| Theory/Theorist | Knowledge | Understanding |
| Noam Chomsky | – He wrote a book called ‘Manufacturing Consent’ – He said that the Media uses the so called ‘truth’ to persuade audiences to conform. – He theorised the 5 Filters of Mass Media (propaganda model): 1. The role of advertising 2. Diversion (Flak) 3. Structures of ownership 4. Finding a common enemy 5. Links with the establishment. – He theorised the idea that the government/ those in power are hand in hand with the media. | – ‘Manufacturing consent’ encapsulates the idea that The Media needs to gain audience approval – The media uses audiences as a product for advertising. – Often, the Media tries to find a common enemy that they can make out to be ‘bad.’ This could be: terrorism, capitalism, other cultures that we aren’t accustomed to. They use this tactic to divert audience attention away from the real problem, the spread of untruth’s and the fact that the media isn’t a “window into the world”, it is tainted by opinion and corruption. |
| Jurgen Habermas | – Transformation of the public sphere – Public vs Private sphere – The Printing Press enabled one place that a different range of opinions and stories could be published at once. – “Arena of public debate” – creating a ‘public opinion’ – Discussion vs Directorial – Libertarian vs Authoritarian – Free vs Slave – He expresses his idea that “once the media is subject to regulation,” the public will lose their ability to share opinion in a public domain. | – Libertarian is the idea that society shouldn’t be governed by dictatorship. The public should be allowed to dictate their own existence. – Authoritarian is the idea that society should be controlled by those in power, everyone should be told what to do. -Habermas’ ideas are fundamental to a society that is inclusive of all opinions. |
| James Curran | – The role of public service broadcasting is to ‘diversify voices’ and create a wide range of programming to cater for age ranges, genders, different personalities. – Regulation of the free press. (LIBERAL FREE PRESS) – Diversity: Ownership, industry etc. – Role of the media -their power/ authority and influence on society. | |
| David Gauntlett | Gauntlett suggests that identity is nonlinear. It is non-binary/objective. – Fluidity of Identity = The idea that identity is a changeable, unstable concept that is ever adapting based on experience and influence. – Negotiated Identity = The ‘middle ground’ in which we find a balance within our identities. How can we display our self expression whilst also complying to societal norms. – Collective Identity = The idea that groups of people who share interests or similar personalities are given a ‘stereotypical’ identity to typecast them into a category. – Constructed Identity | – He says that we live in a “post-traditional society” – Non binary existence Is becoming more of a normality. Negotiated Identity is how we change/ adapt our identities based on the different situations we find ourselves in (who we are with, what we are doing, where we are etc.) |
| Semiotics | – Sign – Code – Convention – Dominant Signifier – Anchorage | |
| CS Pierce | – Symbolic sign (Arbitrary/random) – Indexical sign – Iconic sign | CS Pierce defines the difference between the different types of signs. He says that a Iconic Sign has a physical resemblance to the object it is representing. A symbol has a random/arbitrary link to what it is trying to represent. It is a mutually agreed meaning eg. the fact that the colour blue relates to boys and pink relates to girls. An indexical sign is one that codes for something else. They infer something relating to what is being represented eg. ‘smoke infers fire.’ |
| Ferdinand Saussure | – Signifier – Signified | |
| Roland Barthes | – Signification – Denotation – Connotation – Myth – Ideology – Radical – Reactionary – Paradigm – Syntygm | |
| Harold Laswell | – Wrote a novel called the ‘Propaganda Technique in The World War’ – He created the Linear Communication in 1948. He breaks down this line of communication by identifying: (SENDER, MESSAGE, MEDIUM, RECIEVER, FEEDBACK) Connection between the message sent –> message received. Passive Audience – Laswell wrote around the time of the first world war and looked at propaganda/brainwashing/ how audiences don’t challenge or think about what they engage with. | – This can be described as a ‘HYPODERMIC MODEL OF MEDIA EFFECT’ |
