War of the Worlds is an early example of a hybrid radio form, adapting the H.G Welles story using news and documentary conventions. 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 behaviour
War of the Worlds was broadcast by Columbia Broadcasting Company – an institution still in existence (in a very different form) today.
At the time, radio and broadcasting was seen as direct competition to newspapers.
How do the cultural and historical circumstances affect the audience’s interpretation of media texts? Refer to the Close Study Product War of the Worlds in your answer
Viewer Reception
Mrs Fisher
-CE Hooper ratings survey – 98% of the people they surveyed weren’t actually listening to the broadcast, from a survey taken on the night of the broadcast
uses energetic, engaging presenters to present complex real world news to younger audience
Main 15 minute newsbeat program is played over digital audio broadcast (DAB) frequencies at 12:45 and 17:45 during most weekdays
you can hear the show on Newsbeat online “You just need to sign in with your BBC account. This enables the corporation to offer you personalised suggestions based on your BBC Sounds history. Importantly, they also share your personal data with TV Licensing to make sure you are paying your hypothecated tax.”
target audience 15-29 year olds
Radio broadcasting is regulated by Ofcom (office of communications)
increased competition with other outlets due to rise in social media popularity
attempted to combat this competition by posting their content on other platforms as well as taking a multi-platform approach ensures the product remains relevant to its audience.
Newsbeat delivers its reports and stories with a very distinct style. The producers hope to appeal to their listeners by framing the content through an informal tone, quick overviews, upbeat links, and audience participation.
NEWSBEAT PREFFERRED READING – “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”
There are many factors which might influence our position to the programme, such as age, values and ideology, geography and even our mood
Good camera work- clear shots, good lighting, interesting shots
Definite target audience
Allow you to form emotional connection -by showing characters in vulnerable situations
Political components – Herald Left wing, Post Right Wing
Populism– political approach that strives to appeal to ordinary people who feel that their concerns are disregarded by established elite groups.
Paternalism– the policy or practice on the part of people in authority of restricting the freedom and responsibilities of those subordinate to or otherwise dependent on them in their supposed interest.
Frankfurt School– German school of social theory, guy believed free time should be used to better yourself instead of distracting/ entertaining yourself
What was once unseen to many due to different geographical locations could now be witnessed by many people due to television
Radio meant that people in other countries could hear other people/ cultures for the first time
Also meant that issues that were once unseen by majority were brought into public sphere
Broadcasting and the theory of public service
British broadcasting was started as a public service
Growth of public broadcasting was financed by license fee and advertisements
BBC created the image/idea that viewers became participants in their nations affairs
Comely is a word used to describe someone as good looking and attractive- however not in an objectifying way
Owned by iceberg press
The magazine is very feminine and aimed towards women to start to get to know themselves rather than wanting to be someone else.
Displayed, but not in a sexual way
Cover features strong words such as power, wisdom and strong- which are often not associated with women, especially in/on magazines
Could be considered radical, as not presenting women as objects to be desired (the male gaze)
Common them in the magazine is to inform and empower as opposed to men’s health in which you are constantly presented a constructed reality by big corporations in order to sell you things, such as the idea that men and women must look certain ways such as men being strong and women using makeup to look attractive. THIS MAGAZINE IS THE OPPOSITE (throughout the whole magazine*****)
Only publish once every 2 months – shows that the producers are less bothered about gaining sales and more bothered about the quality and high minded content that benefits the reader
Absence of men throughout
Plain layout with just photos and the relevant articles- no flashy logos or design features
All images of women are natural, with them wearing somewhat casual clothes without any promiscuous or suggestive angles that could objective them. Furthermore, another oh comely volume 24 edition1 features a woman with a diabetes CGM monitor on her arm.
