of the Worlds provides an historical context for broadcasting, being produced at a period when radio was the only form of domestic media; the 1930s and 1940s became known as the ‘golden age’ of radio.

Audiences

The Daily News in New York went with the headline “Fake Radio ‘War’ stirs terror through U.S.”

hypodermic needle theory- media text cant have a powerful and immediate effect on the passive audience. So many terrified listeners “rushed out of their houses”

Cultivation theory- This explains the hysteria. Gerbner– heavy television users. If texts resonate with the viewer, they become more susceptible to its message.

Even the two-step flow model of communication provides some insight into how the panic unfolded. For instance, a “throng of playgoers had rushed” from a “theatre” because “news” of the invasion had “spread” to the audience. The New York Times also reported how the “rumor” of war “spread through the district and many persons stood on street corners hoping for a sight of the ‘battle’ in the skies”.⁷ Therefore, not everyone who was terrorised by the radio play was actually listening to the broadcast. They heard the rumours from people they trusted in their social circle.

To fully appreciate why some listeners panicked, we need to consider the historical and social context behind the broadcast. In terms of Stuart Hall’s reception theory and his encoding / decoding model of communication, this is the audience’s framework of knowledge

Stuart Halls reception theory- Why some listeners panicked

“a wave of mass hysteria seized thousands of radio listeners” 

Radio was a new platform- became beneficial, families, news entertainment.

Mercury on the air theatre segment- for people interested in drama and theatre

Directed and narrated- Orson Wells

Orson wells- successful, familiar voice to families= engage audiences.

writer= howard koch

based on an existing book- HG wells

Book had previous fan base who are familiar with story- reduces risk

Designed to feel like a real life breaking news broadcast

-fake interruptions to give it a real feel e.g orchestra

-to get auidences on edge

-reporter o scene- panicked voice

-real locations e.g new york city- engaged audiences

– radio falls silent ‘is there anyone there’

creating fear in an audiences that believed it was real

no ads- added to feeling of reality, suspend disbelief, immerse themselves.

several reports of panic and real.

huge number of police calls 2000 in 2 hours- real worried audiences

power cut coincidence – escalated panic.

12500 new paper articles- big reaction from audiences

possible deaths, heart attacks, hospital emissions.

why?

historical context– just before ww2

conflict and tensions from diff countrys – fearing invasions e.g germany v europe, munich

misinterpretations – germans invading.

warning in intro- audiences missed it

no tv, social media- could only talk to the police.

less educated audience- likely to accept it was real.

modern day- used to fiction

many complaints hadnt listened only read, heard from friends.

audiences react without hearing- sheep- Two step flow theory

news papers exaggerated- radio, newspapers competition

Industry

news was filled with tension e.g hitlers rise to power, war.

people turned to radio- opportunity which was more up to date, globally.

radio station- columbia broadcasting company cbc

relied on getting large numbers of listeners

need for high revenue, rating- broadcast controversial

directed- orson wells

-young prodigy

-borrowed ideas- inspired by the barricades

writer- howard cotch

-success with sci-fi products- Lower the risk

based on book- has fan base

-reduces risk

changed the setting- modern day new york

-in order to be more up to date and marketable

-lots of actors, voice over actors, orchastra, sound effects.

self regulation

-cbs changed the real names and companys to fictional to not get sued

-later reminders that it was fiction

scheduling- October 30th – day before Halloween ‘halloween special’

FCC radio regulators- got lots of complaints

banned fictionalised news reports.

Newsbeat is the BBC’s radio news programme broadcast on Radio 1.

differs from the BBC’s other news programmes in its remit to provide news tailored for a specifically younger audience of teenagers and early twentysomethings.

Extra Examples: Newsbeat is an example of a transitional media product which reflects changes in the contemporary media landscape. Newsbeat is both a traditional radio programme with regular, scheduled broadcast times, but it is also available online after broadcast.

