Agency and Control Flashcards
Direct Effect Theory
Technologies such as newspapers, radio and film promote ‘harmful’ or ‘dangerous’ behaviours to individuals and society
Argues that the media has a large and powerful effect over vulnerable audiences, which must be controlled
- Hypodermic Needle
- Bullet Theory
- ‘Monkey See, Monkey Do’
Direct Effect Theory - Case Study
Columbine Shooting
- Shooter had created school on old Doom map
News associated the school shooting with violent videogames such as ‘doom’
Propaganda Theory
After WW1, Media theorists were worried about propaganda, mass communication strategy using media to spread specific beliefs
Laswell believed power of propaganda came from repetition of symbols and messages over time
“only way to fight bad propaganda is with good propaganda”
Propaganda Theory - Case Study
Red Scare
Government after WW2 created anti-communist propaganda to scare/inform audiences
Hypodermic Needle Theory
Suggests media has a direct and powerful influence on the audience, like being injected with a hypodermic needle
“Monkey See, Monkey Do”
The audience are passive and what they see they will act out or believe
Hypodermic Needle Theory - Case Study
Orson Welles - War of the Worlds (1938 Radio Broadcast)
- Dramatized radio play
- Caused fear of aliens
- People tuning in late
- News reports similar to ‘real’ news
Modern Propaganda Theory
Similar to propaganda theory, though it believes that propaganda is communicated largely through companies, through advertising, rather than the government
- McDonalds
- Coca-Cola
- Apple
Corporations pick locations where we aren’t thinking, or are vulnerable
Corporations inundate us with repeated imagery
Relies on our passivity and its ubiquity
Modern Propaganda Theory - Case Study
Rupert Murdoch
- Owns Media conglomerate “NewsCorp”
- Only certain views expressed, due to the people that own companies
Involved in Distribution of film, television, newspapers, magazines, cable networks, and internet platforms.
Modern Communication Theories
New Media
- Non-Linear
- Active
- Developed Agency
Traditional Media
- Linear
- Passive
Two Step and Multistep Flow Models
Some are more influential than others
Opinion Leaders see themselves as influential in determining how audiences respond to mass media
Today we continue to get our opinions from online opinion leaders or social media influencers
Limited Effects Trend
Theories that suggest that the media has a limited effect on an audience, as audiences establish agency
Agenda Setting Functions Theory
Bernard Cohen (1963) stated: “The press may not be successful much of the time in telling people what to think, but it is stunningly successful in telling its readers what to think about”
Agenda setting occurs through a process called gatekeeping, as well as the selection, omission and framing of stories
Agenda Setting Functions Theory - Case Study
Case Study: The Kylie Effect
- Defined as 'the increased awareness of breast cancer caused by the publicity surrounding its diagnosis in Kylie Minogue, born 1968, Australian singer and actress' - Kylie Minogue's breast cancer diagnosis led to many women getting tested - 20 fold increase in breast cancer screening - 101% increase in bookings for breast cancer
Reinforcement Theory
Mass media does not have the ability to influence audiences. “Regardless of whether the effect in question be social or individual” he wrote “the media are more likely to reinforce than to change”
Exposure to months of campaign propaganda was found particularly likely to be reinforcing ideologies, rather than effecting conversion
Reinforcement Theory - Case Study
Case Study: Dumb Ways to Die (2012)
- In November 2012, Metro Trains in Melbourne released a public service announcement video titled Dumb Ways to Die. The video attempted to promote rail safety, through satirical depictions of various ‘dumb deaths’ of cartoon characters in an attempt to “engage and audience that doesn’t really want to hear any kind of safety message”,
- Caused 30% less near misses between November 2011 to January 2013, highlighting it’s positive impact
- Enforced ideas that being stupid near trains is bad, therefore causing more people to be aware
Filter Bubble Theory
Algorithms such as Youtube and Instagram filter information given to you based on information based on location, search history, and habits
You are not given information outside of your own views - filtered out
Eco chamber - Information and ideas repeatedly pushed, while others are prohibited
Filter Bubble Theory - Case Study
Case Study: 2016 US Election
- The results of the US Presidential Election in 2016 have been associated with the influence of social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook, and as a result have called into question the effects of the “filter bubble” phenomenon on user exposure to fake news and echo chambers spurring new interest in the term, with many concerned that the phenomenon may harm democracy and well-being by making the effects of misinformation worse
Active Audience Theory
When individuals consume a media text they are not blindly accepting the message, but are intellectually engaging with it, which gives them some agency and control over it
- One way an audience can be active is through interpretation
Parasocial Relationship Theory
- A one-sided interaction that can occur between media characters and their audiences.