| ‘Hypodermic Needle Theory‘ | – The idea that passive audiences are influenced by the media. They are ‘knocked into submission’ by the injection of the media. | When audiences are being ‘injected’ with media, they are ‘knocked into submission’ and assimilate along with the messages promoted by the media. |
| Paul Lazarfeld | He criticized Laswell’s model, saying that it was too simple and didn’t factor in the different ways messages can be interrupted whilst being ‘sent.’ Rather than looking at the ‘passive’ audience he looks at the ‘active’ audience (how audiences control how they think about what they consume). Martin Moore: “people’s political views are not, as contemporaries thought, much changed by what they read or heard in the media.” He theorises how those who influence us in daily life (parents, friends, teachers etc) can take the media and create their own perceptions. This makes this line of communication subject to bias, interpretation, rejection, amplification, support and change – He created the ‘Two Step Flow Model’ in 1948. Step 1: The media feeds messages to ‘opinion leaders’ Step 2: Opinion leaders influence the ‘masses’ with these messages. |  |
| Uses and Gratifications | Elihu Katz looks at the decision making process that audience go through. He questions: “What do people do with media?” and “What does the media do to people?” Audiences are becoming more active. Individuals choose what they consume based off of their interests and what they hope to gain from it. He defines the different pleasures that media audiences try to extract from the content they engage with: 1. Information / education 2. Empathy and identity 3. Social interaction 4. Entertainment 5. Escapism | |
| Shannon and Weaver | NOISE, ERROR, ENCODING and FEEDBACK. | |
All posts by Charlie Dicker
Filters
CSP – MENS HEALTH
Men’s Health
- January/ February 2017 Edition
Front Cover
- Use of hashtag to link to social media and perhaps trying to access a younger demographic
- Reactionary, stereotypical text colouring through the different shades of blues and black. A typical symbolic (arbitrary) sign of masculinity
- Semantic field of power and strength, connoting to something that needs to be destroyed. – “Lose, Demolish, Slay, Blast, Burn, Detox, Reboot”
- Alliteration and plosives through ‘blast body’
- Stereotypical representation of masculinity through the man as the dominant signifier on the front cover. He seems strong, physically fit and physically intimidating which mirror the masculine traits often portrayed in the media -‘what defines a man’
- Alpha male – Muscles, standing pose, perhaps an enhanced/ edited image – “not a true window into the world”
- ‘Gender as performance’ – Judith Butler (Gender is constructed through a repeated set of actions, sex is a biological factor)
Contents Page
- Links to online website ‘menshealth.co.uk’, perhaps encouraging readers to move online to view the magazine – Moving into the digital world of social media.
- Reactionary representation of exercise, strength and fitness through links to articles within the magazine on the contents page. This is shown through image signifiers such as pictures of trainers, weights etc. Creating this unrealistic ideal that to be a ‘real’ man you must be physically at top performance. Although there is a radical representation through the inclusion of men of different ages and races.
- Typical male characteristics displayed through linking to an article with a picture featuring spanners, lock and key, cogs etc. Perhaps, men are ‘meant’ to be good with construction etc.
Article (within magazine)
- Main image of ‘The Marathon Man’ running.
- Inclusion of a quotation from him – Motivation and drive – “Your only limit is your self-belief”
- Q+A style interview signposted through bold font for question and different for answers.
- Iconic sign of a arrow, clearly marking that he is the topic of the conversation.
CSP – AUDIT (SEPT ’22)
Command Words
- Describe: Saying what you see and how this then links to a theory/ theorist/ concept.
- Compare: Drawing a conclusion between differences and similarities.
- Evaluate: Opinion
- Analyse: Picking apart.
- Knowledge: A fact that you can recall, something you can identify.
- Understanding: A deeper perception, fully being able to explain.
EVALUATION – PRESS
‘Press’ – Episode 3
- Habermas and the Transformation of the Public Sphere: The idea that there is a division between what is shared outwardly, in the media, and our own thoughts as a society.
- Following the printing press, these lines have begun to blur and the distinction between the private and public spheres is less relevant.
