Week 6 (chapters 5, 6 & 7)
Cultural Approach
• Culture is a shared experience and therefore the result of communication. It is constantly
changing but it does follow fixed patterns. The changing is noticeable because of fixed
patterns. Words, fashion is culture based.
• Cultural is communicated through:
◦ Texts
▪ All communication content, contains hidden aspects of culture
◦ Symbols
▪ Something that represents something else by association characterised by shared
connotation. (Written language is symbolic)
◦ Ritual acts
▪ Acts characterised by the presence of procedure or routine. Lectures are procedural
forms of communication. Most communication is procedural (job interview, date,
birthdays).
Critical Cultural Theory – Birmingham school
→ redemption of the popular. Reflection of our taste. Became interesting again to study pop culture
again.
• Focus on how ideology in media texts is read by the audience
• Model of encoding – decoding (Stuart Hall)
◦ Encoding [social context 1]
▪ Grey area is where contexts overlap
◦ Decoding [social context 2]
◦ A receiver can decode a message in different ways;
▪ Preferred: they the message was intended
▪ Negotiated: when there is some cultural difference; some parts are taken as preferred
and some go lost in translation and decoded in a different manner.
▪ Oppositional: huge cultural difference; someone takes a different meaning of a
message then intended.
• Wider view of the social and cultural influences which mediate the experience of the media
• Reception and ritual perspectives thrive
◦ Reception perspective is how people receive a message and why kind of meaning they
give to a message. Why one person gives another meaning than another person. Meaning
is sought in cultural differences.
◦ Ritual perspective is focussing on routine and ritual aspects of communication situations.
We expect things of communication because of the routines.
• “Popularity is a measure of cultural form’s ability to serve audience interest” (Fiske 1987)
◦ We should look at pop culture, which appeal to a lot of people, they are very successful.
New media theory
New media Criticism
• The audience is overwhelmed with an enormous amount of information. Without proper
explanation and guidance, the only goal seems providing people with a simple answer to
every question. Never provoking thought. The result is that it becomes easy to appear wise
and skilful while in fact ignorance and stupidity increase. (PLATO)
◦ Possibly criticising the internet, TV.
◦ Plato criticised the written word
• When new media enters the market there are general themes that people criticise on:
, ◦ Education will suffer because finding information is easier and therefore does not
provoke thought
◦ Information security will be compromised
◦ Authorship will be difficult to authenticate
◦ It will be nothing more than a shallow distraction, devoid of serious purpose and people
will stop interacting with real people.
New media optimism (McQuail)
McQuail’s thoughts on new media are shaped towards the future.
• New aspects of the media landscape (according to McQuail) and therefore we need new
theories;
◦ New channels with new characteristics
◦ Harnessing of the computer
◦ Satellite communication
◦ Trends towards larger audience, internationalisation, globalisation
• Differences according to the dominant paradigm
◦ Authors get increased opportunities
◦ The role of publisher becomes ambiguous
The audience member is no longer part of a mass, but of a self-chosen network
• 4 categories of new media/channels:
◦ Interpersonal communication media
▪ telephone
▪ email
◦ Interactive play media
▪ Video games
▪ Virtual reality devices
◦ Information search media
▪ the internet
▪ google, encyclopedia’s
◦ Collective participatory media
▪ chatrooms
McQuail > new theory vs old theory
• Fundamental changes in the media landscape create need for new theories
• The consequence of digitalisation is the convergence between existing media forms in terms
of their:
◦ organisation
◦ distribution
◦ reception
◦ regulation.
Bordewijk & van Kaam (1986) – new media optimism
• Argument: we need new theories because we have new opportunities.
• Believe that newer times require new theories. New media allow us to do new things in
these communication patterns:
◦ Allocution
▪ Distribution of information from a centre to many receivers
• lectures
• NL alert
◦ Conversation
▪ Individuals interact directly with each other, choosing their own time, place and
topic.
, • Email
• Conference call
◦ Consultation
▪ An individual searches for information at a central store of information
• Data bank
• Library
◦ Registration
▪ A centre receives information from individuals
• Automatic registration of television set usage
Toronto School (McLuhan)
• Linear evolution of the media landscape in terms of technology (one builds on the other one)
technology is becoming more and more complicated.
