Influence through Media
In the last couple of years, the power of influence through media has risen drastically. The prominence of media influence has risen to such an extent, that its become a main theme within reality TV shows, as well as an essential tool to help politicians improve their popularity. Within this page, I will include various studies of different resources and subjects that link to how influence through media has developed, as well as its relevance within today's society.
The Circle
Information for this section has been acquired through:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-m4gFdrQ8M
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-m4gFdrQ8M
The Circle (also known as The Circle US, due to the various different versions of the show which have risen following its success) is an American reality competition series in which a handful of contestants compete to be the 'most likeable' person and win a large sum of money. The show first aired on the 1st of January 2020, and sells itself as a series entirely based upon social media, stating that "anyone can be anyone in The Circle. The show's description is: "In this lighthearted and strategic competition series, the players must choose whether to be themselves or other people, all while chasing a cash prize". The meaning behind this is that people can present themselves however they want to other contestants within the show, as nobody is able to know anyone's actual appearance, and people can doctor their identity within the show in order to make themselves more likeable and last long enough to accumulate the most support from other contestants and ultimately win the cash prize.
Personal notes for this show are as follows:
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Social Learning Theory - Alfred Bandura
https://www.simplypsychology.org/bandura.html
This theory emphasises the importance of observing, modelling, and imitating the behaviours, attitudes, and emotional reactions of others. Social learning theory considers how both environmental and cognitive factors interact to influence human learning and behaviour. This theory is often described as the bridge between traditional learning theories and cognitive learning approaches, mainly because of how it focuses on how mental factors are involved within learning. Individuals do not automatically observe the behaviour of a model and imitate it.
This theory is relevant when analysing The Circle, as it gives enforced reasoning as to how influence through media is generated within the show. People who watch the show and observe the different contestants' characteristics and expressions may observe that the characters are all noticeable and unique, and that their traits may be observed and imitated by the audience over time. There is some thought prior to imitation, and these considerations are called mediational processes. This takes place between observing the behaviour (stimulus) and deciding whether or not to imitate it (response). The four mediational processes put forward by Bandura are:
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The Circle Season 1 Episodes 1&2 "Hello, Circle; Face-to-Face" | AfterBuzz TV
This video was aired live on January 14th 2020, and gives a recap as well as the hosts' personal opinions on The Circle and its contestants. This video was made to promote the show as well as give a detailed recap on what major events happened to the shows current viewers. The shows recap is presented through the perspective of the audience, with the hosts frequently making inferences with the viewer would have made when seeing the different characters (such as the male host instantly disliking Alana from the start due to how she sounded and acted). Influence through media is demonstrated within this video as the show is indirectly reaching out to an even wider range of audience, as anyone who watches AfterBuzz could possibly become interested in this show, and anyone scrolling through YouTube could also come across The Circle and watch the show. Either way, this video gives a positive effect to the shows reach, and the hosts both give a level of applause towards the style of The Circle and its themes. The level of influence this video will have is fairly limited however, as most of the viewership is most likely going to be confined to AfterBuzz's frequent viewers, as they target a very specific audience band (as not everyone is interested in watching a recap show).
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Vogue Article - Please, Somebody, Put Me in The Circle
The Article:
https://www.vogue.com/article/the-circle-netflix-review
https://www.vogue.com/article/the-circle-netflix-review
This article is made as a promotion for The Circle, a reality tv show based around the idea of social media and how building a profile can be both appealing and deceiving. The article describes the show as a "trash" reality, however it also describes the plot as an interesting and unique narrative. The article goes over the "catfish" theme of people choosing different pictures and biographies to use and gain the support of other contestants. Different characters are described and discussed within this page, and reveals how these people follow different stereotypes in order to make the show appeal to as wide an audience as possible. Different traits and personalities are further used in order to make the audience choose sides and like/dislike characters.
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This article is useful in promoting the show, as it presents a prime example of cross-media-convergence, with a different media outlet being used in order to attract a wider audience range and bring in more viewers. The fact that Vogue has been used to promote this show makes the article even more interesting, as a typical audience for Vogue would probably not be interested (or even know) about a reality show like The Circle. Because of this, the show is now being promoted towards a completely new audience demographic, which can potentially rake in even more viewers. Stills and links to youtube clips of the reality show are included within the article, and give the viewers a chance to see footage from the show for themselves.
