THEORY REVISION
All posts by Sonny Bertram
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The Voice (CSP)
What is it
- The voice is a British national African-Caribbean newspaper based in UK
- Between 1982 and 2019 they published every Thursday
- Now publish monthly in paper and have an online edition + has a website
- In 2012 journalists from the voice were denied entry into the Olympic Stadium (Generational Oppression)
- Attempted to countertype negative portrayals of African Americans
Semiotics Revision
- Sign – Anything that can convey meaning (e.g Road signs indicate/convey/mean danger)
- Signifier- Means / connotations to something else (the signified) e.g image or facial expression
- Signified- The thing that the signifier mean / is relating to
- Index – Describes the connection between signifier and signified
- Ideology – Set of opinions or beliefs (e.g Religion)
- Syntagm – Group of symbols / signs that form meaning when together
CSP’S – https://hautlieucreative.co.uk/media23al/wp-content/uploads/sites/58/2022/04/2023-A-level-Media-Studies-Close-Study-Products-v1.5.pdf
New Media
Sentience – The ability to perceive and feel
Artificial intelligence is the simulation of human intelligence processes by machines, especially computer systems.
Specific applications of AI include expert systems, natural language processing, speech recognition and machine vision.
- the transformation of social interaction (audiences);
- the transformation of individual identity (audiences and representation);
- the transformation of institutional structures (industry); and the changes in textual content and structure (language).
- The transformation of audience consumption
media has gone from straight forward processes such as sending a letter to someone, into lightspeed communication between each other.
Nowadays people don’t go back forth to each other but share information online, while allowing other people to use it.
New technology influences-
Speed
Knowledge
Times
Space (Communication)
Understanding
Access
Participation
Reality
Privacy
Chose
Interactivity
Storage
Retrieval
Flexability
–
we do not think in a linear or sequential way, but associatively and sensorial, so that information is linked to patterns, consequences, almost like nodes of hyperlinked information.
- on avg americans check their phone 344 times a day
- 15-16yr olds who have high digital media use are more likely to develop ADHD
- Olivia Blackmore uses social media for 19 hours a day (source- Dr Mckinlay)
Loop Theory- Predictive behaviour which is shaped and altered through networking and digital communications
Issues around wellbeing and privacy
Internet has affected media consumption (obviously)
Audience behaviour has progressed passed passive consumption into interactive consumption.
Free will is an illusion as behaviour is either a reaction/response to your environment or is random
Some themes and discussion points from Great Hack:
- The Exchange of Data (That users didn’t know existed, people think platforms are free but you pay with data)
- Search for Truth (
- Behaviour Management (Manipulation)
- Propaganda / Persuasion (specifically targeting millions without anyone knowing)
- Regulation (Is it possible to regulate this stuff / is a fair election ever possible again/ how do u even regulate it lol)
Roger McNamee – “Facebook marries propaganda techniques to those of casino gambling”
Jaron Lanier
-People who don’t use social media are assets to society as they provide perspective
-Social media users are in essence turning into automated extensions of the platforms
-Social media isn’t bad for addicting as that’s their business model- the problem is the persuasion/influencing which as abuse of power
-Interests have shifted from using automated machine processes to know about your behaviour to using machine processes to shape your behaviour according to their interests
| NEW MEDIA | OLD MEDIA | COMMENT OR EXAMPLE |
| Active involvement | Passive involvement | Shows such as the voice, in which the audience is a part of the show (By voting on/through their phones) whereas there used to be no involvement by the viewer. |
| Two-way conversation | One-way conversation | |
| Open system | Closed system | “closed” system old way of doing things: broadcasting from a single control point to a passive mass audience and allowing for virtually no feedback or participation – Or when there is a feedback channel, it’s narrow and tightly controlled. Online media function differently, however, because by their very nature, they’re two-way or multi-way systems |
| Transparent | Opaque | Media transparency deals with the openness and accountability of the media and can be defined as a transparent exchange of information subsidies based on the ideas of newsworthiness. Saying the the medias were supposedly less transparent with their techniques & agendas whereas now they are somewhat more transparent. |
| One-on-one marketing | Mass marketing | Company’s such as Cambridge Analytica being able to manipulate social media feeds to target very specific individuals. |
| About Me | About You | |
| Brand and User-generated Content | Professional content | |
| Authentic content | Polished content | |
| FREE platform | Paid platform | Media/ company’s are moving away from straight up paid products, to “free” services/products where you are essentially paying for the product by data they are collecting on you. |
| Metric: Engagement | Metric: Reach/ frequency | |
| Actors: Users / Influencers | Actors/ Celebrities | |
| Community decision-making | Economic decision-making | |
| Unstructured communication | Controlled communication | |
| Real time creation | Pre-produced/ scheduled | |
| Bottom-up strategy | Top-down strategy | |
| Informal language | Formal language |
Sims FreePlay
What is Sims Freeplay?
