REVISION TABLE
| What do you know about | What meaning or understandings do you have of their ideas? Put another way – how can you apply their ideas to your CSP’s? | |
| Noam Chomsky | He wrote The Manufacture of Consent with Edward Herman in 1988 He came up with the 5 filters: 1. media ownership, 2. role of advertising, 3. official sources, 4. flak, 5. common enemy | Chomsky can be used in terms of media ownership, audience effects, textual analysis and representation. Essentially, he argued that the mass media is used by the elite in society to ‘manufacture consent’ towards the dominant ideology. So for example, it is possible to see this in terms of the Daily Mail (with it’s pro-establishment views on money, the monarchy, the military, patriarchy etc media ownership) It is also possible (to some extent) to see this in terms of Tomb Raider, Score (prioritising patriarchal values, role of advertising) Challenges to the process of ‘consent’ (ie alternative views to society can be found in Blinded by the Light, Letter to the Free, Ghost Town (dispelling the myth of the common enemy?) |
| James Curran | writes about the Liberal Free Press Is connected to the ideas of Habermas Writes specifically about diversity in terms of of ownership, participation, representation, consumption Media and Power addresses three key questions about the relationship between media and society. *How much power do the media have? *Who really controls the media? *What is the relationship between media and power in society? | A range of voices and ownership maintains a healthy media as there is argument, dissent, disagreement and NOT CONSENT (?? ie Chomsky) Can be used in terms of Film CSP (which only looks at ownership) Newspapers (concentration of ownership and regulation of ownership and control) Common / The Specials / Blinded by the Light all explore issues of power and control. Providing alternative voices? Maybe new media stuff as well? |
| Jean Seaton | What is PSB? “a flexible means of managing and developing an important utility which has been commercially successful and also served the public“ What is PSB? “bringing public awareness the whole range of activity and expresssion developed in society” (Pilkington Report 1962) The Future? broadcasting “needs to find a new kind of commitment to public service“ independence – ie keeping free from state control “without a commitment to public service, broadcasters are increasingly vulnerable to political interference” 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” “threats posed by new technology” (Annan Report 1977) “the impact of unregulated competition for audiences, revenue and programmes” choice – ‘real choice offered to consumers by a more effective market” 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” BUT – “the pursuit of profit rather than excellence is more likely to dominate Quality – the introduction of cable tv modified the principles of balance and quality (1982 Hunt Report) | |
| Jurgen Habermas | Habermas wrote about the Transformation of the public sphere in 1962 With the introduction of the printing press, reading and writing transformed the way in which ideas and decisions were made. The public sphere is where public decisions are made (ie courts, parliament) The private sphere is where private decisions are made (family, friends etc) Habermas thought that new forms of media enabled ordinary citizens to be more actively engaged in society. which formed a new phenomenon called public opinion. Spearheading this shift was the growth of a literary public sphere | Habermas is key for the role of media in promoting a better, more inclusive society (eg in politics, morals, ethics). Particularly useful for news, information This means that the media is really important for helping individuals to connect to society and be part of the decision making process. It is an example of how democracy works. It stops authoritarian regimes or (hopefully) inequality It promotes participation and emancipation. |
| SEMIOTICS | Pierce (icon, index, symbol) Barthes (connotation, denotation, myth) De Saussure (signifier, signified) Founding / starting point for TEXTUAL ANALYSIS ie need to use this language for analysing texts (print, moving image, web etc) | Essentially communication is based on sign systems – the way signs are organised is really important as it can reveal social, political messaging. For example Barthes discusses how dominant ideologies are maintained through culture and communication (as opposed to violence) This links with Gramsci’s notion of HEGEMONY Think for example, dominant signifiers, size, scale, placement etc Important for practical work as well as CSP’s There will be 2 unseen CSP’s which will be testing this knowledge / understanding. |
| REPRESENTATION | No real specific theories or theorist (from my perspective) although board does use Gauntlet, Feminist critical thinkers (Mulvey etc) Use of radical and reactionary representations Use of stereotypes and countertypes | Again fundamental to media, cultural studies. So will definitely be a question about this. Again really fundamental to the process of POWER (asserting and maintaining power) – ie Barthes, Gramsci etc CSP’s clearly a selection of reactionary (Daily Mail, The i , Tomb Raider, Score) and radical texts (Maybelline, Common, Blinded by the Light, Ghost Town) Some create an ambiguous representation (Metroid) BE CAREFUL THAT IT IS NOT JUST A PERSONAL RANT (ie unsupported by evidence) |
