cultural pessimist views of new media Flashcards
what is cultural pessimism
closely linked with marxism
new media has a negative impact on society - reduces democracy
- the new media is not-so-new
- domination of media conglomerates in new media
- new media creates commercialisation
- democracy doesnt exist - new media has confirmed the power of the elite
- the new media has led to a decline in popular culture
the not-so-new media
conford and robins - new media is not new - tv and telephone lines still integral to the use of new media eg broadband and wireless connections
- interactivity not new - written to newspapers and phoned into radio
- new media technologies are just an extension of traditional media
only new thing is speed of the information - 9/11 one of the first times speed of information was most notable
the not-so-new media eval
Jenkins - traditional media may have involved element of interactivity - but interactivity within new media drastically different due to participatory culture and citizen journalism
domination by media conglomerates
Jenkins - most new media developed as a result of investment by big media corporations - cross-media ownership begin in 1980s
MacKinnon - concept of sovereigns of cyber-space to describe power of giant multinational corporations eg amazon to control internet
Curran and Seaton - companies effectively part of political system - exercise power without responsibility eg removing political movements from website eg arab spring
domination by media conglomerates eval
pluralists - users have more power through citizen journalism and consumer choice is more powerful than the companies
commercialisation
internet - extremely commercialised - millions of people use internet for bills, consumer goods ect - shift from educational use to commercial use
Cornford and Robin - more choice has negative side effects eg consumer surveillance such as cookies monitoring and processing data generated to enhance profits
Marxism - claim commercialisation encourages materialism, consumerism and false needs
commercialisation eval
interactionism - active
selective filter model
postmodernism
reception analysis theory
can reject it - vpns, saying reject, adblockers
reinforcing elite power
Conford and Robins - sceptical of view that new media leads to more democratic communication - assertive tactics eg copyright restrictions - media corporations monopolise key strategic links within new media
Jenkins - not all participants in new media are equal - corporations exert greater power than any individual consumer
some countries censor messages and increase surveillance in everyday life - social control
US teacher lost job after parent spotted a facebook picture of her with glass of wine in one hand and beer in other
marxist cultural pessimists - surveillance techniques used by those with power to monitor social protestors and condemn non-conformists
reinforcing elite power eval
- neophiliacs - clearly evidence of democratisation within the new media - use of social media to voice opinions and share political ideas
- new media has positive benefits - mobilising groups against oppressive regimes eg arab spring 2011
decline in quality of popular culture
increased choice of media delivery systems - decline in equality of popular culture
Harvey - digital TV - increased choice but dumbing down of popular culture as producers fill media
online TV culture - candyfloss culture - speaks to everyone but no-one in particular - reality tv, vloggers
decline in quality of popular culture eval
pluralists - popular culture is a reflection of what audiences want to consume - way for people to have voice over what content they want to see and can create it themselves - vloggers are also consumers - participatory culture
