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REVISION – NARRATIVE

Narrative Theory Quick Recap

Linear, Chronological, Sequential, Circular, Narrative arc, foreshadowing,

Propp:

  • Stock characters
  • Narratemes
  • Characters and their roles (hero, villain, helper, princess, false hero, father)

Freytag:

  • Freytag’s Pyramid
  • Beginning, Middle, End
  • Exposition, Climax, Denouement
  • Rising action, falling action

Todorov:

  • Equilibrium, Disruption, New Equilibrium
  • Frame stories (stories within stories)
  • Single character transformations: The idea that characters follow a journey that leads to a realisation, changed personality. Linking to Ancient Greek narrative structures:

Peripeteia = The reversal of fortune

Anagnorisis = Recognition or discovery of fate

Catharsis = Emotional response from audience

Strauss:

  • Binary Oppositions
  • Narrative is a structure of themes that relays a dominant message

Chatman:

  • Kernels = Key moments
  • Satellites = Developments or ‘fluff’

Barthes:

  • Semiotics
  • Hermeneutic code = Dialogue, character, reflection
  • Proairetic code = Action and movement
  • Enigmas = Puzzles, keeping the audience guessing

Moving Image

Postmodernism

Definitions:

  1. Pastiche – A work of art, drama, literature, music, or architecture that imitates the work of a previous artist. Usually based on true events / work.
  2. Parody – A work of art, drama, literature, music or architecture that imitates/copies another work with ridicule or irony. Usually making a mockery out of a piece of work.
  3. Bricolage – The construction of a piece of ‘art’ created when things available or around you.
  4. Intertextuality – Seeks and theorises links and connections between media texts and textualized social life. ‘Suggests signs only have meaning in reference to other signs and that meaning is therefore a complex process of decoding/encoding with individuals both taking and creating meaning in the process of reading texts.’
  5. Referential
  6. Surface and style over substance and content
  7. Metanarrative
  8. Hyperreality – The inability to be able to know what is real or what is fake and the idea that reality is not actually real.
  9. Simulation (sometimes termed by Baudrillard as ‘Simulacrum’)  – The idea that reality is not real and is masked by something else such as a copy of reality.
  10. Consumerist Society
  11. Fragmentary Identities – The idea that people can switch between multiple personalities or act like a different person.
  12. Alienation – The state of being disconnected or detached from the world.
  13. Implosion – The realism / realisation of what will happen or could happen.
  14. Cultural Appropriation
  15. Reflexivity

Postmodernism – The sense that there is little meaning and truth in the world. It is different from traditional structures such as a meaning towards something where as society, is now moving towards uncertain structures, with little meaning and truth in the world.

Jean Baudrillard:

  • French sociologist, philosopher and cultural theorist.
  • Baudrillard claims that our current society has replaced all reality and meaning with symbols and signs, and that human experience is a simulation of reality.
  • “We live in a world where there is more and more information, and less and less meaning.” – Simulacra and Simulation Book 1981

In 1959, Richard Hoggart (Uses of Literacy) noted the shift in modern societies particularly the impact on our ‘neighborhood lives’, which was ‘an extremely local life, in which everything is remarkably near‘ (1959:46). As John Urry comments, this was ‘life centred upon groups of known streets’ where there was ‘relatively little separation of production and consumption‘ (2014:76).

Word / Characteristic Reference to film (Existenz / TLBIYLV / Memento) + CSPS (Metroid / Maybelline / Tomb Raider / Newsbeat / Ghost Town / Letters to the Free)
Pastiche– Existenz:
Parody– The Love Box in Your Living Room could be seen as a Parody. For example, in the documentary, British children were taken to the “blue Peter garden” to get terminated by Doctor Who Darleks this was specifically at 21:38. A further example which proves the documentary is a parody is through the distinction that the actor for John Wreath is not actually him, this was shown all throughout the video.
Bricolage
Intertextuality
Referential
Surface and style over substance and content
Metanarrative
Hyperreality– Existenz: The film makes it hard for the audience to distinguish which layer is outside of the game and which is inside the game.
– Tomb Raider:
– Metroid:
Simulation (sometimes termed by Baudrillard as ‘Simulacrum’)– Existenz: Within the film there are multiple times and layers when the characters are in a game or acting like they are in a game. This goes back to Baudrillard theory that we live in a copy of the real world through human experience.
– Games immerse their users to separate them from reality
– Tomb Raider:
– Metroid:
Consumerist Society
Fragmentary Identities– The Boss Life (Maybelline): The celebrities acting within the advert have fragmented identities and lives as they will act different in the real world compared to when they are promoting the mascara/makeup.
– Existenz:
– Memento:
Alienation– Memento: Lenny (the main character) is oblivious to the world and does not know if people are telling the truth and what the truth actually is.
Implosion
Cultural Appropriation
Reflexivity

