Chapter 5: Media Ideology
This chapter discusses ideology, dominant ideology, hegemony, and discourse. The chapter goes on to explain how each of these concepts is applied in understanding mass media. Ideology is defined as “in the service of power” (150). Ideology is the ideas and opinions that make the power of a dominant social group or class legitimate. Ideology is a very imperative, constructive, and essential component within both the social theory and in media analysis. Ideological power is used in five ways: legitimation, dissimulation, unification, fragmentation, and reification. Legitimation is when relationships are made and maintained with unequal power roles, and is being represented as being in everyone’s best interest. Dissimulation occurs when relations of domination are denied, hidden, or obscured. Unification is used when you were to further deflect attention from the unequal power of relationships between the leaders and the followers. Fragmentation is when hegemony is achieved and maintained by splitting up the potential opposition, which in turn reduces or removes the threat. Reification is an unequal social structure that is represented as being likely and expected (152-154).
The next topic discussed is the analysis of media. Content analysis is used to find out what the “intentions and other characteristics of communicators, detect the existence of latent propaganda or ideology, reflect cultural patterns of groups, reveal the foci of organizations, and describe trends in communication content” (158). This is only one example of how to examine media in our society. Ideological and discursive analysis is when one “concentrates on the relationship between media language and audience beliefs about the social world” (159). Communication would never be able to happen between the media and audiences of ideology and discourse did not exist. Ideology is ever-present in the mass media. These examples of ideology are not appreciated by the media professionals, but when the ideology is about race or gender the ideology becomes noticed.
Many people have studied ideology; including Karl Marx and Frankfurt School, Louis Althusser, Antonio Gramsci, and John B. Thompson. Karl Marx and the Frankfurt school describe ideology as being restricted or closed and in turn developed a negative understanding of the concept. They “emphasize the relationship between the economic base and dominant ideas of capitalistic society” (163). Louis Althusser and Antonio Gramsci characterize ideology as open or realized. Althusser was troubled with explaining the relationships between the media and ideology. He developed the idea of the “ideological state apparatus” (163). This meant that the media and educational systems described ideology as “representing capitalism as being natural, inevitable, and indeed desirable” (163). Antonio Gramsci developed hegemony. He studied how capitalism made and maintained the role of dominance in society. He found that hegemony/domination is created by force. He explains that the mass media gives the world a “commonsense” viewpoint (165). He also found that people who have no power give in and become dominated by the powerful people. This viewpoint goes against the views of feminists and Marxist views. John B. Thompson helped us to better understand ideology and the mass media’s role in the concept of ideology. Thompson explains that ideology is “establishes and sustains relations of power whish are systematically asymmetrical – what [he] shall call ‘relations of domination’” (168). Thompson took a tripartite model. This examines the ideological role in the media. The tripartite model helps to understand orientations that use different research methods to accomplish the preferred end. The second part of the model uses references to “discursive analysis” of media (171).
The concepts of ideology and discourse are necessary in understanding the media and the relationships of power within society. The discourse analysis helps us to further understand the ideology in the media. It helps us to understand how media texts are made and how they are used. Understanding discursive discourse is imperative in understanding ideological analysis.
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Merchants of Cool
Frontline: Merchants of Cool
The main target market that marketers are trying to sell to right now is teenagers. This is the largest population of teenagers that America has ever had, totaling 32 billion. These teenagers want to spend the money that they have. They have more money now than ever and therefore have more say over how they are spending it. Last year teenagers bought 100 billion dollars worth of products with their own money and spent another 50 billion dollars of their parent’s money. Parents spend money for their children as a way to compensate: some parents give their children their credit card and say go buy some things because I cannot spend time with you today. These teenagers go out and buy the products that are “cool” and therefore they become cool and part of the “in” crowd. In order for marketers to get teens to buy their products they need to understand and know how teenagers think and act. Corporate America needs to figure out what these “cool teens” like, who they are, and what they want. In order to best get across to the teens they need to speak the language of the teenagers. Therefore the teenage population is one of the most studied. When trying to get across to the teens the marketers need to figure out what works the fastest, not necessarily the best. Because they are focused on what will work the best, they are not so worried about standards and sometimes the standards are brought down. One marketing firm did a study on a group of teenage boys. They asked questions such as what do you like to wear, what do you like to eat, what do you like to listen to, and what do you like to watch. Each teen was given $125 compensation for participating in the study. The teens were also given a worksheet that had many popular brand names on it. The teen were asked to circle what brands they like and use and X off any that they do not like. This research can then tell the marketers what is “cool” and what is not. Another way marketers figure out what is “cool” is by doing an ethnography study. This is when the researchers go to teens homes and study them in a natural habitat. All of the visits were filmed by a camera crew. They ask the teen to talk about clothes, dating, parents, problems with friends, and music. With these clips of the visit the marketers then put the clips together into a short movie and add music. This is then shown to other marketers to allow them to see what the new and “cool” things are.
