Media regulation - More information on argument for / against Internet regulation

Media Regulation - Concept : 

Media Regulation – the big idea – Gatekeeping v Freedom of speech

The key concepts that should be on your radar are:

GATEKEEPERS:

- A gatekeeper is a person who controls access to something, for example via a city gate or bouncer, or more abstractly, controls who is granted access to a category or status.

So in terms of Media Regulation – they are either the officially recognised bodies that regulate the media or the individual groups elected by the Media platform themselves.

About the current content regulatory system

New Zealand’s current content regulatory system is made up of the Films, Videos, and Publications Classification Act 1993, the Broadcasting Act 1989 and voluntary self-regulation (including the New Zealand Media Council and Advertising Standards Authority). The Office of Film and Literature Classification and the Broadcasting Standards Authority are statutory regulators under their respective regimes. 

New Zealand’s content regulatory system seeks to prevent harm from exposure to damaging or illegal content. It does this through a combination of classifications and ratings to provide consumer information, and standards to reflect community values. These tools are designed to prevent harm from people viewing unwanted or unsuitable content, while protecting freedom of expression

(check out link here for more info)

The main debate about Gatekeepers is that:

• They regulate content and therefore the contributors – they are powerful!
• The Internet promised to allow free speech and expression – and has now come unstuck because of this – ‘move fast and break things has become move fast and fix things.’
• Gatekeeping is dependent on many external factors that relate often, to the culture, politics, country, religion where the media is produced – in other words – gatekeeping is culturally reactive.

How do you resolve the ever present argument of:

• REGULATION OF SPEECH v FREEDOM OF SPEECH.

“Goebbels was in favor of free speech for views he liked. So was Stalin. If you’re really in favor of free speech, then you’re in favor of freedom of speech for precisely the views you despise. Otherwise, you’re not in favor of free speech.” — Noam Chomsky

KEY CONCEPTS AND DEBATES:
Freedom of Speech vs Protection from Harm
Pluralist vs Moralist
Gatekeeping vs Democratisation (the action of making something accessible to everyone)

• Media Regulation will never be watertight – it has to react to technological advancements/convergence.
• Media Regulation changes over time – historically it reacts to technology and cultural zeitgeists.
• Media Regulation is closely linked to:
  • • Moral Panics
      Censorship
      Desensitisation
      Self-Regulation
• Media Regulation can be covert, subversive and ‘invisible’ – think of Chinese interference with internet access
• Media Regulation has to determine the minefield of:
  • • Public v. private
• Postmodern society is built on the foundations of ‘no absolute truths’ and mini- narratives and Regulation contradicts this zeitgeist (the defining spirit or mood of a particular period of history as shown by the ideas and beliefs of the time.)
  • • Self Regulation
    • Begs the question that perhaps China has got it right – the re-introduction of the absolute truths/the grand narratives through the back door of covert and subversive regulation of its citizens accessing the internet, may in fact make life simpler, safer and easier to navigate?

THEORY

To achieve a higher grade you need to include reference to a specific theory & associated theorist. 

Freedom of Expression

Theorist(s): John Milton (1608-74) and John Locke (1632-1704)

An enlightenment idea, which holds that in order to be truly free in a liberal democracy, the  powerful should be held to account via a free press (The Fourth Estate). This principle was enshrined in The First Amendment to the Bill of Rights in America (1791) and is held to be a fundamental principle of liberal democracies.

Harm Principle

Theorist(s): John Stuart Mill (1806-1873)

Was also a enlightenment liberal thinker who tried to define the limits on the freedoms of the citizen. He suggested that people should be free in all things, and ‘…that this freedom should only be restricted if their actions may cause harm to others.’ Applying this to freedom of expression, he famously said, “You cannot, without good reason, shout, ‘Fire’ in a public theatre.”

Moralists and Pluralists

Moralists hold that collectively defined rules should regulate and limit media consumption available to the public, especially to protect vulnerable groups.

Pluralists believe in self regulation.

Mark Kermode & Owen Jones assert that people should be given the tools to regulate their own media  consumption. The most obvious being, the power switch or block button.

If you don’t like it, don’t watch it!

Friday - Power and the Media

 

Make some notes on the argument FOR and AGAINST online media regulation 

HERE IS OUR LAST CASE STUDY. SOCIAL MEDIA REGULATION, BUT IN THIS CASE THERE IS NO REGULATORY BODY! EXCEPT THE SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS THEMSELVES!

