Review of Mark Deuzes Media Work - Essay Example

PART REVIEW OF MARK DEUZE MEDIA WORK PART.2. MY SELF-EVALUATION ANALYSIS The striking revelation at a glance from Mark Deuzes’s article on Media is that he attests to the evident transition of contemporary life- a life that has become analogous with work. By quoting the British coaching agency’s description, Deuze acknowledges that instead of developing a lifestyle, contemporary people’s efforts are directed on choosing a work style or simply a way of being at work (Deuze, 2006). In his exploration of how work has become a way of life, Deuze notes that life is more and more displaying all uniqueness and distinctiveness of contemporary work. His remarks here refer to conditions and setting of liquid life. Among the conditions Deuze is referring to include the challenge and opportunities of precarious labour, contingent employment, and a structural sense of authentic or perceived job insecurity. Condition of Contingent Employment The first liquid life condition that Deuze refers to is the challenges and opportunities that are resultant of the current contingent or reliant employment environment. This situation, as noted by Ulrich Beck, reflects the fundamental hesitant prospects of the current work-styles throughout the society which are marked by uncertainty, inconsistency and risks (Deuze, 2006). Deuze notes that it is the nature of contemporary freedom that manifests itself most openly in the noteworthy change of people’s career from a chain of more or less expected achievements. Such is a result of an enduring contract to a continuous reshuffling of job bits and pieces in what has been heralded as portfolio work life (Deuze, 2006). Such reshuffle makes life liquid in nature. Condition of Precarious Labour Another condition of liquid life that referred by Deuze is that precarious labour environment in the contemporary transition from life to work and the overall present employment patterns. Using Zygmunt Bauman’s sketch, Deuze notes that stability and solidity, which were at one-time major hallmarks of a health organisation have also become signs of organisation’s weakness. This is a liquid life because such global integration introduces a deep-seated aspect of unpredictability of work, leading to failure or success of the local production process becoming entirely dependent on the fluctuations in the worldwide network. Condition of Perceived Job Insecurity Consequently, Deuzes’s reference to liquid life is relevant to the perceived job insecurity as it reflects the contemporary workforce behaviours. He notes that such patterns include adaptive response, permanent change, and continual innovation, all expressed as the exclusive philosophies of workforce flexibility. Such flexibility endeavours by contemporary workers reflects a liquid nature as they are redefining ways of evading job insecurity. However, as held by Bauman, these philosophies have turned from something avoidable to a virtue learned and practised presently. Consequently, Deuze notes that this liquid nature of life and work is synonymous with living in apprehension of real or apparent job insecurity (Deuze, 2009) Advantages of Contemporary Work-Styles One main advantage of the contemporary contingent work styles brought out by Deuzes’s work is that they are associated with greater individual independence, extensive skills and experiences acquisition, and minimal reliance on single employer. Deuze notes that, these work styles have been adopted by many in the advanced skilled knowledge-based areas in the job market amid their precariousness (Deuze, 2006). Consequently, Deuze reiterates is that despite these work styles of the self-employed entrepreneur being characterized by living in constant anxiety, all seem to give people gratification. Another advantage of the precarious work styles is that in the sphere of information and the skill-based employment where civilization of flexible capitalism has taken effect as the dominant form of labour organisation, it brings a boundary-less reliant employment. By paraphrasing Marler et al. Deuze notes that a boundary-less career reveals a career path that extends beyond the bounds of single work environment. Instead, it involves a succession of jobs from different organisations and various sectors of the labour market (Deuze).This has an advantage of edging out competition in the competitive job market. Disadvantage of contemporary work styles One notable disadvantage of the contingent precarious work styles and the continuous anxiety as noted by Deuze is the erosion of family values. Deuze recognises this limitation of such work style, when he describes the family that at one-time celebrated as a safe haven from worldly influence has turned against the values of domestication (Deuze, 2009). Instead, it has become a place and area for structuring coupling and uncoupling. Other consequential effects, as distinguished by Deuze, include increased divorce rate to about 50% and the growing crediting of normalcy of lesbian and gay lifestyles. Using Bauman’s work, Deuze writes that the limitation of these type of work styles is that people are not only from one city to the next but from one pink-slip place to another worse such as from rented to leased house and thus increasing family needs even more. The Precursors of the Conditions of Contemporary Liquid of Life Deuzes’s