98% of readers female
editor is Lisa Sykes-used to work for Hearst UK (owns men’s health)
Features no adverts, but briefly mentions how you can subscribe in a friendly way- merely just suggesting without using aggressive buzzwords
conventional stereotype of women used to be house wives, passive, little opinions and personality, living in a patriarchal world
challenges the 2 step flow theory in which opinions flow from mass media, to opinion leaders, then onto the wider population as it does not present any opinions- it just presents you with these empowering stories about women- to do with their lives and their stories.
5 filters of media (ownership; advertising; official sources; flak; and manufactured consent. 1) corporations often own more than u think, 2) advertisers fill the gap by making you the product, 3) those reporting and those reported are essentially one, 4) flak is when a story doesn’t work for someone in power so they will ruin your story, 5) creating a common enemy
James Curran
Wrote the book “Media and Power” arguing that patterns of ownership and control are the most significant factors in how the media operate. Media is controlled by only a few companies. Quality as suffered as those involved are more profit driven.
Could reference with an example of a “news” paper which has clearly been commercialised
Jean Seaton
Jurgan Habermaus
public sphere, not a physical thing, public sphere- Everyone i.e where the free discussion and debate of ideas occurs private sphere- just you i.e where the free discussion and debate of ideas occurs. Brought into existence mainly by newspapers
Could be used to describe the level on which a conversation is being had (or where an issue has gone from private sphere to public sphere)
Steve Neal, states that genres all contain instances of repetition and difference, difference is essential to the to the economy of the genre, Repertoire of elements, Hybrid genres,
Key Terms for industry business ownership
Private Limited, Public Limited (corporations), Partnership, 1 owner (proprietorship) or Monopoly’s, Cross media ownership, vertical/horizontal integration
Public Service Broadcasting
Supplied by a government organization, curran and seaton, chomsky, Habermas
Duetshland 83 is a collab between channel 5 and german psb
STUART HALL
.
What Do I Know
What Do I Understand
Stuart Hall
Reception theory, media products are encoded by the write then uncoded by the reader, sometimes differently. Dominant, negotiated, oppositional viewing. (Media controlled by elites, who give the representation of things you may not have experienced) Dominant/Preferred Reading – The audience accept and agree with the messages put forward in the media text Negotiated Reading – The audience agree with some part but reject or are opposed to other parts Oppositional Reading – The audience reject the messages that are trying to be conveyed and do not accept/agree with them
George Gerbner
Cultivation theory- which suggest those who frequently consume media view the world through its representation in said media forms (leading to acceptance of mainstream ideology’s) and not through real world experience (mainstreaming) . He also states those who view particularly violent media products may suffer from “Mean World Syndrome” and in turn view the world as more dangerous than it actually is.
Clay Shirky
Theory on how Gerber’s ideas are no longer applicable as the masses have moved on as media has deeply expanded and diversified (i.e moved on)
Laswell (Communication Model)
Cultivation theory- which suggest those who frequently consume media view the world through its representation in said media forms (leading to acceptance of mainstream ideologies) and not through real world experience (mainstreaming)
Example- Doesn’t challenge social and cultural contexts, it jsut conforms to them. ( standard stereotype of a straight male on cover
Owned by Hearst, american business information conglomerate– so is less likely to be trying to be innovative and challenging social and cultural contexts as they are more interested in churning out generic likeable content to gain sales and money- furthermore Hearst also owns women’ health, showing that they are less of a specialised magazine aimed at helping men stay healthy and more of a business venture.
George Gurbner– Theory talks about how repeated exposure to media forms can warp your perception of reality leading you to believe the world is just like what you are seeing on platforms such as in video games or in movies which can lead to “mean world syndrome” – this magazine is a good example as it is a constant stream of examples of the “ideal man” either dressed up in a suit with a beard or in the gym with large muscles. Constantly being exposed to things like this can over time create an unrealistic idea of what it takes to be a man
Laura Mulvey Male Gaze– theory is about how the majority of media products are produced in a way that is meant to please the average straight, heterosexual man. An example of this in men’s health would be on page 148, in which Givenchy is attempting to sell to the ready by presenting a masculine man applying their product, with a woman posing in a suggestive manner in the background
Points
Print magazines, however around a quarter of purchases are digitally
The majority of those print copies purchased are made by women
There is a dominant ideology of men needing to be big and strong
There is a constructed stereotype that is being reinforced by media products such as this that it is normal for the average male to look like the man on the cover of men’s health, which is also convenient for most companies, as it helps sell the idea of men looking like this so they can sell more products.
