Assignment One - Studying the Media and Communication

‘Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants’ by Marc Prensky

The article that I read was written in 2001 and is Prensky’s view of how things have changed from generation to generation digitally, and how the youngers of today have a completely different mind-set to their parents. Prensky related the two to Digital Natives and Digital Immigrants, Natives being the ones who were brought up during the rise in digital technology and immigrants being the predecessors.

One of his main beliefs is that the teachers of today must find a new way of teaching the students compared to how they were taught, this is backed up with the point that the natives are ‘used to receiving information really fast’ and they prefer their graphics before text and they enjoy mutli-tasking and working in a group. This is different to our education system being used as it is based solely on text books and working alone in order to achieve the best grades. I, to an extent believe and agree with what Prensky is saying as I feel the older ages are a little bit more new to digital technology, they may find it hard to teach in the same way due to the differences between us. Prensky believes that the educational system must be altered to fit the new thinking brains of our younger generations.

His article is full of statistics and figures that some do not have a clear reference which makes it hard for me to believe every single one. If I were completing this research I would ensure that the references were clear and that my points were back up with true statistics. One strength of this article from my perspective is the reference he uses to compare our generation and the previous. Digital Natives and Digital Immigrant, in his seventh paragraph on the second page he explains that like all immigrants they learn to adapt to their new surroundings but they always retain and keep a bit of their previous learnings. I feel as though this is a great reference and also very accurate. One weakness of this piece is Prensky’s use of statistic and figures, throughout the article there are several quotes, statistics or figures that are used to back up a point made by himself. Some of these do not have any evidence that they have not just been made up which leads to believe that they could have been over exaggerated for a stronger article.

“The Political Economy of the Recorded Music Industry” By Siroir, Andre and Wasko

The reading that I completed this week was taking an in-depth look into how the music industry has changed over the years due to technology. The music industry started out as a non-profitable organization and all came to light in the late 1800’s. There are four noticeable eras of the music industry, these being: (1) the acoustic era 1877-1923, (2) the electrical era 1924-1960’s, (3) the cassette era 1970-1982, and, (4) the tangible digital era 1983-2000’s.

The first major change was in 1878 due to Thomas Edison’s phonograph, a device that used a vertical method for cutting sound onto a cylinder allowing for music to be recorded and reproduced. In 1894, the first gramophone disc was invented, this was different to Edison’s invention as this was just a source of playing music. This enhanced the financial situation for the music industry. Due to the rise in sales of the gramophone discs it allowed third party companies to introduce record players and soon became a hugely profitable business, this highlights one of Siroir’s main points which is that ‘industry standardization is key to financial success’. Another main point highlighted in this article is how the demand for free music has affected the profits and original ownership of the music industry. This was completed through piracy which, noted by the authors of this reading is the biggest problem affecting the companies within the music industry.

Throughout the reading, quotes and statistics are used constantly to support the writer’s argument. The writer’s belief is that if you look into how the music industry begun and how it has changed over the years, you will gain an understanding of the real problems behind technology involved with music. Due to this the writers have taken the reader on a journey through the music industry in chronological order. I believe that the methodology used in this piece of writing was very effective as it gave me an in-depth look into the history of the music industry as well as giving me an insight into the audience behaviour. It allowed me to fully understand who is in control of the music we hear and how technology has changed the way we listen to and produce music.

“Television Out of Time” By Will Brooker

The reading I completed for week three was called “Television Out of Time” by Will Brooker. The reading was conducted using a research method known as virtual ethnography. Virtual ethnography is a research method that focuses on online communities and cultures. The subject of the reading was the practise of watching cult series as video files on a personal computer in contrast to watching them at set network times in a living room on a television.

I believe that the author’s argument is to show people that watching a series on download has become a lot more popular as well as a great business opportunity for television programmes to both enhance their viewers experience and to gain more viewers. The reading is set out with three sub-headings. The first is ‘OVERFLOW’ this part focuses on how television programmes have moved from solely making shows to opening up websites and online experiences for its viewer’s. An example of overflow is when a TV series like ‘Doctor Who’ creates an online world that resembles a PC game. According to the author, this is when the ‘show crosses over into real life and erodes the boundaries between fact and fiction’. The audience react to this in a good way as they are allowed to enhance their enjoyment of the show.