- ‘Arena of public debate’ in which a ‘public opinion’ is formed.
- The elite are being held to account/ accountability – Prince Andrew/ Epstein (abuse of power)
- Chomsky and Manufacturing Consent: Complicit links between those in power (Prime Minister and Editor of ‘THE POST’) and the media/ newspaper. A ‘window’ into the world, the media isn’t always a true perspective.
- Rules and Regulation – EP3 – The Herald was set to publish a story about a influential business man and how he manipulated younger women who were on his apprentice scheme. This story was found out by his lawyers and the news production was halted.
- Libel, Slander, Deformation
- TRUTH VS REALITY
PRODUCTION – NEWSPAPER
Statement of Intent
I intend to produce a front page of a newspaper with an audience are people of all ages living in the region who are interested in national and international news stories as well as stories relating specifically to the local area. My newspaper will be named “The Jersey Topic” and will comment on popular culture on the island of Jersey as well as hard news to do with politics, healthcare, and business etc. I imagine that this newspaper will present a relatively libertarian left wing political compass due to its heavy focus on humanity, culture and freedom over economics, business and politics. This links to Habermas’s ideas on the public sphere and how newspaper paved a way for creating a libertarian “arena of public debate” in which people had the freedom to express and discuss real world issues. I intend for this newspaper to “reflect a wide range of opinions and interests” (James Curran)
The main story featured on the front cover will be how the Jersey Opera House has been closed since the beginning of 2020. In the report I will focus on how the government has neglected the historical building due to a disregard towards the cultural industries. I will use previous news reports on the issue to help influence my own.
The headline for the front-page article will be “History left to ruin”. To accompany this, I will include two images of the building which highlight its abandonment as well as a subtitle which reads; “Abandoned culture neglected by lack of governmental support.” Following this will be a byline which reads: ‘By Charlie Dicker.’ As for layout and positioning, I will base my product on my style model, The Daily Mail newspaper (CSP) although I intend to include more copy/ ‘body’ text. The images I plan to include will be a long shot main image of the theatre building and then a close-up shot of the theatre logo, the caption on these photos will read; “Jersey Opera House, one of the islands most historical buildings, has been abandoned by the states”. To create my production, I intend to use a combination of ‘Adobe Photoshop’, ‘Microsoft Word’ (to write my copy) and ‘Adobe InDesign’. This will allow me to create the singular aspects to then compile it all together in one production piece. To create a realistic, professional newspaper design, I will include a series of ‘ears’ which link to other pages of the paper as well as a masthead, a barcode and columns for my body text.
I will structure the article using the ‘inverted pyramid of journalism’ model which explores how audiences read and decode news articles. Firstly, I will include factual, newsworthy, interesting information e.g. ‘Who, what, where, how, when’ which gives the basic background. This should be featured first to engage the passive audience with facts and figures which they can be ‘fed’. Secondly, I will appeal to the active audience who will read further, through continuing with more detailed accounts by using quotes from secondary sources before rounding the article off to a conclusion.
Having studied audience theories as well as theories on cultural institution, I will focus on the theory of Uses and Gratifications by Katz to link to the gratifications of consuming culture, in particular the theatre, as well as taking influence from David Hesmondhalgh’s theories on the creative industries and how creativity is a “risky business” which must be supported by certain strategies to reduce this risk.
CSP – NEWSPAPERS ESSAY
“Ideology can be defined as a collection of values and beliefs. To what extent do media products target audiences by constructing an ideological view of the world?”
The purpose of newspaper is to highlight global issues and to reflect the conversation of the ‘public sphere.’ Habermas (1989) says that the newspaper has allowed a libertarian expression of thought and opinion, he comments on how the media is an ‘arena of public debate’. Curran reinforces this ideology by saying that “the freedom to publish in the free market ensures that the press reflects a wide range of opinions and interests.” Different newspapers use their political stance to influence their target audiences, providing information that links to their ideological view of the world. ‘The Daily Mail’ and ‘The i’ provide us with opposing ideological viewpoints. ‘The Daily Mail’ constructs a right-wing political stance with support for the conservative party whilst ‘The i’ is presenting a more libertarian, central viewpoint.