Despite the article having some criticism towards the background of the show (seen as it labels The Circle as a trash reality show), there is still an overwhelmingly larger proportion of support and positive reviews for the show, applauding the casters for the show as well as the actors themselves, labelling the overall atmosphere of the show as basically a childish vacation vlog. Vogue doesn't try to exaggerate the quality of the show, as an upper-demographic range of audience will know (and won't be convinced otherwise) that show is a simple entertainment show, however Vogue does praise the show's unique elements of surveillance, selection, and identity (as the audience as viewing the show almost entirely as an observer.
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The Guardian - The Circle: Is it the perfect dating show for 2018 or reality TV's nadir?
The website:
https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2018/sep/19/the-circle-is-it-the-perfect-dating-show-for-2018-or-reality-tvs-nadir
https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2018/sep/19/the-circle-is-it-the-perfect-dating-show-for-2018-or-reality-tvs-nadir
The Guardian holds a much more oppositional stance to The Circle, identifying (like Vogue) the simplicity and basic-ness of the TV programme. However there is more unease towards the contemporary relevance of the shows potentially sinister factors, such as how much people change or hide how they are presented on social media in order for views and likes. The article instantly reveals that is opposed to The Circle as they describe the main cast as wannabes and losers rather than contestants, and references to ominous shows like Black Mirror are further done to suggest the show's negative tones. The two articles by Vogue and The Guardian contrast each other both in tones and opinions, with Vogue shining a positive light on the playful nature of The Circle, and The Guardian discussing ominous themes around the series.
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Towards the end of the article, The Guardian gives a level of praise to The Circle and its uniqueness, stating that it's essentially "putting a mirror up to what we already have and showing the flaws within". Like Vogue, this article presents its view on the show from the perspective of the audience, going into detail on each of the characters' traits, personalities and flaws. The Guardian's fairly conservative, meaning it'll be uneasy about liberal shows like The Circle. The show is compared to similar-styled reality shows such as Love Island which follow the same themes of presenting an image (which could be fabricated or genuine) to other contestants. The idea of influence through Media is greatly referenced within the article, with the Guardian linking the shows traits to existing dating sites, and how this show reflects a very dark flaw within today's society.
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Donald Trump - His influence within the Media
I must admit, due to my less-than-rightwing stance, this section will be relatively biased against that of Donald Trump. Trump was the 45th President of the United States, and was notorious for his use of social media platforms in order to grab the attention and support of right-wing Americans. His most-used platform was Twitter, and utilised the app to spread false claims of how the election was stolen and rigged against him, subsequently leading to the Capitol insurrection. Trump is most-definitely an influencer, and is also one of the most successful and well-known politicians because of his social media presence. Right-wing social media profiles such as QAnon, along with right-wing extremists such as the Proud Boys, have been exploited by Trump in order to enforce his influence over the American public as well as circulate his political messages. Through his activity on social media, as well as his activity through presidency, Trump has developed a cult of personality in which Americans follow and support him blindly, agreeing with practically anything he says or does. If this doesn't effectively demonstrate influence within media, then honestly I don't know what does. Following the Capitol insurrections, which Trump directly instigated, he was impeached and booted off Twitter and YouTube. Trumps handling and response to the murder of George Floyd also spurred riots against the legitimacy of his presidency, as more support was displayed for the policemen who killed Floyd, over that of George Floyd himself.
