READING DIARY WEEK 7: ‘How to do media & cultural studies’

Jane Stokes (2003), ‘How to do media & cultural studies’, chapter 4, discusses how academics and students of the media need to have much more detailed understanding of the activities of the ‘culture industries’. Often the investigation of institutions and organisations has been overlooked, while attention has focused on the media products and their users, but it is their role to question he norms and values of the industry. A culture industry is one which main function is the production and distribution of art, entertainment or information (Jane Stokes, 2003).

In ‘How to do media & cultural studies’, it considers that the vast majority of research is intended to be instrumental. Most research is conducted by and for particular industries or companies, with the purpose of advancing the aims and objectives of the organisation. An example of this is information is collected by the Broadcasters’ Audience Research Board on television-viewing figures, which is used widely by the television industry to monitor programmes and to develop programming strategy (Jane Stokes, 2003). Although this administrative research is produced solely for business purposes, it can be of value to academics as sources of information which otherwise would be impossible to find. Stepahane Debenedetti (2006) in ‘The Role of Media Critics in the Cultural Industries’, completes a comprehensive analysis of media criticism, examining its intrinsic characteristics, how it functions and its relationship with other actors in the cultural industries, and how this would make a valuable contribution to the literature. Stepahane Debenedetti (2006) suggests how reviews can influence the fate of cultural products by shaping the publics preferences. As for the consumer, reviews can reduce the fundamental uncertainty associated with an experiential product, the quality of which cannot be evaluated fully before purchase. Therefore companies complete research in order to help influence the fate of there organisations

In most countries in the West, governments take an active interest in the media and culture industries. National governments have the strongest influence on the shape of media industries in their own countries. Jane Strokes, (2003), suggests that the significance of legalisation and the regulatory environment on the culture industries provides and interesting area to research, viewing the impact of changes in regulation on particular industries which in turn will enable you to understand the way the culture industries work.

Furthermore, ‘How to do media & cultural studies’ highlights how Marx’s work has been most influential to studies of how the social structure of a society is reflected in culture. ‘The ideas of the ruling class are in every epoch the ruling ideas’ (Marx and Engels, 1974: 64). This suggests that there is a strong relationship between the structure of society and the cultural products produced, proposing the idea that one should ‘look to money’ to understand the workings of the media.

Jane Strokes, (2003), proposes several ways of approaching research into the media and culture industries in ‘How to do media & cultural studies’, as the media and cultural industries provide rich and varied sources for analysis. Therefore if I was to research further I would investigate how theory can influence ‘cultural industry’ (for example how theories of new technology can influence cultural industries. By using research methods Jane Strokes, (2003) proposes in ‘How to do media & cultural studies’, I can conduct an analysis of the affects of criticism has on cultural industries.

References

• Jane Stokes (2003) How to do media & cultural studies, chapter 4. London: Sage Publications

• Debenedetti, S. 2006, “The Role of Media Critics in the Cultural Industries”, International Journal of Arts Management, vol. 8, no. 3, pp. 30-42.

READING DIARY WEEK 6: ‘The Political Economy of ‘New’ News Environment’

Des Freedman(2010) ‘The Political Economy of ‘New’ News Environment’, suggests the traditional business model for delivering news is in crisis. Freedman , D. (2010) concludes the industry is in danger due to younger audiences deserting them for the immediacy and interactivity of the internet, resulting in traditional news organisations losing their privileged position in delivering the world to their audiences. Furthermore, governments are reluctant to step in and help prevent the haemorrhaging of readers, therefore can this type of news exist in a capitalist economy. Adam Smith (1776) suggests political economy was the study of ‘wealth’, and was concerned with ‘how mankind arranges to allocate scarce resources with a view to satisfying certain needs and not others’. Therefore is news becoming a way to make money, instead of being for the public good and having an affect on the delivery and content of news.