Everyday people are exposed to marketing messages whether you are aware of them or not. A total of 3,000 marketing messages are seen by one person per day. By the time you are 18 years old, you will have seen no less than 10 million marketing messages. This increase of marketing messages over the years is mainly because of the new technology available to everyone. In America, 75% of teenagers have a TV in their bedroom and about 1/3 have their own computer in which they spend an average of 2 hours per day. Sometimes teens feel an overload of these advertisements and messages and therefore may block them out. This is why marketers need to figure out what teens will listen to and what will attract their attention.
The major question that marketers have is what is “cool”? The “cool” keeps changing because the “cool” belongs to the kids and the kids keep changing. In marketing firms there is a job position called the Cool Hunter. These people are sort of a culture spy. These people go out and look for trend setters, which make up only about 20% of the population. They then take picture of these kids and post them up to the LookLook website. Many other marketing firms have a subscription to this website and they have access to these new looks that are considered “cool”. This process becomes a giant feedback loop in which the media watches what the “cool” kids are doing. Then the kids watch what the media has found, which is basically a duplicate of themselves, and then the kids try to emulate that image that the media is giving. This makes the difference between reality and TV blur together and it is hard to figure out what is reality.
Sprite is an example that they give about trying to get the message across to teens. Sprite hosted a party to kick off for Sprite.com. Kids were paid to come and attend. Several popular hip hop and rap artists played live at the event. The whole event was aired live on MTV. This was a bonus for everyone: the teens were happy and wanted to drink coke, the artists were happy because they were being aired on national TV, and MTV was happy because their ratings were going up. MTV brought in a large revenue for Viacom: $1 billion profits. MTV is almost completely advertisements and infomercials. MTV broke one of the major rules of marketing: do not let your marketing show. This obviously was working in a positive way for them. One of the major examples of this is TRL (Total Request Live). This was a show in which MTV aired music videos that were on popular demand. Several kids would be a part of the show and many would gather outside the building staring up at the 2nd floor windows where the show was taking place.
In trying to get teen’s attention the fastest, the standards of society may be dragged down. There are two characters that have been made up by the media, the Mook and the Midriff, that exemplify this effect. The Mook is a representation of a male who is arrested in adolescence, does not care what people think, and is crude. The Mook is driven by “testosterone driven madness.” One example of this is the people in the movie Jackass. The Midriff is prematurely adult, consumed by appearance, and is sex obsessed. An example of this is Brittney Spears in her first album: Hit Me Baby One More Time. She was a cute, innocent teenage girl who flaunted her body in front of millions. The boys loved her because they thought she was hot and the girls loved her because she showed them that girls should flaunt their sexuality.
There are many other examples of sex portrayed in the media. This seems to be the most common way in getting teens attention. Dawson’s Creek is a show about sex obsessed high school teens. If they were not having sex, they were talking about it. The first episode showed a 14 year old boy having an affair with his teacher. MTV’s Undressed was a show with very little plot, and was mostly based around sex. The movie Cruel Intentions was about step sister and step brothers who were very promiscuous. This movie “pushed the envelope.” This needed to be done so that the movie stood out from everything else. Also, MTV’s Spring Break programs and events show sex. One example of a show that does not take this route is 7th Heaven. This was a show on the WB and was made so that families could watch it together. It was a very clean and appropriate show for all ages.