Media Industries

digital audio broadcast (DAB)

The BBC is a Public Service Broadcaster, funded via the TV license fee. No advertisements. Focuses on informative and educate. Large Company. Also broadcast on BBC radio 1 extra, a digital radio channel reflecting popularity of converged / merged online technology. Aimed at a more urban black audience, reflecting BBC’s remit to provide content for a diverse audience. Reaching and connecting with anyone.

There might be a voice ident where the presenter mentions the name of the broadcast and the current time: “This is Newsbeat at 3.45pm”. The intro could be in the form of a bulletin – a list of the main stories which will be featured in the broadcast. / The Newsbeat producers responded to this challenge by serving content on their website, YouTube channel, Twitter account and Instagram profile. Taking a multi-platform approach ensures the product remains relevant to its audience.

Newsbeat was launched on 10 September 1973

presenters- Prison Hastie and ben Mundy

15 min program – available to download

Not gender specific ]

Sony radio acedemy award.

The programme’s first presenter was the Radio 1 DJ Ed Stewart and he was succeeded by Laurie Mayer and Richard Skinner.

Media Audiences

Stuart Hall argued producers encoded meaning and values into their texts which was then decoded by the audience, but our reactions are shaped by our individual frameworks of knowledge. / Newsbeat had to compete against traditional print media and the conventions of roll news channels, but mobile-first audiences are now learning about important events through what is trending on their social networks and notifications of breaking news flashing on their screens.

More 15 to 24-year-olds (34% of them) get their news from Newsbeat than from any other BBC TV or radio outlet.

…

1. tailored for younger audiences
2. transitional media- live show, recordings, video.
3. Not gender specific
4. funded by tv licence (hypotheticated tax)

…

gerb

hall

1. how does the BBC industry work in terms of news beat.
2. how is representation presented though the BBC in terms of news beat.
3. how does BBC attract audiences, in terms of news beat.

I understand that the BBC which is government regulated, owns News beat and takes a transitional approach in order to appeal to a younger audience who are shying away from radio.

dominant signifier – fully clothed, focus on face

The central image is of a woman who is shown in an androgynous way meaning she is not seen with more masculine or feminine fashion traits. In other words a blur between male traits and female traits.
Unlike other magazines aimed at females, she is not overly sexualised (male gaze).

he headline which is written in bold gives a clear indication that the articles to follow with talk about empowerment of women.

Speaking out feature – A FGM campaigner is featured in one of the speaking out sections. She is a young Muslim woman who talks about FGM and the issues around it. This is an example of representation of culture and diversification in the magazine.

The capitalised “Sister” creates a group identity towards the target audience, a group- a sisterhood where readers come together and create.

Gerbners can also be used to show representation throughout the magazine, he argues that nothing has a representation until the media represents it to try and create a fixed meaning to which the audience can argue against; for example people being perceived as trouble makers from repeated stereotypes of them represented in the media- we can see how Oh Comely tries to oppose the reactionary representations that have been displayed in the media and recreate them as strong. An example is page 15 where someone from Somalia wearing a headscarf (which is represented in western media as “terrorists”) is surrounded by a syntagm of signs such as the iconic signs of colour that have high connotations to positivity and a semantic field of strength through words such as “unstoppable force” and personal pronouns to extenuate her achievements to redesign the stereotype into a counterstereotype- a person of power and positivity.

Industry-

Launched in 2010

published by the “proudly independent” Iceberg Press.

Iceberg Press is completely different to Hearst UK – the publisher of Men’s Health and subsidiary of global conglomerate Hearst.

It publishes just two magazines: Oh Comely and The Simple Things

Social Media Reach: 100,000 Readers Per Issue: 25,000 Average Age of reader: 27 Sold through independents, WHSmith and international outlets

‘a mindful magazine with a fresh perspective.’

Each issue was available to purchase for £5 in a few newsagents, independent retailers, cafes and museums. – £14 for six months (3 issues).

