Animals are people too…?

Classic anthropomorphism – A.A. Milne’s Winnie-the-Pooh. Source: Pinterest

Animals are all over our media. They’re in kids’ TV shows, films, documentaries and advertisements for everything from toilet paper to Bundaberg rum.

But what’s particularly interesting, is that in the media, animals are often portrayed as being almost human. This is largely because their appearance in the media is highly constructed – be it in a computer-animated film or a David Attenborough wildlife documentary.

Leane and Pfenningwerth explore this in relations to penguins in Considering Animals (2013, pp.29-40). In commenting on the many similarities between the documentary March of the Penguins and Happy Feet, they argue that both films anthropomorphise penguins – Happy Feet quite obviously with the creatures talking and tap-dancing, but also in March of the Penguins through the narration and choice of shots to include.

‘March of the Penguins’ and the ‘Happy Feet’ films combined in a DVD release. Source: Amazon

Like many animal documentaries and animated films before them, the two films were enormously popular, begging the question – why do we like to see animals as being just like us?

Pierson (2005, p.710) argues that while Discovery Channel documentaries do provide facts about the animals, they also have a tendency to impose human characteristics on them. He suggests that this is in order to engage the audience in the dramatic and emotional aspect of the documentaries. Pierson also speaks of the tendency in such documentaries to impose human social structures (such as family and capitalism) on the animals. Perhaps then, animals are anthropomorphised in the media simply so audiences care about them more.

Animals that act like people certainly seem to grab our attention more. In circuses, sea parks and zoos, animals are often taught to do human-like tricks, such as waving, shaking hands and even taking part in comic routines. Even if it’s highly constructed, we like seeing animals doing human things.

A brilliant and humorous example of this was when Australian comedians Hamish and Andy donned gorilla costumes and spent some time in an enclosure at a Melbourne zoo. Here’s what happened:

The spectators shown in the video are willing to believe the gorillas are real, perhaps partly due to having authority figure Dr Chris Brown speaking factually about them, but also perhaps because our media has conditioned us to be used to, and be attracted to, animals behaving like humans. The gorillas certainly seemed to be getting a lot of attention that day!

It’s interesting to look at which animals are typically anthropomorphised. It often seems to be those closest to humans in looks, the way they walk and how they move – and also those which are the cutest. Thus penguins, monkeys, meerkats, bears, parrots, dogs and turtles are all quite common in cartoons, Hollywood films, advertisements and documentaries. Rats, dung beetles and other less attractive creatures are less likely to make an appearance.

Just some of Disney’s classic animal characters. Source: http://i.imgur.com/RXe43QN.jpg

But it seems we don’t respond too well to animals that are portrayed as extremely human-like. Miles and Ibrahim (2013, p.1876) cite the backlash that ensured when South African company Vodacom used the very human-like Mo the Meerkat – one member of the public even uploaded a YouTube video which portrayed the character being killed!

Mo the Meerkat, once of the face of South Africa’s Vodacon. Source: Mybroadband.co.za

Miles and Ibrahim write: “The Mo character failed to emotionally connect with the audience because it did not follow the rules of effective fabular anthropomorphism; its ‘animality’ was almost unidentifiable, and thus it was too human.”

So we and our media seem to engage with animals that are portrayed as human, but not too human. I think this is because we are generally interested in those like us – and so the animals that we find most mesmerising are those who are just like us, or at least appear to be. We also like to watch animals that are cute and attractive-looking, which is not surprising.

But is all this anthropomorphising a good thing? It does seem strange that in an increasingly urbanised society, where we’re moving away from farms and wild animals, that we are exposed to representations of animals more than ever. So we’re seeing more highly-constructed portrayals of animals, and less and less of the real thing.

A 2014 study by Ganea et al found that children exposed to anthropomorphic representations of animals as opposed to those exposed to factual accounts were less able to answer questions about the animals.

The conclusion reached was that children should be exposed both to anthropomorphic animals, and real-life animals.

Perhaps the same should be true for all of us.

 

Bibliography:

Ganea, P et al, 2014, ‘Do cavies talk?: The effect of anthropomorphic books on children’s knowledge about animals’, Frontiers in Psychology, vol.5, no.283.