The main target market that marketers are trying to sell to right now is teenagers. This is the largest population of teenagers that America has ever had, totaling 32 billion. These teenagers want to spend the money that they have. They have more money now than ever and therefore have more say over how they are spending it. Last year teenagers bought 100 billion dollars worth of products with their own money and spent another 50 billion dollars of their parent’s money. Parents spend money for their children as a way to compensate: some parents give their children their credit card and say go buy some things because I cannot spend time with you today. These teenagers go out and buy the products that are “cool” and therefore they become cool and part of the “in” crowd. In order for marketers to get teens to buy their products they need to understand and know how teenagers think and act. Corporate America needs to figure out what these “cool teens” like, who they are, and what they want. In order to best get across to the teens they need to speak the language of the teenagers. Therefore the teenage population is one of the most studied. When trying to get across to the teens the marketers need to figure out what works the fastest, not necessarily the best. Because they are focused on what will work the best, they are not so worried about standards and sometimes the standards are brought down. One marketing firm did a study on a group of teenage boys. They asked questions such as what do you like to wear, what do you like to eat, what do you like to listen to, and what do you like to watch. Each teen was given $125 compensation for participating in the study. The teens were also given a worksheet that had many popular brand names on it. The teen were asked to circle what brands they like and use and X off any that they do not like. This research can then tell the marketers what is “cool” and what is not. Another way marketers figure out what is “cool” is by doing an ethnography study. This is when the researchers go to teens homes and study them in a natural habitat. All of the visits were filmed by a camera crew. They ask the teen to talk about clothes, dating, parents, problems with friends, and music. With these clips of the visit the marketers then put the clips together into a short movie and add music. This is then shown to other marketers to allow them to see what the new and “cool” things are.
Everyday people are exposed to marketing messages whether you are aware of them or not. A total of 3,000 marketing messages are seen by one person per day. By the time you are 18 years old, you will have seen no less than 10 million marketing messages. This increase of marketing messages over the years is mainly because of the new technology available to everyone. In America, 75% of teenagers have a TV in their bedroom and about 1/3 have their own computer in which they spend an average of 2 hours per day. Sometimes teens feel an overload of these advertisements and messages and therefore may block them out. This is why marketers need to figure out what teens will listen to and what will attract their attention.
The major question that marketers have is what is “cool”? The “cool” keeps changing because the “cool” belongs to the kids and the kids keep changing. In marketing firms there is a job position called the Cool Hunter. These people are sort of a culture spy. These people go out and look for trend setters, which make up only about 20% of the population. They then take picture of these kids and post them up to the LookLook website. Many other marketing firms have a subscription to this website and they have access to these new looks that are considered “cool”. This process becomes a giant feedback loop in which the media watches what the “cool” kids are doing. Then the kids watch what the media has found, which is basically a duplicate of themselves, and then the kids try to emulate that image that the media is giving. This makes the difference between reality and TV blur together and it is hard to figure out what is reality.
Sprite is an example that they give about trying to get the message across to teens. Sprite hosted a party to kick off for Sprite.com. Kids were paid to come and attend. Several popular hip hop and rap artists played live at the event. The whole event was aired live on MTV. This was a bonus for everyone: the teens were happy and wanted to drink coke, the artists were happy because they were being aired on national TV, and MTV was happy because their ratings were going up. MTV brought in a large revenue for Viacom: $1 billion profits. MTV is almost completely advertisements and infomercials. MTV broke one of the major rules of marketing: do not let your marketing show. This obviously was working in a positive way for them. One of the major examples of this is TRL (Total Request Live). This was a show in which MTV aired music videos that were on popular demand. Several kids would be a part of the show and many would gather outside the building staring up at the 2nd floor windows where the show was taking place.
In trying to get teen’s attention the fastest, the standards of society may be dragged down. There are two characters that have been made up by the media, the Mook and the Midriff, that exemplify this effect. The Mook is a representation of a male who is arrested in adolescence, does not care what people think, and is crude. The Mook is driven by “testosterone driven madness.” One example of this is the people in the movie Jackass. The Midriff is prematurely adult, consumed by appearance, and is sex obsessed. An example of this is Brittney Spears in her first album: Hit Me Baby One More Time. She was a cute, innocent teenage girl who flaunted her body in front of millions. The boys loved her because they thought she was hot and the girls loved her because she showed them that girls should flaunt their sexuality.
