Media and Modernity - Literature review Example

Media and Modernity Presented by Name Presented To Lecturer University name Topic Date Outline: Summary 1: Moscow’s Echo: Technologies of Self, Public and Politics on the Russian Talk Show Summary 2: I tweet honestly, I tweet passionately: Twitter users, context collapse, and the imagined audience Summary 3: Nation, culture, text Summary4: Rambo’s Wife Saves the Day Summary 5: Media and Morality Summary 6: On the Face of Facebook: Historical Images and Personhood in Filipino Social Networking Opinion 1: The Interpretation of Culture(s) after Television Opinion2: Understanding Media Opinion 3: Advertising in the Age of Hypersignification Opinion 4: Manufacturing Consent Introduction This paper will be a summary of the 6 weekly readings and 4 opinion pieces on the topic of media and modernity. The paper will be divided in subheadings each covering the summary of one weekly reading. After the weekly readings, the paper will provide own opnions having read the weekly readings. Discussion Summary 1 In his article, Matza (2009: 490) states that talk shows in Russia began in the middle of 1980s and it increased with the advent of market economy. Talk shows are attractive due to "appeal of mass subjectivity" where listeners get to hear themselves. Matza (2009: 498) notes that talk shows are also popular because there are many issues to talk about ranging from economy, politics and struggles of life. The article dwells on a post-Soviet talk show which offers callers and listener psychological advice and its political work. One program highlighted is Lolita where a pop singer going by the name Lolita Miliavskaia helps the audience to change their lives. There are other programs and one of the most successful hosts is Andrei Kurpatov, who was the first to open therapeutic session to viewers. Further, Matza (2009: 501) mentions that psychologists also got a new lease in life with the government creating positions for them in schools which has resulted in universities having departments to train psychologists. The article also analyzes intersection of talk shows and psychological expertise. An analysis of talk one talk show ‘For Adults about Adults’ one notes that talk show and politics have to bring about neo liberal government which is robust. Matza (2009: 502) states that listening to people resistant to some of the prescriptions in talk shows, one realizes that liberalism in Russia appears to be contradictory and multivalent. Some projects which may seem to be "neoliberalizing" also delve into other rationalities which may end up with results which are unpredictable. Summary 2 In their article, Marwick and Boyd (2010: 116) talk about imagining the audience online. The article starts with the contention that when a person is communicating, they have an imagined audience. However, there could be eavesdroppers who are unknown to the speaker. Even on social media, the audience may not have a limit but people act as though they are communicating to a certain group of people (Marwick & Boyd 2010: 117). If people do not have specific knowledge about the audience, they imagine who the audience is and this could be different from those people who read one's tweet, profile or blog post (Marwick & Boyd 2010: 118). Marwick and Boyd (2010: 120) use an example of Non Sense of Place (1985) where Joshua Meyrowitz used situationist theory to changes introduced by the electronic media. Situationism states that people's reactions to situations are based on context and not psychological traits which are fixed. It was Meyrowitz's contention that wall between separate social situations were eliminated by electronic media. Twitter, a micro blogging site was originally meant for cell phone. On twitter people answer the question 'what are you doing?' and there is no limit as to what one can update on ranging from serious matters to jokes. Twitter operates on friendship model where one chooses who to 'follow.' The audience in twitter is different from that imagined by the producer. In twitter, the imagined audience is those who follow someone but actual audience could be anyone with access to twitter since most of the posts are public. A survey asking people who they tweeted to resulted in a many different responses which were important in determining how users determine who their audience is. There is a challenge in twitter in choosing who the audience is going to be. Change of settings alone does not suffice. Participants are forced to contend with certain people that they can not ordinarily bring together and these include family, friends and acquaintances. This challenge can be overcome by use of pseudonyms or a multiple accounts (Marwick & Boyd 2010: 125). Twitter has what can be referred to as a networked audience. Media audiences are imaginary all the time. It has been argued that 'The writer's audience is always a fiction' ((Marwick & Boyd 2010: 127). Networked audience brings together a writer's audience and broadcast audience. Networked media brings together what is described as interpersonal interactions. Summary 3 This section summarizes the Turner (1993) chapter “for a cultural future: Francis Jupurrurla makes TV at yuendumu’. When television signals are broadcast as radio waves, they assure a kind of 'mute immortality' which means that they radiate endlessly beyond their point of creation. Warlpiri Media Association is to be found in Tanami Desert in Central Australia. It transmits its content in local languages. With more than 22 Aboriginal languages it becomes difficult to provide for all of them on a single service. Language problem bring to the fore a problem of social diversity that is brought to indigenous communities. It becomes difficult to know how to respond to standardization and homogenizing tendencies of world culture in the contemporary world (Turner 1993: 102). According to Turner (1993: 117), postmodernist critique does not provide sufficient guidance with how to deal with diverse cultures. Promoting Warlpiri media through demonstration of its privileged authenticity cannot be accepted. Practicing of art from Europe which depicts an artist as an independent inventor of original works is not applicable in Aboriginal tradition (Turner 1993: 94). In the Aboriginal community, media has been used to shape the opinions of people and to serve as