The problem stems from one significant difference between social media and our previous case studies. Social media companies are global organisations. So, whilst it’s relatively easy to regulate adverts and news within the borders of a country, global regulation is highly problematic.

The other essential issue which prevents social media companies from being regulated is, are they a publisher or are they a platform?

It is impossible to regulate these American companies who have the protection offered by Section 230 of the American Communications and Decency Act 1996, which states platforms cannot be prosecuted for content posted by their users.

WHAT HAS BEEN THE IMPACT OF THIS? FAKE NEWS? HATE SPEECH? RACISM? A DIVIDED SOCIETY AND WEAKENED DEMOCRACIES?

Here is an opinion piece from Jennifer Cobbe in The Guardian, in which she explains how Facebook and other players in the, “surveillance economy”  have challenged the democracy we take for granted. It suggests:

“We need to confront their surveillance business models, their increasingly central position in digital society, and the power they now hold as a result.”

“As a result, some platforms’ algorithms systematically recommend disinformation, conspiracy theories white supremacism, and neo-Nazism.”

“At a minimum, behavioural advertising should be banned; other, less damaging forms of advertising are available. The algorithms platforms use to recommend content should be heavily regulated.”

A COUNTER ARGUMENT

As with news regulation, this is not a cut and dried argument. After all should we be allowing our governments to decide what ‘Truth’ should be available to us online?

The video below offers a counter argument to those demanding online regulation and quotes 17th century poet John Milton:

“Truth and understand are not such wares as to be monopolized and traded by tickets or statute, better to let truth and falsehood grapple”

He is suggesting we should not muzzle what we believe to be false or fake news, but allow argument and debate to flourish and in that process truth and greater understanding will come out.

Post-Prelim work - Tuesday - Globalisation

  MEDIA ECOLOGY CONCEPTS 

"Globalization and the mass media"

Abstract

The mass media are today seen as playing a key role in enhancing globalization, and facilitating cultural exchange and multiple flows of information and images between countries through international news broadcasts, television programming, new technologies, film, and music. If before the 1990s mainstream media systems in most countries of the world were relatively national in scope, since then most communications media have become increasingly global, extending their reach beyond the nation-state to conquer audiences worldwide. International flows of information have been assisted by the development of global capitalism, new technologies, and the increasing commercialization of global television, which has occurred as a consequence of the deregulation policies adopted by various countries in Europe and the United States in order to permit the proliferation of cable and satellite channels.

Think about the following aspects of GLOBALISATION

 - celebrity culture 

- fandoms

- global releases of films / media content

- political causes which transcend national barriers (e.g. BLM and Trump-haters in USA - riots / marches in other countries)

- the response of institutions to globalisation - the ability for conglomerates to be multi-national and expand their reach (big Tech / big 5 etc) 

- e.g. Hollywood appeasing Chinese censorship rules as a case study 

- the response of audiences to globalisation

- NZ's response to globalisation - the fact that the NZFC is still wanting to fund NZ films, films that tell NZ stories, our indigenous peoples stories and also for tourism sake. 

- sharing of information and cultures - 'pop-culture' driven by the West (hegemony - the rich/ powerful dominate the content being produced) 

Abstract #2 

"... Sometimes, a whole filmmaking crew would even shoot their films in other countries as a way to utilize exotic landscapes. This form of globalization was not limited to these parts. A large number of elements and even storylines have their origins in foreign contents, such as Ninja (Japanese history), Thor (Nordic mythology), Mulan (Chinese literature), or Gladiator (Roman history)."

Abstract #3

...Klein (2004) delves deeper into this aspect of assimilation by comparing martial arts films in the US with those from Asian film industries. For example, Asian talent flows into Hollywood as its studios remake Asian films which can be expressed as ‘Asianization of Hollywood’ and ‘Hollywoodization of Asian film industries’. This approach is about assimilation through cross-cultural interaction which is beyond a unilateral flow from the core to periphery countries.

In contrast to the Bollywood case, Crane (2014) states that US films hold the dominant position across the world based on the data of 34 countries. However, this study argues that US films should modify its contents to meet the different tastes of local fans instead of merely expressing ‘US imperialism’ as a way to expand further its market. This is because a number of countries will tend to resist the dominance of US films by introducing policies that promote national films while restricting those from the US. The focus of this view on globalization is merely on market expansion, but it opens up a question on whether localization (of US films) can be understood as part of a strategy for globalization or not.