There are many other examples of sex portrayed in the media. This seems to be the most common way in getting teens attention. Dawson’s Creek is a show about sex obsessed high school teens. If they were not having sex, they were talking about it. The first episode showed a 14 year old boy having an affair with his teacher. MTV’s Undressed was a show with very little plot, and was mostly based around sex. The movie Cruel Intentions was about step sister and step brothers who were very promiscuous. This movie “pushed the envelope.” This needed to be done so that the movie stood out from everything else. Also, MTV’s Spring Break programs and events show sex. One example of a show that does not take this route is 7th Heaven. This was a show on the WB and was made so that families could watch it together. It was a very clean and appropriate show for all ages.
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Chapter 3 Synopsis
Chapter 3 Synopsis:
Media Ownership: Concentration and Conglomeration
In this chapter the topic being discussed is media ownership. Media ownership structures have a direct effect on media content. The structures if the ownership can be non-profit, public, or private. This relationship in the changing structure of media ownership and media content is something that is being focused on. Radio, e-zines, blogs, and newsletters are considered to be non-profit groups. These groups target only a small audience and are able to function on a small budget. Media can either be owned by the state or by a private company. Examples of state ownership are the control of newspapers, television, and radio. Private organizations may own smaller newspaper companies and local radio stations.
The next topic discussed is conglomeration, concentration, and content. Mainstream media ownership has become dependent on fewer people and organizations because of mergers, takeovers, deregulation, privatization, globalization, and technological change. Many companies have been merging into larger companies become conglomerates. A conglomerate is a large scale corporation that operates at both a national and transnational level. These corporations are made up of several corporations that tend to have monopolistic qualities and tendencies. Media corporations are a larger part of media conglomerates. This has been increasingly becoming a problem for media scholars. The media output may be effected by this because of the distribution of power among the individual media entrepreneurs. Media ownership is being shaped by both concentration and conglomeration. These conglomerations run on a local, regional, national, or transnational level. The concentration of the conglomerate can either be vertical or horizontal. Vertical conglomerates own and control a bunch of companies, who are involved in the construction and circulation of media. Horizontal conglomerates control a large number of media companies. These companies that the conglomerates own create and sell products that are associated with the media. Some examples of this type of conglomerate are Bertelsmann, Vivendi Universal, and Time Warner.
Synergy has become a slogan for the media conglomerates and their ability to keep the position of power. Synergy is defined as “the co-ordination of parts of a company so that the whole actually turns out to be worth more than the sum of its parts acting alone, without helping one another” (p. 95).
The political economy perspective is a way to comprehend and evaluate the proposition of media concentration and conglomeration. This theory is concerned with studies how the capitalist class encourages and holds their power and position in society. The main concern is unequal power relations. In regards to concentration and conglomeration, this perspective says that there will be several repercussions that follow for media content and media audiences. The audiences are believed to only be consumers of media, instead of being seen as normal citizens. The theory also states that in order to understand the media to the full extent you need to observe and study media ownership and where the power is held in the media industries.
The Internet is seen as “having a major potential as a media-based public sphere” (p. 108). On the Internet there is very little that cannot be done. After examining the Internet one can find some flaws, and people may not be using the internet for the media. The internet has been taken over by mass-media conglomerates and oligopolies. On every internet page you can find somewhere that there is an advertisement or something about what is happening in the world at that time. In conclusion, this chapter sums up and stresses the significance of understanding how media ownership has been changing over the years.
Media Ownership: Concentration and Conglomeration
In this chapter the topic being discussed is media ownership. Media ownership structures have a direct effect on media content. The structures if the ownership can be non-profit, public, or private. This relationship in the changing structure of media ownership and media content is something that is being focused on. Radio, e-zines, blogs, and newsletters are considered to be non-profit groups. These groups target only a small audience and are able to function on a small budget. Media can either be owned by the state or by a private company. Examples of state ownership are the control of newspapers, television, and radio. Private organizations may own smaller newspaper companies and local radio stations.