a reminder of the tough life that they have been through. Some of the videos played for the Warlpiri show the community confronting government official. They raise emotions with some of the audience shouting at the screens. The stories among the Warlpiri revolve around action of certain being and their actions such as creating and recreating the landscape, the resources and forces of nature. Those places identified in such myths are identified as "special sites". The Warlpiri people have to sing song and tell stories and figure designs which invoke local portion of the law. Summary 4 Kulick and Willson (2002: 274) are of the opinion that that there is a communication theory that exists between the audience and the image portrayed by a film. They provide a couple of stories to explain their opinions. One such story is about Gapun. Gapun, a small village located in northern Papua New Guinea is one difficult to access. The inhabitants of the village spent a lot of time together and most of that time is used to get to know how they are faring and how other areas are doing. The information got is through others or through experiences as they have no access to radios, newspapers or other sources of information other than their fellow human beings. The information there happens to be contextualized. Filming equipment was taken to this remote village and villagers got an opportunity to see themselves on videos that had been recorded by tourists in previous visits. The majority of them were discovered not to have watched moving pictures. Villagers were found to analyze the movies just like they were real life happenings (Kulick & Willson 2002: 275). The Chapter deals with the relationship between media and political and popular culture. A narrow focus of the chapter is on the presence of evil in the global society and also in the global imaginary. Summary 5 The chapter is a summary of Silverstone (2007) chapter ‘the rhetoric of evil’. Through investigation mostly of the media culture of the United States, the Silverstone (2007: 56) explores the problem of the evil as an important factor in comprehending the the place of the media is and its responsibility in the current moral order. Silverstone (2007: 57) suggests that it is a problem identifying evil for practical morality. Politics and ethics are unable to make proper judgments. According to Silverstone (2007: 59), there is a distinction between an evil and a crime against humanity. A crime has been stated to mean that which there is a procedure for redressing or even preventing. On the other hand, an evil means that something is not possible to deal with and it is therefore a threat to the world. Evil is said to be what is called to explain a world which is inexplicable. As stated by Silverstone (2007: 61), evil is coupled with freedom. Freedom thus becomes of what the human condition rejects and requires at the same time. The media has a big role play in the discussion with regard to evil since radical decisions are made through the media. The media being effective for passing information and framing the way people think about the world makes it worth studying in contributing to evil in the world. Silverstone (2007: 63) notes that judgments through the media about what is good and what is evil are radical. It through such judgments that close relationships is established or people distance themselves from others. With regard to mediation of evil, there are several points that can be made. First, there is public culture that requires to be understood and which is embedded in values which are reproduced by the media. Representation of evils is just a small aspect of a moral discourse which is ever present. Silverstone (2007: 63) argues evil in American popular and political culture is real and should be opposed. The American society should be viewed as one society which has a common destiny and hence the need to set aside such differences as religion, race and creed. Evil signifies otherness, whereby the others are viewed as malevolent in a world which is ruled by God. Ascribing evil to thoughts and actions of others places, the other person in a situation whereby they can be classified as not capable of understanding or incomprehensible. Summary 6 This part summarizes McKay (2010) article entitled ‘On the Face of Facebook: Historical Images and Personhood in Filipino Social Networking’. According to McKay (2010: 479), facebook is one of the largest social networking sites in terms of following. Though described by Facebook corporate spokesperson as "all about being a reflection of real world relationships", different users are into interaction using the site which do not entirely mirror offline interactions. Observers are concerned that news norm for personal revelations are being produced. There is also bullying, alienation and indiscretion. Facebook offers a platform for people to share photographs which happens instantaneously. In these social networking sites, intrusion, bullying and copyright infringement are to be seen. Unlike the United States and the United Kingdom where friendships focus on peers among the Filipino, Facebook profiles are more directed to family members. Even when offline, Filipinos interactions are multi age and mostly through connection through family ties (McKay 2010: 481). Anthropological explorations especially by Marilyn Strathern argue that social networking sites reflect the individuality of the west. Facebook enables users upload images and the images shape the way people interact. Historical photographs are appropriated as aspects of a user. Public visibility sustains the esteem in which Filipinos hold historical photographs and their maker (McKay 2010: 485). Opinion 1 The opinion will be based on reading Abu-Lughod’s (1997) article ‘the role of that television viewing has on changing the culture of the people’. The essay relates the story told from the point of view of the author. The writer travels to a village in Upper Nile where she receives a friendly welcome which she attributes to curiosity. In the village, life appears to very difficult. Zaynab, the lady who receives the author is depicted as weather beaten and curious. Life in a poor country has many challenges. This is best seen through rural urban migration whereby Zaynab's husband has gone to the city and the situation is not made any better