Week 8

Reading Diary: Week 8

Researching Media Industries

The last week reading of the Journalism, PR and the Media module challenged my personal belief system and understanding. I really found it quite difficult but I hope I could get the main idea of it.

There are considerable debates about the relationship between practice and theory but what is essential and of a great value is their interaction. The cultural industries are undertaking changes and are strongly influenced by the technology. Whereas there are some theories that argue that at some point: “The points to keep in mind, however, are: first, technology doesn’t change media texts, but it does open up opportunities for new textual practices that certain entrepreneurs pursue; second, these practices are also shaped by – but not determined by – economic and regulatory conditions as well as technological ones” (Havens, T. 2012. p.58) Also, for understanding cultural industries is very important to understand the dynamic of consumption instead of production.

When thinking about media industry we have to bear in mind that access ‘insiders’ couldn’t be possible if there was no evidence. There are two main resources of evidence – documentary and people. The former can be used as a source-oriented or problem-oriented investigation while those which use people consist of interviews, participant observations and oral history. Combining and focusing on more than 1 method can give you more perspective and immersion.

Karl Marx and his ideological approaches contributed to the idea that media organizations play an essential role in conducting a research. Together with Engels “they affirmed that ‘The ideas of the ruling material force of a society, is at the same time its ruling intellectual force’” (Marx and Engels, 1974: 64; Strokes, 2003, p.104)

Although the difficulties I faced while reading the both materials, I could understand how important the industry research is. The theorists examine the influence of media industry organization and practices on society. If taken for further research I would like to make a focus group of both men and women aged 26-35 and ask some questions which are interesting for me such as: How do we make sense of media industry changes?

Referencing:

Strokes, J. (2003) How to do media & cultural studies London, Sage Publications

Havens, Timothy, Lotz, Amanda, (2012) Understanding Media Industries, Oxford University Press

Week 7

Reading Diary: Week 7

Political Economy of the Media

This week we had the opportunity to become more aware about the political economy of the media. One of the key points that I researched is the decline in the consumption of the printed media outlets due to the spectacular growth of online advertising. A big number of newspapers and magazines are feeling in danger because of the significant rise of Internet.

By reading “The Political Economy of the ‘New’ News Environment” I could definitely see Des Freedman`s concern about the technological, social and economic changes of the news journalism and the consequences for the democracy. Because of the fact that Internet is reaching a level of saturation and widespread adoption throughout the world most news agencies try to integrate their products to a digital format. “All news organizations now have a web presence (see Sparks, 2000 for an analysis of the original business rationale for turning to the internet) and an online audience that is generally much higher that their offline audience.” (Freedman, 2010 Page 43) This means that journalists have to present their stories for both print and web form. Therefore, more payment is expected but they are facing more deadlines which lead to pressure and push them to use more information from PR agencies or so-called churnalism which Davies defines as “rapid repackaging of largely unchecked material”. (Davies, 2008: 60, Freedman, 2010: 41) 

After reading Chapter 5 from Media Studies (Long, P. & Wall, T. 2012) I raised awareness about the public sphere and ‘citizenship’. Modern media offers the opportunity of a proxy public sphere where interactions are magnified but people are perceived as clients. When it comes to the citizenship we can consider it as a political identity where people are privileged to have certain social rights. According to Graham Murdock “the right to participate fully in existing patterns of social life and to help shape the forms that they may take in future” is citizenship. (Murdock, 1994:158, 2004; Long, P, Wall, T 2012, p.184)

I do agree that online advertising prevails the offline but I do not agree that the traditional model is in ‘crisis’ and soon will be down. As Murdock thinks the media should serve us: information, knowledge, representation and communication so I believe that journalists could keep the balance and make profits. For my further investigation, by organizational research, I will focus on a comparison between the content of The Daily Mail and MailOnline.