The next topic discussed is conglomeration, concentration, and content. Mainstream media ownership has become dependent on fewer people and organizations because of mergers, takeovers, deregulation, privatization, globalization, and technological change. Many companies have been merging into larger companies become conglomerates. A conglomerate is a large scale corporation that operates at both a national and transnational level. These corporations are made up of several corporations that tend to have monopolistic qualities and tendencies. Media corporations are a larger part of media conglomerates. This has been increasingly becoming a problem for media scholars. The media output may be effected by this because of the distribution of power among the individual media entrepreneurs. Media ownership is being shaped by both concentration and conglomeration. These conglomerations run on a local, regional, national, or transnational level. The concentration of the conglomerate can either be vertical or horizontal. Vertical conglomerates own and control a bunch of companies, who are involved in the construction and circulation of media. Horizontal conglomerates control a large number of media companies. These companies that the conglomerates own create and sell products that are associated with the media. Some examples of this type of conglomerate are Bertelsmann, Vivendi Universal, and Time Warner.
Synergy has become a slogan for the media conglomerates and their ability to keep the position of power. Synergy is defined as “the co-ordination of parts of a company so that the whole actually turns out to be worth more than the sum of its parts acting alone, without helping one another” (p. 95).
The political economy perspective is a way to comprehend and evaluate the proposition of media concentration and conglomeration. This theory is concerned with studies how the capitalist class encourages and holds their power and position in society. The main concern is unequal power relations. In regards to concentration and conglomeration, this perspective says that there will be several repercussions that follow for media content and media audiences. The audiences are believed to only be consumers of media, instead of being seen as normal citizens. The theory also states that in order to understand the media to the full extent you need to observe and study media ownership and where the power is held in the media industries.
The Internet is seen as “having a major potential as a media-based public sphere” (p. 108). On the Internet there is very little that cannot be done. After examining the Internet one can find some flaws, and people may not be using the internet for the media. The internet has been taken over by mass-media conglomerates and oligopolies. On every internet page you can find somewhere that there is an advertisement or something about what is happening in the world at that time. In conclusion, this chapter sums up and stresses the significance of understanding how media ownership has been changing over the years.
Midterm assignment Chapter 3 synopsis
Chapter 3:
Modernity: Spectatorship, Power, and Knowledge
The main goal of this chapter is to get people to realize the ways in which messages are given to you through several different mediums and images. You need to be able to observe and comprehend the messages that are given out by everything around us. Images are seen all around us at all times, they are ever-present. In the chapter spectatorship is defined as the quality of the viewer or spectator. The spectator is the individual who is viewing something, while spectatorship is the practice of viewing. Also, the chapter focuses on the fundamentals of the psychoanalytic theory and the concept of gaze. The terms spectator and spectatorship go hand and hand when talking about the psychoanalytical theory. Gaze is referred to when a viewer looks at something for a long period of time, and therefore may understand it better. Both gaze and spectatorship are important building blocks in the understanding of these concepts. The main concepts that need to be focused on are “the roles of the unconscious and desire in viewing practices, the role of looking in the formation of the human subject, and the ways that looking is always a relational activity and not simply a mental activity engaged by someone who forms internal mental representations that stand for a passive image object ‘out there’” (p. 102). These two theories, gaze and spectatorship, are theories of address, not theories to explain and understand how viewers respond to text and images. The gaze helps to establish power. “The act of looking is commonly regarded as awarding more power to the person who is looking than to the person who is the object of the look” (p. 111).
Modernity is also discussed throughout the chapter. Modernity is a “term that refers to the historical, cultural, political, and economic conditions related to the Enlightenment (an eighteenth-century philosophical movement),; the rise of industrial society and scientific rationalism; and the idea of controlling nature through technology, science, and rationalism” (p. 95). It is also “associated with the belief that industrialization, human technological intervention in nature, mass democracy, and the introduction of market economy are the hallmarks of social progress” (p. 95). With modernity, more technology is developed, changing the world around us. We are in the age of a new revolution. With all the new technology we have, more and more media is able to be released and therefore we are exposed to more film and images. Images are seen over all types of mediums, including; movies, televisions, cell phones, computers, billboards, newspapers, and magazines.
