Chapter 12 Flashcards
Story tellers and prophets, oral traditions
-story tellers were individuals in social groups who stood out for criticizing the behaviour of others
- those who spoke out about behaviour that might be changed and what should be were called prophets (focused on future and present)
-these ways of telling about the past, present, and future were preserved first in oral traditions that formed religious beliefs and practices
-oral traditions were recorded in various forms and held sacred by the societies that created them
theatrical stories took 3 forms
- drama: ended tragically in the death of the central character in the story
- comedy: made its points about human behaviour and interactions that allowed the characters to go on living
- satire: help up certain kinds of behaviour to ridicule
civilizations were following similar trajectories
- formulating stories about past and present
- designating storytellers and dramatists
- dealing with power struggles and forms of government
- developing religions that answer essential human questions in similar ways
spread of ideas caused
- the renaissance
- the reformation
- the age of enlightenment
- the scientific revolution
-printing press (1450) - glass as a magnifier, eyeglass (1300s, started in italy)
-changes in religious belief, modern democracy, and innovative political thought
ex: newspapers were main source of political, economic, and cultural information for the middle class and became guide of public opinion
Journalism and “estates”
-18th century when democracy was starting to take shape, journalism became known as the “Fourth Estate” with a social responsibility of advocacy and an ability to frame political issues
- first estate (from middle ages) = the church/ clergy
- second estate = Nobility
- third estate = Commoners (peasants and nuns)
development of news
- until late 1900’s there were less sources of news making debates more two sided, specific, and less confusing
- today’s media is still bound by the goals of the fourth estate but it’s difficult to maintain them in a time where media is converging
- journalists are now responsible for informing the public of relevant events, war, economics, local issues, politics, health, and culture while ensuring their reporting is free of bias
- internet based media distinguished as the fifth estate
Collective Consciousness
- governments, institutions, and private interest groups have used media to shape the consciousness and identities of nations/societies
- Media are used to inform public opinion about issues that meet national objectives of identity, security, population health, and economic growth (used to further nation building) ex: radio
- prime ministers Lyon and King believed radio would unify Canadians and protect national identity from american influence this is still an objective of canadian broadcast
Canadian Content
- american companies spend less to distribute their media than canada does (more outlets share the cost)
Economies of scale - Canadian producers carry a higher distribution cost, so it is less expensive if they carry American productions instead of Canadian ones so Canadians are exposed to american media more than canadian content
- Canadian content regulations CanCon were put in place to protect Canadian national identity and ensure a market for Canadian creative and production industries
CRTC, 1971
- regulates the amount of canadian content on radio and television
- canadian content on radio is determined by the MAPL system (music, artist, performance, lyrics)
- must be 40% now was originally 25% in radio
- more difficult to regulate in tv
- 55% yearly or 50% daily for broadcast exception CBC which has 60% quota some other exceptions
- 50% for prime time programming
Canadian content in tv and movies
- private networks use news (which is aired twice nightly) and information programs that are considered canadian to meet quotas
- also candian versions of unscripted shows (reality shows) are another low investment way to meet quotas
- Telefilm Canada is the federal body for funding and promoting canadian films
Canadian content in terms of story themes
- fairly well defined in terms of canadian involvement
- other part of canadian content is telling stories that reflect canadian history, identifiable places, culture, values, ect.
- while canadian settings are used as stand ins for american locations they rarely become “the third character” in the plots
- common themes: Hockey, War, Diversity, and Indigenous
Indigenous television
- TVNC delivered shows to communities in the north 1991
APTN took over in 1999: - first network in the world dedicated to a country’s Indigenous people and is a founding member of the World Indigenous Television Network
-non profit, not government funded - 85% Canadian content is broadcast in English (56%), French (16%), and Indigenous languages (28% being heard only on this network)
global village, who
- Marshall McLuhan
described as a media prophet and technology determinist (technology determines how humans act) - believed technology has the power to determine social structures
- Global village: the phenomenon of the entire world becoming more interconnected as the result of the propagation of media technologies throughout the world.
mediums
The importance of any medium is how it affects the way people interpret its messages, behave as a result of them, and how it “shapes and controls the scale and form of human association and action,” beyond the specifics of its content (McLuhan, 1962)
mass media, who
- C. Wright Mills
1. very few people control the communication of a great number of people
2. the audience has no truly effective way to communicate back to those in control
inherently undemocratic - large entities are able to dominate public consciousness with greater broadcast powers than small groups/individuals