reference to the conditions of liquid life identified above is the ideal definition of the modern society that is characterised by constant uncertainty, change, conflict and revolutions. Accordingly, Bauman’s compelling argument is that the attested liquid nature of life is either modern or post-modern. Instead, it is an existence founded and facilitated by early, initial or a firm modernity that is disintegrating, mixing and overlapping. Such is a reflection of how a liquid behaves. The point made here by Bauman and Deuze is that with a liquid-like nature of life, people will always feel they are always on evolution, even when they are not (Deuze, 2008). The precursors or creators of the above conditions of liquid life are new capitalism and precarity itself. The Wake of New Capitalism Using Bauman’s outline, Deuze identifies new capitalism as one of the factors leading to the conditions of liquid life: contingent employment, perceived job insecurity, and precarious labour. He notes that the invariable uncertainty of daily liquid life nowadays is amplified and accelerated at work following the existing management mantras of latest capitalism, where solidity and firmness, which were once the trademarks of a healthy and successful company, have now become signals of organisational weakness. Moreover, a worldwide integration has made the nature of work unpredictable thus driving people to resort to contingent work styles. Consequently, the current work styles are due to the slow downfall of enduring full-time employment, thus leading to the continuous search for jobs, preparing for possible future jobs, as well as managing multiple jobs. All of these more or less in sync have become core essentials of daily liquid lifestyle for many (Deuze, 2009). The precarious nature of contemporary employment Another precursor to the conditions of contemporary work styles is attributed to the unstable environment or the precariousness of the current employment. Deuze writes that it is a brave world of work due to its precariousness exemplified by widespread uncertainty and everlasting change. By paraphrasing one British-based site, he describes precarity as a situation that stretches beyond the bounds of work to include house mortgages, debt, widespread instability, and the inability institute plans. It forces people into Darwin’s “struggle for existence” on a collective level and is, therefore, a condition of persons in a capitalist society dividing us and limiting opportunities to pull people together. Such well definition of the precarious nature of employment is the creator of the conditions of the present-day liquid of life. Deuzes’s meaning of a liquid life involving a complex dance between play, work, and life The intricate dance between life, work, and media brought out by Deuze is meant to illustrate the nature of change resultant of rapid transforming both globally and locally which he refers to as ‘glocal” change. His intention is to show that much of live today and the change that we experience consistently is brought up by media. He relates it to a life that is seen as an ongoing remix of all sorts ranging from novel language of how we comprehend and represent the perceptible world, our history, skills, and fellow humans. In terms of media, Lev Manovich describes it as a shift from a culture to modern computer-mediated methods of production, dissemination, and communication (Deuze, 2009). As a dance with work and play, Deuze writes that way we do appreciate things is more and more being transformed and implicated through our engagement of media in our lives. The reciprocation of this dance makes media as a business of central significance to any form of meaningful breakdown of contemporary life. Elsewhere with Deuzes’s work on Media, Bauman best describes Deuzes’s referred complex dance between work, play, and life. In opening, Bauman unreservedly addresses the missing linkage between the particularities of the human situation in the beginning of the 21st century, the apparently constant captivation in media, and the focus on work as principles of modern lived reality. He reveals the missing link as the changing nature of media profession in present’s digital and extremely uncertain era, where media professionals are anticipated to be directors and reflectors of liquid modern life. The fact that current media has become ubiquitous, enveloping, personalized – as well as interactive, participative, and networked is an illustration of the complex dance between play, work, and life. Is there an alternative way of working in the media? Yes. Deuze proposes an alternative model of working in the media sector. He suggests that it is imperative that any contemplation of the future of news and opinionated communication to engross an awareness of how the social schemes of journalism and political views self-organize to acclimatize to new circumstances while maintaining their internal power structures. However, he warns that there should an understanding of how the modern-day condition of liquid civilisation and its sense of enduring insurgency wreak havoc on the very foundations of media institutions (Deuze, 2009). What Deuze portends here, is that an alternative way of working in media should take cognizant of insurgencies such as citizen journalism and find a way to integrate it to add value to professional journalism. What are the qualities