Leane, E & Pfenningwerth, S 2013, ‘Marching on Thin Ice: The Politics of Penguin Films’, in C Freeman (ed.), Considering Animals, Ashgate, Farnham, pp.29-40.

Miles, C & Ibrahim, Y 2013, ‘Deconstructing the meerkat: fabularanthropomorphism, popular culture, and the market’, Journal of Marketing Management, vol.29, nos.15-16, pp.1862-1880.

Pierson, DP 2005, ‘“Hey, They’re Just Like Us!” Representations of the Animal World in the Discovery Channel’s Nature Programming’, Journal Of Popular Culture, vol.38, no.4, pp. 698-712

Tufnell, N 2014, Anthropomorphised animals can confuse children, Wired.co.uk, viewed 24 March 2016, <http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2014-03/28/anthropomorphised-animals-can-misinform-children>

Seeing suffering, taking action.

Suffering is a recurring theme in our media. On Television, at the cinema, on social media, in newspapers, online, we spend a lot of time seeing other people suffer.

Perhaps part of the reason suffering features so prominently in the media is because it’s a part of our everyday life. But some have argued that by viewing suffering, we as viewers get some sort of satisfaction from it, and that’s a bad thing.

I think suffering in the media is best when it helps viewers have empathy, and even better when it prompts them to change their behaviour for the good.

I’m going to look at three examples of suffering in the media, thinking through why we have them and what impact they might have on us.

1. Reality TV

Some of Australia’s recent Reality TV shows. Source: http://sites.psu.edu/realitytvcomparison/

When you think about it, a lot of reality TV hinges on showing suffering. Whether it’s people getting rejected from The Voice or The Bachelor, or people having to put up with each other in I’m a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here, or stressing out while racing against the clock in Masterchef, there’s heaps of suffering there.

I think this sort of suffering doesn’t really prompt us to take action. We might think there’s no why I’d go on a show like that, but there’s no real call to action. We watch it simply for our own amusement.

However, even within that, it does cause us (sometimes, at least) to emphasise with the contestants. We feel their pain as they fail to achieve their dreams. And if nothing else, having that empathy is important I think.

2. Syrian Refugee Crisis

However, in other circumstances, the portrayal of suffering in the media does prompt us to take action. Take this image, for example:

Source: http://globalnews.ca/

When released in September, 2015, the image of the three-year-old’s lifeless body washed up on the beach caused a huge response. It drew attention to the much larger problem of the Syrian Refugee Crisis, and contributed, at least in part, to many countries accepting an increased quota of refugees.

The portrayal of real-life suffering caused people to have empathy, and then take action.

3. Struggle Street

A family featured in SBS’ ‘Struggle Street’. Source: SBS.com.au

The 2015 SBS Documentary caused quite a stir for its portrayal of poverty in Australia. As it portrayed the complexities of those suffering in poverty in the Mt Druitt region, dealing with issues like mental health, drugs, addictions, teenage pregnancies and unemployment, some argued that the program was exploiting the people featured in it. Writing for The Conversation, Steven Threadgold described the program as “denigrating the “undeserving poor”, scapegoating and even pathologising them as figures of loathing, while completely ignoring the harsh structural economic realities that create such poverty in the first place. All in the quest for ratings.”

Being the most-watched program that night in Sydney when it aired, it certainly did manage to win the quest for ratings. And some of those portrayed did consider seeking legal action about the way they were portrayed.

So perhaps the documentary-makers went about it the wrong way. But I do think that portraying life for Australians living in poverty was not a bad thing. I think it’s important for us to see how others live, and perhaps have empathy for them.

Gay Alcorn wrote that “it’s only poverty porn if we have a look, kind of enjoy being sad and shocked, and then turn away to other things.” I think that’s true. Struggle Street may have been unhelpful in the way it portrayed those living in Mt Druitt. But whether it’s “poverty porn”, or actually moves us to take some sort of action, to have some empathy for those who are less better off than us, is really up to us as viewers.

 

Suffering is a part of our lives. Suffering is also a part of our media. If seeing suffering helps to empathise with others, that’s good. If it helps to improve our behaviour in some way, I think that’s even better.

