media criticism

the medium is the message

• the medium is not a neutral technology through which meanings, messages, and information are channeled unmodified

• the medium itself has a major impact on the meaning it conveys

marshall mcluhan

who came up with the theory of the medium is the message

five defining trends for modern media landscape

• convergence

• mobility

• fragmentation

• globalization

• simulation

convergence

formerly diverse media now share a common, integrated platform as a result of improved data-compression techniques along with bandwidth expansions making the transmission of large amounts of data possible

mobility

media can move from place to place with us easily. we can also access information from everywhere

fragmentation

splintering of the shared public “monoculture” into specialized taste culture. hundreds of varieties of programming catering to specific niches and interests

globalization

the collapse of nation autonomy in favor of instantaneous and flexible worldwide social relations. this is partially a result of multinational media corporations with shared stakes. there are concerns about the minimization of cultural differences leading to a culture of sameness

simulation

the suggestion that the media doesn’t represent our social world, but constructs a space that is hyperreal space, a distortion

hyperreality

a condition in which what is real and what is fiction are seamlessly blended together so that there is no clear distinction between where one ends and the other begins

jean baudrillard

who came up with simulacra and simulation

attention economy

linked information overload with attention scarcity

“a wealth of information creates a poverty of attention”

herbert a. simon

who came up with the attention economy

attention

a state in which cognitive resources are focused on certain aspects of the environment rather than on others

michael goldhaber

“obtaining attention is obtaining a kind of enduring wealth, a form of wealth that puts you in a preferred position to get anything this new economy offers”

attention seeking app design elements

• infinite scroll

• autoplay

• notifications

• pull to refresh

• gamification/streaks

• social proof (likes/counts)

• personalization (for you page)

three appeals according to aristotle

ethos, pathos, logos

ethos (ethics)

• credibility and trust

• i.e. quotes from professionals, celebrity commers, customer reviews, etc

pathos (passion)

• emotional appeal

• i.e. personal experiences, sympathetic stories, jokes, photographs

logos (logic)

• logical reason/argument

• i.e. statistics, facts, logical arguments, logical structures

rhetoric

the art of persuasion

the rhetorical situation

• circumstances in which we communicate

• authors: age, experience, profession, culture, gender, locations, political beliefs, parents, peers, education

• text/message: subject (broad/narrow), genre, medium/platform

• intended audience

• purpose

• context and exigence: the “situation” which generates need to communicate, the why

saussure

understood language as a system of signs

semiology (semiotics)

a theory of signs, a science studying the role of signs as part of social life

signified

idea evoked by the signifier

the mental concept

signifier

sound-image, the material form of the sign as perceived by the senses

the physical existence (sound, word, image)

icon

a sign that physically resembles what it stands for

index

a sign which implies some other object or event, an implied sign

symbol

a sign with a conventional or arbitrary relation to the signified. a learned sign

ideology

• a system of ideas that unconsciously shapes and constrains both our beliefs and behaviors

• the way that we unconsciously define the world around us, the explanations about the world that we take for granted, and the unquestioned beliefs that we hold are all the result in some way of our cultural ideologies

• myth and hegemony are ideological processes

limitations

• it promotes and legitimates certain perspectives and values while obscuring or devaluing others

• what ideas or perspectives are being left out

normalization

• it can be so ingrained in our minds and everyday lived experiences that we fail to notice their influence as ideological

• what idea is being made to seem natural or obvious

privileging

• it informally confirms that the perspectives, qualities, or needs of socially powerful groups are more important or valid than those of socially dominated groups

• whose interests are being elevated or prioritized

interpellation

• ideological discourse not only speaks to us, it creates us. ideologies exhibit a range of identity expressions and individuals are a collection of the ideologies to which they consciously or unconsciously ascribe