of the precarious life lived in the media that Deuze is referring to? Rapid and fast-growing One of the qualities of media’s precarious life is the rapid growth that the field continues to exhibit. Sennett describes this quality of media as an act of witnessing that seems to have fast moved online, where individuals move in and out of interactively connected environments, running their multiple virtual servers in persistent gaming, instant messaging, and chatting. The faster growth is identified by various market researchers who have established that the global number of the internet has users had surpassed a billion by 2005. Deuze notes that most of these users who with access to the global computers are from the US, China, and Japan, with other large users in India, Brazil, Germany, Russia, and Spain (Deuze, 2006). Symbiotic qualities Another evident quality of precarious life experienced in media is the symbiotic nature in terms of how media interacts with other platforms that have been brought in by new capitalism. Amid the interactive, internationally networked and progressively more participatory nature of new media, there is an inspiring different kind of social cohesion and contingency as experienced in other jobs explored by Deuze. This cohesion is symbiotic in nature for it contemporary has to integrate some of the modern platforms such social media into its systems whereas the social networks benefits from the pool of consumers already on journalism sites. However, Deuze notes that this so-called alternative media has been in existing since 20th century and has embraced the symbiotic associations with other forms of society media The implication of work opportunity, freedom, and security In terms of freedom, the implication well brought out by Deuze through a research by the Pew research centre. He remarks that the conventional schedule of sitting down watch news has become a thing of the history for a large number of Americans. Not only have people turned away from traditional news outlets, but there is a concurrent dramatic increase in discontent among the public and even more critical on how media collects and reports information. The Pew research established that Americans consider mainstream media less credible that they used to in the mid 1980s. All these couple how the impact of the revolution of media on workers. Journalists no longer have the freedom to pick old articles and republish as it has been before. Deuze notes liberty and security of tenure of media personalities have eroded. Deuze attests that journalist across the globe are under terrific pressure characterised by mass layoffs and buy-outs of media houses dominating the corporate conversations (Deuze, 2009). He recommends that the only safe run journalism is always to consider the precarious context of media field of study and must be visualized in terms of the liquid journalism for a monitorial citizenry. PART 2: SELF-EVALUATION The global job market is on a major transition and is evident considering the apparent volatility and the uncertainty of the opportunities available. Apparently, it demands a more flexible person ready to diversify not only available opportunities, but also be always prepared to check new opportunities (). It with this recognition that I have had to contemplate the path my future will take both in terms of profession and response to the precarious nature of contemporary life. I am now resolute to pursue my dream career in media, either as a Radio producer or as an advertising editor for Television section or a film editor. They are both my best areas, and I believe I have what it takes to pierce the market. Nonetheless, I am, currently working in ASDA chain of supermarkets and also as a part-time employee in an Accident Management company, all signifying my embrace of diversification. Working in these two places so far has equipped me with prerequisite skills to facilitate both my short and long term goals. Moreover, these skills and competence obtained the play and form a greater part on the unique selling proposition. My unique selling proposition (USP) My USP is part of crucial strategy that makes me stand out differently and better than my competitors in the job market (). It is a scheme I have comprehensively given much time to develop. It engrosses my experience, attitude, approach and philosophy, all which are unique to give me an edge in the competitive market. Through the experience gained from ASDA and partly from the accident management company in terms of teamwork, problem solving techniques, as well as critical thinking, I will combine I will combine them to meet all my objectives. My philosophy is entirely inclined to my active and natural dispensed attitude towards assignments and towards colleagues. Seeing that I am able to comply with terms and policies of my employer and satisfying all my clients further restates my philosophy as well as my motivation. Ultimately, my USP is reliant on being myself as a thumbprint and a brand to be emulated. Short-term goals Part of my short-term goals is to continue working for both ASDA and the accident managing company, now more enthusiastically to gain more fundamental skills that will facilitate my dominion in the future media field. One of the basic skills that I have acquired from the accident managing is the Understanding of the application of legislation