Men’s health has identified its target audience, which is primarily men aged 15+, more specifically a more impressionable group of people who have taken an interest in their health, most likely after being heavily influenced by other things
Men’s health also aims for young men who are particularly impressionable and somewhat vulnerable as it offers a somewhat collective identity (men wanting to get fit) and a sense of belonging which would be appealing to most
features a counter-stereotype, of a 75-year-old running a marathon
the cover features masculine buzzwords such as blast, demolish, slay, war, burn
Constructed reality (of what men should look like)
Centred around the man
Dominant colour blue as blue is often linked to boys “boy colour” – reactionary, stereotype
Surrounded by bold, idealistic quotes
very subtle features/elements such as barcode, price, date
The anchor is large and dominant with a small design feature of vin diesels head being brought on top
using the actor vin diesel represents gender stereotype of men
FOFO Task
Owned by Hearst, american business information conglomerate, owns multiple magazines.
Hearsst owns half of a&e cable network
William R.Hearst III now chairs Hearst Corp., which owns more than 360 businesses.
ownership of weekly newspapers including the Houston Chronicle, San Francisco Chronicle, San Antonio Express-News and Albany Times Union; more than 200 magazines
Men’s Health magazine had an average monthly reach of around 1.8 million individuals in the United Kingdom from April 2019 to March 2020
At one point between 1920 to 1930 Hearst was the biggest media conglomerate in the world
The magazine was acquired by the Bauer Media Australia, which purchased Pacific Magazines in May 2020. In July 2020, publication of the magazine ceased.
For my NEA i will be creating the front cover for a newspaper called Jersey News Today, using the style model` from the newspaper ‘The i’ which will feature a story about how Tiktok is actually part-owned by a Chinese entity ByteDance, which is harvesting mass amounts of data from unsuspecting users while also mentally affecting users with its addicting infinity scroll mechanic- while linking to theory’s such as Andrew Lewis‘ theory on how “If you are not paying for the product , then you are the product”, as well as Stuart Hall’s theory on passive audiences- leading on to Habermaus‘ theory on the private and public sphere regarded how this data breach lead Tiktok to go from peoples private spheres to the public sphere.
Along with this I will be producing 3 flyers aimed towards college aged students (16-20) to raise awareness about why you should be careful how much time you spend on your phone as well as how much data you share online
My front cover will feature a large masthead reading “The Jersey Times”. Below this will be a photo of someone using the app with the title “Tiktok mass mining data and brainwashing youths” below this will be the body article featuring the main story in around 250 words and will take up 1/3 of the page. Alongside this story will be 3 “plugs” referencing other stories inside the paper such as “Youths on mopeds causing havoc on Jersey roads” and “Jersey native bean crock faces extinction”
My newspaper will be aimed toward a primarily left-wing, libertarian audience by providing an unbias and unpolitical approach to reporting current events and news stories while still trying to make it interesting to engage the islanders who get bored of island life.
I will compose my articles on the blog and then add them into InDesign to arrange them, as well as use photoshop to alter images so that they are properly scaled and adjusted before adding them into Indesign.
Alongside this newspaper page I will be creating three flyers/posters to raise awareness of how modern social media apps are designed to hook the user, make them addicted and then harvest lots of their date to sell on for a profit. These flyers will include the hashtag #whatsurscreentime to encourage young people to post and open up about how much time they spend on their phones, leading to talks on how it could be a problem. I will be laying these flyers out in the style of the pages inside apples settings app as lots of young adults will be familiar will the layout thus engaging them further.