- the case of governments incentivising local film industries 

Abstract #4

...Despite these globalized aspects in the film industry, protectionism and anti-globalization appeared early on, particularly with the advent of films as this medium has been closely linked to a country’s culture and the economy. Given this perceived impact on a nation’s identity, many governments have long sought to implement trade barriers or incentives to protect their local film industries. They may attempt to restrict the business activities of foreign film companies as well as limit the import and/or exhibition of foreign films. By contrast, some governments have offered incentives such as cash rebates, cash grants, tax credits, subsidies, and tax exemptions to help the local film industry in the face of foreign films. More actively, they have signed bilateral treaties such as international film co-production agreements, preferential trade agreements, or even project their protectionist ideas over an international organization under the name of cultural exception and cultural diversity.1

CASE STUDY 

Black Panther 

- look at the global release strategy of the movie

- look at the BLM / political context of the movie and how it was received worldwide

- Look at the older example of a global marketing campaign - The Dark Knight (revisit this case study to be able to talk about how a film can have a global reach, using Web 2.0 and garnering an international fanbase) 

What are some platforms / forms of media that transcend cultural / national and even language barriers? 

Full article for source:

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1758-5899.12807

Post Prelim classwork - Monday (Celebrity Culture)

 MEDIA ECOLOGY CONCEPT : celebrity culture 

• Celebrity culture is part of our world. This culture is perpetuated by Richard Dyer's 'Star Image' theory...

Richard Dyer Star Theory

Richard Dyer is a British media theorist, who discussed a star’s special place in the audiences’ lives. He (similarly to Hall) suggests that a star’s meta-narrative impacts on the consumption by the audience. He argued that the star image is manufactured and artificial and that individual stars have their own unique selling point (brand values) in order to grab and hold our attention – for example – Justin Bieber’s hair, JLS’ colour codes...

• Celebrity culture – How does contemporary celebrity culture impact media production and consumption? 

Wikipedia's Explanation of Celebrity Culture

 

Celebrity culture is a high-volume perpetuation^{[needs copy edit]} of celebrities' personal lives on a global scale. It is inherently tied to consumer interests where celebrities transform their fame to become product brands.

Whereas a culture can usually be physically identified, and its group characteristics easily observed, celebrity culture exists solely as a collection of individuals' desires for increased celebrity viewing. Celebrities themselves do not form a cohesive and identifiable group with which they identify themselves, but are rather found across a spectrum of activities and communities including acting, politics, fashion, sports and music. The "culture" is created when it is common knowledge within a society that people are interested in celebrities and are willing to alter their own lives to take part in celebrities' lives. The "culture" is first defined by factors outside of celebrities themselves and then augmented by celebrities' involvement within that publicly constructed culture. Celebrity culture has become a part of everyday society and functions as a form of entertainment.^[1] Today, everyday citizens play an important role in the perpetuation of celebrity culture by constantly checking the whereabouts of celebrities, their friends, the trends within celebrity culture, and the general lives of celebrity via media.^[1] Celebrity culture is now reflected in social norms and values because of the extreme citizen involvement.^[2] Today, as it is now used as entertainment, celebrity culture is viewed as a form of "escapism" from reality and a means of preoccupation for everyday people

Perpetuation of celebrity culture[edit]

According to Oliver Dreissens, celebrity’s social and cultural prominence can be traced back to the success of the mass media.^[6]The various forms of mass media allowed for the spread of new images and branding of celebrities. Especially with the inclusion of televisions in the average home, there became more of a familiarity with the people or celebrities now "in our homes".^[7] Media surrounding celebrities has heavily influenced not only celebrity culture but the general social environment in our lives.^[8]Celebrities are known to not only influence what we buy but many other things such as body image, career aspirations and politics. Richard Dyer has stated that celebrity culture is bound up with the condition of global capitalism in which "individuals are seen to determine society".^[9] Newer technologies, such as cable television and 24/7 coverage, have made today’s celebrities manufactured for mass consumption, as opposed to the celebrities of the thirties and the fifties who were more self-made.^[10]24/7 coverage pushed for more programming and people to fill the extra time. With this evolved more shows and celebrities who partook in the additional screen time. Reality television has been a large part of fostering a new celebrity culture that is more interchangeable and recognizable.^[11] Cable television and social media sites such as YouTube, have made “overnight” sensations which have perpetuated today's perception of celebrity culture.^[11]: 493 Celebrities such as Justin Bieber, who rose to immense fame after being discovered on YouTube, are argued to elicit emotional ties and self-reflexiveness that invoke a seemingly personal connection.^[11] This can be seen with some fans, especially female fans, feeling like they have a certain ownership or connection over a celebrity.^[12]

