Media Studies Exam Prep Week 12 PDF
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Uploaded by DarlingSard4373
UC Berkeley
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This document details the outline for the media studies exam preparation for week 12. It covers topics, such as conglomerate power, free market defenders, self-regulation, media globalization, and film globalization.
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Media Studies Exam Prep on Week 12 Conglomerate Power Critics: Conglomeration leads to oligopolies that favor their own interests/partnerships and make it difficult for outsiders to complete. So: While media grows, the #’s of speakers shrink Result #1: illusion of diversity: (more choice/ but no...
Media Studies Exam Prep on Week 12 Conglomerate Power Critics: Conglomeration leads to oligopolies that favor their own interests/partnerships and make it difficult for outsiders to complete. So: While media grows, the #’s of speakers shrink Result #1: illusion of diversity: (more choice/ but not more voice) Result #2: “power is knowledge” (power to control circulation of ideas) VS. Free Market Defenders: ▪ They argue the media industry is dynamic and changing ▪ Corporations must grow/ lose market sahre in abundant marketplace ▪ Corporations must also absorb losses, afford innovation ▪ They argue that while companies are getting larger, and have an even larger capacity to connect with views online (Internet allows more production/ sharing more than ever) ▪ Companies self- regulate content Self-regulation: ▪ Industry put policies on themselves to keep competitive positions in the marketplace thru pressures from: 1. Lawmakers (threat of regulation) 2. Collective audience pressure 3. Advertisers 4. Critics: this problematically equates capitalism with/ democracy Media Globalization: ▪ Instantaneous (crosses time + space) ▪ Interconnected (communication/ relationships across cultures) ▪ Independent (global economies) BUT: globalization is uneven due to inequalities Rise of Media Globalization: ▪ Political: end of cold war/ opening a new foreign market ▪ Economic: deregulation, loosening ownership regulations, and trade treaties Technology: satellites, digital networks Culture: new migration patterns/ motivations of people Globalization of Film: ▪ Small studios = increase # of films ▪ Major studios = creation of high budget blockbusters ▪ Maximize the investment capital ▪ Economies of scale (easier to promote/distribute) ▪ Free publicity as “media events” ▪ Allows synergy and tie-ins 4 obstacles for Hollywood in China (Song): Lure: China is currently the world’s 2 nd-largest film market But: Hollywood faced w/ obstacles not found elsewhere Import quotas Censorship review Short window for promo Must “share review” with/ local distributors + exhibitors “5 key relationships to manage” (song) Governments = show China in a positive light; all ages; invest in China General audience= visual spectacle + animation; including “Chinese elements”; special premieres, promo, and versions. Partner relations= collab w/ Chinese media in production Importation: US TV producers are in a position of power b/c their: - Broadcast strategy works internationally as well - Primetime dramas are $$$ to produce and have wide appeal - Shows performance in the US predicts international success Overall: advantage for buyer= cheaper, less risky than local production BUT: US faces competition from international producers - Home= non-US media find more success in the US as niches - Abroad= US facing increasing competition from other markets CO- production: - Co-op between producers from different markets Advantages= shared costs (including for international sales) Tailored to the cultural specifications of both Get tax credits/funding incentives from all countries Disadvantages= language & Industrial differences create conflicts Ad/program structure, scheduling, etc... Needs of stronger partner usually win out Formatting: - Importing premise to adapt to/ in local contexts - Cheaper to buy ideas then finished products - Enables local cultural specificity - Tailoring hit ideas to US audiences/ worldwide audiences - attractive to programmers because they are proven successful Multiple Proximities (La Pastina & Straubhaar): Cultural specificity of domestic media fosters “primary cultural proximity” w/ the national Language Experiences/ examples of Values Reflect Cultural Forms BUT: people can feel “secondary cultural proximities” to other nations/ experiences thru media imports - Appealing to audiences/ additional proximities (e.g. religion, region, localism, migration history) - From countries w/similar/ shared cultural specificity) Technological determinism: - A discourse that tech is the primary driver of change in a society - “What tech is doing to us” - AND: can be utopian or dystopian - I FORGOT MY PHONE (clip) “The medium is the message” (McLuhan): - The sensory experiences of new media shape our thinking - Sensory extensions afforded by medium are more important than the content - Ex. = electric light (a medium w/o a message) Development of new techs (Newman): Tech guided by human stakeholders at every level 1. Invention/development 2. distribution (including. Business models) 3. Government regulations 4. Domestication - First: new techs met w/ combo fascination & fear - Then: techs became “invisible” as they integrate into our lives Changing discourses on mobile media: Previously - Media use based at home/work Late 90s - Tech can encourage people to go out - Ex. Mobile phones, laptops, cybercafes 2000s - Free Wi-Fi - “haptic” & customizable mobile techs (especially smartphones) - Location-aware apps reliant on location to function Spatial Convergence: Blurring of boundaries between public & private// physical & virtual spaces - Nintendo Switch ad (mobility) 1. Privatized mobility = bring your home w/ you 2. Ambient awareness = common tech’s “ubiquitous connectivity” to maintain a sense of connect 3. Net locality = “location-aware” mobile media merges www + local, influencing mobility and “character of locations” (de Souza e Silvia) Mobile Kits (Ito et al.): How do we manage our presence in public spaces? What “mobile kits” do we take with us to fill our time and needs? - Primary = always take w/ us (primary mobile kit to secondary kit) - Secondary = when we work/ study in away from home “Forms of place making” (Ito et al.): 1. Cocooning Shelter from engagement or for killing time 2. Camping Temporary workspaces in public 3. Foot printing Public place that tries to create relationship w/ person Design logic = making a product w/a limited useful lifespan requiring consumers to buy a new version Marketing logic = encouraging consumers to upgrade to a newer version - PRO: incentivizes improvement and innovation - CON: added expense/frustration/ and waste (spending more money/ frustration with learning new tech/ wasteful bc u getting rid of it when it's still good) E-waste Dumping can lead to human/ environmental hazards Dumping health hazards: poisoning, contaminating, carcinogens AND: extraordinarily little in the way of recycling standards - Environmental cost - Human costs SO: we must question industry + consumer practices/ and how they could be made more sustainable/ humane