‘The Daily Mail’ is the “Highest-circulated daily newspaper,” implying the popularity within the UK public. It is known as the “voice of Middle-England” suggesting that it represents traditional, archaic views that have continued from the paper’s conception in 1896 and direct correlation to Lord Rothermere, suggesting links to the British monarchy. The average reader demographic was aged 58 with over 50% of them being female. This could connote to the paper presenting an ideology relatable to an older generation or a less progressive sub-section of society. In the edition on Monday 6th June 2022, the paper’s political compass is presented through their support for the royal family and the conservative party at the time of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee and Boris Johnson facing a vote of no confidence. On the front page, their political ideologies are made obvious in the headline “magnificent celebrations,” “joyous jubilee.” Here, the paper is putting key importance on celebrating the status of the monarchy and are also hinting on their views towards nationalism and patriotism. These ideas a further perpetuated on page 6, in the line; “the final parade was so very British”. This highlights the national pride the paper holds and could presume their views on issues such as immigration as well as their representation of global news and other countries. Like many newspapers and media forms in general, the plethora of information is not a ‘transparent window’ into the truth of the world, the ideology of the paper is used to skew the truth and influence the passive reader into perceiving these views as fact. Chomsky says that the media works with the monarchy, the state and alongside with the ruling ideology. He highlights how the media are ‘hand in hand’ with the government to “manipulate” and “persuade” their audiences. In his book “manufacturing consent” he says that “(The media) is a mechanism that is deliberately used by the rich and the powerful (the elite).” Furthermore, on page 18, in the editorial (the voice of the newspaper), the Daily Mail’s support for the conservative party is reinforced through the statement in the title: “Boris is right”. A strong opposition to the labour party is also explored through the line: “If the Tories implode, they could let in the nightmare coalition of the Labour”. Essentially, they are suggesting that the UK is a one-party state, and any opposing political power is not good enough. This is repeated throughout the edition for example on page 3, when they comment on how there is “No alternative candidate” and page 23: “ousting PM now would be nothing less than insanity.” Clearly, they are trying to project to their target audience.
Habermas looks at the distinction between the private sphere, the issues that concern an individual, and the public sphere which is the societal discussion of issues facing the wider population. He comments on the libertarian nature of the media and says that “once the media is subject to public regulation, it will lose its bite;” the ability to comment freely on current affairs. ‘The i’ presents a less right wing, more left-wing ideology, which is more concerned with humanity over business, leaning towards more libertarian attitudes. Linking to Habermas, this paper represents a more diverse range of voices which pushes the public to the ‘forefront’ of the paper’s view. Contrastingly, the i is owned by the ‘Daily Mail General Trust (DMGT),’ a conglomerate which uses horizontal integration to merge ownership over a range of newspaper products including ‘The Daily Mail’ and ‘The Independent’ for the “Endgame: Profit.” This implies that they share similar ideologies which suggests that ‘The i’ has a more central political compass than what it presents. On page 22, a small column from a member of the LGBTQ+ community says that “pride month is an empty gesture” and expresses how Pride has been stripped of celebration for individuality it is now “one giant rainbow painted empty gesture”. Not only is this the paper’s way of diversifying its content but it is also allowing a criticism of society to be expressed. This opposes the ‘Daily Mail’ who were criticised in 2016 for describing a high court judge as “openly gay.” “Critics accused the Mail of unnecessarily highlighting the judge’s sexual orientation due to anti-gay motives.” As for the political compass of ‘The I’, the paper obviously seems representative of a more centralised viewpoint. This is reinforced by the fact that during the 2016 Brexit vote, the paper chose not to declare ‘leave’ or ‘remain’ and chose not to show support for a particular political party in the 2016 elections. A criticism towards the Royal Family is shown on page 3 in which the headline says, “A grand spectacle packed with pomp, silliness.” Here, ‘The i’ is criticizing the over- dramatic parades seen at the Queen’s jubilee, it also brings light to the lack of the Queens presence when a “grand” amount money and effort has been put into creating the Queen’s jubilee in the quote: “(The Queen) absent from party at the palace.”