Task 1
Finished Task 1
Notes
Tiktok uses infinite scroll to get users hooked
Lots of research done by Tiktok to work out the ideal placement of buttons to ensure the user can keep scrolling effortlessly
Task 2
Plan for 3 flyers
Make gen z aware of how they are being taken advantage of by big conglomerates
Feature the hashtag #whatsurscreentime
1st Flyer Draft
2nd flyer Draft
3rd Flyer draft
Final Versions
Task 3
-Double Page Spread
First body of text
On the 18th of April 2022, EU regulations regarding enterprises use of the data gathered on their customers were updated as a result of continued misuse of by conglomerates, like Wonga, the payday loan company, which was hit by a huge data breach in 2017 that compromised the bank details of 250,000 customers. It is data breaches like this that bring to light these big companies lack of care for the privacy of millions of users data – which most of the time has being collected without user consent, solely for the company to sell to make a profit on.
As a result of this new legislation being implemented, many companies have been left scrambling to meet the month long deadline to get their databases in order with the new law- which includes citations such as . Not only does the new legislation contain new rules such as the amount of data companies are allowed to take on their users without validation/reason- but also includes strict new guidelines regarding the security in which said data is kept. This will be forcing thousands of companies with user bases exceeding 100,000 active users per annum to conform to the latest cyber security rules. In the cases of many of these companies, these strict new rules may come at great expense as consultations from cyber security have proven to be very expensive in the new era.
It was in March of this year when a small social media campaign started with the hashtag #whatsurscreentime, urging users to check their screen time to see which apps were suspiciously running in the background, as well as shedding light on the ways in which everyday apps harvest data from unknowing users to profit from their unethical sale and distribution. After this campaign became globalised, British MP’s were forced by excessive lobbying by the public to increase regulations regarding how companies handle users data.
This recent push for transparency among global leaders in social media led to exposure of one specific company – ByteDance. ByteDance Ltd. is a Chinese internet technology company headquartered in Beijing and incorporated in the Cayman Islands. Founded by Zhang Yiming, Liang Rubo and a team of others in 2012, ByteDance developed the video-sharing social networking services and apps TikTok and Chinese-specific counterpart Douyin. It was revealed that TikTok was ‘selling’ more than half of its database to the company- which included a lot more than is disclosed to the reader upon signing up to the platform.
Second Body of Text
This is not the first time social media giant Tiktok has been in the spotlight recently – in 2020 research into Tiktoks astronomical rates of global growth determined that a huge chunk of their recourses are allocated to finding and developing new ways to keep users swiping. This involves extensive research into the placement of buttons on the app in order to achieve the easiest user interface- a key factor in keeping the audience using for longer.
Alongside Tiktok’s addictive interface it was also found that the app has a team dedicated to researching into the algorithm used on the “For You” page of the app. This page is an endless scroll of videos that the app’s algorithm determines you will like. It has been dubbed as the most valuable digital real estate in the world. It is the core of what makes the app tik (pun intended). Every time the TikTok app is opened, notice that the user will land on the “For You” page and not its “Following” page. TikTok’s algorithm is designed to keep you coming back for more. With each video you watch, TikTok learns something about you. Within a few hours, it can detect your music tastes, sexual orientation, mental health, and sense of humour. So if you watch a video of a cute dog, TikTok will show you another pet video. This may seem harmless at first glance but it has recently proving a problem as studies have identified strong links between extensive mobile phone use and rising depression rates among teens. Upon extensive use of the platform users may find themselves getting roped into various tiktok trends and challenges, such as posting a montage of old pictures of themselves to show how they’ve changed – but this is where it becomes concerning.
Recently, TikTok made a change to its U.S. privacy policy, allowing the company to “automatically” collect new types of biometric data, including what it describes as “faceprints” and “voiceprints.” TikTok’s unclear intent, the permanence of the biometric data and potential future uses for it have caused concern among experts who say users’ security and privacy could be at risk. China is one of the most watched countries in the world, with 54 percent of the world’s cameras are located in China, which would equate to 540 million CCTV cameras as of 2021. This biometric data taken by Tiktok could be assumed many uses, the most prevailing being to build up a global database capable of recognising millions of people just by using Tiktok alone.