 

Bibliography:

Alcorn, G 2015, ‘Struggle Street is only poverty porn if we enjoy watching, then turn away’, Guardian Australia,  15 May, viewed 18 May 2016, <http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/may/15/struggle-street-is-only-poverty-porn-if-we-enjoy-watching-then-turn-away>

Threadgold, S 2015, ‘Struggle Street is poverty porn with an extra dose of class racism’, The Conversation, 6 May, viewed 18 May 2016, <https://theconversation.com/struggle-street-is-poverty-porn-with-an-extra-dose-of-class-racism-41346>

Interview: Consuming the News

Source: http://www.desktop-documentaries.com/images/different-types-of-microphones.jpg

In this blog, I conduct an interview, thereby trialing questions that will be used in my questionnaire and focus group for the upcoming assessment. I asked the subject many of the questions from the questionnaire and added two open-ended questions, thereby making it a semi-structured interview.

The subject of the interview was not a BCM student, but instead a Creative Arts student at UOW. Thus I asked someone outside our actual sample for the questionnaire, and I thought it would be interesting to speculate on how a non-BCM university student might access the news.

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Demographic information:

Age: 22 to 27

Sex: Male

You consider where you live to be: regional

 

Behaviour:

How often do you access ‘the news’? Daily, on average.

What medium is your preferred source for accessing the news? Online (incl. websites, news media apps, email, social media and/or blogs)

Which is your preferred online news source? Websites

Which is your preferred website/apps/email service to access news from? ABC.net.au

Which is your preferred social media site to access news from?  Facebook

Which is your preferred blog site to access news from? doctorwhonews.net (“I know it’s a bit of a niche news blog!”)

What is the main reason you prefer to access news this way? Convenience (“and also affordability, I know that’s why I stopped using the Sydney Morning Herald website a couple of years back”).

Do you think that the way you consume news is roughly similar to others in your age group? How or how not?

A lot of people probably use TV or radio as main news sources, or social media. I don’t know how many people my age would go on news websites, particularly those who aren’t university students.

Do you ever find about what’s been in the news through satire? If so, what programs? Do you think this is a legitimate way of being informed of world events?

Probably sometimes, yeah…maybe someone posting a satricial news item from SBS or something on Facebook. And Shaun Micallef’s Mad As Hell. But I don’t think it’s a very good way of getting news – too snarky. It also tends to be very biased, I think.

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I found the interview useful to see how the questions might play out in the questionnaire, and if there was any need for amendments or clarifications. Something that stood out was that in the question “What is the main reason you prefer to access news this way?” when we ask for subjects to choose only one answer, it can be difficult. For example, the subject said both convenience and affordability were significant factors in him using online news. However, the restrictions of the survey meant he could only choose one in a questionnaire setting. Whilst this may be a disadvantage, the selection of more than one would, I think prove difficult to code, so we will probably leave it the way it is and see how it works – it’s all a learning process.

The final two questions provided interesting responses and will, I think, potentially be good questions to ask when it comes to conducting focus groups.

Analysing a text: Social Media & News

Source: mashable.com

For this post, I’ll be analysing a report from the Pew Research Center, entitled “8 Key Takeaways about Social Media and News”. As the title suggests, this is a brief and to-the-point report, which observes eight trends in the relationship between News and Social Media, based on research conducted by the Pew Research Center. The Research Center is a reputable “fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping America and the world”, and conducts thorough research into many areas, including media.

The report is quite easy-to-read, due to the use of graphics, accessible language (avoiding excessive jargon) and brevity. Its audience would include academics, industry professionals, media students (me!) and other interested parties. Its simplicity means it could be useful for the average person who has an interest in the news and social media, as well as more serious researchers.

The information presented is objective, setting out to inform rather than persuade. While it brings up some much-debated news issues (US gun laws and same-sex marriage), it does not comment on the issues themselves, rather how they were discussed and reported in social media. The use of third-person contributes to this sense of objectivity.