Through Stuart Hall’s theory on encoding, decoding and implied and Barthes’ ideas on semiotics and the meanings of signs, we can evaluate the way in which the newspapers present their own viewpoint through their outlook on the world. Both papers construct different views on the world through their political compass although some of their views overlap.
HABERMAS AND CHOMSKY
Public vs Private Sphere
- The Public Sphere is the shared issues and problems we face as a shared group (society) and how those problems can be discussed freely together, whereas The Private Sphere is issues that concern the individual in personal life.
The Printing Press
- The Printing Press was created in Germany around 1440.
- This invention made way for the spread of news through a different media forms.
- ‘The Peterloo Masacre’
Habermas
- “Habermas argues that the development of early modern capitalism brought into being an autonomous arena of public debate.”
- Habermas says that the public sphere is “a virtual or imaginary community which does not necessarily exist in any identifiable space.” He commented at a time in which the media was becoming ‘rationalised’ and pushed the public to the ‘side-lines’
- ‘Arena of public debate’ in which a ‘public opinion’ is formed.
- Before the creation of print media through the printing press, the public weren’t able to read or write, inhibiting their ability to share opinions and information. Habermas says that the media paved the way to allow people to share thoughts, therefore make change in a freer, more libertarian way.
- “The primary role of the media is to act as a public watchdog, overseeing the state”
- “Once the media is subject to public regulation” it will lose its ability to comment freely on current affairs.
Noam Chomsky
Noam Chomsky (born 1928) is an American linguist, philosopher, cognitive scientist, historical essayist, social critic, and political activist.
- Chomsky says that the media works with the monarchy, the state and alongside with the ruling ideology to create a product that ‘manipulates’ and ‘persuades’ the audience to believe the view being presented as the truth.
- He is critical of the media, saying that it is hand in hand with the government.
- “(The media) is a mechanism that is deliberately used by the rich and the powerful (the elite)”.
- “Mass media firms are big corporations. Often, they are part of even bigger conglomerates. Their end game? Profit” – Noam Chomsky: The five filters of the mass media.
- The Propaganda Model: “It traces the routes by which money and power are able to filter out the news fit to print, marginalize dissent, and allow the government and dominant private interests to get their messages across to the public”
- ‘Manufacturing Consent’ – The media encourages consent.
- The media is not a transparent ‘window’ on the world. Like the public, the media has opinions and values which influence their presentation of the world.
5 Filters: The type of news published in the media
1.Structures of ownership
- Only a select few companies that own the media, therefore only a select few ideologies/ perspectives are being promoted.
- Conglomerates
- Endgame: Profit
- Critical (quality/accountability/education/discussion/thinking) journalism takes second place.
2.The role of advertising
- Advertisement fills the pay gap.
- The media is also selling a product for advertisers: the audiences.
3.Links with ‘The Establishment’
- Journalism encourages complicity
4.Diversionary tactics – ‘flak’
- The term “flak” has been used to describe what Chomsky and Herman see as efforts to discredit organizations or individuals who disagree with the politicial ideal.
- Distorting/ challenging/ undermining stories that don’t satisfy the powerholders through changing the focus.
5.Uniting against a ‘common enemy’
- A target
- Communism/ terrorism – Something to fear.
AGENDA SETTING, FRAMING, MYTH MAKING, CONDITIONS OF CONSUMPTION
CSP – THE I AND THE DAILY MAIL
- Left wing = More concerned with humanity; Collective
- Right wing = More concerned with economics/ business; Individualist.
- Authoritarian = The idea of power and control.
- Libertarian = The idea of freedom and liberty.
The Daily Mail
Audience:
- It has a majority female readership, with women making up 52–55% of its readers.