• Technology driven
• Central idea: attributes distinctive social and cultural effects to the dominant form and
vehicle of communication, independent of the actual content. Technology that we use
changes the content the meaning that we communicate about.
• Changes in technology and changing media have direct influence on society
• McLuhan ‘Medium is the message’
Similarities & differences to new media optimism
> Important competitor to new media optimism. Both believe in bigger audience that you can reach
simultaneously using complex technology.
> Toronto school emphasises more on the importance of technology than new media optimism
> McLuhan does not believe in the need for new theories (that is why he wrote the Gutenburg
galaxy). We still see the same type of criticism and patterns although new technologies are used.
Remediation (Bolter & Grusin)
• Argue against McQuail and some against McLuhan. They say: if we look at the media
landscape throughout history and in our own time we see a lot of arguments against this
linear evolution. It is not true that every new media uses a more complex new technology
(some do, some do not). Older media are being used again too.
> For example: hippy movement in 1970s used pamphlets for their arguments to
distinguish themselves from the mainstream media.
> For example: during war time resistance used handwritten newspapers again.
• If a new media would always be better than would the older media disappear but they are
still here.
• New media take over:
◦ Form/style
◦ Topics
◦ Form/genre
• Old media change as well – they don’t disappear
◦ Take a new role
◦ Prominent form, topics and function change
, Media structure & performance
Values
Values are the second layer of culture (artefacts (superficial) layer: are the things that we can see
language, fashion, architecture)
• Constitute a critical part of your values and are apparent in attitudes, beliefs and actions
• Values have to be prioritised because they compete with each other all the time, e.g. honesty
then responsibility
• The scientific discipline of what happens when values conflicts; ethics studies the decision
making after values come into conflict.
• Values are always translated to principles
• For example > diversity, principles derived from diversity:
◦ opening the way for social change or
◦ check on misuse of power or
◦ enabling minority identities or
◦ limiting social conflict or
◦ adding to richness of cultural life
Principles
• Values can be judged on different levels:
◦ Structure
▪ How media landscape is organised
▪ Starting media organisation > free/possible
▪ No rules to exclude anyone from media landscape > free
▪ You need money to start media organisation > Not free
▪ Are you free to buy and sell media organisations?
• Not possible in NL, not free on structural level (EU regulates this). Restricting
freedom to have freedom on behavioural level.
◦ Behaviour
▪ How free are journalist
• Can they make comics about everything or are there rules?
◦ Performance
▪ How do media organisations perform?
• How many people do they reach?
• Do they talk about both sides in a discussion?
• Example > Freedom
◦ Absence of censorship
◦ Universal access
◦ Independence from external pressures
◦ Competition in media landscape
◦ Freedom to obtain information from relevant sources
Accountability
• Media accountability
◦ To make sure media organisations and media professionals act ethically.
◦ Everyone that works in the media landscape is accountable.
◦ Media accountability is all the voluntary or involuntary processes by which the media
answer directly or indirectly for the quality and/or consequences of publication.
◦ Criteria for media accountability:
▪ Respect rights to free publication
▪ Prevent or limit harm arising from publication to individuals as well as to society
▪ Promote positive aspects of publication rather than merely being restrictive
, • Frame of accountability
◦ A frame of reference within which expectations concerning conduct and responsibility
arise and claims are expressed
◦ General frames of accountability:
▪ Law and regulation
• Cannot create panic/violence
• Allows also are freedom
▪ Financial/market
• Get income from revenue (ads)
• for example: if a company X has advertisements on website Y, but website Y
trashes X all the time they probably will lose X as advertiser. Because of that
they might feel the obligation to talk a bit more positively about company X.
▪ Public responsibility
• Public will strike back if you publish something that hurts the public interest.
• Can also be more positive: giving an award for doing such a good job
• For example: billboards, Sint ad with walking stick, should not be too scary
public can turn against it
▪ Professional responsibility
• Professionals have norms and if they show through for example awards that they
are showing the expected behaviour/would like to see.