The publishers wanted to “celebrate the humble, the frugal and the plentiful; the magic in the mundane, and the unsung beauty of the unnoticed”. This is obviously in contrast to the quick and easy reads found in glossy lifestyle magazines

the magazine was impacted by the pandemic (possible excuse from iceberg in order to save/gain money) and the final issue was published in September 2021.

representation-

Oh Comely is part of a development in lifestyle and environmental movements of the early twenty first century which rebrand consumerism as an ethical movement. Its representation of femininity reflects an aspect of the feminist movement which celebrates authenticity and empowerment

comely-pleasant to look at; attractive (typically used of a woman).- a polite non sexualised way of saying something is nice, pretty….

The photos aren’t photoshopped in order to present certain meanings of beauty but is natural and shows the real side of people.- gives a sense of truth as well as empowerment and positive representation of women.

I believe that Oh Comely fits into the fourth wave of feminism since it clearly shows feminist ideologies and attempts to empower women.

Compared to the cover page of Men’s Health, we can see a clear different in gender representations between the two. In Oh Comely, the cover star is shown in an androgynous way in order to not reinforce any gender stereotypes. Men’s Health on the other hand shows a very built Vin Diesel as the cover page which already shouts out traditional men’s stereotypes.

The magazine includes a diverse range of religion, race and age:

Gerbners theory on mainstreaming suggests the excessive consumption of media products the more you will conform to the medias ideologies, therefore by promoting a range of diversity throughout Oh Comely’s magazine’s they’re recreating the dominant reading (via theory of preferred reading by Stewart hall) that has been mass presented throughout media as reactionary stereotypes to create a common enemy in the media (common enemy via Habermas’s five filters of mass media).

audience-

Niche product-

“celebrate the humble, the frugal and the plentiful; the magic in the mundane, and the unsung beauty of the unnoticed”. – the audience is humble as well as the magazine

Frugal- simple and plain and costing little.

In terms of the uses and gratifications theory, the magazine might appeal to the reader’s personal identity because the content reinforces their values and beliefs. Of course, the articles about fashion and music can help the audience to construct their identity as suggested by David Gauntlett.

Language-

The masthead is written in a sans serif font which seems to be handwritten which suggests that Oh Comely has already started to create personal relationships with the audience. 

Oh Comely values the power of women and minority groups.

Oh comely does support Gauntlett and shows this through their choices of images and choices of content to include within the magazine.