COMPARING NEWSBEAT AND WAR OF THE WORLDS

THEMENEWSBEATWAR OF THE WORLDS
OWNERSHIP
[Institutions]
– BBC
-Owned by the UK public
-Funded through TV Licenses [paid yearly by public]
-Paternalistic approach
-1st Director= Lord Reith
-Public Company [PLC]
-CBS [Colombia Broadcasting Service]
-Owned by a multi national conglomerate [Paramount Global]
-Funded though adverts on air
-Private company [LTD]
-vertical / horizontal integration ???
HABERMAS-Transformation of the public sphere – media is constantly changing BBC keeping up.

-BBC ethos= to inform, entertain and educate.

-Cecil Lewis- “Opening up new worlds to people”

-Quality is important. They don’t make money to profit, it is put back into the BBC to make programmes

-Fits into Habermas notion of transforming the public

-Therefore the BBC is more paternalistic – what you need not what you want
-Most private business are aimed at making a profit

-They care about profit more than their audience.

-Just for profit is the commercial ethos

-Commercial broadcasting is not supported by Habermas
CHOMSKY
CURRAN-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
-Linking to Habermas’ theory of transformation of the Public sphere

-BBC is being taken over by light daytime programmes= “peak-time tv are dominated by light entertainment
1. concerns about the commercial interest of big companies
(prioritising profits over social concerns)

2. concentration of ownership – although not monopolies, the small number of big companies is not good for

3. competition

4. Diverse range of voices (plurality)

5. audience choices

-CBS used the ‘moral panic’ as an advertising technique?

SEATONSeaton makes us aware of the power of the media in terms of big companies who own too much.
commercial Seaton also makes clear that broadcasters selling audiences to products NOT audiences to programmes (ie no adverts on BBC)
therefore BBC not chasing big exaggerated stories
Newsbeat seeking informed citizens who want knowledge

accountability – ie who looks after the BBC and makes sure it does what it is supposed to do: Annan Report 1980 “on balance the chain of accountability is adequate”
independence – ie keeping free from state control “without a commitment to public service, broadcasters are increasingly vulnerable to political interference”
Seaton talks about rise and inevitable need for competition with new technologies – which provides choice
Provides more entertainment for wider audiences ???
WoW targets mainstream entertainment seeking audiences

the allusion of Choice – “Choice, without positive direction is a myth, all too often the market will deliver more -but only more of the same”
REGULATIONlicense fee regulates BBC as well.
New technologies mean BBC faced with more competition
NO advertising!

-OFCOM
-BBC Charter
-BBC ethos- ‘educate, inform and entertain’
-The license fee regulates the BBC
Federal Communications Commission as regulator for private business ie not necessarily in the public interest
AUDIENCE (ACTIVE / PASSIVE)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
War of the worlds raises the debate around audience as passive or active (ie Lasswell, linear model of communication like a hypodermic syringe) ie without thinking or reflecting on what we are told
AUDIENCE (LAZARSFELD)-2 STEP FLOW~ Use opinion leaders such as Princess Kate and Prince William to speak up about Mental Health. Audience listen passively and will more likely believe it if it is from an opinion leader-Orsen Welles unregulated opinion leader.
-If audience seeking facts / truth about space and war they would seek opinion leaders from govt or science.
AUDIENCE (HALL)
NEW TECHNOLOGY
SPECIFIC TEXTUAL EXAMPLES-Prince William and Kate presenting a special newsbeat edition on mental health

-Kanye article
-Timestamp 39.30- radio goes silent. Maybe to create an eerie setting to scare audience?