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Childish Gambino - This is America
Information for this section has been acquired through:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/This_Is_America_(song)
https://time.com/5267890/childish-gambino-this-is-america-meaning/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/This_Is_America_(song)
https://time.com/5267890/childish-gambino-this-is-america-meaning/
"This is America" was a music video released by Childish Gambino on the 5th of May 2018, produced by Donald Glover and Ludwig Göransson. The music video for This is America was directed by Hiro Murai (a frequent collaborator with Childish Gambino). The music video was highly praised for its depiction of recent racial and social conflicts taking place across America, as well as demonstrating the rising Afro-American struggle against police brutality, white supremacy, and gun violence. There are various references to existing events and controversial/taboo topics within the Music Video. Essentially however the music video is about race and gun violence within America
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There are sounds of gunshots immediately within the video, in order to symbolise the idea of gun violence, and the intro-chorus of people singing "ya ya ya go away" symbolises the theme of exclusion and prejudice (which may link to the song's portrayal of racial conflict. The song's beat sharply changes from an upbeat chorus to a trap beat in order to allow Childish Gambino to balance between contradictions, and allow the audience to identify with his humanness. The pose which he has when shooting the man in the chair is a direct reference to Jim Crow, a controversially racist figure which depicted people of colour in a derogatory manner. Within the music video, Childish Gambino doesn't show off any expensive or eye-catching clothing, and instead only wears grey sweatpants and a normal gold chain. This is done to show that he is placed within the video as the perspective of an average social demographic, rather than from a perspective of stardom. The idea of Childish Gambino dancing with school children is (from my perspective at least) utilised in order to distract the viewer from the background scenes of violence going on within the Music Video, in the same way which black art is frequently used to distract people from real problems which are plaguing America. The gunned down choir in the second part of the music video is also a direct reference to the 2015 Charleston shooting, in which a white supremacist gunned down 9 black people in a church. The shot is performed in a swift manner, which is purposely done to leave the viewer stunned and shocked, just like people actually were when the shooting occurred. Childish Gambino proceeds to immediately resume the song, which is a cold remark as to how quickly the Media and America brushed off the incident. The final part of the music video, in which Childish Gambino is running down a hallway, is a remark to the stereotype of black people having to run from persecution.
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I feel that "This is America" is an anti-racist music video, but presents itself through the perspective of an apathetic and indifferent person of colour. The music video and its song lyrics directly reference topics of racial conflict and violence, such as the Charleston Shooting and the Jim Crow pose. The brutal but comedic manner in which Childish Gambino kills people within the music video is purposely done in order to show how desensitised America itself has become to gun violence (with a person even carefully taking Childish Gambino's guns off him to represent how America values guns more than people). The music video is definitely political, and can be seen immediately as the lyrics: "We just want the money, money just for you" are played, jabbing at the American governments immoral priorities. The portrayal of Childish Gambino dancing with students amidst the crowd, gains more of the cameras focus instead of the people running, and is also done on purpose to show how the government tries to distract people from the ongoing issue of gun violence. Other pieces of media such as "A Time to Kill" and "In the Heat of the Night" can be linked to the music videos messages, as they all highlight the theme of America being biased against the Black community (with A Time to Kill depicting gun violence in a much more brutal manner, as well as vividly showing the race conflict in America). The music videos depiction of gun violence and, how guns are treated in comparison to humans, may also be linked to the National Rifles Association, and how it had a grip over the Republican Party's priorities during the time that the video was released. The music video definitely has influence, and effectively represents influence through Media with its hidden and unhidden messages, essentially calling out the entire American government for its handling of gun violence and how its effected communities of colour.
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The main references within This is America
The main references within This is America are:
All of these references are done in order to show the level of racial hate which has developed, as well as conflict within America in general. The Charleston Church Shooting was a shooting that took place in 2015, and 9 black church members were killed by a white supremacist. The reference for this event can be seen when Childish Gambino guns down a singing choir in the second part of the music video. Jim Crow was a derogatory depiction of black people, portrayed by Thomas Dartmouth Rice in the mid 1800s. Childish Gambino references this in the start of the music video, and he performs the pose while executing someone in order to show the hatred that Jim Crow is linked to. There are of course much more references to the social conflict within America, however this section is just to explain the two most recognisable references in the video. |
CNN (Cable News Network)
Information for this section has been acquired through:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CNN
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CNN
The Cable News Network (CNN) is a multinational news-based television channel, and is part of AT&Ts WarnerMedia. CNN was established in 1980 by Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld, as a 24 hour news channel. This definitely shows influence through media, as CNN was the first ever all-news television channel in the United States. As of 2018, CNN has 90.1 million American households as subscribers to their media network (this is 97.7% of all households in USA that have cable). The network is globally known for covering breaking news, and as of 2019, the US version of CNN began covering international events as well as domestic affairs. CNN's influence through media became enforced during the 45th Presidential elections, as the network established itself as a democrat-biased news channel. This was in response to the tensions between the two main presidential candidates: Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, in which Trump often gave vocal and digital criticism against the network, labelling CNN as "fake news". Because of how high tensions became during the election, CNN's political bias shifted greatly, using its influence to denounce Trump and anything that he did, as well as supporting Clinton in her attempt to become President. CNN's influence through Media can be seen to a great extent, as they used a handful of platforms to spread political messages in order to increase the popularity of the democratic party (and throw shade at the republican party). This included platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, and especially Television Cable. Even after the presidential elections, CNN remained biased against Donald Trump, and expressed large criticism against his controversial actions. CNN was key in Donald Trump's impeachment, as during the Capitol insurrection, CNN made it clear that Trump was the main instigator for the event.
