Audiences: Technology & the Impact on Consumption

This week’s lecture was focusing on audience in terms of how technology has changed over to digital and onto new media platforms, as well as the impact that this has had on how audiences consume this new technology.  Recent technology as changed how not just the majority, but how everybody consumes television as there is now more choice of what to watch more than ever, whereas previously there were a choice of 5. This change has definitely has an impact on me as now I have no schedule for watching television as I can consume it whenever and wherever . I no longer need to sit down in front of the television at particular times to watch episodes, there are various ways to catch up and even watch future episodes before being broadcasted on television.

A reading taken from John Caldnell explores the change of technology by detailing about the flow of television and how adverting plays a part in this flow more than ever, however I decided to focus on how now the internet is now a huge part of audience interactivity with these programmes and channels.  I found this part of the reading to explain how I personally experience technology as I consume particular media like television shows throughout the day, long before or after the show has ended. The reading explains an example of how effective interactivity can be with “Homicide.com”. It explains how after an episode on television had been shown, it would then advertise that a new episode would be available online. I found this to be an excellent example of I consume media and also to show how the digital world has had an impact on television as they are not just interacting with the show whilst it’s just being broadcasted, but playing games and investigating the crimes themselves “on the Internet during the other “23 hours” of the day.” (Caldnell, 2003: 128). I thought this quote was good as it shows the result of how technology has evolved and in doing so, the audience has also changed. It suggests that we as an audience still consume and crave certain media even when it has ended, such as the example “Homicide.com” shows. I am also guilty of this kind of interaction with using the new forms of technology as I am able to go online and participate in a numerous of activities and watch things such as interviews with actors and so on.

For these reasons I would like to research further into digital technology and audience consumption in terms of the impact that this has had on audiences in ways they consume their media.  I would concentrate on how the audience has evolved with this change by researching into the interaction they have with a particular show, I’d go about this by conducting focus groups, in depth interviews and possibly researching further into fandom sites that are dedicated to the shows.

References:

Everett, A and Caldwell, J (Eds) (2003), New Media: Theories and Practices of Digitextuality, Routledge, London and New York - pp 127-144.

Representation: Ideology, Discourse and Power

This week’s blog post will be discussing readings that focus on representation, as the topic we covered in this weeks lecture was based on the representations that are created which can be shown through methods of ideology, discourse and power. 

The first reading is taken from the core media text book. This reading discusses the categories that people are subjected to, such as the gender and social class, this is important in relation to power. It explains how the media has become the focus point on this; due to this a new methodology of analysing texts has been formed. Discourse can be confused with the methodology of ideology as it focuses on the outcomes of what people do and say, however this reading informs us that discourse analyses deeper than ideology and focus away from the idea of “model of power”. (Long, 2012:363)

The second reading this week is written by Machin and Mayr, this reading agrees with the prior reading above about how the discourse methodology is more of a deeper and thorough analysis of language and texts. As it creates more findings on how texts use language to create meanings to make people think in certain ways, without them realising that these meanings are being represented to them. This reading discusses how different forms of communication, such as language, visual and so on, creates meaning and how all of these forms combined together creates possibly just one meaning.

Part Two of the reading from Machin and Mayr explains representation and discourse further and agrees with both readings on how we as audiences are persuaded on how to think. I find this interesting as all of the readings acknowledge how audiences don’t realise how easily led to certain representations. This reading makes my understanding on this more clearly, as texts reveal some ideologies and representations to the audience, but using a discourse analysis finds the hidden discourses and ideologies that are within texts.

The fourth and final reading I will discuss this week is a reading that I have found that discusses the purposes of using a discourse analysis and the relationship of power. I chose to use this reading as it agreed with my first reading of this week taken from the core text book, as both talk about the importance of power of the discourse methodology. My reading from Michael Karlberg discusses the control that the discourse method has within the society, “The ways we think and talk about a subject influence and reflect the ways we act in relation to that subject.”(Karlberg, 2005:1).

In terms of my own research I thought It would intriguing to look further into the discourses about the television show "Embarrassing Bodies". I thought about researching into this particular show as It would help me explore how the "diagnosis" they give to one particular person, can then be represented to the audience, who then may believe they have the same "diagnosis".  

References

Long, P and Wall, T (2012) Discourse, power and media IN Media Studies: Texts, Production, Context (2nd Edition), London: Pearson. pp 363-369

Machin, D and Mayr, A (2012) How to do a Critical Discourse Analysis, London: Sage. pp 1-29

M, Karlberg., (2005) The Power of Discourse and the Discourse of Power: Pursuing peace through discourse intervention [online] Available from: http://www.gmu.edu/programs/icar/ijps/vol10_1/Karlberg_101IJPS.pdf [Accessed 08 March 2013].