THEME	NEWSBEAT	WAR OF THE WORLDS
Curran	James Curran writes about the ideas that underpin The Liberal Free Press, but much can apply to transformation of Public Sphere (Habermas) which in turn connects to ethos of PSB	James Curran writes about the ideas that underpin The Liberal Free Press, but much can apply to transformation of Public Sphere (Habermas) which in turn connects to ethos of PSB
OWNERSHIP	BBC, (PUBLIC SERVICE BROADCASTING) GOVERNMENT, BBC BOARD (TRUSTEES) DIRECT GENERAL , FIRST BEING (LORD RITHE),MULTIMEDIA, CROSS MEDIA, TRANSNATIONAL TRANSGLOBAL, NOT A MONOPOLY, THERE IS A CONCENTRATION OF OWNERSHIP SMALL NUMBER OF FANS WHO OWN TV AND RADIO EVEN THOUGH THEIR ARE A LOT OF DIFFERENT STATIONS. I THINK THE BBC COMES FROM A LEFT WING LIBERTARIAN IDEOLOGY.	PRIVATE COMPANY, TRANSNATIONAL, IT IS AN EXAMPLE OF CONCENTRATION OF OWNERSHIP E.G. A COUPLE OF COMPANYS THAN OWN A COUPLE OF CARTERS. VERTICAL AND HORIZONTAL INTERGRATION
HABERMAS	TRANFORMATION OF THE PUBLIC SPHERE, MEDIA IS CONSTANTLY CHANGING WITH THE BBC KEEPING UP. BBC INTENTIONS TO ENSHRINED IN THEIR ETHOS TO INFORM, ENTERTAIN AND EDUCATE. DOESN’T MAKE A PROFIT. THEY PUT SOME MONEY BACK INTO THE PROGRAMME AS HABERMAS EXPLAINS THE NOTION OF TRANSFORMING THE PUBLIC. IT IS PATERNALISTIC.	PRIVATE BUSINESS’S ARE AIMED AT MAKING A PROFIT. THEY TEND TO CARE MORE ABOUT PROFIT RATHER THAN THE PUBLIC SO THEY ARE MORE CONCERNED WITH ENTERTAINMENT THAN EDUCATION. COMMERCIAL ETHOS IS NOT IN THE SPIRIT OF HABERMAS.
CHOMSKY	CHOMSKY TEACHES THE CAPACITY TO LEARN AND USE LANGAUGES AS THEIR ARE STRENGTHS AS HUMANS GROW AND DEVELEOP WHICH LINKS WITH NEWSBEAT AS THEY ARE TRYING TO ENTERTAIN BUT INFORMING THE AUDIENCE FOR THEIR OWN BENEFIT.	FOR THE WAR OF THE WORLDS THEY ARE INFORMING THE AUDIENCE TO MUCH WITH KNOWLEDGE OF WHAT IS HAPPENING RATHER THAN ENTERTAINING THEM. THIS IS BECAUSE DIFFERENT PEOPLE HAVE DIFFERENT LANGUAGE UPON OTHERS AND FIND IT EASIER TO REACT CALMLY AND DISTUINGISH WHAT IS TRUE OR NOT. THIS IS KNOWN AS UNIVERSAL GRAMMER.
REGULATION	OFCOM, BBC CHARTER GOVERNED BY PARLIAMENT , LICENSE FEE REGULATES BBC AS WELL. BBC/PSB ETHOS TO ENTERTAIN, TO INFORM AND TO EDUCATE (REITH), NEW TECHNOLOGY MEANS BBC FACES MORE COMPETETION.	FEDREAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION AS REGULATOR FOR PRIAVTE BUSINESS WHICH IS NOT REALLY IN THE PUBLIC INTERESTS.
AUDIENCE (ACTIVE/PASSIVE)	Lasswell hyperdermic model, how messages are encoded. People getting increasingly passive and lack of reading amounts to newsbeat using specific methods to cater towards a younger audience/lesser intelligence; ie star guests and games- no complicated words Newsbeat encouraging active ‘uses and gratification’ model personal needs escapism, entertainment, self esteem and social needs. information, knowledge about the world, connecting with family, friends and community	Newspaper and Radio in direct competition for the decade, panic is suggested to have been caused by the newspapers rather than the actual radio broadcast showing the passiveness on media consumption ie; 98% were on different station while other 2% knew it wasn’t real- source from RadioLab war of the world broadcast. No accurate answer to weather panic was caused or not- diminishment of habermasses public sphere. The hypodermic needle theory suggests a media text can have a powerful and immediate effect on the passive audience. It would seem “The War of the Worlds” production supports this argument because so many terrified listeners, for example, “rushed out of their houses” to escape the “gas raid”.4
AUDIENCE (LAZARSFELD)	2 step flow / opinion leaders how we gravitate to people who share the same ideas as ourselves. So the BBC is an unbiased, informed opinion leader (ie BBC Charter focus on impartiality, accurate, true)	opiniion leaders- auson wells, brought on the show to compete with the newspapers, but unlike the bbc who used will and kate to share mental heath issues for the good of the people and society, CBS used this strategy to generate income rather than benifit the public but themselves.
AUDIENCE (GUERBNER)		Gerbners cultivation theory more specifically in the sub section called mean world index describes the more consumption of negative media we consume the more negative we see the world- therefore through cultural setting we can use this as an argument to suggest their was panic as the negative in the world such as war and discrimination could’ve manifested and reinforced their belief of something catastrophic actually occurring during the time.
NEW TECHNOLOGY	New technology poses a threat for the bbc as through time and newer technology us as a society is becoming increasingly passive, emergence of short videos have lowered our attention span and therefore the younger emerging audience is too uninterested to listen to a longer news production or story- therefore bbc newsbeat produces cross media available at any time catering towards a younger mind to draw in viewers at any time.	New technology at the tame was the emergence of radio, newspapers and radio were in direct competition for the decade during the gloden age of radio- therefore suggesting as to why newspaper could’ve created panic to almost try and sabotage radio by creating a negative reaction. Radio transformed space as provided news and live audios from all around the world, which also started diminishing habermases public sphere theory as people started writing less and having more trust in a broadcast service- overtrusting for reliability in media products could’ve lead to the increasingly passive audience we have become today, however during the time since it was so new we can associate with Lasswell and Shannon and weaver, how noise and disruption from still a relatively active audience can create a difference encoding from the desired one.
CROSS MEDIA CONVERGENCE

