Week 9: Cultivation Theory - power + the media

 

In light of yesterday's documentary, look at this theory and write some notes that would work in a Power + the Media essay. 

Week 9 | Tuesday - Celebrity Culture | Media Ecology

   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?} 

^{4. How might this be relevant to both Power + The Media as well as Media Ecology?} 

Week 9 | Wed - NZ Classifications

 

Do some research by navigating this government agency's website. Write down answers to the following questions;

https://www.classificationoffice.govt.nz

- What do the classifications office do?

- What is the process for classification of media in NZ? 

- How do they work out how to classify material in current society? 

- Being NZ government- owned, how do we know that they are operating independant of what the current government of the day wants?

Week 9 - Case Study for Power + the Media (Don't Look UP)

Let's look at a good example of Power + the Media.

As a result of celebrity culture, celebrities who were once just storytellers, acting out the stories based on ideologies of script-writers and movie-makers, now are powerful enough and have enough of a following that they are creating movies with powerful messages.

 https://www.queensjournal.ca/dont-look-up-is-all-message-no-movie/#:~:text=The%20climate%20crisis%20and%20the,rich%20people%27s%20short%2Dterm%20gain.

Activity 

Write a paragraph in response to the question below, using the 'Don't Look UP' move as a case study. Find out when it was released, name the director and a few of the A-list actors involved. 

Question;

"The power balance is shifting from institutions to audiences. How far do you agree with this statement?"

Week 9| Monday - Ownership - Power + The Media Recap

 

Week 8 | Fri - Vertifcal + Horizontal Integration recao

Write down some examples to do with Disney in both horiztontal and vertical integration.

 

Activity:

Use this question below to write an introduction that inlcudes all key 'ownership' topic terminology as well as good examples and definitions of horizontal + vertical intergration.

 Power and the media

3. 3  ‘Audiences now have just as much power as media institutions.’ To what extent do you agree with

   this statement?

Week 8: Thursday - The Creepy Line - documentary

 

Take notes in reklation to Media Ecology, Power and the Media and also Media Regulation

- data collection (Media Ecology)

- young people particularly getting news from social media (power + Media / media ecology)

- regulating platforms (power + media)\

- net neutrality  - whether social media companies are editorials or neutral platforms (held responsible)

- in what ways are we being manipulated by Google? (3 ways)

- what happened in the case of Dr. Roberts Epstein and Jordan Peterson? Why is this cause for concern?