All the data presented is from research conducted by the Pew Research Centre – hardly surprising given the organisation’s name and function. However, this could potentially have the opportunity for bias – for example, if the organisation had an agenda they could subtly use it in the way they conduct all their research. But I doubt that is the case, and the organisation’s reputability would reinforce this.

The data used as proof to the trends is largely qualitative, which also contributes to the report’s brevity and clarity.

One of the graphics used in the report – clear and simple.

As the title suggests, the report is split into 8 sections, each containing some text and a graph of some kind. This allows the authors to communicate the trends in a clear, authoritative and effective way. The list of trends is not in any recognisable order, apart from the first being the most general, “News has a place in social media – but on some sites more than others”, before the report proceeds to look at some social networking sites specifically and the specific activities of online news consumers.

I personally found the report very informative and useful, particularly as my group research project is going to look at the ways media students access news. I’m particularly interested to see how much social media plays a part in students’ consumption of the news, and the trends presented so clearly in this report will I think form an important part of our literature review. In comparison to the other research and articles I have so far come across, this has been the most useful and one of the most accessible, and I am looking forward to seeing how the news consumption habits of Wollongong Media students might compare to that of the general American public, as surveyed by the Pew Research Center.

Another of the graphics used – the percent of US adults who use each social networking site and the percentage of those who get news from them.

Why Ethics Are Like Superpowers (And Why They’re Important)

Image source: http://mon241.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/Super-Heroes.jpg

Ethics are like superpowers – you only realise you have them in emergencies.

In superhero films, it’s only when the protagonist is pushed to their limits and in a real pickle that they come to the realization that they can fly or shoot webs or become big, green and angry.

Ethics are a bit like that, except unlike superpowers, they actually exist in real life. I think we can not really be consciously aware of what morals we hold, until we come to a big life decision or dilemma, when we look to our conscience to find what is the right thing to do.

When it comes to media research, ethics are very important, in order to:

• treat others with respect and fairness
• keep your conscience clear
• avoid getting in big trouble

However, as Weerakkody (2008) states, “people will have different ideas and standards about what is right or wrong”. So in order to rectify this, ethical guidelines are written for organisations, companies and universities on what is generally accepted as right and wrong.

If we don’t follow ethical guidelines, we can end up upsetting and even harming our research subjects and the general public. Perhaps the most extreme examples of research having disastrous effects due to unethical decisions was the Stanford Prison Experiment, in which research subjects acting as prisoners were subjected to psychological abuse  (Weerakkody, 2008). This is clearly unethical – the subjects were unwittingly subjected to abuse which led in some cases to serious psychological damage.

The Stanford Prison Experiment. Image source: http://www.prisonexp.org/images/spic1.jpg

In media research, perhaps the most relevant example of questionable ethics is the Facebook emotional contagion experiment, when Facebook made the news feeds of 689,003 people either more positive or negative than usual. Researchers analysed these users’ postings to see if they had been affected by the emotions prominent in their news feed (Kramer et al, 2014).

Academically, it’s interesting.

Ethically, there are issues.

Facebook’s News Feed. Image source: http://www3.pcmag.com/media/images/316002-old-facebook-news-feed.jpg

Firstly, did the interview subjects have informed consent?

Technically, yes – the authors believe “it was consistent with Facebook’s Data Use Policy, to which all users agree prior to…constituting informed consent for this research.” (Kramer et al, 2014). So they probably won’t get in legal trouble. (Vermer, 2014)

But let’s make this personal. It’s possible that you and I were among the 689,003 whose news feeds were manipulated in 2012, but we actually don’t know. But let’s say we were. We had no idea that this experiment was occurring, that Facebook and the researchers were attempting to deliberately manipulate our emotions, or that what we post was being compared to what we were ‘fed’. So, informed consent? Questionable.

Secondly,  it’s possible that the experiment had serious consequences on the wellbeing and psychological state of the research subjects. For example, a Facebook user with depression or other mental illness might have been negatively impacted by the manipulated negative feed, and it could have even contributed to, for example, self-harm. It’s a possibility, but we will never know.

Personally, I’m unsure of the whole issue. I understand that it in a sense lacked informed consent and could have potentially harmful effects, but I also understand that knowledge of the experiment might have skewed the experiment’s data.