- Computer game in which you control “Sims” creating a life/building around the in game characters.
- Hyperreality (literally is real life)
- Game is based around the “freemium” price model in which the actual game is free, but users are constantly urged to buy expansion packs and other extras
Media Language
- Codes and conventions are used in this video game to influence meaning.
- Due to developing technologies Sims Freeplay is able to give consumers constant updates and now used on the mobile and other devices instead of just computer consoles.
- As a life simulation game Sims Freeplay includes many normative codes and values. They include features such as being married to have a child and also being able to own a house as a teen.
- The application of a semiotic approach will aid the analysis of the way in which the website creates a narrative about the world its constructing.
- The genre convention of life simulation can be identified and discussed in relation to other CSP.
- The narrative is driven through various quests in which the gamer would have to complete throughout the life. There are also a completion of having a successful life which could motivate the gamer to carry on playing.
- Narrative in context of online material can refer to the way that the images and the selection of stories construct a narrative about the world.
- Sims Freeplay provides a useful case study for the discussion of Baudrillard’s concept of simulacra and hyperreality.
Media Representations
This product provides a wide range of opportunities to study representation. These include self-representation and representations of reality. The representation of gender, ethnicity, religious affiliation and age in the Sims franchise have been an on-going subject of debate and there have been notable changes as the series has evolved.
- Representation of particular social groups.
- Producers are constructing these representations so that the audience can decode the values.
- Sims Freeplay seems to represent individualist cultural traditions and values.
- Sims construct and function stereotypes to generalise their audience.
- It has optimistic views of the world and claims realism.
- Audience response to representation and issues around identity.
Media Industries
Sims Freeplay is a spin-off from the highly popular and successful Sims franchise. It is an example of the freemium commercial model – increasingly popular for app developers – in which the basic content is free but premium content is a paid supplement. This game is a case study example of diversification and technological change as the video game industry has started to shift away from a reliance on hard copy console and PC products to streaming and to apps for tablets and mobile phones.
- The use of diverse digital platforms
- Video games are rated in the UK (Pegi Rating System)
- A study of the Sims franchise will also engage with the effect cultural producers have on media industries.
Media Audiences
This can be discussed in relation to some general trends in the industry such as the gradual shift away from a heavily male-dominated target audience. Also, the reaction of some reviewers and regulators to Sims Freeplay is indicative of wider concerns about potentially negative influences that video games are claimed to exert on players, particularly young players. These debates an be seen in the context of competing theoretical approaches to the audience
- Sims Freeplay is marketed to predominantly youth audience.
- The interaction between audience, product and digital platform and the opportunities for audience involvement.
- Differing interpretations by different groups.
Social and Cultural Contexts
A discussion of the social and cultural context of Sims Freeplay will focus o the rapid growth and development of the video game industry and the debates about representation and effects,
https://quizlet.com/gb/525164078/sims-flash-cards/
Gaming Regulation
Media industries are subject to regulation to help protect
audiences (Livingstone and Lunt) – especially younger audiences.
Games are regulated (in Europe) by PEGI (Pan European Game
Information). PEGI offer ratings for games to help audience make
informed decisions when buying games. The ratings are based
on the content of the games, specifically the use of violence,
bad language, sex, drugs, discrimination and how scary the
game is. PEGI do not regulate the games industry by enforcing
age limits on purchases or access to a game, they simply offer
information to help consumers make an informed choice.
Teen Vogue
What is it?
Teen Vogue is an American online publication, formerly in print, launched in January 2003, as a sister publication to Vogue, targeted at teenagers. Like Vogue, it included stories about fashion and celebrities. Teen Vogue is a monthly periodical. Each issue of Teen Vogue is created by a staff of approximately 45 people working under the Editor in Chief, Amy Astley.
Ownership
Published by Condé Nast (Owns Vogue, The New Yorker, Architectural Digest), & Advance Publications. Vogue also sells mid-high end clothes.
Target Audience
Obviously primarily teens, but although the brand name suggests a teenage audience, the typical Teen Vogue reader has evolved in recent years. The move to more political content has broadened the appeal and changed the genre – young women now expect more from their media. Teen vogue uses means specific to their audience such as popular opinion leaders (Two Step Flow) to engage their readers.
“Before It’s in Fashion, It’s in Vogue,”
Vogue Slogan
- Teen Vogue shifted from 10 prints a year to 4 prints a year, and has now moved to entirely digital (reduce costs + follow trends of younger viewers)
- Teen Vogue, launched in February 2003, delivers 27 million-plus monthly impressions through a combination of TeenVogue.com, multiple social media platforms, and a robust video channel
20 MARK QUESTION REVISION
HOW ARE BAUDRILLARD’S IDEAS OF SIMULATION AND HYPERREALITY TO UNDERSTANDING MEDIA-You should refer to the Close Study Products x2 in your answer-
- What is hyperreality in media? it is suggested that there is a difference between the media and reality and what they represent. Hyperreality is the inability of consciousness to distinguish reality from a simulation of reality, especially in technologically advanced societies.