Press

acting- good

storyline- strong, good, surprises, suspense

sound- good

educational, highlights social issues

diversity within the show- representation.

broad/narrow casting

narrowcasting – targets a niche audience

broadcasting- larger target audience.

BBC

1922- radio

director general – lord john wreath

ethos- educate, inform, entertain

BBC charter- set of rules which makes sure the BBC does what its meant to do.

paternalism- giving people what some people think they need

popularise- giving people what they want

BBC- Paternal approach

grace wyndham Goldie- the most significant thing about broadcasting is that it changes time and space. 100 years ago lives in the present.

fear people had- doubting its gonna be important

BBC became social cement. brought people together, British culture centred around the BBC.

THEME	NEWSBEAT	WOTW
OWNERSHIP	BBC, Public Service Broadcasting, Government, BBC Board of Trustees (??), DG (Lord Reith), Multimedia, transnational, not a monopoly, concentration of ownership	CBS, Private Company, Multimedia conglomerate, transnational(??), monopoly(??), example of concentration of ownership i.e. a few companies own everything – oligopoly / cartel (??), vertical & horizontal integration (??)
HABERMAS	Transformation of the public sphere, media is constantly changing – BBC is adapting, BBC intention enshrined in their ethos, profit is not a priority – they put money back into programmes so Quality is important. Fits notion of transforming the public. Therefore more paternalistic, give you what you need instead of what you want.	Private business, likely to prioritise making profit. Quality is not as important as long as a profit is made. This profit will not go back into programmes. Does not fit the notion of transforming the public. Less paternalistic, gives you what you want if it makes them money.
CHOMSKY	Second filter (advertising) The BBC does not run ads in the UK	Second filter (advertising) CBS runs ads which helps them accrue profit
REGULATION	OFCOM, BBC Charter governed by parliament, license fee regulates BBC, BBC Ethos – educate, inform and entertain (Reith) BBC has a left wing, libertarian ideology (??)	Federal Communications Commission regulates private businesses i.e. not necessarily in public interest
AUDIENCE (ACTIVE/PASSIVE)	Audiences are more active, they are not just given programmes that they want but are given what they need (Paternalism)	Audiences are more passive, they are only shown the programmes that they want to allow CBS to make a profit. Hypodermic needle suggests that media can have a powerful and immediate effect on passive audiences. WOTW supports this because so many listeners became terrified of an alien invasion.
AUDIENCE (LAZARSFELD)	Two-step flow, people get their ideologies from opinion leaders. Newsbeat brings opinion leaders onto the show as guests.
AUDIENCE (HALL)
NEW TECHNOLOGY	New Technologies mean that the BBC is faced with more competition
GERBNER		Cultivation theory suggests that the more people take in media the more susceptible they become to it’s messages. This could explain why some people believed that the broadcast was real.
CURRAN		Concerns about the interests of big companies – profit over social concerns
SEATON