Tiktok doesn’t just take your biometric data- after a freedom of information request was put into Tiktok as a result of the new legislation it was found that Tiktok records your location even when you do not have the app open. However, it doesn’t stop there. Not only is Tiktok tracking your real-life activities, but they also track your online activities. Part of their impressive algorithm tracks what you do in other apps in order to narrow down the content shown to you in order to make it more personalized. This could mean tracking your search history, chats with friends, or frequently visited sites. Reports by white hat security experts (aka people who hack in order to test security boundaries and alert the public to threats) According to the outlet, their findings were verified by five independent experts. These studies contained info showing that Tikok collects more info than any other social network.
The “title” Tiktok has earned as the data harvesting kingpin has brought attention to the vulnerability of younger generations as many kids have been know to simply “not care” about the tabs being kept on them as it simply does not directly affect them
Third Body of Text
“Our integration with Tiktok is purely for the convenience of the user and TikTok’s data handling policing is not a result of our partnership/actions”
Why should I care about sharing my data?
Generation Z’s profound love for Tiktok has not only proven to be a wakeup call in regards to how excessive use social media can negatively affect your mental and physical health, but also shines light on how quick mega corporations are to exploit such a venerable generation for profit – while also creating problems such as self consciousness and unrealistic standards- but its not just large companies Alongside these personal problems that these new mediums of communication and entertainment create, there lies another problem of people simply just not caring about their privacy online- which can prove to be a problem later on for a few reasons. One being if someone gains enough information on you it can be used for exploitation. This is a particular problem on our island, because Jersey is one of the worlds most active financial hubs- making its residents extra venerable to being targeted by data harvesting and fraud. Being loose with your privacy makes you a massive target; and living in Jersey adds to those odds. According to Loop, the average person should at least be worried about the potential for identity theft.
Graph Caption
As data from this graph made by the BIOSMR (British Institute of Social Media Research) shows TikTok has had a sudden spike in users since 2017. This has a lot of likely causes, including the covid 19 induced lockdown that lasted around 2 years between 2020 to early 2022 which left a majority of the population stuck inside with not much to do apart from scroll endlessly to waste time online. It also shows Tiktok has exceeded 1 Billion active users, making it one of only 6 platforms to gain such a large audience.
Poster Caption
Ever since Facebooks infamous data breach of Facebook’s user info which left millions of users personal information up for viewing in 2014, an unknown group has started to raise awareness among social media users in an attempt to inform the public about how much information you really give out online as well as giving warning to the younger generations about how addictive social media is.
China mass mining data and brainwashing our youths right under our noses
Recent classified info uncovers the true extent of china’s part ownership of Tiktok and its data- along with how its being used to manipulate a whole generation.
How this this happen and what can be done? Lee Gema investigates…
After new regulations were put in place regarding how foreign companies with certain amounts of users in the USA have to be transparent with the amount of data they collect, as well as their reasoning for doing so- it was revealed that ByteDance, one of Tiktok partial owners have been harvesting more than 2X what they had publicly admitted to users.
Millions of teenagers (and adults) using the platform are having their name, age, gender, location, friends as well as frequently visited sites and locations, current location, place of work, sexual preference etc. Not only was Tiktok found to be harvesting data about the user, it was also found that Tiktok was engineering trends such as challenges and filters which scan and analyse facial features creating a giant database of every user. This comes as no surprise as china is well known for using advanced facial recognition technology to track and monitor its citizens.
“We don’t know exactly how long this has been going on for- nor how much information China has on the user base or what they plan to do with it, meaning that this is a critical threat to national security and we urge users to stop using the service and remove it from your devices.” – Boris Johnson, UK Prime Minister
To some this comes as no surprise that the authoritarian province of China feels the need to monitor other nations as the country’s leader has been very open about his dreams (and plans) of China’s global domination- so could this be the first step towards global domination?