But the fact that it has generated such a response (ABC, 2014) proves one thing – ethics, like superpowers, are important and powerful things.

 

References:

Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 2014, ‘Facebook manipulates 700k users’ newsfeeds in secret study prompting backlash’, Australian Broadcasting Corporation News Website, 30 June, viewed 14 April 2015

Kramer, Adam D. I., Guillory, Jamie E. & Hancock, Jeffrey T. 2014, ‘Experimental evidence of massive-scale emotional contagion through social networks’, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, vol. 111, no. 24, pp. 8788-8790

Verma, Inder M. 2014, ‘Editorial expression of concern: experimental evidence of massive scale emotional contagion through social networks’, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, vol. 111, no. 29, pp. 10779

Weerakkody, Niranjala Damayanthi 2008, ‘Research ethics in media and communication’, in Research methods for media and communications, Oxford University Press Australia and New Zealand, South Melbourne, Vic., pp. 73-91

BCM210 Blog 2: In Which I Analyse A Media Research Text

Source: picjumbo.com

The text is a recent report produced by the Australian Communications and Media Authority, (ACMA) the government organisation which regulates “broadcasting, the internet, radiocommunications and telecommunications”, entitled ‘Supply & demand: Catch-up TV leads Australians’ online video use.’

The report attempts to investigate how Online Video Content is used in Australian households, as it is expected to change the landscape of Australian media consumption, particularly as new services such as Netflix and Stan arrive in Australia.

As the text is written and published by the research arm of the ACMA, the authors are qualified to write on this subject from a relatively objective viewpoint, and the information is presented as such. It generally aims to stick to reporting the facts, sometimes making deductions from them, but when this occurs it qualifies the fact that these are predictions only – for example, “the availability of this service may further encourage consumers to view television….”

I think the audience includes academics, industry workers and those of the general public who have a particular interest in media. As a media student, that includes me!

The report references previous research, including a Nielsen Multi-Screen report and Choice Magazine’s research. While they are put in some sort of context (e.g. “In 2013–14, 82 per cent of ABC4Kids iview content was viewed using a mobile device” references the year the statistics were from), on the whole it simply states the facts and then footnotes the source. Presumably this was in the interests of condensing the report, but it does mean that readers are not warned of any possible biases.

The proof used to defend the conclusions made at the end of the text are mostly statistical, but they are taken from both the ACMA research and other sources, in order to strengthen the validity of the conclusions reached.

The statistics broadly cover two areas – what media is on offer to Australians (supply), and what is being consumed (demand).

One of the infographics for the report. This illustrates the time Australians spend per month viewing video content on different devices.

The report features a mix of text and infographics, the graphics being used to break up the text and thus make it more accessible and readable to the audience. In terms of structure, the report starts broad and ‘zooms in’, beginning with what devices Australians are watching video in, before examining part of this – Online Video Content in more detail. I think it has been presented in this order to make it accessible, meaning that journalists, researchers and those with a professional interest in the research could scroll to the appropriate section that interests them – a practice made easy by the use of sub-headings.

The text is written in quite formal third person, reinforcing the authenticity and validity of the research. It uses some jargon, meaning readers would have to have some idea of the media landscape, but does explain some terms, product names, and acronyms, such as “over-the-top (OTT) services”.

The text generally agrees with other research on the same / similar topics – that online video viewing is becoming more common, and will continue to become more popular in the future, although it has a long way to go to catch up to television.

If writing for the ACMA, I would have to write objectively and only make deductions when clearly backed up by research.  I would also have to write formally but accessibly, using graphics to reinforce the observations and also give variety to the way it is presented.

One of the infographics for the report. This illustrates the percentage of catch-up users who visit the most popular websites.

What is Media Research?

Source: http://www.localmediamethods.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/Local-media-research-610×300.jpg

I must admit, when I initially saw that my compulsory BCMS subject for this semester was entitled ‘Research Practices in Media and Communications’, I wasn’t exactly thrilled.

I think the word ‘research’ tends to have connotations. For me, it sounded a little like sifting through thousands of spreadsheets or starring down microscopes.

