I handed in the second draft of my essay about 'Political Bias In The News'. It was pretty easy writing about representation and institution and I've managed to get 6 pages out of just analysing Fox News, BBC News and The Daily Show for how the presenters look and which political ideology they represent etc. However finding secondary sources is proving to be an uphill struggle because surprisingly, it appears that not a lot of academics have wrote about political bias in the news.
The website is almost finished, all that's left for me to do is finish writing one of the news stories and tweaking a few more small details to make it look more similar to The Onion which my website is partially based off of. Making the website has been more enjoyable simply because it has more creative freedom, therefore allowing me to flex my writing skills and give a voice to my angst ridden, socialist and generally pessimistic outlook on the world.
Monday, 4 February 2013
Thursday, 17 January 2013
Homework - Past Pare Analysis and Developments In New and Digital Media
Past Paper Analysis
1. I believe the examiner was right to criticise the writer for a lack of fluency in their answer. The writer used very little punctuation and there vocabulary was lacking much technical language, hindering the consistency of their sentences.
2. The answer uses a wide range of media debates from videogames to the war in the Middle East, indicating good knowledge of the subject matter and showing that the writer has done good research into their topic.
Developments in new/digital media mean that audiences can now have access to a greater variety
of views and values. To what extent are audiences empowered by these developments?
Online comments sections allow people to voice their opinions on a multitude of topics from politics and world events to the quality of a TV show or album. This development has allowed for much greater discussion and democratic debate since people can voice their opinions rather than accept the opinions foisted onto them by the established bourgeoisie.
However some online forums can also be the location of much bullying and favouritism. A common complaint of the website ‘Reddit’ is that employs the use of an upvote/downvote system. This system means that the most popular comments are located at the top of each page of the website so certain people’s opinions and arguments are valued over others and are more likely to be read than the comments at the bottom of a page. While online forums and comment sections allow for greater debate and freedom of speech they are often very biased towards certain opinions.
When viewing websites that are politically oriented the viewer will often encounter a bias towards the left wing or the right wing. Organisations such as Fox News, Sky News, MSNBC and The New York Times have reputations for favouring certain sides of the political spectrum and their websites are no different. The Fox News website features segments of ‘The O’ Reiliy Factor’ that is heavily geared towards a Conservative audience, featuring Bill O’ Reiliy’s televised rants against media and public figures who he deems a threat to American values. On the other hand The Daily Show website is tailored to a more liberal minded person with video clips from the show featuring Jon Stewart ridiculing various politicians for a multitude of reasons. While new and digital media does allow access to a larger variety of views and beliefs these views and beliefs are not necessarily presented in a democratic fashion where vastly different viewpoints are treated with respect, instead a person viewing these websites will usually have political beliefs spoon-fed to them rather than have the website present viewpoints to them and allow the audience to construct their own thoughts and philosophies.
Thursday, 13 December 2012
’It Is Not The Strongest That Survive But Those Most Responsive To Change.’ How And Why Do Media Institutions Continue To Change?
’It is not the strongest that survive but those most responsive to change.’
How and why do media institutions continue to change?
Media institutions adapt to change because they need to in order to continue operating, if they continue to use outdated methods of publicity and distribution they will likely fall out of popularity.
More recently the film industry has been adapting to online marketing to reach a larger audience, horror movies were once intended very much for a niche audience but online marketing of horror movies is utilising more conventional marketing techniques in an effort to widen the audience for this genre. When Paranormal Activity 4 was launched it had a Twitter feed that not only advised fans of various methods to watch the movie but also retweeted the tweets of people who said positive things about the movie. This has two functions, number one, it reinforces the existing fanbase because people will appreciate their tweet being retweeted by the makers of a movie that they enjoyed, and number two, it helps create more fans because of the subtext of the whole procedure, a person may read these positive tweets and be encouraged to see the movie because this person genuinely enjoyed the movie, it was their own personal opinion which can be more encouraging than an actual trailer which has been created by a team of people that may not even like the movie and are only producing the trailer because it is their job.