Audiences: What do people do with media?

This week’s lecture was focusing on audiences and what audiences do with media. In this lecture I gained knowledge on the different ways how audience use and consume media in various ways.

The first reading is taken from Marie Gillispie, this reading discusses the relationship between audiences and soap operas by focusing on the links that the audiences create from these soaps, to their owns lives. The reading suggests about the link that woman have with soap operas discussing the reasons why they find them relatable as the characters talk like them in terms of speaking informal, as well then woman have pleasure of ‘gossiping’ about the soap operas with others. I thought this finding intriguing as it discusses that this creates a bond within female friendships.

The second reading I will be writing about is taken from the core text book, the aspect I found intriguing was how it discusses how audiences use the media in a similar way to Gillispie’s reading, as it talks about how audiences create an identify from the media they are exposed to. The reading discusses that audience’s critic themselves in relation to the people in the media and create an identify for themselves from this. I think this reading shows how much influence the media has over an audience, but more importantly how much influence the audience allows the media to have over them for even simply things like the way they talk and dress.

The reading I have found myself for this week by Stuart Hall is very similar to the first reading from Marie Gillispie as I have chosen to focus on the aspect of the relationship that woman create from soap operas as I believe this shows what audiences can do with the media. My reading discusses again how the audience relates themselves to particular characters in this media form and believes that they are going through the same situations as these characters. This reading agrees with all the other readings this week as it secures the idea of how audiences use the media in their own lives. Hall’s reading adds to this as ties in with the theme of creating a personal identify which is mentioned in the core text book, it appears that audiences need to link their lives with the media for their own benefits.

In terms of my own research the methodology I would undertake to analysis how audiences consume media would be qualitative. The research I would produce would be based on conducting interviews and focus groups with female audiences of soap operas, as I would like to research further into the relationship that is created with them and the show.

References

Gillespie, Marie (2003) “Television, Ethnicity and Cultural Change” IN Will Brooker and Deborah Jermyn (eds.) The Audience Studies Reader. London: Routledge.

Hall, S., 1997. Representation: Cultural Representations and Signifying Practices [online] Available from: http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=dAqycFD4PBsC&pg=PA365&lpg=PA365&dq=soap+opera+female+audience&source=bl&ots=383X_NYag0&sig=fijAORUtarfMdna44HV8k1rhMyo&hl=en&sa=X&ei=TBpHUaSGKqSL7Aa2_IHIAQ&sqi=2&ved=0CEIQ6AEwBA#v=onepage&q=soap%20opera%20female%20audience&f=false [Accessed 15 March 2013].

Long, P and Wall, T (2012) ‘Investigating audiences: what do people do with media’ IN Media Studies: Texts, Production, Context (2nd Edition), London: Pearson. pp 300-337

Censorship, Effects & Moral Panic

This weeks lecture we discussed censorship, the effects and moral panic that is created with images in the media, which is what this weeks blog post will be about. I learnt how effective images can be in the media which can provoke either a positive or negative outcome from it's audience.

The first reading I read was by Jonathan Bignell, he discusses censorship around television and the semiotics of how the images can be meaningful to the viewers , this can lead to many assumptions can be made from this which leads to the media effects. Due to this censorship is important as the media is concerned about what response these image will receive from their audience, this is the reason why censorship is put into action to prevent negative responses. The reason why they are media effects can be through the viewer’s ideology of television as the decisions lies within them as in what images are correct and incorrect.

The second reading is taken from Jill Nelmes which also discusses censorship focusing on the US and the UK. It firstly discusses the United States as since 1952, film has been protected under the First Amendment to the Constitution of the US. This means that the states have control to sensor adult material if it is seemed as ‘obscene’ material. This is the reason that the ratings system was then established in 1968 as a way to protect children from seeing these images due to the effects that these images could have on a more vulnerable audience. The reading also mentions about a debate that there is more of an age classification on films, rather than censorship. The UK is similar to the US as the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) has a primary concern to classify films to protect children. However films that are produced for an adult audience are subject to broad legal censorship, as well as classification, unlike the US. This could be due to the Freedom of Speech that the US has.