The second is ‘ONLINE COMMUNITY’, this is focussing on the online groups and blogs formed by viewers or the producers consisting of a group of people who all have the same interests, allowing them to speak freely about their chosen subject. The author’s point through this section is that these communities benefit the viewer’s experience and allow for their television show to be more than just a show, relating back to overflow. In order to gather evidence of this, Brooker used online communities that focus on ‘Lost’ and chose parts to be in the reading.

The third is ‘Forensic Detection’, forensic detection is another word for taking an in-depth look into the show for example, re-reading, decrypting information, close analysis, and investigating chosen scenes. This is present in the reading due to the fact that watching the series on download enables the viewer to pause, fast-forward, and rewind whenever they want allowing them to look deeper into what they’ve just seen. This type of analysis can be dated back to early 1990’s where someone would literally write down every time they saw something interesting.

In conclusion, I strongly agree with the author that watching a series on download is a lot more inviting and fun then watching it at set times. If I was conducting the research for the same subject I would gather two groups, everyone present would be part of an online community linking to a series, I would then closely watch and analyse each of them as they watch their weekly episode, noting down every pause and every shift. Once I had gathered this information I would compare it and base my report on my findings.

“Media Power” By Paul Long and Tim Wall

The reading I completed for week four was written by Paul Long and Tim Wall and was published in 2009. This reading takes an in-depth look into why and how there are speculations that there is power within media. I will be highlighting the main argument present and noting the strengths and weaknesses of the writing as a whole.

The main argument of this reading is that power is involved in media, in order to show this, the writer’s set the reading into four sub-categories. The first is ‘Conceptualising Power’, this section gives you the basics of what power is and how power can be exercised. They state that there are two ways in which power can be exercised, one being physical force, and the other being through ideas. They also write about where power can be located using references and relations to class and the concept of a hierarchy. This first section already enables you to understand how power could be a part of media, with help from author’s such as Will Hutton. The second is ‘Media and Power’. The third is ‘Ideology’, this section shows how the power in media is exercised and how everything being told to the world via media organisations could just be an idea of someone who is above the rest. The evidence used in this section is from a German philosopher named G.W.F. Hegel who stated that ‘the dominant ideas at large in any one era determine the ‘material’ nature of society’. This refers back to media because people react to what they see in the media and follow what they are being told. The fourth is ‘Discourse, power and media’, this section relates to the ideas of Michel Foucault who was a French scholar.

I believe that the strengths of this reading are the relations back to ideas brought up by four key thinkers. It allows them to present their argument using ideas from history, this could show the viewers that if these concepts had been thought about back then, they could be possible. The weakness of this reading is that it is very biased and if what they were stating wasn’t true, there were no ideas or concepts from that side.

The reading I completed for week five was called ‘The Oppositional Gaze’ By Bell Hooks, it focuses on black female spectators and their representation within mass media. I will highlight Hooks’ main point and identify strengths and weakness throughout as well as looking into her methodology.

The main point of this reading is to notice how black people are subjectified through mass media, focussing mainly on their representation in television and films. I believe that the aim of this writing was to critically analyse how black people are represented and to come to grips with the problems behind it. The writer began the writing by looking into history and how the ‘white slave-owners punished enslaved black people for looking’. She began the writing like this to show the readers the connection between how they’re portrayed in media and how they were treated. Hooks’ states that in America they ‘were aware that mass media was a system of knowledge and power reproducing and maintaining white supremacy’ this relates back to research completed last week focusing on the power within media and how ideology plays a big role in what we take in.

Another main point in the writing is ‘The Oppositional Gaze’, Hooks’ states that this gaze is when you are not being close minded and you look past what you are being showed. When people started looking at the mass media in this way, the independent black cinema made its beginning that enabled them to represent themselves how they feel they should be, rather than being the one in the back.

The methodology used in this writing works very well from my perspective, she began the writing with some history which made a connection with what she is highlighting throughout. When conducting research before Bell completed the writing, she ‘spoke with black women of all ages and classes, in different areas of united states, about their filmic looking relations’. I believe the strength of this method of research was that her results showed that black women were all ‘aware of cinematic racism and never expected to see a compelling representation of black femaleness’. If I was conducting this research, I would have used the same method but I would of used quotes within the writing and more statistics to ensure that the reader can trust my opinion.

In conclusion, the article focuses on how black females are represented in film and television. Hooks states that black females are aware of this and some don’t watch films for this matter. I believe that the purpose of this article was to educate the reader about how mass media can be based on ideology and how certain types of people are represented differently, all relating back to power.