Viral marketing is effective because of it's interactive element. The official trailer for Silent Hill: Revelation 3D has nearly 4 million views proving how popular these online trailer can be. What draws a person to an online trailer are the interactive codes and conventions of video sharing websites such as YouTube, you can comment on an online video, expressing your opinion is something that the internet is synonymous with and people like to put forth their opinions and get into debates about whether the movie looks any good, what aspects of the trailer were good etc. Also an online trailer can be shared, YouTube has a share function where you can link a YouTube video from Facebook, Twitter or GooglePlus in a few seconds. This feature inspires people to share the link so that they can debate about the trailer with other people and it is cost effective marketing for the movie producers because they are spreading news about their product without having to spend any money.
The trailer for horror movies themselves are also changing, previously horror movies were about as much gore and horrific scenes you could fit into a time slot, nowadays they are much more focused on building tension and then dissipating all of that tension with one big climactic death scene before going back to building the tension, the trailer mirrors this aesthetic very well. We are shown a lot of wide angle shots that show the main characters whole body in order to make the main character look lost and confused in the expansive set, the mise-en-scene is drab and dull using plenty of grey for exterior shots to capture the emotionless feeling of the town that the movie is set in, lots of dark red shades are used for the interior shots to signify that these are the more violent scenes of the movie which indeed they are as the interior shots are the only time we see any monsters attempt to hurt the main character. The interior shots are usually the shots that have a 'narrow' feeling to the mise-en-scene, the full body shots are still used to give that feeling of exposure but the all of the rooms for the interior shots are narrow corridors where the main character has only one direct path ,thereby being forced to continue toward her enemies and increasing the tension for the viewers as they know it's only a matter of time before the main character encounters more grotesque spirits attempting to destroy her.
The music industry is a prime example of how institutions adapt to fit the best interests of their customers. Both major record labels and independent labels have begun to realise that the internet is the future for music distribution. With the success of the Vevo channels on YouTube showing music videos, the huge popularity of sites such as iTunes, Pandora and Last.fm and the fact that well established print institutions such as NME and Village Voice now have websites where they show all of the content that they feature in their magazines on the website it is clear that people enjoy listening to and finding out about music online, and why wouldn't they? The service of downloading an audio file is so simple and not nearly as time consuming as going to a record store and hunting down the particular records that you're looking for.
The record companies aren't the only people involved who benefit. The marketing power of the internet means that it is now easier than ever before for a band to market themselves rather than rely on record companies. If a band, or any other kind of performer for that matter, wants to make themselves known, there are a number of websites on the internet that can assist them. Creating Facebook and Twitter pages can build a fan base easily so you can give people constant updates on the band members and their activities, not to mention making an account on one of these websites is completely free so it is undoubtedly the most cost effective form of promotion that someone can utilise. A band can sell their music on iTunes without the hassle of actually paying someone to make CD's which is just another drain on one's resources, or the band can make their own website and sell the music for free if they are so inclined.
How and why do media institutions continue to change?
Media institutions adapt to change because they need to in order to continue operating, if they continue to use outdated methods of publicity and distribution they will likely fall out of popularity.
More recently the film industry has been adapting to online marketing to reach a larger audience, horror movies were once intended very much for a niche audience but online marketing of horror movies is utilising more conventional marketing techniques in an effort to widen the audience for this genre. When Paranormal Activity 4 was launched it had a Twitter feed that not only advised fans of various methods to watch the movie but also retweeted the tweets of people who said positive things about the movie. This has two functions, number one, it reinforces the existing fanbase because people will appreciate their tweet being retweeted by the makers of a movie that they enjoyed, and number two, it helps create more fans because of the subtext of the whole procedure, a person may read these positive tweets and be encouraged to see the movie because this person genuinely enjoyed the movie, it was their own personal opinion which can be more encouraging than an actual trailer which has been created by a team of people that may not even like the movie and are only producing the trailer because it is their job.