I have found a journal article discussing the advantages and disadvantages of using censorship in television and film which agrees with both readings above on what advantages they are such as the protection of children. However I found the disadvantages are more interesting, as my reading discusses the effect that censorship causes and the moral panic that can arise from it, rather than the effect of showing. One of the key things that I noticed was that it states that the use of censorship withholds key information, for example “If sex-related topics are completely censored it becomes difficult to teach children and teenagers about the dangers of Sexually Transmitted Diseases and HIV/AIDS.” (Pillai, 2012) I found this example of a disadvantage good as it slightly disagrees with Nelmes reading, as not showing material such as this example can perhaps not protect children.

In terms of my own academic research, the methodology that I would apply to undertake further research into the censorship, effects and moral panic would be a rhetorical analysis. I would conduct a rhetorical analysis on a television show that has caused a moral panic such as "My Big, Fat, Gypsy Wedding" and   programmes where it's inappropriate language has cause a stir like "Mock the Week".

References

Bignell, J (2004) An Introduction to Television Studies, London: Routledge. pp 229-252

Nelmes, J (1999) An Introduction to Film Studies, 2nd Edition, London: Routledge. pp. 48-53

Pillai, P., 2012.  Pros and Cons of Censorship [online] Available from: http://www.buzzle.com/articles/pros-and-cons-of-censorship.html. [Accessed 01 March 2013].

TV and Film as Language

This week’s blog post will be continuing on from this weeks lecture discussing how TV and Film can be seen as language. In this lecture I gained an understanding of how both television and film communicate to us an audience.

My first reading is part one of a reading taken from John Ellis, in this reading the importance of sound and image in television is discussed and is compared to the sound and image used in Cinemas.  It seems that the chapter focuses on the quality of television and film, how cinema appears to have more importance than television as cinema is seen as a special occasion whereas television is of a last resort as an activity to do. However it agrees that television is frequently used more, the reason for this appears to be that less concentration is needed and the use of sound is important in this. It’s important as sound allows less concentration from the viewer as momentary lapses can happen as stereo sound lets the viewer’s hear, although it still makes you glance at the screen. The sound in a cinema has a higher quality as the sound system is higher and more concentration is focused as you are in a dark room with lack of movement, therefore less distraction.

The second reading for this week is part two from a reading taken from Ellis, this chapter discusses the narration of television and cinema and appears to agree greatly with the other chapter of sound and image. This chapter about narration discusses how television series are segment’s that follow from one and another that often might not have a connection with each other, in terms of the narration, and features repetition in the story lines.  This makes television easier to follow compared to the cinema and agrees with the previous chapter I have discussed, that it represents television as casual and is used in a domestic form. The narration is very alike to the importance as sound as I stated above as this use of narration means that the viewers can watch without intensity and without their continuity of attention.

The last reading that I will be discussing this week is taken from a book written by Geoffrey Nowell-Smith. This reading focuses more on cinema and discusses the idea of representation and how these representations are formed in film, whether these representations were meant to be or whether the audience has created these representations through their own analysis. For instance a film may show a certain representation; however this representation won’t be seen as intended. Sometimes there may not have been a meaning at all, but people want it to mean something and sometimes a film might have a personal meaning to them due to real life situations. This reading also talks about narration, how audiences are given a scene and then they analyse the scene and create a story from this scene. This reading shows the comparisons that television and cinema have as with cinema the viewer has to be concentrated and fixed to their screens, whereas with television the viewer could have on in the background whilst continuing with activities, yet still make sense of the narration.

In terms of my own academic research I would apply a semiotic methodology to undertake an analysis of a particular television show that critiques the signs that are communicated to us, for the reasons that are mentioned in this weeks readings I would research into possibly day time dramas.

References

Ellis, John (1982) Visible Fictions: Cinema, Television, Video, Routledge: London - pp. 127-159

Nowell-Smith, Geoffrey (2000) ‘How films mean, or, from aesthetics to semiotics and half-way back again’ in Gledhill, C and Williams, L. (2000), Reinventing Film Studies. London: Bloomsbury Academic.

Political Economy of the Media

This weeks blog post will be focusing on key reading based upon the political economy of the media as this is what was taught to me in the lecture this week. Within this lecture I began to understand the political economy and the public sphere, also the relationship between them that is very much based on who has the power in the media.

The first key reading I will be discussing is a reading by Ien Ang, the discussion from this was focusing on the audience relationship, what I understood from this reading was that the making of commercial television programmes is now purely for profit and for the use of advertising. It makes key points about how advertisers don’t care about the culture or the pro-social value of the audiences of these programmes, but if the programme has a high audience rating. The political economy of commercial television suggests that the audiences are defined as potential customers for these products that are being advertised, these are known as audience-as-market. The other type of audience is audience-as-public, this audience isn’t entirely for profit making but the programmes are made to serve the audience.