Referencing:

Freedman, D. (2010) Chapter 2: The Political Economy of ‘New’ News Environment in Fenton, N. (ed) (2010) New Media, Old News. London Sage Publications

Long, P and Wall, T. (2012) Media Studies: Text, Production, Context 2^nd Ed. 

Week 5

Reading Diary: Week 5

 The Internet, Public Spheres, and Political Communication: Dispersion and Deliberation

The changes caused by the new technologies in the media have an influential affect on the political communication. The demographic processes are also threatened by this. The opinion of the public spheres is no longer created through deliberation. It is built through communication systems whose major aim is to retain control of the dissemination of the flow of information.

In his article for “The Internet, Public Spheres and Political Communication: Dispersion and Deliberation”, Peter Dahlgren firstly outlines the three main analytic dimensions: the structural, the representational, the interactional and then gives us as an example authors such as Blumler and Gurevitch who summarized how the Internet destabilized the traditional system of political communications in terms of:  the increased sociocultural heterogeneity, massive growth in the media channels and outlets, etc.

The whole idea is about the impact of the Internet on the political communication which could be considered as both positive and negative. The expansion of the technologies as a new method for interaction is seen as a potential challenge to the traditional media parties and there is a “notable gap between the communication in the public sphere and institutional structures for binding decisions found in the global arena” (Dahlgren, 2005) Besides all the negativism he states: "Destabilization can thus extend political communication through horizontal civic communication, as well as through vertical communication between citizens." (Dahlgren, 2005, pp 151)

Deliberative Democracy need to be complemented with the civil cultures and emphasizes on the suggestion that the communication and interaction amongst the citizens is of a great importance.

I believe that Internet does cause some negative consequences on the public spheres and political communication but it is not fair to underestimate and ignore the positive aspect as well. “Even though the online sphere of political communication clearly has hierarchical patterns, the Internet seems nevertheless to offer better opportunities for non-institutional actors to achieve public visibility than newspapers” (Koopmans, Ruud., Zimmermann, Ann, C, 2003, Internet: A new potential for European political communications?)The decline in citizens` political engagement is one of the most serious problems facing the Western democracy because of the socio-cultural changes in the age of digitalization. Meanwhile the Internet gives us the opportunity to find more information regarding the government and the political issues as well as enhancing democracy.

If taken for further research I would like to create a small focus group of young people aged 18-26 in order to identify the level of interest about democracy and political communication among the “future generations”. Also I am interested in what will happen to our societies and government if there wasn’t such kind of Internet and communication technologies and how we can define democracy in the digital world?

Referencing:

Koopmans, Ruud. Zimmermann, Ann. C. 2003. Internet: A new potential for European political communication? Working paper

Dahlgren, P. 2005. ‘The Internet, Public Spheres, and Political Communications: Dispersion and Deliberation’ Political Communication, Vol.22 Issue 2 Pages 147-162

Week 4

Reading Diary: Week 4

Journalism, PR and Promotional Culture

We live in a time of dramatic changes where the media has the power to influence on our own lives. Promotional culture is just one example which describes the public attempt to influence people`s perception, opinion and disposition. It is more about selling ideas and branding rather than promoting products and goods.  The rise of Public Relations is thought as a philosophy and has become a major concern for the government and the media.

I found this week`s reading by David Miller The Media, An Introduction, very interesting and essential for my understanding as identifying and explaining in a very good way the nature of promotional culture, promotional strategies and practices. The author also suggests the resource-poor companies often form alliances with the resource-rich ones in order to share marketing strategies and goods. No matter how strong the press-releases of a “poor” company are, they could not win in a battle with an organization with more resources. Also not always the “rich” ones come up with the best idea. But what I am wondering is if the media coverage is distributed fairly to the both groups? This will be my topic for future investigation and I am thinking about a semiotic analysis.