But on closer reflection, I realised that the idea of media research is actually quite interesting.

As Berger (2014) points out, research is actually something we do every day. Whether it’s figuring out which is the best laptop to buy, searching the net for the cheapest price of Sherlock – Series 3, looking up what subjects to do each semester, scouring the UOW website for possible scholarships and grants, or even looking up a film or novel on Wikipedia, research actually takes up a big part of my life – and that’s not including all my university study!

And research doesn’t have to be boring – as shown by the clip from Heston’s Chocolate Factory Feast, in which presenter and chef Heston Blumenthal researched how best to reinvent duck a l’orange for the present day with a chocolate twist. The program was made for its entertainment value – and yet it was still research.

But scholarly research is different from the research we do every day. Berger states that “Scholarly research is, generally speaking, more systematic, more objective, more careful and more concerned about correctness and truthfulness than everyday research.”

He then goes on to speak about the differences between Quantitative (numbers / statistics-based) and Qualitative (more descriptive and anecdotal) research, and how there is a place for each.

And so I’ve actually become rather excited about the idea of media research. There’s so much going on with media in the world – what media is produced and who produces it, how it is consumed, who consumes it, who responds to it, how they respond to it, what mediums are being used and how technology is altering that.

One area I would be interested in looking further into is how many university students read the newspaper today, or get their news from other (online, television, etc.) sources.

This idea arouse from a conversation with my boss at the PR company I work for part-time. He was kind of shocked when I told him that, despite the fact that I am a Communication & Media Studies student, majoring in Journalism, I don’t actually read a physical newspaper all that often.

So I would like to find out if university students, specifically those studying media, read newspapers much. I think if any under 25s today are reading newspapers, it’s probably likely to be this group, but I doubt every student buys and reads a physical newspaper every day.

The results of such research would perhaps even throw light on the survival of newspapers in the future, an issue hotly contested and discussed today.

So, that’s one of the many areas of media studies that I would like to research!

 

References:

Berger, Arthur A. 2014, ‘What is research?’, in Media and communication research methods : an introduction to qualitative and quantitative approaches, 3rd ed., SAGE, Los Angeles, pp. 13-32

 

Source: http://www.dnjournal.com/archive/lowdown/2008/december.htm

JOUR206 Audio Report: Emotional History – Reflection

In creating an audio report for JOUR206, I feel I learnt a lot and enjoyed it immensely.

As someone who studies journalism and enjoys using technology creatively, I was excited about the project from the start. My first issue though, was – who’s story was I going to tell?

As the nature of the assignment involved someone sharing a significant event in their life, I felt it had to be someone I knew. As we discussed in class, particularly after watching 4 Corners‘ interview with Rosie Batty, establishing a relationship with someone is important, in order for them to trust you and open up to you.

I considered the ’emotional histories’ of people I knew, and eventually decided to ask Kirsty if I could interview her about her journey in tracking down and finally meeting her birth mother. Her story is, I think, one that is of interest to many people, because parents generally are such a big part of our identity and our lives. Kirsty mentioned in our full interview that her reunion with her mother is quite a unique one, because many people’s experience of tracking down their parent or child is disappointing, and this I think makes the story all the more remarkable and impacting. Finally I thought Kirsty’s story would be a good one to tell because it might encourage other people who were adopted to seek out their parent like Kirsty did.

I had a very good interviewee (something I also considered in choosing to interview her) – she is very eloquent and spoke in a tone that was engaging and sometimes even entertaining. As I had heard Kirsty’s story before, I was able to prepare questions but also be ready to let the interview take new directions. While the interview went very well, something I learnt later in editing the piece was that I need to learn to respond visually but not vocally when an interviewee is talking – in sections I could hear my voice saying “mmmm…”.

Another challenge for me was editing the piece down to the required 120 seconds, after recording over 12 minutes of dialogue. The final thirty seconds seemed to be particularly difficult. However, I can see that being concise is an important (but difficult) journalistic skill that I will need to continue to improve in.

After recording the interview, I decided to record some sound effects to add to the story, including that of someone typing on a computer and writing a letter, as well as an email notification sound. These aim to reinforce the story being told, thereby assisting the listener in imagining the events unfold. Although I was initially disappointed that there were no other real opportunities for sound effects, I think perhaps the sound effects stand out more because of their sparseness.