Cultural Approach
• Culture is a shared experience and therefore the result of communication. It is constantly
changing but it does follow fixed patterns. The changing is noticeable because of fixed
patterns. Words, fashion is culture based.
• Cultural is communicated through:
◦ Texts
▪ All communication content, contains hidden aspects of culture
◦ Symbols
▪ Something that represents something else by association characterised by shared
connotation. (Written language is symbolic)
◦ Ritual acts
▪ Acts characterised by the presence of procedure or routine. Lectures are procedural
forms of communication. Most communication is procedural (job interview, date,
birthdays).
Critical Cultural Theory – Birmingham school
→ redemption of the popular. Reflection of our taste. Became interesting again to study pop culture
again.
• Focus on how ideology in media texts is read by the audience
• Model of encoding – decoding (Stuart Hall)
◦ Encoding [social context 1]
▪ Grey area is where contexts overlap
◦ Decoding [social context 2]
◦ A receiver can decode a message in different ways;
▪ Preferred: they the message was intended
▪ Negotiated: when there is some cultural difference; some parts are taken as preferred
and some go lost in translation and decoded in a different manner.
▪ Oppositional: huge cultural difference; someone takes a different meaning of a
message then intended.
• Wider view of the social and cultural influences which mediate the experience of the media
• Reception and ritual perspectives thrive
◦ Reception perspective is how people receive a message and why kind of meaning they
give to a message. Why one person gives another meaning than another person. Meaning
is sought in cultural differences.
◦ Ritual perspective is focussing on routine and ritual aspects of communication situations.
We expect things of communication because of the routines.
• “Popularity is a measure of cultural form’s ability to serve audience interest” (Fiske 1987)
◦ We should look at pop culture, which appeal to a lot of people, they are very successful.
New media theory
New media Criticism
• The audience is overwhelmed with an enormous amount of information. Without proper
explanation and guidance, the only goal seems providing people with a simple answer to
every question. Never provoking thought. The result is that it becomes easy to appear wise
and skilful while in fact ignorance and stupidity increase. (PLATO)
◦ Possibly criticising the internet, TV.
◦ Plato criticised the written word
• When new media enters the market there are general themes that people criticise on:
, ◦ Education will suffer because finding information is easier and therefore does not
provoke thought
◦ Information security will be compromised
◦ Authorship will be difficult to authenticate
◦ It will be nothing more than a shallow distraction, devoid of serious purpose and people
will stop interacting with real people.
New media optimism (McQuail)
McQuail’s thoughts on new media are shaped towards the future.
• New aspects of the media landscape (according to McQuail) and therefore we need new
theories;
◦ New channels with new characteristics
◦ Harnessing of the computer
◦ Satellite communication
◦ Trends towards larger audience, internationalisation, globalisation
• Differences according to the dominant paradigm
◦ Authors get increased opportunities
◦ The role of publisher becomes ambiguous
The audience member is no longer part of a mass, but of a self-chosen network
• 4 categories of new media/channels:
◦ Interpersonal communication media
▪ telephone
◦ Interactive play media
▪ Video games
▪ Virtual reality devices
◦ Information search media
▪ the internet
▪ google, encyclopedia’s
◦ Collective participatory media
▪ chatrooms
McQuail > new theory vs old theory
• Fundamental changes in the media landscape create need for new theories
• The consequence of digitalisation is the convergence between existing media forms in terms
of their:
◦ organisation
◦ distribution
◦ reception
◦ regulation.
Bordewijk & van Kaam (1986) – new media optimism
• Argument: we need new theories because we have new opportunities.
• Believe that newer times require new theories. New media allow us to do new things in
these communication patterns:
◦ Allocution
▪ Distribution of information from a centre to many receivers
• lectures
• NL alert
◦ Conversation
▪ Individuals interact directly with each other, choosing their own time, place and
topic.
• Conference call
◦ Consultation
▪ An individual searches for information at a central store of information
• Data bank
• Library
◦ Registration
▪ A centre receives information from individuals
• Automatic registration of television set usage
Toronto School (McLuhan)
• Linear evolution of the media landscape in terms of technology (one builds on the other one)
technology is becoming more and more complicated.