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Fox News
Information for this section has been acquired through:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fox_News
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fox_News
Fox News is a direct contrast to CNN, and presents news from a much more republican perspective. Officially, Fox News is an "American multinational conservative cable news television channel", and is based in New York City. The network was created by Rupert Murdoch, to appeal to a conservative audience, and a republican media consultant (Roger Ailes) was hired to be the co-founding CEO. Influence through media can be greatly seen with Fox, through its participation in the 45th Presidential elections. Fox News became a prominent news platform in supporting Donald Trump's run for presidency, as well as denouncing Hillary Clinton's run. Even after the election, Fox retained its stance against the democratic party, and has been a vocal opponent against Joe Biden's presidential term. As of September 2018, 87,118,000 American households (90.8% of U.S. television subscribers) received Fox News. Like CNN, Fox News broadcasts its messages on a multitude of platforms, including Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Instagram. This shows an even larger example of Fox's influence through media, as they use their presence on different platforms to appeal to as wide an audience as possible. Unlike CNN, Fox focuses primarily on its domestic audience, Americans. Because its owned by Fox Corporation, and its parent company is Fox Media, Fox News doesn't need to solely rely on its audience (as it also receives a great deal of funding from its parent company). Because of its near-celibacy from international affairs, Fox News is able to focus almost entirely on political events to help promote republican ideas. An example of this can be seen with how Fox frequently uses its position to ridicule or denounce anything from the left-wing which doesn't agree with republican activity. Another example can be seen with how Fox uses its media influence to make accusations against democrats and CNN (with Fox and Donald Trump frequently labelling CNN as Fake News).
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Notes
- Media can have great power over controlling identity
- Identity is mediated in the media (social classes, ethnicity, gender)
- Sony, Universal and Warners are the key players in the music industry
- Those 3 companies have the most power in the music industry
- Companies such as Disney have the most power in the film industry
- Companies such as Nintendo have the most power in the game industry
- There is also power of the individual
- Henry Jenkins is a major theorist for power in the media
- Ideas are repackaged and displayed for the audience to consume
- Consumerism is a major theme in this e.g. marketing, advertising
- Media changes with its environment, e.g. the gillette advert from a couple years ago
- The gillette advert was controversial for its changed portrayal of male roles
- The Social Dilemma handles various topics that are definitely contemporary
- The Social Dilemma represents the general population, and how media affects them
- It’s essentially a documentary that develops and explainings a multitude of facts
- It talks about how the media has great power over society
- It also believes that social media has the ability to cause chaos and unrest
- Gender and other demographic factors are discussed in the extract
- It essentially vilifies large organizations such as Facebook and Twitter
- The Call of Duty franchise released Black Ops Cold War, and further shows power
- Call of Duty’s owner, Activision, has great power of the game industry
- Black Ops Cold War was set in the 1980s, using a nostalgia factor to get revenue
- Setting the game in the 80s also means they don’t have to represent as many identities
- Gender, nationality, and other forms of identity are confined in terms of representation
- Power and the media is essentially identity linked to power and control
- Some companies and platforms squander the idea of representation
- Many companies choose to refrain from representation
- The film/media oligopolies show a great example of power and control within the media
Representation Theorists:
Reception Theory:
Reception Theory as developed by Stuart Hall asserts that media texts are encoded and decoded. The producer encodes messages and values into their media which are then decoded by the audience. However, different audience members will decode the media in different ways and possibly not in the way the producer originally intended.