^{Questions to consider:} 

^{1. How might the Star Theory and Celebrity Culture work together to the advantage of the big 5 and those with funding to hire the A-list actors?} 

^{2. How might the Celebrity Culture that exists in the world, impact audiences trends in what types of movies they choose to see?} 

^{3. How might it be argued that Celebrity Culture be an example of the 2-Step-Flow theory in the passive audience theory and do you think this is true?} 

Post-prelim work - Friday

 Hi guys,

Please watch these 2 videos, jam-packed with some great information and research for Black Panther as your case study. This will work for Power and the Media (in terms of representation) but also in Media Ecology as we talk about how audiences engage with media envoronments. 

Questions to consider - what audience trends did Disney make use of to market and advertise as well as deliver this film to its audience? 

Post-Prelim work Thursday

 Hi guys,

Classwork: Looking at changing modes of reception as an element of MEDIA ECOLOGY

Main points

- audience reception theory Stuart Hall

- audience is no longer passive (war of the worlds / WW2) hypodermic needle theory 

- audience is now active 

- active in engaging with media 

Video - Active Audiences 

Video 2: Old vs. New media 

Audience theory recap 

Stuart Hall developed reception theory, popularly known as Audience Theory or reader’s reception theory, in 1973. His essay ‘Encoding and Decoding Television Discourse’ focuses on the encoding and decoding of the content given to the audience no matter the form of media such as magazines/papers, television/radios, games. Today theorists who do the analysis of media through reception theory often derive results from the experience of an audience created by watching a cinema, game or books.

The reception theory concept points out that, a movie, book, or game events though it has none/some inherent meaning, the audience who watch them or experience it make a meaning. The audience comes into an understanding of the happenings of the text or screen.

Understanding of Reception Theory

“It is unnecessary that the audience will decode the message encoded by the author just the same”. – Stuart Hall

The audience receives the creative work done and perceives to its content in either similar or different. The meaning of the message can change in the way they see it fit according to their social context.

Encoding – The encoded messages usually contains shared rules and symbols common with other people. So the (encoder) sender has to think how the receiver will perceive the message.

Decoding – Decoding would be a successful deliver only if the message sent by the encoder is understood completely to its content as it was intended.

The messages sent with verbal/non-verbal cues and gestures don’t bring the same result always as intended by the sender, bringing an altogether different meaning an insight to the concept sent. Thus, the distortion occurs when the audience cannot understand the concept of having a different take on the conclusion itself. Such distortion can be because of the age, gender, religion, race, political views, ethnicity, class, culture and the mood in which the audience receive the message etc.,

It is difficult to gather the information necessary to analyze every single audience’s experience belongs to a mass. So the media houses and other social handles come in a useful tool to reach the bigger mass as to get to know their experience and understanding.

Press releases, other forms of publicity such as advertisements, the fan letters, celebrity words, fan message boards, reviews, serve as useful materials for the analysts to see how the reception has been.

Here the perceiving of the work can scope in three categories:

• Dominant Reader
• Negotiated Reader
• Oppositional Reader

Dominant Reader

They are the audience who take in the work as given by the director which no extra notes attached. Example, Teacher asking the student to submit their assignments or parent implying on the child to clean their room is a direct message. The child understands the messages properly and it is followed by the child. In the Harry Potter Series, Lord Voldemort is a bad guy, and how have the media producers have conveyed it with a bald head, black cloak, sunken eyes, cold and cruel voice, and threatening presence to his surroundings.

Negotiated Reader

The negotiated reading here is the audiences who thought they know and are aware of the acts made in the film are bad and not right but get on to accept that it is fine because there is a reason behind it. Thus accepting the author’s message even though it goes against the audiences’ personal convictions. For example, many video games/comics has contents are against our personal views but we still read, enjoy and accept the content given the situation depicted on it for example fictions like zombie hunting, etc.

Oppositional Reader

The audience has none acceptance for the author’s takes on the concept of the film or the subject it handled. It can be morally wrong, emotionally disturbing, unnecessary adult contents of violence and blood gore, religious belief, political outlooks etc., which will make the audience, reject the idea. For example, in 1970-1980 was an era in Indian Films they showed smoking as a sign of prestige, image, wealth, power and flourishing happiness whereas, the reality states otherwise, for it causes cancer. And the pleasant sense of smoking is nothing more than juxtaposed where in reality is an unpleasant smell and is perceived as a very unhealthy habit.