- Average age of its readers was 58.
- Is considered to be the voice of ‘Middle-England‘ (middle class england).
- “Highest-circulated daily newspaper. February 2020 show gross daily sales of 1,134,184 for the Daily Mail.”
The i
Audience:
- It is aimed at “readers and lapsed readers” of all ages and commuters with limited time (lapsed reader = They had not read since leaving formal education, or because their reading habits had been interrupted).
- The paper had an average daily circulation of 302,757 in March 2013.
- At the top of select pages there are links to the social media handles of ‘The i’, perhaps they are trying to connect to a younger audience, becoming more inclusive and progressive.
Page 20 – “Your view”, opinions from the audience (readers letters)
‘Collin and Kathy’ – Freedom of speech to present unheard voices. “Exposes the brutality of Israel’s treatment”
Essay Plan
“Ideology can be defined as a collection of values and beliefs. To what extent do media products target audiences by constructing an ideological view of the world?“
- Define authoritarian/ libertarian/ right/ left/ political compass
- Introduce CSP’s and key information about each paper.
The purpose of newspaper is to highlight global issues and to reflect the conversation of the ‘public sphere’. Habermas (1989) says that the newspaper has allowed a libertarian expression of thought and opinion, he comments on how the media is an ‘arena of public debate’. Curran reinforces this ideology by saying that “the freedom to publish in the free market ensures that the press reflects a wide range of opinions and interests.” Different newspapers use their political stance to influence their target audiences, providing information that links to their ideological view of the world. ‘The Daily Mail’ and ‘The i’ provide us with opposing ideological viewpoints. ‘The Daily Mail’ evidently constructs a right wing political stance with support for the conservative party whilst ‘The i’ is presenting a more libertarian, central viewpoint.
Analysis
| KEY THEME/ ISSUE/ KEY WORD | The Daily Mail (Textual evidence) | The Daily Mail (Institutional evidence) | The I (Textual evidence) | The I (Institutional evidence) |
| Globalization | August 2016: The ‘Daily Mail‘ began a partnership with ‘The People’s Daily‘, the official newspaper of the Chinese Communist Party. This partnership included publishing articles in the ‘MailOnline’ produced by The People’s Daily. The agreement appeared to observers to give the paper an edge in publishing news stories sourced out of China, but it also led to questions of censorship regarding politically sensitive topics. – Implies that the newspaper shares the views of ‘Communism’ through | |||
| Political stance (Right/Left, Conservative/ Labour, Authoritarian/Libertarian) | Page 3 – “Tory rebels”, “We are strongest when united”, “No alternative candidate” (The Daily Mail is supportive of this one party state) Suggesting that the UK is a one party state (right authoritarian). Authoritarian viewpoint Page 18 (Daily Mail Comment/ Editorial, the voice of the newspaper) – “Boris is right” “Humiliation, Malice, Superiority” “If the Tories implode, they could let in the nightmare coalition of the Labour etc.” Page 23 – Strong views of support for the conservative party “outsting PM now would be nothing less than insanity” | As a right-wing tabloid, the Mail is traditionally a supporter of the Conservative Party. Lord Rothermere was a friend of Benito Mussolini and Adolf Hitler, and directed the Mail’s editorial stance towards them in the early 1930s. According to a December 2004 survey, 53% of Daily Mail readers voted for the Conservative Party The paper is generally critical of the BBC, which it says is biased to the left – Right wing stance which seems more concerned with buisness and authority over humanity. | Front cover: ‘Johnson future turning toxic for Tories | ‘The i‘ chose not to endorse a political party throughout the 2016 elections. During the referendum on the United Kingdom’s membership of the European Union, held in June 2016, the paper chose not to declare for either “leave” or “remain” Nick Clegg, former UK Deputy Prime Minister and former leader of the Liberal Democrats, a centrist party, is a fortnightly columnist for The i. His column usually features in the “My View” comment section of the paper. Perhaps, the paper is a more ‘centralist’ viewpoint rather than supporting one political ideology. |