When thinking about the promotional culture there are debates whether its effect is positive or negative. It’s true that the impact is varied and substantive because it is overtaking every single area of our social life turning our world into a “symbolic” one.  “Promotional culture extends brand awareness, shapes values and ideals, impacts decisions making and functions as social communications” ( Davis, Aeron, 2013)

There are some promotional strategies used for influencing people.  As Miller suggests, the branding has become the key instrument dominating as the society is turning into more promotional. Neoliberalism is strongly related to the rise of PR. Lobbying for example is one of the types of public relations and by using direct influence , is available only to organizations with established influence on society.

The practices in contemporary media such as propaganda, advertising, lobbying, political campaign, PR, promotions manipulate, exploit and control the public sphere systematically in order to capture their interest. I believe that every person has an own opinion and can’t be made like or follow something. It’s about the balance between communication for sharing knowledge and communication for manipulation.

Referencing:

Albertazzi, D. & Cobley, P. (eds.) (2010), The Media. An Introduction, Harlow, Essex: Pearson

Davis, Aeron. (2013) Promotional Cultures: The Rise and Spread of Advertising, Public Relations, Marketing and Branding.

Week 3

Reading Diary: Week 3

Exploring the Impact of Digital Technology on Journalism & PR

The impact of the technology on the media and journalism is getting wider and wider nowadays. To conduct my studies this week I read ‘ where the positive and negative things about the technology in media were outlined as well as the new opportunities gained. Today, most of the people have a smart phone or a tablet which enables them to be “closer” to the news and gives them the potential to upload posts, share opinions and even make their own blogs. This is so-called “citizen journalism” which is seen as a threat by the professional ones.

It is not hidden that the journalism is transformed a lot by new tools and practices. Some of the journalists see this as a crisis but others appreciate the freedom of the media. The Internet provides great opportunities for the reads and writers as well, engaging them with the new technologies totally different from the traditional business model of journalism. The text gives us the three key functions of journalism but just following them is not what makes a journalist to professional. The most important thing is the collaboration between them.

Bob Franklin suggests in his “The Future of Journalism” (Journalism Studies, 2012) the good points that could lead into a rise of journalism in terms of being creative about exploring the “distinctive ways of writing and presenting news”.

I agree with both of the theorists. On the one hand, technologies are growing so fast and can’t be ignored no matter how strong some of the journalists want it. It’s true that there is a threat for the professionals but the opportunities that become available are not just a few. The impact on the contemporary media business is intense so a lot of new skills should be developed. The positive things about the “digital” journalism are as the following: more audience feedback, more people engaged, more stories and perspectives, broadband capability, wireless communication and permanent connectivity. I think that the digital journalism is not a threat or crisis, but a explosion seen as a “liberation from strict corporate control” (Van Der Haak, B. The Future of Journalism)

For my future interest I would make a focus group of 6 young people aged 18-32 and 6 older ones aged 45-55 in order to understand the impact of the networked journalism on them and compare their opinions.  I would use a rhetorical analysis as well.

Referencing:

Van Der Haak, B., Parks, M. and Castells, M. 2012. The future of journalism: Networked journalism. International Journal of Communication, 6 

Franklin B., 2012. Journalism Studies, The Future of Journalism, 13:5-6, 663-681

Week 2

Reading Diary: Week 2

Exploring institutional contests over control of public opinion.  Journalism, PR and Power.

The power of the media to create affect as well as its ability to provide people with that power is acknowledged by many theorists.  Media guides public opinion through journalism and offers individuals the opportunity of self-realization and self-expression as well as the role of social power and reaching audiences by messages and ideas. Powerful media is the perception that the power lies in the manipulation and people could be easily affected by it. In the model, presented by Louis Althusser, it is suggested that the media is part of the ISAs (Ideological State Apparatuses) which refers to ideology or simply power of ideas.

The background reading from “Media Studies” (Long & Wall, chapter 10, Media Power) challenged a little my personal opinions and belief but also it gave me a clear identification of the ideology. Presented as a “set of shared ideas that seem, to those who hold them, to be natural and unquestionable” it could be also deemed as something natural with perception of reality. The theory by Karl Marx connects to the themes of the lecture as he “relates power to social classes and systems rather than individuals” and once the organization of society is changed, new set of ideas influence people.