COMPARISON BETWEEN ‘Newsbeat’ AND ‘WAR OF THE WORLDS’

THEMENEWSBEATWOTW
OWNERSHIPBBC, Public Service Broadcasting, Government,

BBC Board of Trustees, DG (Lord Reith), Multimedia, transnational, not a monopoly, concentration of ownership

– owned by the public, everyone is a shareholder.
CBS (Columbia Broadcasting System), Private Company, Multimedia conglomerate, transnational(Yes), monopoly(No),

U.S. COMPANY

example of concentration of ownership i.e. a few companies own everything – oligopoly / cartel (??),
vertical & horizontal integration (??)
HABERMASTransformation 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.
CHOMSKYSecond filter (advertising) The BBC does not run ads in the UKSecond filter (advertising) CBS runs ads which helps them accrue profit
REGULATIONOFCOM, 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 in order for CBS to make a profit.
AUDIENCE (LAZARSFELD)The two-step flow of communication model hypothesizes that ideas flow from mass media to opinion leaders, and from them, to a wider population. It was first introduced by sociologist Paul Lazarsfeld in 1944 

This relates to the specific textual example of Prince William and Kate presenting a special newsbeat edition on mental health

The mass media flow ideas into the PSB BBC, flowing their ideas through various outlets as they are a multimedia convergence. They help promote their message through various opinion leaders such as Stormzy, Prince William and Kate presenting a special newsbeat edition on mental health
Can use opinion leaders to make message more relevant
SPECIFIC TEXTUAL EXAMLESPrince William and Kate presenting a special newsbeat edition on mental health
Kanye article.

^ This proves that the BBC care more about the viewers and want to supply a service that is educational, informal and entertaining
blurred codes of drama and news. Programme starts with title music, announcer introduction ‘Mercury Theatre Company presents . . . ‘ followed by Orson Welles prologue to War of the Worlds .. .

AUDIENCE (HALL)Reception Theory –
GERBNERThe Cultivation Theory suggests heavy television exposure will have a significant influence on our perception of the real world. The more we see a version of reality being depicted on the screen, the more we will believe it is an accurate reflection of society. Cultivation theory links as the newly heavy influence of new media productions, through the introduction of radio, shows an example of this theory as it could have affected the public in a large way as a lack of knowledge and an imbedded naiveness that may of allowed the public to be victim to this hysteria produced by War of the worlds.




NEW TECHNOLOGYNew Technologies mean that the BBC is faced with more competition.

Newsbeat is on social media, internet radio and apps.
Radio
CROSS MEDIA CONVERGENCE
CURRAN– “depended on a set of linked and radical expansions”
– “the BBC creating an image of its audience as ‘participants’ in the great affairs of the nation…”

– Since the BBC is a PSB it uses the money it makes to improve itself and further benefit the public with a massive majority of different opinions straying away from lack of creativity that large conglomerates supply in which only function as a motive to generate a profit, which differs from the BBC.
Private Company, Multimedia conglomerate. This means that CBS only operates as a function to generate a profit and please the shareholders, in which can lack creativity and care for the public. It will generate any kind of story in hopes to generate a profit, meaning they can lack integrity.
SEATONSeaton makes us aware of the power of the media in terms of big companies who own too much.

– Commercial broadcasters selling audiences to products NOT audiences to programs like the BBC. (ie no adverts on BBC).
Meaning that the BBC are not chasing big exaggerated stories and appeals to informed citizens who want knowledge.
Seaton talks about rise and inevitable need for competition with new technologies.
– Providing choice and more entertainment for wider audiences perhaps.

the allusion of Choice – “Choice, without positive direction is a myth, all too often the market will deliver more -but only more of the same”

CBS, as well as other businesses, create different media products as a sole motive to generate a profit. Meaning that when they produce programs, they will only generate products that they know will perform well, creating this idea on the illusion of choice, whereas in reality it is a well thought out process which involves repeated actions and choices in which have been largely successful in practice.