Pg 32- “Panorama” segment covers new from around the world, showing how the i has expanded into different regions globally
Gender
women making up 52–55% of its readers The term
Patriotism
front cover– “Magnificent celebrations climax in pageantry and parties for millions” “A joyous jubilee” ” pg 14– “keep Togetherness”, this shows that The Daily Mail supports the Royal Family
Front page ‘The new Firm’ slightly critical of Royal Family
Racism
War
Page 18- Macron “Declared how unwise it would be to humiliate Russia”
Pg 27-“Battle to save the sunken liquid gold”, Irrelavent to working class
Regulation
PG 38- Publishing a controversial (possibly sexist) article “Men as monsters: is that really radical?” showing less regulation than certain other papers have
The paper and its website were bought by the Daily Mail and General Trust (DMGT) on 29 November 2019, for £49.6 million
Protectionism
Taxes
Neoliberalism
Conservative
“Grim crack of Tory MP’s moving against Boris Johnson,” “As to the second they are either clueless or dont care”
The paper takes a centre-right political stance and is considered to be the voice of ‘Middle-England‘
Sexism
“Barely 6 months ago it was feared that the sexual abuse case against him would inflict untold damage on the Queen’s jubilee”
“suffragette” was first used in 1906, as a term of derision by the journalist Charles E. Hands in the Mail to describe activists in the movement for women’s suffrage,
Fusion of information and entertainment
PG 24- heading “Met chief must restore trust” directly next to Liam Gallagher concert review shows that paper is trying to entertain and inform as opposed to the daily mail which is essentially brainwashing readers into thinking the jubilee is great
The paper is classified as a ‘quality‘ in the UK market but is published in the standard compact tabloid-size format. the i has developed a strong national reputation over time. The paper is understood to be highly regarded by many journalists The i was named British National Newspaper of the Year in 2015.
Authoritarian
Still uses an Editorial ie the voice of one over many?
It strongly defends conservative or traditional values and regularly speaks-out against liberal views
Does not have voice of editor, but an ‘Opinion Matrix’ instead ie a range of different voices and opinion – so much more freedom and plurality (=many) in voice and thought?
The paper and its website were bought by the Daily Mail and General Trust (DMGT) on 29 November 2019, for £49.6 million
Libertarian
Title “The i” connotates that that’s its more collaborative in that —
PG 18-22- “the opinion matrix” is 4 pages of opinions from numerous people including viewers – opposed to daily mail which has opinions from one person
Does not have voice of editor, but an ‘Opinion Matrix’ instead ie a range of different voices and opinion – so much more freedom and plurality (=many) in voice and thought?
e paper chose not to declare for either “leave” or “remain” during Brexit, unlike a majority of other British newspapers who came out for either side of the debate
Facts
Daily Mail
First published in 1896
website has more than 218 million unique visitors per month
receiving the National Newspaper of the Year award from The Press Awards eight times since 1995
sold an average of 896,455 copies each day – or 767,021 on weekdays and 1,449,049 on Saturdays
The paper takes a centre-right political stance and is considered to be the voice of ‘Middle-England‘
It strongly defends conservative or traditional values and regularly speaks-out against liberal views
women making up 52–55% of its readers
The term “suffragette” was first used in 1906, as a term of derision by the journalist Charles E. Hands in the Mail to describe activists in the movement for women’s suffrage,
The I
Launched in 2010
The paper and its website were bought by the Daily Mail and General Trust (DMGT) on 29 November 2019, for £49.6 million.
average daily circulation of 145,411
the paper chose not to declare for either “leave” or “remain” during Brexit, unlike a majority of other British newspapers who came out for either side of the debate
The i was also found in a 2018 poll to be the second-most trusted news brand in the UK after The Guardian