I also improvised music and added it to the recording. I aimed to match the mood of Kristy’s journey, in order to enhance the effect, and I think this was successful. I also chose to have some sections without music, in order to make them stand out.

What surprised me about the whole assignment was that despite the long time it took to edit, it was relatively easy to create an engaging audio report which told an emotional, impacting story.

Self(ie) Reflection

Through studying BCM110 so far, I’ve learnt about a few media concepts and the relevance they have to issues in our world.

Examples include:

• The Media Effects Theory
• The complex nature of images 
• Media ownership
• The public sphere

Something I’ve really enjoyed is seeing that these concepts are not just theory, they are seen in our media, in everything from Q & A to Mad As Hell.

I’ve also really loved blogging and reading other people’s blog and seeing their different perspectives on various issues.

For this final post, I’m going to take a tiny look at a MASSIVE issue and how a few of our media concepts link in with it…children in the media.

 

Putting Your Self(ie) First

Think about the selfie. It’s fast become one our cultural norms as selfies are splashed across the public sphere – Facebook, Instagram, Twitter…it was even selected as the 2013 word of the year. (Butt, 2013) What’s more, at Nelson Mandela’s funeral, three world leaders posed for a selfie. (Anthony, 2013) When politicians are doing it, you know it’s become mainstream.

 

Three world leaders post for a selfie. Image sourced from: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/dec/14/helle-thorning-schmidt-selfie-mandela-denmark

It’s all a bit of harmless fun, right?

But I think there is an issue when the selfie is used by minors in social media to be sexually suggestive. Schoolgirl Olympia Nelson wrote for the Age in 2013, saying “That’s the reason we see mirror shots, pouting self-portraits of teenagers (typically female) and sexually suggestively posed girls in a mini-dress… They’re showing how much they like themselves and hoping that you’ll hit ”like” to reinforce the claim.”
I think there’s something inherently wrong with a society that encourages young people to make themselves as sexually desirable as possible, as if getting the most amount of likes for their porn-like images is their ultimate goal in life.

As we’re talking about images here, it’s perhaps helpful to think back to our look at semiotics, and the subject of polysemy. While some selfie images may be read in different ways (for example, some selfie images may be made by teens in order to parody the whole phenomenon, and may be incorrectly taken seriously), I think that the dominant reading of many (but definitely not all) selfies of an individual teenager is that they are attempting to be sexually desirable.

A possible solution to the sexualisation of selifes…. 
Source: http://adam4d.com/men-selfies/

The Media Effects model would perhaps point to social media sites in the public sphere such as Facebook and Instagram as the direct culprits of this issue, but while I think that might be part of it, the issue is bigger than this.

Old Media, such as newspapers, magazines and television have also been promoting sexually promiscuous photographs for years. Tankard Reist (2009) points to the example of former children’s entertainer Kellie Crawford posing in a lingerie photo for Ralph magazine who justified doing the photo shoot to “find the woman in me”. Tankard Reist points out the problematic message this photoshoot sends, that in order to prove your womanhood, you have to take most of your clothes off and stare provocatively at a camera.

While these mediums are certainly contributing to this obsession many young people have in flaunting their bodies to gain attention, perhaps we need to look even further outside the media effects theory and see that the problem is even bigger than this, one which is a societal one.

 

Works Cited / Consulted:

• Anthony, A 2013, ‘Mandela funeral selfie adds to image problem for Denmark’s Prime Minister’, Guardian, 15 December, viewed 11 April 2014, <http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/dec/14/helle-thorning-schmidt-selfie-mandela-denmark>
• Butt, C 2013, ‘Selfie selected as 2013 word of the year’, Age, 20 November, viewed 11 April 2014, <http://www.theage.com.au/national/selfie-selected-as-2013-word-of-the-year-20131119-2xtfz.html>
• Faulkner, Joanne. ‘The Innocence Fetish: The Commodification and Sexualisation of Children in the Media and Popular Culture’ Media International Australia, No 135, pp. 106-117.
• Gorman, V 2013, ‘Social Media, Sexualisation and the Selfie Generation’, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 23 September, viewed 11 April 2014, <http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-09-23/gorman-the-selfie-generation/4974132>
• Nelson, O 2013, ‘Dark undercurrents of teenage girls’ selfies’, Age, 11 July, viewed 11 April 2014, <http://www.theage.com.au/comment/dark-undercurrents-of-teenage-girls-selfies-20130710-2pqbl.html>
• Tankard Reist, M. 2009, ‘For girls, add sex and stir girls and women to see themselves as objects, with self-hatred often the result’, Weekend Australian, 5 September