governing operations in Companies and business. Considering that these legislations are universal and incorporative to the media sector, part of my short term goals is to update myself with changes in the present legislation. This is critical so that when I fully enter the media industry, I am well versed with policies that regulate the operations Long-term goals Considering the extensive experience and skills gained both as the work in quite different fields in ASDA and the accident managing company, my long term goal is to verge into the media industry. Part of my strategy will be to embrace differentiation approach to enable me expedite on the tactical assignments and activities the media sector consistently engages. In cognisant with rise of citizen journalism and change of public opinion towards mainstream media, my long-term endeavour is to familiarize myself with the new citizen media platforms. They include Blogger, Facebook, Twitter and so forth. These platforms are critical for, despite their associated negative impact on mainstream media, their integration with mainstream platforms will add value and develop a symbiotic relationship. Impact of Global shift in production and consumption on job security Major studies on the effects of global shifts on job insecurity are common nowadays either as an approach by governments to address unemployment or by organizations to understand employees behaviour patterns. A study of over 20 different countries (encompassing USA, Netherland, Finland and Australia) by Jonathan Gershuny established that global shifts in production and expenditure has led to a continuous escalation in the numbers of skilled workers in all areas. He further noted that this is a reaction to the augmentation of time allocated to the production and consumption of classy and sophisticated products and services ().Gershuny also noted that even though people are spending more time-consuming products and technologies increasingly augmenting and automating labour, people are still spending more time on work. Implication of the upward trend The global shift in production and consumption is noted to have started as a trend towards flexible employment from early 1970s, but has accelerated in the late 90s, thus overlapping with the hurry of an increasingly Information-based worldwide economy. In this era, flexible capitalism took root as the leading form of labour organization. The main implication of this adoption and transition of labour trends has resulted in what researchers have identified as boundaryness contingent style of employment (). People have resorted to having multiple employers, continuous study to prune skills, and major jobs have turned to be contractual in nature. However, negatively the global shift has contributed to massive layoffs leading to a huge unemployment epidemic. The upward trend of this shift and the overall rate of consumption has resulted in ideas, values, and consumerism practices tending to be framed in a terribly negative light. For instance, the focus has been moved to increased infantilizing materialism, mainstreaming and contemporary consumer cultures (Deuze, 2006). Another implication is that an increased quest towards compelling and diversified leisure such as media-centric experiences has turned people into artistic omnivores. They found enjoying a play one day, renting a duo of Hollywood movies the next; reading the latest book this week and such unending adventures. Nonetheless, Gershuny established evidence of what he refers to end of leisure. In this substantiation, Gershuny explains that though people work hard each year, in their free time, they consume all they have been hard working for at the regular time. This is the implication of the global shift, whereby the status in society today comes with a price tag: for the time outside of work has become a scarce resource, even though it is evident that we tend to spend more of it at all times. Events Leading To Individualisation According to various social-economic panels, an estimated number of less than 40% of the workforce in Europe have permanent or full-time positions. The rest of about 50% make up a typical workforce comprising of fixed-term, seasonal, casuals, contractual, and part-time jobs. The last patch of workforce of about 10% comprise of self-employed workers, and a group of workforce that has kept growing since the 1980s (Friebe, 2013). All these three classes coupled are a result of impending individualisation that has roots in early 20th century and has kept growing to date. It has become a dominant trend that has extended field of consumerism, leisure and entire job market (Friebe, 2013). Among the events leading to the verge for individualisation are war for talents and mass self-empowerment (Friebe, 2013). The events of War for Talent The industrial to post-industrial society transformation is the key reason for the split evident between the global job market’s insiders and the outsiders (Friebe, 2013). The financial crisis experience in Europe led to heightened structural crisis, which has mainly affected new entrants to the job market and the future expectations. As held by McKinsey institute, whilst transformational and transactional work has become automated or outsourced to low-wage destinations, interactional has grown to greater output leverage and is being compensated accordingly. This has