Viral marketing is effective because of it's interactive element. The official trailer for Silent Hill: Revelation 3D has nearly 4 million views proving how popular these online trailer can be. What draws a person to an online trailer are the interactive codes and conventions of video sharing websites such as YouTube, you can comment on an online video, expressing your opinion is something that the internet is synonymous with and people like to put forth their opinions and get into debates about whether the movie looks any good, what aspects of the trailer were good etc. Also an online trailer can be shared, YouTube has a share function where you can link a YouTube video from Facebook, Twitter or GooglePlus in a few seconds. This feature inspires people to share the link so that they can debate about the trailer with other people and it is cost effective marketing for the movie producers because they are spreading news about their product without having to spend any money.
The trailer for horror movies themselves are also changing, previously horror movies were about as much gore and horrific scenes you could fit into a time slot, nowadays they are much more focused on building tension and then dissipating all of that tension with one big climactic death scene before going back to building the tension, the trailer mirrors this aesthetic very well. We are shown a lot of wide angle shots that show the main characters whole body in order to make the main character look lost and confused in the expansive set, the mise-en-scene is drab and dull using plenty of grey for exterior shots to capture the emotionless feeling of the town that the movie is set in, lots of dark red shades are used for the interior shots to signify that these are the more violent scenes of the movie which indeed they are as the interior shots are the only time we see any monsters attempt to hurt the main character. The interior shots are usually the shots that have a 'narrow' feeling to the mise-en-scene, the full body shots are still used to give that feeling of exposure but the all of the rooms for the interior shots are narrow corridors where the main character has only one direct path ,thereby being forced to continue toward her enemies and increasing the tension for the viewers as they know it's only a matter of time before the main character encounters more grotesque spirits attempting to destroy her.
The music industry is a prime example of how institutions adapt to fit the best interests of their customers. Both major record labels and independent labels have begun to realise that the internet is the future for music distribution. With the success of the Vevo channels on YouTube showing music videos, the huge popularity of sites such as iTunes, Pandora and Last.fm and the fact that well established print institutions such as NME and Village Voice now have websites where they show all of the content that they feature in their magazines on the website it is clear that people enjoy listening to and finding out about music online, and why wouldn't they? The service of downloading an audio file is so simple and not nearly as time consuming as going to a record store and hunting down the particular records that you're looking for.
The record companies aren't the only people involved who benefit. The marketing power of the internet means that it is now easier than ever before for a band to market themselves rather than rely on record companies. If a band, or any other kind of performer for that matter, wants to make themselves known, there are a number of websites on the internet that can assist them. Creating Facebook and Twitter pages can build a fan base easily so you can give people constant updates on the band members and their activities, not to mention making an account on one of these websites is completely free so it is undoubtedly the most cost effective form of promotion that someone can utilise. A band can sell their music on iTunes without the hassle of actually paying someone to make CD's which is just another drain on one's resources, or the band can make their own website and sell the music for free if they are so inclined.
How The Media Is Making Us Stupid
The latest YouTube layout has been designed in such a way that your homepage on the site is now nearly devoid of videos by the people that you actually subscribe to having been replaced with videos that have been "reccomended for you because you watched ...". The institution has a very low opinion of the users of the YouTube, apparently assuming that we are all inept at finding good content by ourselves and instead need to be spoon-fed the same bland non-entertainment from more popular channels such as 'PewDiePie' and 'The Yogscast'. The layout is more of an inconvenience as it prevents poeple from easily viewing the content that they actually want to watch.
YouTuber's themselves are starting to employ more conventional marketing techniques making themselves appeal less to a niche audience in order to gain more fans. Most YouTuber's often fill their videos with annotations and links to their Facebook and Twitter pages, links to their blog, KickStarter account, second channel, friend's channels etc. People are perfectly acceptable of finding these outlets themselves but the YouTuber's feel the need to turn themselves into a recognisable institution with branding to ensure a large and consistent fanbase. The media landscape of YouTube becomes incredibly stale as more people conform to the idea that you have to fill your videos with these links and annotations and content begins to feel the same, for example, there are now countless "Let's Play" channels on YouTube because people noted the popularity of people such as 'TotalBiscuit' and 'The Yogscast' and imitated them to gain popularity.
