Media and Collective identity Notes

'Identity is comlicated. Everyone thinks they're got one' - Gauntlett 2007
...Magazines and talk show hosts urge is to explore our 'identity'. Religions and national identities are at the heart of our major international conflicts. Artists play with the idea of 'identity' in modern society. Blockbuster movie superheros have emotional conflicts about their 'true' identity. And the average teenager can create three online 'identities' before breakfast...Thinking about self identity and individuality can cause some anxiety - at least in cultures where individuals are encouraged to value heir personal uniqueness. Each of us would like to think - to some extent - that we have special, personal qualitites, which make us distinctive and valuable to other people in our lives (or potential future). But does this mean anything? is individuality just an illusion? Maybe we all are incredibly similar, but programmed to value miniuscule bits of differentation.

'A focus on identity requires us to pay close attention to the diverse ways in which media and technologies are used in everyday life, and the consequences both for individuals and for social groups' - Buckingham 2008

Behaviourism and Media Effects
- audience models

Effects Model
- audience duped and doped
- Hypnotised

Gratifications Model
- texts used to gratify needs and interests
- read, adjust, subvert other texts
- read in a way not intended by interpretting

Effects studies objectives
Social, Moral and Political objective
- To measure the power of media technologies to affect how individuals think, feel and act
Commercial objective
- To measure the effectiveness of advertising and publicity campaigns

Cumberbatch & Howitt - 1989
'The history of mass communications research is conspicuously lacking in any clear evidence on the precise influence of the mass media'

• Effects debate issue received in the 1990s (Barker and Petley, 2001)
• This relates to Human Traffic as individuals were influenced to take Heroin from watching the film, 'Train Spotting'

Laswell's chain of Communication - Harold Laswell, 1971

- Communication can be dissected into 5 processes:

Who - Control analysis
Says what - Content analyisis
In which channel - Media analysis
To whom - Audience analysis
To what effect - Effect analysis

Total conductance
- At every stage, information can be misunderstood or altered. This is like Chinese whispers, and is called 'Modified conductance' or 'No conductance'

Propaganda 
Propaganda is only effective if it can tap into the meanest as well as the keenest of intelligence. This must tap into latent public opinion within the society it aims to influence

Violent media - Wertham, 1955
'The quantity of violence in the media is stupendous'

• analysed crime comics and television
• children shown images and asked to interpret them
• children also asked to finish stories

Tests where deemed crude and artificial (Gauntlett, 2005)

1. Passivity - comics and TV makes children passive

2. Misconceptions - TV teaches children unhealthy values

3. Imitation - children copy what they see on TV

4. Identification - children see themselves as the strong character, even if this is the villain

5. Desensitisation - the high volume of violence desensitises children 

Warshaw - 1957

'To blame comic books...is simple minded'

Band Profile

'Follow Me' was the first song from the band, You Are The Empire. This tells a story of how nightmares are devious and negative, feeling as though they are being personified in everyday life. This song therefore, inspires individuals to pick their head and go searching for their nightmares, despite the consequences so that misery isn't forever lingering.


'Take A Seat' is another song by the band. Through the lyrics of the song, the band is expressing the emotions felt by an individual when they're in an unstoppable state of mind, telling a story out loud without dwelling on it or living in the past.

London Riots 2011

When looking at the Sky News report on the London Riots, an interview is taking place with some teenage gang members whom were involved in the riots. This immediately strikes me as being biased, as the only people being interviewed are those whom set out to steal. Hence, these four individuals are structuring societies viewpoint on the London riots, suggesting that everyone protesting, inevitably ended up causing mass destruction. It should also be noted that the news reporter is a white, middle class male, contrasting against the appearance of the rioters. This therefore represents the presenter as the knowledgeable individual, suggesting that what he is reporting is the correct information due to complete contrasts in appearance.

http://www.theguardian.com/uk/2011/dec/05/anger-police-fuelled-riots-study
This article from 'The Guardian', what would be considered to be a reliable source, is just as biased. For instance, the article states that 'the Guardian and The London School of Economics interviewed 270 people who rioted in London, Birmingham, Liverpool, Nottingham, Manchester and Salford'. Although sources where taken from a variety of locations, having only interviewed rioters again, only gives one perspective of the events, suggesting that all the locals were involved in the violence. From the 270 interviewed, the 'typical' stereotyped rioter was labelled. This suggested that the majority of the rioters were young and male, either students or unemployed. Additionally, half of the interviewers were black, with 73% having been stopped by the police in the last 12 months however, these individual didn't class these as 'race riots'. This fits society's stereotypical perception of a criminal. Also when interviewed, rioters confirmed they rioted due to 'opportunism' suggesting a lack of voice, in power and wealth. Hence, it could be said that the riots are down to inequality of income in society.