• Technology driven
• Central idea: attributes distinctive social and cultural effects to the dominant form and
vehicle of communication, independent of the actual content. Technology that we use
changes the content the meaning that we communicate about.
• Changes in technology and changing media have direct influence on society
• McLuhan ‘Medium is the message’
Similarities & differences to new media optimism
> Important competitor to new media optimism. Both believe in bigger audience that you can reach
simultaneously using complex technology.
> Toronto school emphasises more on the importance of technology than new media optimism
> McLuhan does not believe in the need for new theories (that is why he wrote the Gutenburg
galaxy). We still see the same type of criticism and patterns although new technologies are used.
Remediation (Bolter & Grusin)
• Argue against McQuail and some against McLuhan. They say: if we look at the media
landscape throughout history and in our own time we see a lot of arguments against this
linear evolution. It is not true that every new media uses a more complex new technology
(some do, some do not). Older media are being used again too.
> For example: hippy movement in 1970s used pamphlets for their arguments to
distinguish themselves from the mainstream media.
> For example: during war time resistance used handwritten newspapers again.
• If a new media would always be better than would the older media disappear but they are
still here.
• New media take over:
◦ Form/style
◦ Topics
◦ Form/genre
• Old media change as well – they don’t disappear
◦ Take a new role
◦ Prominent form, topics and function change
, Media structure & performance
Values
Values are the second layer of culture (artefacts (superficial) layer: are the things that we can see
language, fashion, architecture)
• Constitute a critical part of your values and are apparent in attitudes, beliefs and actions
• Values have to be prioritised because they compete with each other all the time, e.g. honesty
then responsibility
• The scientific discipline of what happens when values conflicts; ethics studies the decision
making after values come into conflict.
• Values are always translated to principles
• For example > diversity, principles derived from diversity:
◦ opening the way for social change or
◦ check on misuse of power or
◦ enabling minority identities or
◦ limiting social conflict or
◦ adding to richness of cultural life
Principles
• Values can be judged on different levels:
◦ Structure
▪ How media landscape is organised
▪ Starting media organisation > free/possible
▪ No rules to exclude anyone from media landscape > free
▪ You need money to start media organisation > Not free
▪ Are you free to buy and sell media organisations?
• Not possible in NL, not free on structural level (EU regulates this). Restricting
freedom to have freedom on behavioural level.
◦ Behaviour
▪ How free are journalist
• Can they make comics about everything or are there rules?
◦ Performance
▪ How do media organisations perform?
• How many people do they reach?
• Do they talk about both sides in a discussion?
• Example > Freedom
◦ Absence of censorship
◦ Universal access
◦ Independence from external pressures
◦ Competition in media landscape
◦ Freedom to obtain information from relevant sources
Accountability
• Media accountability
◦ To make sure media organisations and media professionals act ethically.
◦ Everyone that works in the media landscape is accountable.
◦ Media accountability is all the voluntary or involuntary processes by which the media
answer directly or indirectly for the quality and/or consequences of publication.
◦ Criteria for media accountability:
▪ Respect rights to free publication
▪ Prevent or limit harm arising from publication to individuals as well as to society
▪ Promote positive aspects of publication rather than merely being restrictive
, • Frame of accountability
◦ A frame of reference within which expectations concerning conduct and responsibility
arise and claims are expressed
◦ General frames of accountability:
▪ Law and regulation
• Cannot create panic/violence
• Allows also are freedom
▪ Financial/market
• Get income from revenue (ads)
• for example: if a company X has advertisements on website Y, but website Y
trashes X all the time they probably will lose X as advertiser. Because of that
they might feel the obligation to talk a bit more positively about company X.
▪ Public responsibility
• Public will strike back if you publish something that hurts the public interest.
• Can also be more positive: giving an award for doing such a good job
• For example: billboards, Sint ad with walking stick, should not be too scary
public can turn against it
▪ Professional responsibility
• Professionals have norms and if they show through for example awards that they
are showing the expected behaviour/would like to see.