• what kind of identity or worldview are people being asked to step into

louis althusser

who came up with interpellation

hegemony

emphasized that power is not wielded by one class over another. power is negotiated among all classes of people

an essential function of hegemony involves convincing people to support the existence of a social system that does not support them in return

antonio gramsci

who came up with hegemony

spontaneous consent

members of socially powerful groups act to have their worldview accepted as the universal way of thinking, and members outside of these groups come to accept some of these ideologies because they appear beneficial in some way

the american dream

• the idea that the level of success is directly related to the amount of effort or drive they put forth in attaining that goal

• erases real issues of social inequality, class struggle, profit-motive, and others

myth

a sacred story or “type of speech” that reaffirms and reproduces ideology in relation to an object

roland barthes

came up with myth

denotation

• literal, face-value meaning of a sign

• the meaning of a picture of a rose is a flower

connotation

• the social, cultural, and historical meanings that are added to a sign’s literal meaning

• operates at the level of ideology and myth

• the meaning of a rose may be love or romance

positive connotation

when a word or symbol has a non-literal association that we regard as good

neutral connotation

when a word or symbol has a non-literal association that we don’t regard as good or bad

negative connotation

when a word or symbol has a non-literal association that we regard as bad

gaze

the relationship of looking in which the subject is caught up in dynamics of desire through trajectories of looking and being looked at among objects and other people

“the other”

psychological dynamic of power that allows those who occupy a position of western dominance to image a racial or ethnic other, against whom they may more clearly elaborate their own (western) self as the center of knowledge and experience

othering

the process of marginalizing minorities by defining them in relationship to the white majority, which functions as the norm or the natural order

edward said

came up with orientalism/the other

the male gaze

• allows film spectators to experience unconscious, scopophilic pleasure in two ways

• by identifying with the male gaze of the camera as it concentrates on female characters

• by identifying with the male characters who gaze at female characters within the film itself

laura mulvey

came up with the male gaze

female gaze

• part one: reclaim the body, use it with intention to communicate feeling and seeing

• part two: take on the very nuanced, occasionally impossible task of showing us how it feels to be the object of the gaze

• return the gaze. say we see you, seeing us

joey soloway

who came up with the female gaze

brand

the name, trademark, and visuals of a company and/or product through which identity is established

consumer citizenship

our sense of national and community belonging increasingly are constructed through participation in brand cultures

sarah banet-weiser

came up with brand culture

stuart hall

came up with cultural codes and reception theory

reception theory

proposes that media messages are not received passively but are actively interpreted by audiences

code

a set of rules that govern the use of visual and linguistic signs within a culture. it is never neutral

encoding

process of creating a meaningful message according to a particular code

decoding

process of using a code to decipher a message and formulate meaning. the audience interprets in three ways

dominant

accepts the meaning intended by media producers

oppositional

recognizes the intended meaning but rejects it in favor of different code

negotiated

broadly accepts the intended meaning, but sometimes resists and modifies it in a way that reflects own personal experiences and interests

postmodernity

• historical period after world war 2, particularly after 1968 until the early 2000s

• marked by escalating globalization, computerization, and information technologies

• questions universal truths and the concept of progress

• nothing is new gives way to parody, irony, replica, reproduction, copy, and the pilfering of cultural texts

modernism

• objective truth

• structured and innovative

• rational

• minimalist

• scientific objectivity

remix culture

addresses a knowing viewer who knwos the original text and gets the references and who is savvy about the structure and form of moving image culture

parody

a form of imitation usually deployed as a satiric commentary on the original text

pastiche

a commination of elements that evokes collage, montage, and assemble. forms like medley, hip-hop sampling

enshittification

• word of the year

• the gradual deterioration of a service or product brought about by a reduction in the quality of service provided, especially of an online platform, and as a consequence of profit seeking

stage one of enshittification

platforms are good to their users

at the start, a platform makes itself valuable to users in order to attract them

stage two of enshittification

platforms abuse their users to make things better for their business customers

stage three of enshittification

platforms abuse those business customers to claw back all the value for themselves