The music industry has recently been genre stereotyping to the degree of Grunge in the 1990's or Glam Rock in the 1980's. Heavy Metal bands and their music videos are becoming increasingly conformist. The mise-en-scene for these music videos is always the same, the band is performing in some decrepit looking building, there is usually scenes of love story with shots of the band broken up with a very stereotypical unhappy love story of two people growing apart and being "reborn", the codes and conventions of these videos is that black is the prevailing colour, everything is in black from the clothes that the band wear to the room itself, the clothes of the band members is basically the same clothes that Motley Crue or Posion wore in the 80's but with a Goth/Scene Kid overtone with tight black jeans, vests and straight, long hair dyed jet black, often with the hair covering one eye.
There is also a laughable attempt at trying to sexualise the band members as they are often shot with specific camera angles, shooting them from the waist up and focusing on their makeup and skinny, exposed arms. The intention of these framing techniques is to bring in a larger female audience which is admirable but it is done in a very derogatory way where the institutions assume that women are interested in the bands appearance than their music.
This genre stereotyping effectively funnels people into different subgenres, people begin to identify with a recognisable look and will buy music from bands that look similar. People will blindly accept whatever music is given to them as long as they have a particular appearance, genre stereotyping prevents people from discovering music on their own and instructs people to listen to music based on fashion and looks rather than originality, melody, rhythm, musical abilities etc.
YouTuber's themselves are starting to employ more conventional marketing techniques making themselves appeal less to a niche audience in order to gain more fans. Most YouTuber's often fill their videos with annotations and links to their Facebook and Twitter pages, links to their blog, KickStarter account, second channel, friend's channels etc. People are perfectly acceptable of finding these outlets themselves but the YouTuber's feel the need to turn themselves into a recognisable institution with branding to ensure a large and consistent fanbase. The media landscape of YouTube becomes incredibly stale as more people conform to the idea that you have to fill your videos with these links and annotations and content begins to feel the same, for example, there are now countless "Let's Play" channels on YouTube because people noted the popularity of people such as 'TotalBiscuit' and 'The Yogscast' and imitated them to gain popularity.
The music industry has recently been genre stereotyping to the degree of Grunge in the 1990's or Glam Rock in the 1980's. Heavy Metal bands and their music videos are becoming increasingly conformist. The mise-en-scene for these music videos is always the same, the band is performing in some decrepit looking building, there is usually scenes of love story with shots of the band broken up with a very stereotypical unhappy love story of two people growing apart and being "reborn", the codes and conventions of these videos is that black is the prevailing colour, everything is in black from the clothes that the band wear to the room itself, the clothes of the band members is basically the same clothes that Motley Crue or Posion wore in the 80's but with a Goth/Scene Kid overtone with tight black jeans, vests and straight, long hair dyed jet black, often with the hair covering one eye.
There is also a laughable attempt at trying to sexualise the band members as they are often shot with specific camera angles, shooting them from the waist up and focusing on their makeup and skinny, exposed arms. The intention of these framing techniques is to bring in a larger female audience which is admirable but it is done in a very derogatory way where the institutions assume that women are interested in the bands appearance than their music.
This genre stereotyping effectively funnels people into different subgenres, people begin to identify with a recognisable look and will buy music from bands that look similar. People will blindly accept whatever music is given to them as long as they have a particular appearance, genre stereotyping prevents people from discovering music on their own and instructs people to listen to music based on fashion and looks rather than originality, melody, rhythm, musical abilities etc.
Thursday, 6 December 2012
Why And With What Success Are Traditional Media Institutions Adapting To The Challenge Posed By New/Digital Media?
The film industry has recently begun to utilise new and digital media in order to promote its movies with varying degrees of success.
Most films have Twitter feeds and Facebook pages up and running before the films are released in theatres and are now essential codes and conventions in the advertsing world, an example of this is the movie Paranormal Activity 4 which has a popular Twitter feed where positive messages from fans praising the movie are 'retweeted', this increases brand loyalty by making the audience feel like the producers of the film care for their fan base and value their participation, it also encourages people to see the film who haven't already seen it as they appreciate the good nature of the films producers 'retweeting' fan messages.