shifted power towards the hunted experts. The battle for these competent minds has heightened individualisation and is expected only to intensify further with demographic changes (Friebe, 2013) Massive self-empowerment Another apparent event leading to individualization is the ever increasing self-empowerment initiatives by many people today. Evidently, technological advancement has opened up new and fresh outlet for new niches in the world of employment and career management. This has permitted new ways in which community and individuals perceive work life, beyond the significant bottlenecks of the Industrial era. An American freelancer, Daniel Pink puts it better; it is a free agent world (Friebe, 2013). Therefore, tools of the ideas of the economy have become widespread, economic and compartmentalized, thus can be operated by one person (Friebe, 2013). Such realisation has made it favourable for people to initiate self-empowerment strategies and thus entirely heightening individualisation. Benefit of individualization: In terms of talent, individualisation can favour proficient young workers entering to the job place. Continually, individualisation has lead to the major organisation to search for talent that stands out of the rest. The battle for these competent minds has heightened individualisation and is expected only to intensify further with demographic changes. Therefore, the primary benefit of individualisation is the high chances of landing opportunities with prestigious companies. This is evident when considering the continuous search for talent by the major professional services companies such as Deloitte, KPMG, Ernst and the Young, and PWC. Top officials from these firms have pledged to recruit over 43,000 young people in the next four years (Sengupta, 2014). As held by Agrawal, one of the managing partners, all these firms are seeking high-quality young talent as are the placement of high-cost employees within major companies (Sengupta, 2014). Additionally, the self-empowerment that comes with individualisation gives one an edge over competitors in the employment market. How people define Individuality in media today? Generally, Individuality is defined as the attitude or quality of an individual or organisation that distinguishes such person for the rest in same ranks or with same marks. In terms of media, this definition has become irrelevant currently, for the perception on the authority of media individuality a long gone view (Couldry, 2012). This might be due to the availability of new contemporary platform for sharing news that has led to mainstream media lag behind. Today, the public defines individuality in media as a self-proclaimed third state and defender of democracy which is neither credible nor reliable. In an analysis, McLuhan best describes the transformation the definition of individuality in media has gone. In this evaluation of print media, Television as well as the individuality around them, he identifies this transition in definition as a gradual displacement of hot media with cold media (Stevenson, 2002). By this, he meant that the hot media is one that disallows public participation and is always highly of informational content. Conversely, cold media leaves some space for the audience to contribute and thus exhibits less informational content. This disengagement between cold and hot media is what best describes how people define individuality in media. Which statements that best describes today’s media opportunities, freedom, and security? I believe the best statement that describes my feeling with the opportunities, freedom and security in media world, is one in Deuzes’s work that state As job security and promotional opportunities within larger organisations decline individuals may view multiple employer experiences in a positive light because it supports skill and development, increases marketability, shift career control to the employee and perhaps result in better matching career and family life cycle demands…” (Marler et al. 2002 p.430) (In `Deuze p22) In terms of opportunities, it true that the precarious nature of the world today, it true that the opportunities with major organisations have reduced, therefore, I believe the best way, to survive, is to have multiple jobs and employers. This environment will give me freedom in media to be a Radio producer in part-time and an advertising editor full-time or alternately. Such setting will obviously mean increased job security and give me time to enhance my skills as it supports competence and dexterity development. Ultimately, such precedence set in the statement is favourable as increases marketability, provides control of my career and also facilitates family and career merging. Bibliography Angelo, 2011. Your Personal USP (Unique Selling Proposition) | SMART Marketing Solutions. [Online] Smartmarketingllc.com. Available at: http://www.smartmarketingllc.com/2011/09/13/your-personal-usp-unique-selling-proposition/ [Accessed 12 Jan. 2015]. Bardoel, J., & Deuze, M., 2001. Network Journalism: converging competences of old and new media professionals. Australian Journalism Review, 23(2), 91-103. Couldry, N., 2012. Media, society, world. Cambridge: Polity. Deuze, M., 2006. Liquid life, convergence culture, and media work. Unpublished White paper. Indiana University. Deuze, M., 2008. 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