Comparison between ‘war of the worlds’ and ‘newsbeat’

THEMENEWSBEATWAR OF THE WORLDS
OWNERSHIPBBC, (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.
HABERMASTRANFORMATION OF THE PUBLIC SPHERE, MEDIA IS CONSTANTLY CHANGING WITH THE BBC KEEPING UP. BBC INTWENTIONS 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.
CHOMSKYCHOMSKY 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.
REGULATIONOFCOM, 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)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. WAR OF THE WORLDS RAISES DEBATE AROUND AUDIENCE AS PASSIVE OR ACTIVE ( E.G. LASSWELL, LINEAR MODEL OF COMMUNICATION LIKE A HYPODERMIC SYRINGE) E.G. WITHOUT THINKING OR REFLECTING ON WHAT WE ARE TOLD.
AUDIENCE (LAZARSFELD)THE 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 LEADERR ( E.G. BBC CHARTER FOCUS ON IMPARTIALITY, ACCURATE, TRUE.ORSEN WELLS UNREGULATED OPINION LEADER. IF AUDIENCE SEEKING FACTS OR TRUTH ABOUT SPACE AND WAR THEY WOULD SEEK OPINION LEADERS FROM GOVERNMENT OR SCIENCE.
AUDIENCE (HALL)THE BBES IS ALSO THE WORLD’S LARGEST NATIONAL BROADCASTER WITH A HUGE INFRASTUCTURE, SUCH AS CAMERAS, STUDIO SPACE, LIGHTING RIGS AND PORTABLE PRODUCTION UNITS SITUATED ACROSS THE COUNTRY. IT IS CERTAINLY HAS THE NECESSARY MEANS OF PRODUCTION TO INVESTIGATE THE ISSUES AND DEBATES HITTING THE HEADLINES SO EDITORIAL DECISIONS HAVE TO BE MADE ON WHICH STORIES SHOULD FEATURE IN THE NEWS PROGRAMME.
THE RELATIONS OF PRODUCTION REFER TO DIFFERENT CREWS INVOLVED IN THE PROGRAMME.
HALL IS DRAWING ATTENTION TO HOW MESSAGES ARE ENCODED BY THE PRODUCER, NEWSCASTER, CONTENT EDITOR, CAMERA OPERATOR AND OTHER TECHNICIANS WHO HELP BROADCAST THE NEWS. ACCORDING TO HALL’S RECEPTION THEORY, THE MESSAGES BEING ENCODED AND THE SIGNS USED TO DELIVER THIS INFORMATION WILL BE INFLUENCED BY THE PRODUCTION PROCESS.
PREFERRED READING: AUDIENCES UNDERSTAND THAT THIS BROADCAST IS CONSTRUCTED AND IS AN ADAPTATION FROM THE BOOK.

OPPOSITIONAL READING: AUDIENCES BELIEVED THE PODCAST WAS REAL AND THEREFORE REACTED NEGATIVELY.
SEATONSEATON MAKES US AWARE OF THE POWER OF THE MEDIA IN TERMS OF BIG COMPANIES WHO OWN TOO MUCH. COMMERCIAL SEATON ALSO MAKES CLEAR THAT BROADCASTERS SELLING AUDIENCES TO PRODCUTS NOT AUDIENCES TO PROGRAMMES ( E.G. NO ADVERTS ON BBC) THEREFORE BBC NOT CHASING BIG EXAGGERATED STORIES. NEWSBEATS SEEKING INFORMED CITIZENS WHO WANT KNOWLEDGE. SEATON TALKS ABOUT RISE AND INEVITABLE NEED FOR COMPETETION WITH NEW TECHNOLOGIES WHICH PROVIDES MORE ENTERTAINMENT FOR WIDER AUDIENCES. TARGETS MAINSTREAM SEEKING AUDIENCES.
THE ALLUSION OF CHOICE – “CHOICE, WITHOUT POSITIVE DIRECTION IS MYTH, ALL TOO OFTEN THE MARKET WILL DELIVER MORE – BUT ONLY MORE OF THE SAME. “
CURRANJAMES CURRAN WRITES ABOUT THE IDEAS THAT UNDERPIN THE LIBERAL FREE PRESS, BUT MUCH CAN APPLY TO TRANSFORMATION OF PUBLIC SPHERE (HABERMAN) WHICH IN TURN CONNECTS TO ETHOS TO PSB.CONECERNS ABOUT COMMERCIAL INTEREST OF BIG COMPANIES (PRIORITISING PROFITS OVER SOCIAL CONERNS), CONCENTRATION OF OWNERSHIP ALTHOUGH NOT MONOPOLIES, THE SMALL NUMBER OF BIG COMPANIES IS NOT GOOD FOR COMPETITION, DIVERSE RANGE OF VOICES (PLURALITY) AND AUDIENCE CHOICES.
GERBNERCULTIVATION THEOYR SUGGESTS TELEVISION INFLUENCES ITS AUDIENCE TO THE EXTENT THAT THEIR WORLD VIEW AND PERCEPTIONS START REFLECTING WHAT THEY REPEATEDLY SEE MEANING TV IS CONSIDERED INDEPEDENTLY TO THE WAY PEOPLE PERCEIVE SOCIAL REALITY AND WILL HAVE AN EFFECT ON THE AUDIENCES ATTITUDES AND VALUES. GERBNER WOULD STATE THAT THE AUD8ENCES THAT BELIEVED THE BROADCAST ARE LIKELY TO HAVE BEEN FREQUENT LISTENERS OF THE RADIO. THIS IS BECAUSE HIGH – FREQUENCY VIEWERS OF TELEVISION ARE MORE SUSCEPTIBLE TO MEDIA MESSAGEES AND THE BELIEF THAT THEY ARE REAL AND VALID.