| Business over humanity | The ‘Daily Mail and General Trust’, the publishers of ‘The Daily Mail’, ‘The Independent’ and ‘The i’ etc. The Daily Mail is a conglomerate which uses horizontal integration to merge ownership over many newspaper products. | The paper and its website were bought by the Daily Mail and General Trust (DMGT) on 29 November 2019, for £49.6 million originally launched in 2010 as a sister paper to The Independent. | ||
| Patriotism/ Nationalism (support of own country) | Page 6 – National pride “final parade was so very British” Page 10 – “How the nation came together to put on a right royal spread Page 14 – “keep the togetherness”, “lets not go back to bickering after the weekend”- The Royal Family are presented as more important/ superior | |||
| Support for the Royal Family | Front page – “magnificent celebrations”, “joyous jubilee”- The paper seems to be in support of the monarchy, celebrating their status. Special insert with coverage of the Queen’s Jubilee – “our platinum queen” – Page 4 of insert “Our beacon of duty” | Front page – “Slimmed down Royal Family is revealed in Jubilee finale” Page 7 – “A grand spectacle packed with pomp, silliness” – ‘The i’ is criticizing the over dramatic parades seen at the Queen’s jubilee. (The Queen) “absent from so far, absent from party at the palace” – Bringing light to the lack of royal presentation when all this money and effort put into creating the Queen’s jubilee. | ||
| Power through authority | Page 20 – “Sturgeon keeps schtum over bullying inquiry” – Perhaps the paper is in support of the abuse of status/ authority . | |||
| Racial superiority/ Immigration | ||||
| Terrorism | ||||
| LGBTQ+ Representation | Page 21 – “backlash as transgender paedophile is spared jail” – Perhaps the newspaper perceives those in the LGBTQ+ community as dangerous individuals. | Page 22 – Representing the voice of a LGBTQ+ individual. Presenting diverse views. She says that “pride month is an empty gesture” and how Pride has been stripped of celebration for individuality it is now “one giant rainbow painted empty gesture”. | The Mail described one of the judges as “openly gay.” Critics accused the Mail of unnecessarily highlighting the judge’s sexual orientation due to anti-gay motives. | |
| Difference in Religion | ||||
| “From each according to his ability, to each according to his need” | ||||
| Education | Page 32 – Presenting the university ideal, concluding that higher education is the only way to success and knowledge. “My lifelong shame over failing to go to university” | |||
| Tax | ||||
| Reproduction | Page 39 – “decided to pay Svetlana to have their baby”, “your Ukrainian surrogate”, perhaps they are presenting this view that immigrants are objects of slavery. Ridiculing couples who rely on surrogacy to reproduce? | |||
| Commodification | ||||
| Regulation | ||||
| Money VS Unemployment | ||||
| The Military/ Violence | Page 28 – The paper is presenting this idea that the Military should be kept to deal with violence and not waste time on minor issues such as helping in an airport. – “The army is not a snap solution to every problem” | |||
| Representation of different countries. | Page 16 – Not a news story, an advert. “You should be reading this on the front page” – Use of statistics and numbers to shock the audience into making a change. Page 32 – ‘Panorama’ section which provides news stories from other countries over the world. Under-represented countries such as; ‘Cambodia’, ‘Bangladesh’, ‘ | |||
| Information fused with entertainment |
PRODUCTION – REGULATION CAMPAIGN
Statement of Intent
I intend to create 3 campaign print products around the theme of Media Regulation. I will base the campaign on the idea that there needs to be more strategies to regulate the amount of fake news and false information given out on social media. Being as the products will express opinion towards tighter restriction on the media, the main message behind the campaign will express elements of authoritarianism. The intended, target audience of the campaign would be young people, in particular sixth form students who use social media to engage in current issues. Each of the print products will be unique through the use of different designs whilst also having a link through coordinated branding.