The second key reading is a chapter called ‘Political Economy of the Media’ and is taken from the core media text book, this reading focuses on the power relations within the media industry as a whole and discusses how this power generates revenue. This reading is similar to Ien Ang’s reading as it discusses how television and media is now produced to maximise profits, but also how the sale of audiences for the advertising of products, appears to be one of the most important aspects. This again is using the audience-as-market to gain revenue.

The reading that I have found myself is taken from the “Journal of Media and Culture” (2000) and discusses the political economy of the media, using the internet as an example; however this journal is still relevant to the other key readings. This reading discusses both types of audiences similar to the two previous readings, although I found this reading particularly interesting as it agrees with the concept of organisations not seeing their audiences as actual audience, but as a commodity. The reading from the core media text book also discusses the audience as a commodity; both of these readings agree with the importance of advertising. My reading suggests audiences are now made by advertising and are generalised by what products are being advertised, rather than the audience suggesting what products are. In simple form, advertisements are being placed on the most viewed programmes/websites without considering entirely on whether they are the target audience for that product.

In terms of my own research the methodology I would apply a rhetorical analysis as I'd like to look more closely at media moguls such as Rupert Murdoch. The reason for this is to find out how the connection between the political economy and power is so strong.

References:

Chapter 2 ("Audience-as-market and audience-as-public") in Ang, Ien (1991) Desperately Seeking the Audience. London: Routledge.

Downes,D,. 2000. The Medium Vanishes? The Resurrection of the Mass Audience in the New Media  Economy A Journal of Media and Culture,3.1,  [online], 2000. Available from: http://journal.media-culture.org.au/0003/mass.php [Accessed 08 February 2013]. 

Long, P and Wall, T (2012) ‘Political Economy of the Media’ IN Media Studies: Texts, Production, Context (2^nd Edition), London: Pearson. pp. 172-185

Television and Public Service Broadcasting

This is the first of several posts that I will be publishing discussing key readings that I have been given to read, as well as readings that I have found independently on my own. I will be discussing the main points that the readings are delivering and also comparing and contrasting the readings. This week’s blog post will be discussing the historiography of television as we learnt about the history of the BBC and ITV in the lecture. 

However I firstly began to read the set chapters beginning with the Media Studies book by Long, this reading gave me an idea of how to begin to search for historiographies of companies. It discusses how to go about researching and explains what limitations that we as scholars have, when investigating and producing media history. I learnt from this reading that researching historiographies, you begin to have a “broad understanding of the issues we are working with.” (Long,2012: 451)

I then read another reading I was given taken from Creeber, this reading discusses the historiography of the BBC and public service broadcasting which again gave me a greater knowledge on how to research into historiographies.  This reading looks further into the development of television and the stages that television has processed through such as how television was before the War. An aspect that I found interesting was when the reading discusses the Pilkington report that happened in 1962 as this is mentioned briefly in my next reading about the ITV; this report discusses the companies in detail.

I found a reading that explores into the historiography of the ITV by Tony Currie which made me have a further understanding on how to explore into researching the history of media organisations myself. The aspect I found interesting in this reading was that it was very similar to Creeber’s reading, as both reading discuss the history of each other as the BBC was the competition of the ITV who are talked about in Currie’s reading. This reading discusses how this competition was what advantage and disadvantage of the ITV, as it mentions how ITV was more light hearted and fun compared to the much more formal and educated television channel that was the BBC.

In terms of my own academic research I would apply a qualitative methodology to create a historical analysis for a chosen media organisation. After beginning to have an understanding of the BBC and ITV, I would like to explore into the history of one one of these media organisations to understand the development and progress. 

References:

Creeber, Glen (2003) The Origins of Public Service Broadcasting (British Television Before the War) in Michele Hilmes (ed.) (2003) The Television History Book. London: BFI. Pp.22-26

Currie, T,. (2000) A Concise History of British Television 1930-2000 (online), 2000. Avaiable from: http://books.google.co.uk/books/about/A_concise_history_of_British_television.html?id=rgsbAQAAIAAJ&redir_esc=y [online], 2000. [Accessed 01 February 2013].

Long, P and Wall, T (2012) ‘Media Histories’ IN Media Studies: Texts, Production, Context (2nd Edition), London: Pearson. pp 448 – 481