csp- War of the worlds

Quick notes:

  • 1930s
  • Early example of a hybrid radio form
  • It adapts the H.G. Wells story using news and documentary conventions
  • Broadcast and initial response to it has a historical significance
    • example of the mass media apparently having a direct effect on an audience’s behaviour
  • Academic research was put into the broadcast
    • Provided some of the early media audience research
    • Findings are extremely influential in the media, advertising and political campaigning
  • timestamp 39:30 the audio goes silent. this is unusual in radio, trying to add to the eeriness and trying to make the story more believable?

WHAT IS IT?

  • A radio play about Martians invading New Jersey.
  • It fooled people

MEDIA INSTITUTIONS:

  • Broadcasted by Colombia Broadcasting Company
    • an institution still in existence
  • Radio broadcasting was a direct competition to newspapers
  • The broadcast= good example of institutions branching out to attract new audiences
  • The broadcast is a good example to consider the effect of individual producers on media industries [the work of Orson Welles]

REGULATION

  • Radio broadcasting was regulated by the Federal Communications Commission
    • It investigated the broadcast to see if it had broken any laws

AUDIENCES:

  • External factors that influence audience response:

HISTORICAL, POLITICAL, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL CONTEXTS:

MEDIA LANGUAGE:

CSP- NEWSBEAT

https://media-studies.com/newsbeat-analysis/#demographic-profile

  • Newsbeat also exemplifies the challenges facing the BBC as a public service broadcaster that needs to appeal to a youth audience within a competitive media landscape.
  • a transitional media product which reflects changes in the contemporary media landscape
  • a traditional radio programme with regular, scheduled broadcast times, but it is also available online after broadcast
  • The broadcast itself and the use of digital platforms provides opportunities for audience interaction

MEDIA INDUSTRIES

  • Newsbeat as a BBC News product with bulletins are broadcast on BBC Radio 1, BBC Radio 1 Xtra and BBC Asian Network
  • The funding of BBC Radio through the license fee, concept of hypothecated tax
  • Issues around the role of a public service broadcaster within a competitive, contemporary media landscape
  • The distinctive nature of the programme connected to its public service remit
  • Arguments on the need for addressing a youth audience already catered for commercially
  • The influence of new technology on media industries – Newsbeat as multi–platform media product. eg
    • Website
    • Twitter
    • Instagram
  • The regulation of the BBC via Ofcom and the governance of the BBC

REVISION TABLE

Theory/TheoristKnowledgeUnderstanding
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 LazarfeldHe 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 GratificationsElihu 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 WeaverNOISE, ERROR, ENCODING and FEEDBACK.

Recap

Command words

Describe – defining what you see / see specific elements / memory

Compare – the differences and similarities / compare and contrast

Evaluate – to judge or give your opinion / need evidence

Analyse – how it gives an effect and why it does this / pick out and elaborate / deeper and accurate meaning