| David Gauntlett | 1. fluidity of identity 2. Negotiated identity 3. Constructed identity 4. Collective identity | Gauntlett is suggesting that identity is not fixed and set (ie objective) that it is changeable ‘fluid’ that it is a process of ‘negotiation’ perhaps in terms of where we are and who we are interacting with. That our individual identity is part of an overall collective identity. And that in summary it is ‘constructed’ or made as opposed to being genetic, predisposed, biological, fixed, already in place etc etc In relation to Men’s Health we can see how different versions of ‘maleness’ or masculinity are presented. For example, the older runner, the hyped-up, pumped-up Alpha male, the reflective loving male, the psychologically thoughtful male etc. All of these individual identities can be understood in a broader paradigm of male identity – diverse, contradictory and complex. Specifically on page 71 there is a photo shoot of 9 males from different countries (ie different nationalities and cultural backgrounds) united a single dominant representation of ‘maleness’ /masculinity (they are all photographed in black and white and arranged a single image) |
| AUDIENCE | Audience is key topic. Lots of different people and terms to know: Lasswell Lazarfeld Gerbner Stuart Hall Active / passive / cultivation theory / theory of preferred reading. | Different audience approaches have altered over time (ie passive hypodermic model vs uses and gratifications) Audience is underpins other approaches eg analysis (semiotics, representation) and ownership (Chomsky, Habermas etc) |
| George Gerbner | Social Behavioural Psychologist, looking at the effects of media on society and individuals (in the 1950’s) Developed Cultivation Theory Essentially the audience is passive. | 2 key terms World Mean Index – the more we watch TV (or other media forms) the more we think the world is mean and nasty. Mainstreaming – the more mainstream TV (and other media forms) we consume the more mainstream we become ie more compliant, accepting of dominant messages. This process is called encultration, assimilation (or brainwashing?) |
| Paul Lazarfeld | Two step flow of communication – the use of opinion leaders, | the suggestion that people actively seek out information that aligns with their own perspective – does this indicate that they thereby seek reassurance and validation of their own ideas?? |
| Uses and Gratifications | A theory of audience consumption that claims that audiences are ACTIVE. developed by a number of social scientist roughly in the 1960’s and 1970’s (eg > Katz, Gurevitch and Hass > Blumer, McQuail, Brown some attribute this theory to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs | They suggest that audiences seek PLEASURE, NEEDS, USES, GRATIFICATIONS etc These are divided into PERSONAL NEEDS escapism entertainment knowledge and understanding SOCIAL NEEDS knowledge of the world being together with friends and family |
| Stuart Hall | Theory of Preferred Reading – that we ACTIVELY decode media messages | Hall suggests that there is a separation between reality and representation – that although we can identify some objective moments – the meaning of those moments remain CONSTESTED and OPEN TO INTERPRETATION. Hall provides a framework for DECODING MESSAGES either we: 1. ACCEPT THE DOMINANT MESSAGE 2. NEGOTIATE THE DOMINANT MESSAGE 3. REJECT THE DOMINANT MESSAGE How can we understand this? Because we are ACTIVE CITIZENS who DECODE media messages based on our own SUBJECTIVE IDENTITY. Think gender, race, ethnicity, politics, economics, geography, education, ability etc etc Is there ONLY 1 READING / MEANING? No. Hall argues that there are MULTIPLE / CONTESTED MEANINGS, READINGS, INTERPETATIONS. But doesn’t that leave society and individuals a little lost on what is true and what is not? We look at this when we look at POSTMODERNISM. |
| Feminist Critical Thinking | Mulvey Butler Feminist Frequency Tori Moi Jean Kilbourne | It is a key position or perspective to read culture (eg media texts) It critically engages with the concept of patriarchy |
| Postcolonialism, | Franz Fanon Paul Gilroy, Black Atlantic Experience Edward Said, Orientalism Jacques Lacan The ‘Other’ | Postcolonialism very important in terms of looking at society from a white, male perspective (ie dominant patriarchy perspective) |
| Narrative Theories | Todorov, Freytag, Propp, Levi-Strauss, Chatman, Barthes | This is a STRUCTURALIST approach to analysing texts. That means it looks at overall structures and patterns. The way things (like narratives, stories etc) are organised. It shows how important familiarity (and difference) is. |
| Genre | ||
| Key terms for Industry and Business | vertical / horizontal integration Mergers Monopoly Cartel conglomerate Risk and reward (high risk / high reward) Risky business ‘Hesmondhalgh’ concentration of ownership Regulation and control Authoritarian / Libertarian Political Compass (left leaning / right leaning) | The question on Film is only about institution – so if this comes up will need to apply lots of these terms Also useful for TV question Also useful in terms of marketing, promotions etc |
| PSB public service broadcasting | Curran and Seaton Chomsky Habermas BBC Channel 4 Ideas of the liberal Free Press | Fundamental to the structure of ownership and control IN RELATION to participation of ALL members of society in the political, economic system known as DEMOCRACY. Fine principles! But how does this work out in practice? Think ownership of newspapers? Role of government in terms of BBC? The current debate around privatisation of Channel 4 And of course – how this applies to the INTERNET?! |