- Baudrillard - Hyper Reality: “Some texts are difficult to distinguish in terms of the representation of reality e.g. Big Brother. The boundaries are blurred as codes and conventions create a set of signifiers which we understand but in fact the representation is a copy of a copy”.
- Judith Butler - Queer Theory: “Gender is what you do, not who you are with the theory contesting the categorisation of gender and sexuality - identities are not fixed and they cannot be labelled e.g. potentially androgynous representations like Gok Wan”.
- Richard Dyer - Stereotypes legitimise inequality: “A way to ensure unequal power relations are maintained is to continually stereotype - GTAV is a misogynist video game where players have the opportunity to kill prostitutes in their own violent way - the game is entirely male point of view and arguably serves to maintain dominant male culture”.
- Stuart Hall - Dominant, Oppositional, Negotiated Readings of Representation: “Stuart Hall’s theory (see audiences) is also useful in understanding how some representations reflect the dominant culture e.g. patriarchy, women in The Sun and in Men’s Magazines like FHM. However, some representations can be negotiated or even misunderstood as in Four Lions which was accused of being a racist text due to its representation of British Pakistani Muslims
- Angela McRobbie - Post Feminist icon theory: Themes often explored in feminist theory include discrimination, objectification (especially sexual objectification), oppression, patriarchy, stereotyping, art history and contemporary art, and aesthetics.
- Andy Medhurst - Stereotyping is Shorthand for identification: "The image of the screaming queen does not just mean 'all gay men are like that', it means 'all gay men are like that and aren't they awful', which in turn means 'and they are awful because they are not like us'."
- Laura Mulvey - Male Gaze/Female Gaze: The Male Gaze theory, in a nutshell, is where women are in the media are viewed from the eyes of a heterosexual man, and that these women are represented as passive objects of male desire.
- Tessa Perkins - Stereotyping has elements of truth: "Why do we stereotype individuals and groups of people? If the Media didn't portray a certain person in a certain way, we wouldn't make these judgements. Stereotyping is helping us understand the world."
- Levi-Strauss - Binary Oppositions and Subordinate Groups: “Levi-Strauss’ theory (see narrative theorists), like Dyer, is a way of understanding how representations are deliberately placed in binary opposition to ensure the dominant culture is maintained”.
Reception Theory:
Reception Theory as developed by Stuart Hall asserts that media texts are encoded and decoded. The producer encodes messages and values into their media which are then decoded by the audience. However, different audience members will decode the media in different ways and possibly not in the way the producer originally intended.
- Dominant, or Preferred Reading - how the producer wants the audience to view the media text. Audience members will take this position if the messages are clear and if the audience member is the same age and culture; if it has an easy to follow narrative and if it deals with themes that are relevant to the audience
- Oppositional Reading - when the audience rejects the preferred reading, and creates their own meaning for the text. This can happen if the media contains controversial themes that the audience member disagrees with. Oppositional reading can also occur if the audience member has different beliefs or is of a different age or culture
- Negotiated reading - A compromise between the dominant and oppositional readings, where the audience accepts parts of the producer’s views, but has their own views on parts as well.
Curran and Seaton - Power and Media Industries Theory
Curran and Seaton argue that patterns of ownership and control are the most significant factor in how the media operates. Media industries follow the normal capitalist pattern of increasing concentration of ownership in fewer and fewer hands, leading to a narrowing in the range of opinions which are presented. This also leads to a pursuit of profit at the expense of quality and/or creativity. Media is controlled by a small number of companies which are primarily driven by profit and power. Media concentration generally inhibits variety, creativity, and quality. Diverse ownership results in more choice and creativity and must be maintained in order for media to thrive. Curran states that the Media projects an illusion of freedom through digital technologies and web 2.0. However this industry is still dominated and controlled by large powerful media institutions that reach mainstream audiences. The issue of Media Concentration is closely linked to this theory, with the main points of focus being:
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