The first product I intend to create is an A4 flyer which could be distributed to school students or included on a page in a magazine. I will create a border around the flyer with a background of a newspaper layout with the main background of the flyer being dark. The dominant signifier of the product will be the coordinated branding for the campaign overall which is the central text, anchorage – ‘Filter Out The Fake’ – To create this text and link it to the theme, I aim to cut letters out of newspaper and import the images into photoshop. At the top of the flyer I will include some quite authoritarian instruction in bold capital lettering saying “PROTEST FOR TIGHTER REGULATION OF THE MEDIA. STOP THE SPREAD OF FAKE NEWS.” I intend to further this idea through use of the hashtag ‘#FilterOutTheFake‘, this will not only encourage a way to easily share the campaign across social media sites but also for young people and teenagers to get involved. As for the second product, I intend to produce a landscape billboard poster. On this, I will fade a closeup image of a person covering their mouth and put this in black and white so it can fade from the dark background of the billboard. I intend for the person covering their mouth to encode the spreading of rumours, secrets and gossip on social media. Similarly, I will include the central branding with use of the newspaper text as well as including the hashtag. For the third product, I will create another A4 flyer that could be included in a magazine or distributed in schools. I aim to create a central, main image of a mobile phone open on the messaging app including anchorage of fake news spreading over text. Around the phone will be the main campaign text ‘Filter out the fake’ to create unity within the branding of all three products.
I imagine that my campaign would be produced by a authoritarian government who want the public to help protest against and help stop the spread of lies, gossip and fake news across the media, especially social media through use of hashtags to appeal to a younger demographic: teenagers and school pupils.
REGULATION
| Key Question | Focus | Specifics |
| Why Regulate? | – Truth – Child protection – Political bias – To abide by law – Criminal activity – Health and safety – Ownership – Privacy – Slander – Reputation – Morals/Ethics | – War in Ukraine – COVID – Johnny Depp VS Amber Heard Court trial – Elon Musk buying out twitter – Power of status |
| Who regulates what? | – Government – Individuals – Specialist bodies (eg. Ofcom) – Internal regulation within companies (Code of Conduct, HR) – Self regulation – Key individuals (eg. celebrities, influencers, opinion leaders) | – IPSO (Newspaper and Magazine ) – ITU (Radio) – Ofcom (Complaints for broadcasting) – BBDC (Cinema) – PEGI (Video games/ Games in general) – PRS (Music) |
| How will regulation be put in place? | – Privacy – Data protection – Copyright | |
| What gets regulated? | – Radio – Newspaper – TV/Film – Games – Magazine – Social Media – The News – The internet – Books |
Libertarianism = The idea of being free from control and regulation. The freedom of expression without being told what to do by authority.
Authoritarianism = Society in which people are oppressed by the state and are told what to do/ regulated.
Epicurus
- 3 ways of finding happiness: Friends, Family and an analysed life.
- He studied happiness and revealed that money isn’t a way to finding happiness
- Hedonism = The word is derived from the Greek ‘hedone’ (“pleasure”). The idea that human behaviour seeks increase of pleasure and a decrease of pain, pleasure should be the ultimate goal.
The Frankfurt School
The Frankfurt School was a school of social theory and critical philosophy associated with the Institute for Social Research, at Goethe University Frankfurt in 1929.
Key Ideas, they theorized that …
- Pleasure was commodified in the media and in popular culture. The idea that the media sells a perfect idea that money can buy happiness.
Mary Whitehouse and Media Watch UK
- Mary Whitehouse (1910-2001) was a British school teacher who left her job to become a conservative activist
- She campaigned for less social liberalism and against the British media which she thought promoted a ‘permissive society’ in the 1960’s. She was against the society of the time which saw the rise in the civil rights and gay rights movements, 2nd wave feminism and the right to contraception and abortion.
- She based her ideas of off traditional Christian teachings
- Founded the ‘National Viewer’s And Listener’s Association’ (now known as Media Watch UK).
- As the president of the group, she used the organization as a way to criticize the BBC for their portrayals of sex, violence and use of bad language.