Classwork Exercise: 

Today we are going to build on our understanding of the audience trends in NZ. To understand how media envoronments are evolving, we need to look at how audiences are accessing media. In particular, in NZ.

Over the next couple of days, read these articles and make some notes in a blog post to show what these audience trends indicate in terms of audience consumption;

https://thespinoff.co.nz/business/03-09-2021/confronting-new-research-shows-just-how-fast-traditional-media-lost-young-nz/

 

https://www.nzonair.govt.nz/research/where-are-audiences-2021/

 

https://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/126272889/podcast-subscription-video-on-demand-audiences-growing-nz-on-air-survey-finds

 

Post-Prelim classwork exercises #1

Hi guys,

Here's a good article to add to your resources for 'Power in the Media', considering the voice of the NZ indigenous people on our screens. 

Read it, make some notes and add this to your notes for your essay for this topic. 

Article to Read - The Spinoff

Questions to consider;

- Why is it important for Maori or indigenous stories to be told using the medium of film? 

- provide a brief summary of Maori storytelling - how has the ability for their voices to be heard, telling things from their perpective, changed over the years? 

- What does Maori storytelling look like in modern times? 

Prelim Exam Practise

 Practise Questions

Media Regulation (set the timer for 30 mins) 

1.1.  " How far should contemporary media regulation differ from the past?"

1.2. "How effective is current media regulation?"

1.3. "Media regulation will never satisfy everyone." To what extent do you agree with this statement? 

1.4. "Media regulation in the digital age is challenging. To what extent do you agree with this statement?"

Power and the Media (set the timer for 30 mins) 

2.1. "Discuss the contemporary representation of a nation, region or social group in the media."

2.2. "Analyse the representation of social groups in contemporary media."

2.3. "Discuss the shift in power between institutions and audiences."

2.4. "How do contemporary representations of particular social groups compare with the representation of these groups in the past?"

Media Ecology (set the timer for 60 mins) 

3.1. "Digital technology turns media consumers into media producers." To what extent have you found this to be true in the media areas you have studied? "

3.2. "To what extent has online media revolutionised consumption?"

3.3. "How are media environments changing in terms of the media produced and the mediums used?"

3.4. "How do audience trends reflect changes in the evolving media landscape?"

Friday Classwork - Hegemony Study

  Hi guys

Looking closer at HEGEMONY as a concept that you need to be able to refer to and talk about in both POWER AND THE MEDIA and MEDIA ECOLOGY

• What is HEGEMONY?

Hegemony is basically the idea that the media continually reproduces images of a dominant group as superior or powerful. In Western society, the dominant group is middle class white males and because the media are predominantly produced by middle class white males, they tend to represent middle class white males as superior. And the rest of society – working class, BAME, LGBT, disabled, female – as less powerful or inferior.

• Read this article and make some notes on how hegemony is a theory that can be applied to considering the idea of power and the media.

Hegemony article 

LINK 2

Thursday Classwork - Chief Censor in NZ

 Hi guys,

Here's an article we will be reading through together in class;

New chief censor: the times they are a changing

I want you to answer the following questions;

1. How does the article describe what the censorship process was like in NZ 100 years ago? 

2. In what ways has this changed? 

3. What does the writer of the article mean when they say, "A revolving digital landscape has changed the way Kiwis viewed their entertainment, and it's also changed the way censorship defines itself."

4. Who is the NZ chief censor? 

5. What 3 words describe how the chief censor sees his responsibility and role? 

6. What City does the Chief censor reside in and how many people work in his team?

7. What other content passes through the hands of the censors and why is it considered a 'dark' side to the job? 

8. What are they on the look out for in content that is being assessed? 

9.What are some of the things that might be outright banned in NZ? 

10. What medium is becoming the censor's main focus at the moment and what do they do to classify things of that medium in NZ? 

11. Seeing how Shanks describes the differences between regulatory standards in NZ and Australia, how do you think culture play a part in restrictions placed on content?

12. What is a good example of a movie that was rated M in Australia but got a reviewed rating in NZ

13. Explain how the digital era proves a challenge to the censors 

14. How does Shank imagine we might tackle this challenge? 

15. What model did the Government say streaming services would fall under?