- Horton and Wohl saw para social relationships as a negative effect of the media, taking advantage of vulnerable, lonely audiences
Audiences choose these celebrities in an act of identity-building and willingly entering into a para social relationship
- Horton and Wohl saw para social relationships as a negative effect of the media, taking advantage of vulnerable, lonely audiences
Parasocial Relationship Theory - Case Study
Example: Twitch / Livestream Services
Audiences making donations to popular streamers in return for interaction/notoriety
Globalised Media Usage
Globalised corporations control through their ownership, management and physical and digital distribution of intellectual property
Traditional business model corporations such as News Corp, 21st Century Fox create and distribute media products for audiences
Content is often geolocated
Geolocation based content is an internet definition utilized to specify content that is related to a particular location which can be a country, region, city or even suburb
Change of audience expectations = tension with traditional media distributors
Globolisation Media Usage - Case Study
Case Study: Netflix
- Netflix uses geo-blocking techniques to maintain control over distribution and consumption of copyrighted material
- From a consumer’s perspective, Netflix offers a much smaller content library to users outside of the U.S. Due to its existing licensing arrangements
- For example, if you’re a subscriber in Hong Kong, you cant view House of Cards, even though it is a Netflix original series
- According to a report published by BBC, more than 60 million people outside of the UK are watching BBC iPlayer for free, using VPNs or Proxy Servers
Governmental Media Usage
The way governments use and control the media differs from country to country
Government institutions, like that in Australia, use the media to support and protect their population, eg. Public service announcements or content regulation
However, not all government institutions use the media in a positive way. Throughout history, governments from various nations have used the media as a tool to oppress and censor their citizens
Governmental Media Usage - Case Study (China)
Case Study: Media Censorship in China
Censorship in the People’s Republic of China is implemented or mandated by the PRC’s ruling party, the Communist Party of China
Chinese government maintains censorship over all media capable of reaching a wide audience.
Eg. WeChat
- Chinese Government sanctioned and controlled social media app
- Wide known issues of privacy on app
In 2018, Australia’s Department of Defence banned employees from using WeChat, as it undergoes a security assessment
Correlation and Causation
It is easy to prove correlation between two phenomena:
- people who watch a high amount of violent media are more likely to show real-world violent tendencies
What is hard to prove is causation; that is:
- whether the violent media is a direct cause of violent tendencies
Content Analysis
Content analysis was popular in the direct effects trend theory of thinking about media influence.
Content analysis methods concentrate on the media texts themselves, and what they are made of.
Content analysis research can provide interesting data about the type of media being produced at a certain time and place, or how media has changed
The weakness of content analysis research is that it is disconnected from the audience that consumes it, it presumes the audience is passive, and does not explore the audience at all
Content Analysis - Case Study
Study: Boyatzis, Matillo and Nesbitt - Power Rangers
- A 1995 study into the effects of watching Power Rangers on children’s behaviour
Found that 140 aggressive acts in half hour episodes that were examined
Laboratory Studies
Laboratory studies in the media attempt to use lab conditions to explore a specific aspect of the relationship between media and it’s audience, while also controlling other variables.
While Lab Studies are popular among limited effect theorists, they have weaknesses
It is argued that lab studies are conducted in artificial environments
When people are not comfortable, they may not act naturally
They can also look at the immediate and short-term effects of the media
Laboratory Study - Case Study
Example: Iowa Stat Uni Violent Video Games 2006
- Found that subjects who played violent video games for twenty minutes had lower physiological responses when they watched videos of real-life violence
- Claim of desensitisation to violence was measured through heart rate, and galvanic skin response, measuring perspiration
Longitudinal Study
In Longitudinal Studies, researchers attempt to look at the relationships between media texts, and audiences over a long period of time and in a more naturalistic setting, outside the lab.
Longitudinal studies have issues, in separating influence from media, and other factors such as IQ, Parental Relationships, and Social Class
Longitudinal Studies - Case Study
Example: Huesmann, Moise-Titus, Podolski, and Eron, 2003
- Study followed children from first grade into their twenties
- Found that heavy exposure to television violence in childhood predicted increased physically aggressive behaviour in adulthood
They were 3 times more likely to be convicted of criminal behaviour
Protecting Vulnerable Audiences
Main role for most regulatory bodies is to protect the audience from that which may harm or disturb them, especially those audiences who are seen as being especially vulnerable.
