1 FOR EXAM 1 Thursday 1 22 First Amendment guarantees free expression and assembly these are crucial social goods Those guarantees can be withheld by government censorship and by the effects of a commercial media an uneven distribution of that good The history of that system is contested The value of critique consideration pointing out The limits of cynicism o Feedback observations dialogue questioning judging in the spirit of o Negative skeptical or distrustful distrust skepticism lies between critique and cynical pessimistic Defining and redefining mass communication a dynamic category Mass communication o Traditional definition The creation and delivery of messages Over considerable distances from across the globe Watching In a variety of forms what is the kind of message Korean soap operas in another language subtitles By large organizations Usually at a considerable expense To large heterogeneous audience Often simultaneously Croteau and Hoynes o They are pervasive everywhere o They are influential o They are a key form of economic activity o They are a key form of cultural activity Mass media for consumption by mass audiences is no longer the dominant way of thinking about the media Technological convergence communication o Two or more systems connected ro provide a new context for o Digitization means formerly distinct media TV books film e g now appear on the same platform Changing the traditional definition o Let s book at a scene from The Social Network Thursday 1 29 Familiar questions for new media o Who is in control o Who has access 2 o In whose interests do new communication media operate Croteau and Hoynes New terms o Looking for a model that is 1 sensitive to the Big Questions and 2 addresses media influence and audience activity o A fan base can play roles action needs to be taken o Suggest that the audience model of activism regarding the media only giving the audience what they want recently the range of people who can voice their opinion has expanded o Their model is called Media in the Social World page 26 o Media power structure the systems in which we live learn and work The University is a structure It has rules and ways of doing things o Audience activity agency our power to act on our own behalf not simple free will we act in conditions we don t entirely control o These two terms go hand in hand In this instance what is the relationship between the two o Media and social world model considers structures and agency in each of its 4 points in the circuit and the relations among them Big Context Part 1 Media Ownership and Control Croteau and Hoynes p 49 o o o o The corporate view has become the American view even though the interests of the corporate entities that own mass media are far from universal What s good for GM is good for the country Wealth at the top will trickle down towards the bottom however did not happen In discussion of the US economy national economic well being corporate success o Relationship between corporate financial health and citizen well being rarely discussed living wages as measure of national economic well being Big issues in media ownership o Concentration more firms owned by fewer people o Vertical integration Integrated ownership of most parts of a media industry venues promotion tickets sales in music touring o Horizontal Integration Integrated ownership of different industries New Corporation owns 20th Century Fox and Harper Collins o Effects on participation Barriers to entry Tuesday 2 3 Big Context Part 2 Media power through economic control but where does the money come from In the long range through investment and finance First through revenues through advertising as the sale of consumers to producers 3 Capitalist Realism o Capitalism is an economic system that promotes the idea of consumption as the route to satisfaction in life o A contrast term to socialist realism a Russian art movement from the 1930s celebrating industrial and agrarian work i e production o Propaganda Is then capitalist realism propaganda o Advertising is capitalism s primary form of image making o From making a mass audience for advertisers to making a fragmented or The form has changed niche audience for advertisers Making the mass audience o Mid late 19th century o Urbanization for industrial labor not agriculture o Investment in machinery keep machines working in order for investment to pay off Increased rates of production means an increased supply of goods for sale o Markets needed supported by new systems of distribution and the development of a buying public what we now call consumer culture Improvements in transportation support the movement of goods so does the development of national advertising o Late 19th century the yellow press is established as the first real form o of mass communication o Cheap newspapers sensational stories financed by advertisers to deliver readers to advertisers the more readers the higher the ad rates o Much more efficient for getting the word out about products and developing national brands o Quote sheet Schudson Developing the advertising profession o o o o o 1850s 60s ad workers are space jobbers selling spaces for newspapers 1870s ad workers develop campaigns on behalf of advertisers representing them through an open contract system guaranteeing clients the lowest possible rates with publications 1900 1920s ad workers form an independent profession specializing in market research women buy men don t Facefriend Promoting Promotion 1901 20 of Boston firms use advertising 1911 50 of Boston firms use advertising suggesting their greater confidence in its value of necessity Now making the niche audience o Public attention is harder to attract leads to new ways to reach consumers o From product ads that we can skip to product placement we can t skip product placement clip Thursday How to do Media History 4 o Media history asks how and why did the US media develop o Media historiography asks how should we address questions of media history o What are the best approaches o What matters most in constructing a history of media in the US Major approaches to Media History o Technological determinist technologies are the dominant determining factor driving social change The billiard ball approach o Socio cultural determinist technology is one of many forces influenced by and influencing social economic and cultural developments Social constructionist o This section of the course tells the story of a media form