Photography and art is seen as an important aspect of gaze. In the early years, paintings were made more for male viewers. This was because of the sexual stereotypes of males and females. In the recent years, more females have been buying art, but years ago males were the main target audience. A normal pose in a photo for a female would be in the nude in such a position so that the male viewer would appreciate it right away. The women in these pictures were the “male gaze” (p. 124). The women in these pictures also were never looking straight at the camera or painter, suggesting that they were passive. In conclusion, this chapter focuses on the role of the viewer in forming a meaning of images that are viewed through the concepts of spectatorship and gaze.
Modernity: Spectatorship, Power, and Knowledge
The main goal of this chapter is to get people to realize the ways in which messages are given to you through several different mediums and images. You need to be able to observe and comprehend the messages that are given out by everything around us. Images are seen all around us at all times, they are ever-present. In the chapter spectatorship is defined as the quality of the viewer or spectator. The spectator is the individual who is viewing something, while spectatorship is the practice of viewing. Also, the chapter focuses on the fundamentals of the psychoanalytic theory and the concept of gaze. The terms spectator and spectatorship go hand and hand when talking about the psychoanalytical theory. Gaze is referred to when a viewer looks at something for a long period of time, and therefore may understand it better. Both gaze and spectatorship are important building blocks in the understanding of these concepts. The main concepts that need to be focused on are “the roles of the unconscious and desire in viewing practices, the role of looking in the formation of the human subject, and the ways that looking is always a relational activity and not simply a mental activity engaged by someone who forms internal mental representations that stand for a passive image object ‘out there’” (p. 102). These two theories, gaze and spectatorship, are theories of address, not theories to explain and understand how viewers respond to text and images. The gaze helps to establish power. “The act of looking is commonly regarded as awarding more power to the person who is looking than to the person who is the object of the look” (p. 111).
Modernity is also discussed throughout the chapter. Modernity is a “term that refers to the historical, cultural, political, and economic conditions related to the Enlightenment (an eighteenth-century philosophical movement),; the rise of industrial society and scientific rationalism; and the idea of controlling nature through technology, science, and rationalism” (p. 95). It is also “associated with the belief that industrialization, human technological intervention in nature, mass democracy, and the introduction of market economy are the hallmarks of social progress” (p. 95). With modernity, more technology is developed, changing the world around us. We are in the age of a new revolution. With all the new technology we have, more and more media is able to be released and therefore we are exposed to more film and images. Images are seen over all types of mediums, including; movies, televisions, cell phones, computers, billboards, newspapers, and magazines.
Photography and art is seen as an important aspect of gaze. In the early years, paintings were made more for male viewers. This was because of the sexual stereotypes of males and females. In the recent years, more females have been buying art, but years ago males were the main target audience. A normal pose in a photo for a female would be in the nude in such a position so that the male viewer would appreciate it right away. The women in these pictures were the “male gaze” (p. 124). The women in these pictures also were never looking straight at the camera or painter, suggesting that they were passive. In conclusion, this chapter focuses on the role of the viewer in forming a meaning of images that are viewed through the concepts of spectatorship and gaze.
Friday, March 13, 2009
Monday, March 9, 2009
Friday, March 6, 2009
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Midterm Assignment
A) Pantene Pro-V: The girl in this ad seems to be ready for the picture to be taken of her. She is all done up and her hair is perfect. The only problem is she is not looking at the camera. She seems to be distracted by someone off to the side. The girl is done up using the product line of Pantene Pro-V being advertised. Having the girl as the center of the advertisement really ads to the advertisement because people may want to look just like her. Her hair is flawless and is very shiny.
B) Dolce & Gabbana: The image that has the most power in this advertisement is the man holding down the women in the front. This advertisement is for clothes and does not seem to be advertising for clothes in anyway. Most of the people in this advertisement are not wearing clothing. All of the men surrounding the women seem to just be watching over her being almost abused. This is a very controversial advertisement and is no longer allowed to be used in America as an advertisement. Because the main focus is on these two people, and there is no copy explaining what the advertisement is for, makes me believe that it was not a very successful advertisement in trying to get a point across.
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
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