In recent years, the power of the so-called “fourth estate” – journalism is threatened by the rise of the “fifth estate”. PR professionals and news agencies play an increasingly essential role in the news gathering. They influence on the contemporary journalism and their dominance is not hidden. Herbert Gans defines the relationship between journalism and PR by the meaningful metaphor: “It takes two to tango” and I agree with him. The statistics in the set reading “A compromised fourth estate?” show that well-known newspapers such as The Guardian are more likely to be resistant on PR influence and as Jullia Hobsbawm claims – “at least 60% of any broadsheet outlet has got a PR element in it”.  

To sum up, I believe that PR is taking over the majority of the press and moreover – have an influential impact on journalism. The pressure is on the specialists from the “fourth estate” in terms of increasing productivity and independent journalist investigation has become rather rare. To conduct my studies, I decided to make an interview with the students from my seminar about the power of the mass media.

Referencing:

Lewis, J. Williams, A. Franklin, B. 2008. A compromised fourth estate? Journalism studies, 9:1, 1-20

Long, P. Wall, T. 2012. Media Studies, Media Power, chapter 10

Week 1

Reading Diary: Week 1
Relationship between PR and Journalism

Both Public Relations and Journalism have a significant influence on the modern world so their relationship is very worth exploring for practical reason. Last semester I had to write an essay about: “The relationship between PR and journalism is like that of the prostitute and the regular punter” which I found quite difficult at first but after reading a lot of reports, books and articles about this topic, I made up my mind. As Julia Hobsbawm stated in her “Where the Truth Lies: Trust and Morality in PR and Journalism” (ed. 2006) “the relationship between the serious news media and the truth is under scrutiny as never before.”
The set reading from the first week “New journalism and public relations: a dangerous relationship” by Kevin Moloney, Daniel Jackson and David McQueen has introduced us a critical overview of the emerging trends between the two industries. Their common interest is receiving independent reporting which is one reason because there is an obvious tension between them. The reading connects to the themes of the lecture and the other special reading in terms of identifying and evaluating the rise of the public relations.

 This leads to a very big challenge for the journalists as they try to produce news that “retains a critical distance from it sources”. It is not hidden that PR specialists are more engaged with their clients because their main role is to promote them, to raise awareness, to create understanding and to change behavior whilst journalist are the “seekers of truth” who are piled with work so that sometimes they starts copying press releases and other PR agents` works. Moreover, theorists came up with a word for this, called: ‘churnalism’. The example with The Daily Mail and The Daily Telegraph about the 80% copied information from a Waitrose press release really attracted my attention.

To conduct my knowledge, I read Public Relations and Journalism: Truth, Trust, Transparency and Integrity (Davies, 2008) where I found very interesting points of view. The author has separated the two industries into “hard” and “soft”. Both “hard” journalism and PR are concerned about their truth and trust in order to save their practitioners` integrity and reputation. “Soft” journalism is focused on entertainment industry but its content does not affect the public, while “soft” PR is concerned with providing publicity for their clients.

I agree with the theories above that journalists have to stop or at least reduce their dependence on the PR works. Both readings explain the importance of limiting the PR intrusion into newsrooms and the rise of the new kind of journalism – churnalism.
For my future studies I am interested in “What should be done in order to be stopped this so-called “churnalism”?” And I will use rhetorical analysis for that aim.

Referencing:
Moloney, K., Jackson, D. McQueen D. 2013. News journalism and public relations: a dangerous relationship. Bournemouth University
Davies, F. 2008. Public relations and journalism: Truth, Trust, Transparency and Integrity. Occasional Working Paper Series, 1.
Hobsbawm, J. (2006) Where the Truth Lies: Trust and Morality in PR and Journalism, The University of Michigan, Atlantic.