A critique of regulation that protects so-called vulnerable audiences is that it may restrict others from seeing the content themselves.
Free-to-air and government controlled stations were easy to put in checks and balances for.
However, move to digital platforms that present media from a world of sources makes this harder to put in place.
Protecting Vulnerable Audiences - Case Study
Example: Children’s Television Standards
- Government regulations that deal specifically with free-to-air television
- Includes advertising directed at children
Regulations spell out what persuasive techniques children’s advertisements cannot use and seek to ensure that their food and beverage habits do not promote an unhealthy
Informing the Public
Many classification-based regulatory schemes are put in place so audiences know what is included in a media product
Classification gives audiences enough information to know whether a media product is for them.
Social media platforms provide basic warnings on some flagged content, but regulators cannot keep up with live video services on sites such as Youtube and Instagram, raising concerns about what users could be exposed to without notice
Informing the Public - Case Study
Example: National Classification Code
- Classifies all film and video games sold in Australia
Principle: ‘everyone should be protected from exposure to unsolicited material that they find offensive.’
Protective Cultural Identity
Following rules are in place to ensure there is Australian content on our screens and radio:
- Free-to-air primary commercial stations must broadcast 55% Australian content between 6.am and Midnight in a calendar year.
- Free-to-air broadcasts must also make sure 80% of total advertising between 6am and Midnight is produced in Australia
These rules ensure that Australia has a strong media industry that can provide employment for Australians.
Without these rules, broadcasters would likely import all their content from overseas, which would be much cheaper.
It is also important that Australian culture is reflected in the media that Australians consume.
The problem is, these quotas are unsustainable, as they do not apply for Online Distributors, therefore local media organisations cannot keep up with International Distributors
Agency
The ability of audiences to make choices. To believe, to think, act the way that they choose. Freedom
Control
The ability of government and institutions to affect the behaviour of audiences
Passive Audience
An audience that is exposed to media/marketing material but doesn’t actively engage with the content or messaging.
Active Audience
When an audience is engaging, interpreting, and responding to media messages and are able to question the message
Governmental Media Usage - Case Study (Aus)
Case Study: Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC)
The ABC is funded by the Australian Federal Government, but specifically independent of the Government and politics in the Commonwealth.
- Even though funded by the government, the ABC can be very critical of the government and issues
As a democratic society, we value freedom of speech, and the ABC is celebrated for offering a point of difference
Production
Process of creating a media product
Old:
- Physical
- Slower
New-age:
- Onine
- Faster
Distribution
Marketing, how producers get a media product out to the audience
Physical > Digital
Old:
- Cinema
- Newspaper
- Radio
New-Age:
- Television
- Online
- Social Meida
Consumption
The way that the audience interacts with a media product.
Mediums controlled by institutions (TV, Radio, Cinema, Print)
Old:
- Passive
New-Age:
- Active
Reception
A way that audiences can respond to a media product
- Social Media
- Review Sites
- ‘Parasocial Relationships’
- Reception OF Reception
Legal Implications/Problems
- Piracy:
Illegally obtaining Media products
institutitons lose revenue,
Cant regulate pirated material
Artists lose revenue - TikTok
Selling user data to Chinese government
Could be used for surveilance
Privacy risk
Ethical Implications
- Writers strike:
Concerned with AI transformers writing content, writers striking to protect future integrity - Actors Strike:
Concerned to protect their digital likeness
Extras and low powered actors contracted to sell their likeness - Facebook:
Selling user data to Cambridge Analytica
Used to make political assumptions
Agency - Case Study
Sonic Movie:
- First trailer released to dissapointing response due to Sonic character model
- Movie was delayed
- Released with redesign
- Big hit at box office
Priming Theory
What audiences consume can affect their future judgement and behaviours
Priming Theory - Case Study
Case Study: Aurora, Colarado Shooting
- Mass Shooting in a cinema after a screening of The Dark Knight Rises
- Thought that watching violent movies like ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ motivated the behaviour of the shooter
Linear
In Order
‘Media consumed in the order of how it is presented’
Non Linear
Not In Order
‘Media consumed whenever desired’
Framing Theory
an issue can be viewed from a variety of perspectives and be construed as having implications for multiple values or considerations
‘different frames for a story’