Hardy, J. 2014, puts forward the idea that Media industries and practices are being rapidly transformed worldwide. Audiences dependence on communication resources is accompanied by increasing interest and concern in how these resources are organised and controlled. Therefore there has become more importance of political and economic organisation of the media. This organisation of the media could be an affect to the changes of traditional news. Des Freedman(2010) suggests how news business has become pre-occupied with the survival in face of competition from the internet,  resorting organisations to save money through cost cutting, increasing productivity and hiring convergence journalists. Political economy analysis focuses on the structure of the media industries and survival strategies of media companies, as Freedman, D. (2010) highlights that survival in this market has created competition and the need for social media.

Different ways of organising and finding communication have implications for the range and nature of media content, and the ways in which this is consumed and used (Hardy, J. 2014). Due to the dramatic shift of online audiences it has been predicted there will be an ‘end’ of newspapers. This suggests that political economy can affect the production and circulation of meaning, as with the dramatic shift of audiences, resulted in the evolvement of a new business model for newspapers, for example the Guardian was anxious to secure first-mover advantage in a  digital news environment. Pressures of competition and changing consumption patterns can be a reason to why the industry is flexible enough to meet the demands of a changing society (Des Freedman, 2010).

If I was to research this further, I would consider how the the economic circumstances have contributed to this changing mode of news. Furthermore whether this power relation will ultimately affect the content of news.

References

• Des Freedman(2010) ‘The Political Economy of ‘New’ News Environment’ in Natalie Fenton, (ed) New Media, Old News. London: Sage Publications

• Hardy, J. 2014, Critical political economy of the media: an introduction, Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group, London.

Reading Diary Week 5: ‘Spinning The War: How PR Made The First Gulf War’

Liz Tynan in ‘Spinning The War: How PR Made The First Gulf War’ (2011)suggests that the Gulf War (1991) was a triumph of information management and media access control, as the PR’s role was to obtain consent for the Gulf War. Liz Tynan brings to light the idea of a strategic plan evolving to ensure control and restrictions on the flow of media information, by introducing Press Pools. Press Pools was the system in which only allowed a small number of reporters given access to gather information, which they then shared to the wider press outdid the pool.

However, the military won extremely positive coverage during the war at the price of a dissatisfied press corps and lingering doubts about whether the press saw the whole story (David Benjamin 1995). Reporters were given limited access to combat zones under strictly controlled conditions and restriction, e.g. obligation for reporters to stay with an PR escort. The actions of the PR varied, either helping the reporters get what they wanted or censored reporters work (Liz Tynan 2011).

As a result, We have to consider the key importance of the state (military) in disseminating and suppressing information (David Miller et al. 2012), as the militarised press pools and restrictions allowed them to gain sufficient control over information. This information management could be seen as a strategy of publicity and promotion in an attempt to retain informational control and send out certain ideologies to influence audiences. This  could be a reason for why there has been an increasing sophistication in news management on part of the military in order to shape the publics opinion (John Corner 2007).

Due to the information management, Australian Polemical journalist, John Pillager suggests that “it was organised to the point that journalists ceased to be journalists”. Hard news had been taken out of war reporting and replaced with soft journalism (Liz Tynan 2011), e.g. human interest pieces being about how soldiers are faring in the heat. The occurrence of soft journalism is the direst result of press controls. Liz Tynan concludes that the military found ways to control how reporters went about their work, through the use of press pools and censorship requirements which completely changed the conduct of war reporting and the role of PR is entrenched in the conduct of modern warfare.

These changes still influence coverage of the military conflicts today, therefore if I was to investigate this further, I would consider the effects that information management has on military news today, and whether this is affecting journalists work and what the public are hearing.

References

• Liz Tynan (2011) ‘Spinning the War: How PR Made the First Gulf War’ in  Bainbridge, J. et al (eds.)Media & Journalism, 2nd
  edition, S. Melbourne: Oxford University Press

• Corner, J. 2007, “Mediated politics, promotional culture and the idea of ‘propaganda'”, Media, Culture & Society, vol. 29, no. 4, pp. 669.