Power and Conflict
In the power and conflict module I will learn how different groups, communities, ideas and topics, are represented by the media. In this page, I will explore who has the power to create media content and how meaning within global media is constructed across different platforms. I will also engage with debates around the culture industry, media ideology, hegemony, misinformation/fake news legislation and social media networked communities.
Some topics covered may be a sensitive topic for some readers.
My notes on Hegemony and Ideology: Week 1
Concepts are often tools that allow us to better understand what is going on with the media.
Ideology is often a system of beliefs, ideas, attitudes or understanding of the world belonging to a certain group that creates a general worldview and upholds particular power dynamics.
Karl Marx and Frederich Engels wrote about ideology in the 1800’s, in their work the ‘Communist manifesto’ they made ideology no longer a set of ideas, but more of a method of control to keep the poor in check and not step out of line.
In short:
our society determines our ideas
in bourgeois society, ideas are linked to class positions and interest
ruling class maintain their control through ideology, forcibly imposed by fear
Gramsci was an Italian Marxist philosopher and journalist. He wrote on philosophy, political theory, sociology, history, and linguistics. He was a founding member and one-time leader of the Italian Communist Party was writing mainly in the 1920-30’s after he was released from prison during the fascist regime in italy.
Gramsci studied how Fascism in Italy built consent with the masses. He developed the theory of cultural hegemony. Hegemony is best described as the unwritten rules of society, to which most people consent willingly. Gramsci expanded the understanding of the word ideology to include the belief systems of either dominant or resistant groups. Hegemony is a way to describe people or ideas that become and seek to remain dominant in society.
All notes are rough work, not fully in-depth essay pieces
Ideology of the Matrix presentation
Week 1
A short Powerpoint of the work I created discussing the Ideology of The Matrix.
My notes on the Culture Industry: Week 2
The Frankfurt school is often spoken about in media studies as it led both method and methodology, which is known loosely as critical theory. The Frankfurt school isn’t an actual place but it does have origins in Frankfurt Germany.
One of the most read and analysed essays from the Frankfurt school is Horkheimer and Adorno’s book, ‘The culture industry: Enlightenment as Mass Deception’. They both looked at the new systems and technologies of cultural production which for the first time in history were dominated by mass media (Media such as newspapers, films, magazines, and radio).
They both argued that these forms of media are controlled by advertising and commercial imperatives which serve the interests of the elites, and ultimately make us subservient to consumer capitalism. Horkheimer and Adorno argued that popular culture in capitalist societies functions like an industry, by producing standardised products which produce standardised ideas and beliefs.
Two keywords for the topic are: Rationalisation and Standardisation.
Rationalisation is the replacement of traditions, values and emotions and standardisation is when popular culture is standardised, using the same formula to appear to the masses
A piece of work known as: ‘The Culture industry: Enlightenment as Mass Deception’ is a response essay to the works of Walter Benjamin. Benjamin viewed the mechanical reproduction of art as a progressive, optimistic aesthetic rupture. He was particularly interested in film. Benjamin recognised that film could create a new kind of ideological magic and aura through the cult of celebrities and techniques such as a close-up that fetishized certain stars or images via the technology of the cinema.
All notes are rough work, not fully in-depth essay pieces
My notes on Medium vs Content: week 3
Medium vs content
Medium, by definition, is any means of transmitting information, eg, newspapers, magazines, radio, TV and social media.
Content is the meaning of a message, a program, a movie, etc; is what the work means and the form of how it is created. In new media content is information and data that can be digitised for a communications network.
Roland Barthes was a French semiotician who was concerned with the 'myths' of modern society produced by the media. His work looked into analysing a variety of sign systems, mainly derived from Western popular culture.
Guy Debord was a French social theorist who was very critical of the content that we consume and believes it to be destructive to our political system. Debord’s ideas around the spectacle of media are closely linked with Roland’s conceptualisation of media mythologies.
The definition of spectacle is; everyday manifestations of capitalist driven phenomenons (Debord)
Marshall Mcluhan was a canadian social theorist and philosopher. He was primarily focused on the media itself rather than the content.
To summarise, the way we use media has a much larger effect on us than the content we draw from it.
All notes are rough work, not fully in-depth essay pieces
My notes on Mass Media and the Public Sphere: Week 4
Mass Media and the Public Sphere
Mass Communication is the large production of a large variety of messages by an institutional group. The content of Mass communication is a mix of information, views, entertainment and advertisement.
The word ‘Public’ can be used as an adjective and a noun. The noun suggests the social collective. Adjective suggests the concern and judgement of the collective
Habermas was a German philosopher and thinker born in 1929. His primary interests and concerns were with communication and the public sphere. The structural transformation of the public sphere: An inquiry into a category of bourgeois society, is the book that Habermas wrote.
The public sphere is where the public and private come together. It is a place where private individuals come together to form a public opinion. It is also a social space for the rational-critical debate about public issues conducted by private people, which can generate “public opinions”
Habermasian is a concept of the public sphere which is centred around the idea of the press acting as a civic forum for pluralist debates.
Habermas sees the ideal public sphere as having:
freedom of expression
Widest possible range of information
representing diverse groups
Strengthening accountability of governments to all civilians.
For Habermas the public sphere emerged in the nineteenth century as a result of the emergence of independent press. However after the nineteenth century that changed as the public sphere became dominated by a press that represented organised economic interests. The media became manipulators of public opinion, conditioning the public into the role of passive consumers.
A world fashioned by the mass media is a public sphere by appearance only.
Tv’s appeal to emotions and the readiness of the press to adapt to the commercial roles of the market caused the decay of critical discourse.
The rise of the mass media causes the public sphere to become re-feudalised — controlled by the elite, who dictate public opinions and the contest of the context of the debate.
Positives of New Media:
internet makes better public sphere
strengthened political interests and citizen participation
Gatekeeping journalists and mass media institutions seem to play a less important role
Actors with fewer resources can present information online in a way that is more accessible and cost effective than traditional media
Reach local and global audiences quickly
Public/Users can produce content
Peer-to-peer communication
Public can communicate and be “political” outside of the corporate and state arenas.
All notes are rough work, not fully in-depth essay pieces
Has Social Media affected the public sphere in sports?
Practicing Video shots and editing on audition with mobile devices: Week 5
This video just shows how I captured a few shots of the 360 VR studio at my University. Using my phone to capture practice shots for a short video to practice editing on Adobe Premiere Pro.