 

The Public Sphere is as ‘Mad as Hell’

According to Alan McKee, (2005, p.4) the public sphere is where we find out what is happening in our world and “what social, cultural and political issues are facing us.”

McKee goes on to explain how it is “a vital part of democratic societies” (p.16), because of the way it enables ordinary people to engage with ideas and issues themselves.

A popular media text which frequently contributes to debate in the Australian mediated public sphere is Shaun Micallef’s news parody Mad As Hell, currently airing its 3rd series on ABC1.

Comedian Shaun Miccallef’s ‘Mad as Hell’ contributes to debate in the public sphere. Source: http://www.abc.net.au/tv/img/programs/MAD%20AS%20HELL%20PP.jpg 

Hang on a second, you may be asking, isn’t that comedy? Yes it is, but comedy (especially satire and parody) is often very important in the public sphere because it reflects society’s big issues and ideas and causes viewers to look at things from a different point of view.

Here’s an example of how the television show raises serious issues in a funny way.

The theme song, graphics and title (Vlad’s Army) are parodying those of the 70s BBC Sitcom Dad’s Army, which took a humorous look at the British Home Guard during the Second World War. Here’s what the original introduction looked like:

So here in the Mad As Hell clip we have a cultural allusion to the Second World War, and yet the clip is about the current events occurring in Russia. Perhaps Miccallef is subtly suggesting here that the current world events are similar to that which began the Second World War (i.e. world leader annexing another country).

The fact that the US’ emblem takes a long time to come onto the screen, and appears to be taking a roundabout route, combined with the lyrics, is a reference to the USA’s late entry into both World Wars, suggesting that if another major conflict arouse, the US would probably take a long time to partake.

The final point made, once again from both visuals and lyrics, is about Australia. “Our navy will be too busy to come” is sung with the Australian emblem rotating around the country, a reference to the government’s Operation Sovereign Borders. This suggests that Australia, it’s government and military are currently so preoccupied in keeping refugees out that if a major conflict arouse, they would not be able to look beyond their own borders.

Kalina (2014) praised the piece because “in one swift and satiric swoop took aim at a catalogue of contemporary issues, from the so-called Operation Sovereign Borders to political instability in Ukraine.”

But while it’s quite funny, it is aiming to make people think, and does so in a very quick and very engaging way.

As Kalina puts it, “In 30 seconds or thereabouts, ”Vlad’s Army” managed to say more about the sad state of world affairs than a score of scholarly opinion pieces or bleating radio shock-jocks.”

Shaun Micallef at the Mad As Hell desk, ready to make comedy and (what most people don’t realise) contribute to the public sphere.
Source: http://www.abc.net.au/tv/madashell/images/ep10.jpg

 

Sources:

Croft, 2009, Dad’s Army – Opening Titles, online video, 20 October, YouTube, viewed 4 April 2014, <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CEDWDAMRBeU&gt;

Kalina, P 2014, ‘Show of the week: Shaun Micallef’s Mad As Hell”, Sydney Morning Herald, 13 March, viewed 4 April 2014, <http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/tv-and-radio/show-of-the-week-shaun-micallefs-mad-as-hell-20140312-34kyh.html&gt;

McKee, A, 2005, ‘Introduction: the public sphere : an introduction’ in Public Sphere: An Introduction, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp1-31.

Micallef, 2014, Shaun Micallef’s Mad As Hell – Vlad’s Army, online video, 9 March, YouTube, viewed 4 April 2014, <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XXHcwdOqgRs&gt;