One aspect of new and digital media that has definitely impacted horror movies in a negative way is the advent and popularity of online film review websites such as Rotten Tomatoes, iMDB and the IGN film review series, these websites are notoriously highly critical of repetitive franchises such as the Paranormal Activity series and bland horror movies such as Silent Hill: Revelation 3D that do not bring anything new to the genre. Rotten Tomatoes recently called Silent Hill: Revelation 3D as "Featuring weak characters, an incomprehensible plot, and a decided shortage of scares, Silent Hill: Revelation 3D is a mediocre effort even by the standards of video game adaptations". These review websites are incredibly popular and recognised as trustable and respectable institutions and as a result many fans will defintely be discouraged from seeing a movie if their favourite review website gives a film a poor review.
Fan websites such as TheFinalDestinationWiki provide a lot of fan service with all the codes and conventions of typical fan websites such as character bios and polls for users of the website to vote on, the film industry reognises these websites as essential marketing tools as these websites comply with the uses and gratifications theory, if people want to find out more about The Final Destination franchise and its characters, producers, settings etc, this website is the most obvious choice as it has by far the most information of The Final Destination out of all of the fan made websites.
Most films have Twitter feeds and Facebook pages up and running before the films are released in theatres and are now essential codes and conventions in the advertsing world, an example of this is the movie Paranormal Activity 4 which has a popular Twitter feed where positive messages from fans praising the movie are 'retweeted', this increases brand loyalty by making the audience feel like the producers of the film care for their fan base and value their participation, it also encourages people to see the film who haven't already seen it as they appreciate the good nature of the films producers 'retweeting' fan messages.
One aspect of new and digital media that has definitely impacted horror movies in a negative way is the advent and popularity of online film review websites such as Rotten Tomatoes, iMDB and the IGN film review series, these websites are notoriously highly critical of repetitive franchises such as the Paranormal Activity series and bland horror movies such as Silent Hill: Revelation 3D that do not bring anything new to the genre. Rotten Tomatoes recently called Silent Hill: Revelation 3D as "Featuring weak characters, an incomprehensible plot, and a decided shortage of scares, Silent Hill: Revelation 3D is a mediocre effort even by the standards of video game adaptations". These review websites are incredibly popular and recognised as trustable and respectable institutions and as a result many fans will defintely be discouraged from seeing a movie if their favourite review website gives a film a poor review.
Fan websites such as TheFinalDestinationWiki provide a lot of fan service with all the codes and conventions of typical fan websites such as character bios and polls for users of the website to vote on, the film industry reognises these websites as essential marketing tools as these websites comply with the uses and gratifications theory, if people want to find out more about The Final Destination franchise and its characters, producers, settings etc, this website is the most obvious choice as it has by far the most information of The Final Destination out of all of the fan made websites.
Wednesday, 5 December 2012
Link To NME.com
http://www.nme.com/
I think this illustrates how even big time magazines and other print based organisations are feeling pressured to go online nowadays since that's where people are going for their news nowadays.
Also the website has a lot of user interactivity since they do a lot of polls like '50 Best Record Producers', 'Best Songs Of 2012' etc. Also people post comments on articles.
I think this illustrates how even big time magazines and other print based organisations are feeling pressured to go online nowadays since that's where people are going for their news nowadays.
Also the website has a lot of user interactivity since they do a lot of polls like '50 Best Record Producers', 'Best Songs Of 2012' etc. Also people post comments on articles.
Link to The O' Reiliy Factor
http://video.foxnews.com/v/2011766333001/
A link to a recent episode of The O' Reiliy Factor. Displays plenty of iconography and examples of codes and conventions of Fox News and displays some of Fox News right wing bias.
A link to a recent episode of The O' Reiliy Factor. Displays plenty of iconography and examples of codes and conventions of Fox News and displays some of Fox News right wing bias.
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