by her having six children which is not a small number (Abu-Lughod 1997: 115). The village has suspicious people and those visitors who are perceived to be foreigner are not treated very well and the author has to hide behind her being half Palestinian so as to attempt and fit in with the villagers. The article brings out the difficult life which is the difficult life that is experienced by some women. A key problem is arranged marriages where women have absolutely no role in the decision on who she is to marry. Zaynab had such a marriage and was forced to marry a maternal cousin. Men are brought out as uncaring as it can be noted that her husband rarely visited or cared about how their families were faring. It appears that women require being more assertive. The writer Al Assal has had to embrace feminism to ensure that she succeeds where many women would rather avoid. Poverty is a great problem and there is no access consumer culture fully. Cultural practices also contribute to the lowly position occupied by women. The television being a powerful tool could play a great role in ensuring that women access greater opportunities through changing of their mindsets. Opinion 2 The opinion is based on chapter one of McLuhan (1973) book ‘Understanding Media’. In the chapter entitle ‘the medium is the message’, people get surprised to realize in practical fact that the medium is usually the message. The message is that the consequences both personal and social are as a result of any medium. Automation creates jobs for some people but also results in loss of jobs for a great majority of people (McLuhan 1973:21). The message of a medium or even technology happens to be that change of scale, pace or pattern introduced in affairs of the people. According to (McLuhan 1973:23) it is argued and rightfully so that the railway did not bring about movement but what resulted was acceleration and enlarging the scale of the functions of humans from prior periods. Another result was building of cities and new forms of occupation emerged. Any medium binds people through its content. Some business did not realize what form of business they were engaged in for a long time. It becomes clear it is only a company that realizes what they are actually doing that they can make more concrete decisions and then strategize on how to make the company's performance to improve. Opinion 3 The opinion will be based on reading Goldman and Papson (1994) ‘Advertising in the Age of Hypersignification’. Goldman and Papson (1994: 23) note that in the 1980s, the advertising scene changed. There emerged modes of advertising such as hyperreal encoding, reflexivity and also use of hyper signifiers. The motivation for this change was informed by crisis in political economy of sign values. Advertising is in a stage which is based on hyper signification. Signification practices are used by advertisers in order to seek survival in market which is full of reproductions which are simulated. The trend that emerged in the 1980s had emphasis on people who made choice on what they wanted to consume and used products to their own liking. Role of individual viewer as assembly of meaning was stressed in the 1980s (Goldman & Papson 1994: 25). On reading the article, it is evident that the advertising industry has changed over the years. This has been informed by necessity. Consumers became more informed and advertisers seek to change their techniques so as to keep their products selling as competition became stiffer. Advertising is very crucial and this has led to people coming up with all innovative ways to ensure that a company is always ahead of its competitors to ensure that customers and potential customers are always made aware of the existence of emergence of new products. Opinion 4 The opinion is based on reading a chapter in Herman and Chomsky (1988) book title ‘Manufacturing Consent: The political economy of mass media’. According to Herman and Chomsky (1988: 68) the role of the mass media is information. Messages are passed to the general populace. Media functions also include amusing people, entertaining and informing. Media also seeks to inculcate beliefs, values and behaviour codes that will enable them to get integrated into a society (Herman & Chomsky 1988: 71). The chapter entitle as ‘a propaganda model’ provides that media was not well organized until the twentieth century when media organizations got the opportunity to broadcast and communicate to the general public. In some countries, levers of powers vest in state bureaucracy; there is strict control of the media and strict censorship. The role of the media in a very controlled environment is to serve the interests of those in power. Propaganda systems rarely work in countries where private people control the media and there is no official censorship. In such societies, the roles of the media include attacking and exposing corporate greed and failures by the government. Media in such countries comes out as campaigners for free speech interests of the community. A propaganda model in the media is based on wealth inequality and power. References Abu-Lughod, L. 1997. The Interpretation of Culture(s) after Television. Representations, 59 pp 109-134. Goldman, R. & Papson, S. 1994. Advertising in the Age of Hypersignification. Theory Culture Society Journal, 11 pp 23-53. Herman, E. & Chomsky, N. 1988. Manufacturing Consent: The political economy of mass media. New York: Pantheon Books. Kulick, D. & Willson. M. 2002. Rambo’s Wife Saves the Day: Subjugating the Gaze and Subverting the Narrative in a Papua New Guinean Swamp. New York: Blackwell Publishing Ltd. Marwick, A. & Boyd, D. 2010. I tweet honestly, I tweet passionately: Twitter users, context collapse, and the imagined audience. New Media and Society, 13(1): 114-133. Matza, T. 2009. Moscow’s Echo: Technologies of Self, Public and Politics on the Russian Talk Show. Cultural anthropology, 24 (3):489–522. McKay, D. 2010. On the Face of Facebook: Historical Images and Personhood in Filipino McLuhan, M. 1973. Understanding Media: The extension of Man. London: Routledge. Silverstone, R. 2007. Media and Morality: On the Rise of Mediapolis. London: Polity Press. Social Networking. History and Anthropology, 21. (4): 479–498. Turner, G. 1993. Nation, culture, text: Australian cultural and media studies. New York: Routledge. Read More