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2011/12/12/london-riots-2011-alf-biber-tottenham_n_1144040.html
Originally found on Twitter,from the Huffington Post, 'London Riots 2011: Victims Face A Difficult Christmas And An Uncertain Future'. The choice of the word 'victim' is incredibly strong, suggesting the riots resulted in severe effects for the locals. The use of the word, parallels with stories such as the Glasgow Helicopter Crash and the Philippines Typhoon, where innocent civilians lost their lives. Further, 'An Uncertain Future' suggests that the London riots had a permanent effect on the livelihood of the locals however in reality, locals were only affected in the short term with the loss of businesses. When reading the article, the writer has included irrelevant information in order for the public to feel sympathetic for the 'victim' these include lines as such; 'His wife died in 2010' 'Alf Biber grew up half-starved'. This therefore sets an image for all the locals, representing them as innocent and fragile, being unable to defend for themselves against the 'gangs of youths'.

To summarise, all Youtube, The Guardian and Twitter, have been biased on account of the London Riots. This has both been when representing the rioters, suggesting that everyone protesting was inevitably out to cause destruction, but also that of the locals, denoting them as frail and distort victims. This shows how the media exaggerate news stories in order to panic their audience, gaining greater attention from viewers. Hence, the saying is supported;  "If it bleeds, it leads"

My interpretation of a 'Typical' You Are The Empire fan

When compiling an image of what I assume to be a 'typical' You Are The Empire fan, I would base this upon fans of the Indie Pop genre. This is usually defined by an individual or groups image. This look is more cutting edge and extreme, not conforming to any general style but instead,offering several statements from one single outfit. The costume of a 'typical' fan commonly suits a general vintage apparel for example, denim shirts and iconic t-shirts. This also includes items of clothing such as waistcoats, cardigans and skinny jeans. Furthermore, this follows the fashion of Indie Pop bands including, Bastille and The Wombats. Other music genre interests include Indie Rock and Alternative, genres which suit a niche audience in opposition to those which are more mainstream such as Pop and R&B. The favoured environment of an Indie fan would be that of music cultural festivals, thrift shops or Urban Outfitters, allowing the introduction of beautiful noise and socialisation.
The sense of socialising can be seen in a variety of Indie Pop music videos for instance, 'She's So Lovely' by Scouting For Girls and 'Techno Fan' by The Wombats. Like wise to the typical 'Indie' fan, music videos by the artist Bastille often portray their character as a singeton, conforming to the suggested differentation of the 'Indie' fan.

Summary of 'Youth culture movies: how soon is too soon?'

• The magic number is 13 years before making a youth culture film
• 90s rave culture is difficult to pursue any artistic or box-office success
• Human Traffic portrays a bunch of clubbers going through highs and comedowns of an E-enhanced night in early 90s Cardiff 
• The benefit of further hindsight makes films more nuanced and profound
• 'the last days of Sex Pistols legend Sid Vicious' came out a mere 8 years after the events it was addressing. This was too close to effectively process what had gone on
• Period films are expected to contextualise and analyse, to foster or confront nostalgia and explain why adults have become who they are now
• "A significant period of time has to pass between the height of the experience you are seeking to capture and the release of your film" Anything between 13-25 years
• Youth focus is identifiable through music,fashion and haircuts
• There is an importance of establishing a link between the era covered in the movie and the social concerns nagging at its present day audience
• Director Richard Jobson is taking on a sequel to Quadrophenia with a time gap of 40 years however, the story has crucial modern parallels. Its about a new decade and a state of emergency Britain 
• Affection for personal youth reboots due to milestones of marriage, parenthood or mortgages as well as financial and familial responsibilities
• The middle age desire to recapture a brief moment of freedom and invention that youth once provided
• People want to return to the moment when they found out who they were
• Films about teenagers often serve the need of ageing film makers to look back on meanings to explain

To summarise, there is a time limit on the release of Youth culture films, as enough time has to spare after the event in order for film makers to process what has gone on.

Shotlist

Planning Schedule