knowledge – maintaining it in your memory of something

understanding – to explain what you know and how it does this

What do you know aboutWhat meaning or understandings do you have of their ideas? Put another way – how can you apply their ideas to your CSP’s?
Noam ChomskyChomsky’s theory is based on the idea that all languages hold similar structures and rules, also known as a universal grammar (the five filters). This theory states that all languages have formal universals and principles in common, with specific options and limits for variation in grammar and features between languages.Chomsky’s gives the impression of how the propaganda model highlights the insights into the inequality of wealth and power.
James CurranCurran explains the social and political change. Curran also suggests the conflict with the political views and wider business interests where a large scale of conglomerates own new tiles have invested interest in a range of other business activities all over the globe.Blinded by the light links in with Curran as Pakistan movies aren’t very common so therefore political views can be separated from the social view.
Jurgen HabermasHabermas’ definition of a public sphere is the first and founding trigger to classification attempts of the formation of public opinions and the legitimisation of state and democracy in post-war Western societies. The public sphere is seen as a domain of social life where public opinion can be formed. Mainly it is open to all citizens and constituted in every conversation in which individuals come together to form a public.The media is ceased to be an agency of empowerment and rationality, it manipulated mass opinion. The media isn’t always reliable so therefore seeking public opinion can create a group of individuals who aren’t afraid to go against political discussions.
SemioticsPierce
Roland Barthes
Representation
Audience
David Gauntlet Gauntlet constructed a timely critique of mass media consumption models and their effects on audience thinking. The power of media narratives. Gender is socially constructed. A huge diversity of identities is portrayed.
Collective identity
Constructive identity
Negotiated identity
Fluid identity
LasswellLasswell’s model was developed to study the media propaganda of countries and businesses at that time. Only rich people used to have communication mediums such as televisions and radios back them. It was made to show the mass media culture. Lasswell also brought the concept of Effective Communication Process.I understand that he is trying to show the mass media culture to get the world to get a good concept of how communication needs to be direct and listened whether you are a passive or active person.
LazarfeldThe two-step flow of communication model hypothesizes that ideas flow from mass media to opinion leaders, and from them to a wider population.  In the book The People’s Choice, after research into voters’ decision-making processes during the 1940 U.S. presidential election. The concept has been a subject of growing criticism, leading to a decline in the popularity and attraction of the original concept and almost to its total collapse.I understand that he trying to explain how the two step flow of communication is influencing the public to make certain and difficult decisions from their leaders.
Uses and gratificationThe Uses and Gratifications Theory is a Mass Communication theory that focuses on the needs, motives and gratifications of media users. The theory states that they play an active role in media consumption.
Audiences consume media texts to escape from their everyday lives. They choose entertaining texts that allow them to divert their attention from the real world
(1) Diversion: escape from routine or problems; emotional release; (2) Personal relationships: companionship; social utility; (3) Personal identity: self reference; reality exploration; value reinforces; and (4) Surveillance (forms of information seeking).
I understand that people use media to fulfil the user’s social needs.
The idea that media audiences are active rather than passive, meaning they do not only receive information, but also unconsciously attempt to make sense of the message in their own context.
Stuart HallIt is active.
The media does not mirror real world events but produces an edited version of the events depicted.
The media plays a vital role in shaping our views of the wider world.
Stereotypes are used by media producers to create instant characterisation. Stereotypes are mostly found where there are huge social inequalities. They exclude and demonise groups in a manner that both reflects and reinforces social hierarchies.
Hall provides a substantial challenge to his own ideas. His theory suggests that audiences can resist the effects of the media through the production of oppositional and negotiated readings.
I understand that stereotypes help perform as series of ideas towards the audience, manipulating them into believing that woman do stuff that men shouldn’t do whilst men do stuff that woman wouldn’t do. Stereotypes lead to moments of symbolic violence leading to groups of social power. This means that it usually links to negative features. They manipulate stereotypes to make the audience thin it is natural qualities.
George GerbnerHe thought that television viewing could radially change the way we perceive the real world.
Cultivation theory
Mainstreaming
It suggests that people who are regularly exposed to media for long periods of time are more likely to perceive the world’s social realities as they are presented by the media they consume, which in turn affects their attitudes and behaviours.
He also suggests that some people are less likely to be affected by television for example people who haven’t been affected by violence. Cultivate problematic attitudes and beliefs within mainstream society where they had not existed before.

REVISION

Command Words:

Describe – To show all your understanding and the attributes about a certain thing to another person. To show your knowledge (memory test)
Compare – To have multiple things and then to find the differences and similarities
Evaluate – Look at everything you have done / talked about in the past and sum it up with evidence, for example look at the positives and negatives
Analyse – To look at something and find out its attributes and to understand it.
Knowledge – Having facts or information
Understanding – Being able to twist and manufacture your facts and information to fit the situation when the circumstance arises