- Postmodernism is loosely defined and hard to apply- broadly a characteristic in media products that demonstrates a distrust of established rules and theory, often by drawing attention to its own status as a fictional product- for example may feature a camera talking directly to the audience, breaking the rules of cinema, being as trashy or as awful as possible, making no sense, jumping backwards and forwards in time and space, or deliberately challenging philosophies such as religion and cultural hegemony
- Hyperreality – “A representation of nothing. A representation of something that does not exist. Through the use of hyperreal imagery, audiences now confuse the signs of the real for the real. And in many cases, the hyperreal is far more attractive than reality itself”
- Verisimilitude– the appearance of being true or real.
postmodernism definitions
| Postmodernism | relativism and a focus on ideology in the maintenance of economic and political power |
| Pastiche | A serious parody, using elements from original |
| Parody | the film talks about the film at the end when different characters talk about their own characterisation, acting, role in the narrative etc |
| Bricolage | skill of using whatever is at hand and recombining all that to create something new. |
| Intertextuality | relationship between different texts |
| Referential | the film talking about the film is REFERENTIAL (ie it refers to itself), for example when they are passionate and Allegro tells (us?) what the function of this scene is. Also at the end when each character analyses each character – motivation, script, narrative function etc |
| Metanarrative | |
| Hyperreality | Baudrillard suggests we live in a world that is ‘real’ but not really ‘real’ we can see that in the film in that we are never quite sure what is the real world or the game world? |
| Simulation (sometimes termed by Baudrillard as ‘Simulacrum’) | Baudrillard suggests that we live in copies of copies of the real world (?) but not really ‘real’ and we see this in the film because there are so many layers of game |
| Consumerist Society | Society where meaning is based on the desire and consumption of material things |
| Fragmentary Identities | |
| Alienation | |
| Implosion | sudden failure or collapse of an organization or system. |
| cultural appropriation | |
| Reflexivity |
Radio Show planning
Brief
Plan
- Sound intro ~30 secs
- Speaking intro ~1 minute
- Burt Cope- Time ~3 minute
- Speak about song (maybe link to BBC) ~ 1.5 mins
- Mush x Klem – Foolish~ 2min 35
- Oliver Tree – Miss You ~ 3 mins
- Goddard + Venbee – Messy in Heaven 2 min 50 sec
- Sonny speak about messy in heaven being 4th in the charts for 2 minutes
- Status Quo -Rockin All Over The World 3min 35sec
- Nia Archives – Biana 2min 32sec
- Stereophonics – Dakota 5 min
- Sub Focus- Follow The Light (Pola & Bryson Remix) – 5min
- Dylan/Charlie Speak 3 mins Why Eggs are being rationed
- https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-63743217
- Speed – World Cup Song 4 minutes
- Dylan speak abt it
- Piri & Tommy – On and on (Sudley remix) 4min 34sec
- Unglued – Born In 94′ 5 min
- 5 Banned or Not Banned In Qatar
Banned or not banned
- Adult Content (magazines/toys) BANNED
- Clash Royal NOT BANNED
- Duty Free Alcohol BANNED
- Fizzy Drinks NOT BANNED
- E Cigarettes BANNED
- Holy Books BANNED
- Vegan Food NOT BANNED
- Bacon BANNED
- Fireworks BANNED
PUBLIC SERVICE BROADCASTING – RADIO CSP’S (AND TELEVISION RE-CAP)
| Theme | Newsbeat | War of the wrlds |
| AUDIENCE (ACTIVE / PASSIVE) | Newsbeat has adapted to the younger generations short attention span who need their news in short digestible chunks instead of being complex and requiring thought however Audiences are more active, they are not just given programmes that they want but are given what they need (Paternalism) as a result of not being arsed to look further | The broadcast of wotw + the reaction raises debate and evidence regarding lazarsfield’s theory about passive audiences |
| AUDIENCE (LAZARSFELD) (active/passive) | Theory on people being drawn to those with similar opinions, BBC is essentially an opinion leader | |
| AUDIENCE (HALL) | The Newsbeat producers hope their short-form news stories will engage their audience and keep them up to date about the latest events around the world. This is the preferred reading. Some listeners might appreciate the snackable content but will be then turn to other sources for the stories behind the headlines. This could be considered a negotiated reading. Other listeners will simply reject the encoded message and construct their own meanings. Perhaps the news stories are irrelevant to their own situations. They might even tune into another station if they just want to hear music. | the anticipated reading was it was fictional, rejected reading was that it was really happening |
- Press/newspapers negatively reporting on TWOTW, as radio was still a new media form