Diasporic Media

People who have migrated from their original homeland to settle in another country are referred to as diasporic groups ( Georgiou 2003:5), the producers of the diasporic media. The mainstream media play a huge role in informing the public and unfortunatley continue to portray diasporic groups poorly. The establishment of media production amongst diasporic communities helps to maintain connections with their homeland and have an independent voice in their new country outside of mainstream media.

The  representation of these communities in the media is often surrounded by negativity to support of the harsh Australian policies on people coming into the country seeking asylum. Feeding into the the poor attitude the Australia has toward ethnic minority groups. During the lecture the presentation of the Today Tonight segment on people seeking asylum demonstrated how the media can really inflame underlying racism – reinforcing and encouraging those who often have no first hand knowledge of asylum seekers by misrepresentations and untrue information.

 

 

The popular movie Bend it Like Bekham (2002) about a second generation Indian girl ‘Jess’ who struggles with her traditional Indian culture and family in her plight to become a professional soccer player. The movie demonstrates the gradual assimilation of the families traditional Indian values towards the values of their newly adopted country. Although the movie on the surface appears to celebrates both cultures and has a happy feel good outcome for Jess who ends up being allowed by her father to pursue her dreams as a soccer player, it also acts to reinforce the need for diosporic communities to assimilate into the culture of their new country of settlement possibly at the cost of loosing important traditions and values. Also demonstrating how mainstream movies can be used to propagate the politics of assimilation as opposed to greater acceptance of the diversity of the world around us.

The harmonious integration of diasporic communities into their new found homeland would include  both the maintenance of traditional beliefs and values alongside the acceptance of necessary adjustments that support a healthy settlement process.

 

Globalisation and the media

Race and ethnicity in the media

Race and ethnicity in the media is an ongoing issue as a result of the fact that oppressed racial groups continue to be under and misrepresented both currently and throughout history. The under-representation of minority ethnic groups in the media sits alongside their oppression and lack of representation politically, professionally and generally in most facets of society (Khorana 2014). With a long history in the west of people of ethnic origins taking on the role of the villains in mainstream movies it will be a long slow process in the quest for change.

Chimamanda Adichie’s presentation on TEDX titled “The danger of the Single Story” really highlights the way stories in whatever forms they maybe whether it is children’s books or modern day movies can create strong impressions on the young and vulnerable. Chimamanda who is a black Nigerian women reveals that through only reading American and English books as a young child she did not realise that a Nigerian women could feature in stories or that it was normal to write about the real events of her own world until she discovered African writers and books.

Novelist Chimamanda Adichie tells the story of how she found her authentic cultural voice — and warns that if we hear only a single story about another person or country, we risk a critical misunderstanding (TED 2009).

 

 

 

 

Gender and the media

Gender in the media although not so much an emerging issue, continues to be an issue as a result of inadequate representation and misrepresentation of gender in the media.

As we are reminded representations of individuals or groups throughout the media never really offer the complete truth they are reconstructions that often are influenced by entrenched stereotypes that fail to represent the diversity of a particular group. Instead narrowing in on long held out-dated perspectives that don’t do justice to the various realities that now encompass gender in society today.

If we take gender in the most basic form of male and female we more often than not see through the media the focus is on representing these two genders in their more basic stereotypically expected formats of feminine/beauty and masculine/strength.

It was demonstrated in the week 8 lecture by Dr Khorana that those employed in the positions of power and influence in the media are predominantly male reinforcing the fact that we need to continue the push for more equality in gender representation throughout the media in general and in regard to those employed in the industry.

The article ‘How did we let Adrian bailey happen?’ demonstrates how a beautiful white female women Jill Meagher that we can easily relate to and identify with has lost her life at the hands of Adrian Bailey seemingly unfairly released into the community whilst still a threat to this women’s life.

 

 

 

 

 

The article then considers the death of another women whose death got little consideration and coverage from the media. The man who murdered Jill Meagher had previously raped five sex worker’s. Johanna Martin was the women whose death was disregarded by the media and she was a sex worker. Adrian Bailey’s previous sentences reflected a lack importance placed on his acts of violence against those we consider of a lower class ‘sex worker’. The outcome being the death of one of us as opposed to one of them.

Future of journalism

Week 7 online video’s on the future  of journalism

There appears to be much uncertainty surrounding the future of journalism and the above discussion between David Carr from the New York Times, Andy Lack from Bloomberg Media and Tom Fiedler from Boston University offers some positive insights into how they see things predominantly in the present future.

As Carr suggests he is more interested in the present future of journalism in regard to journalism education in the hope that it will have more relevance in finding the best way to engage students and make progress forward.

An interesting point that David Carr makes in regard to journalism and getting it right with both the newer online news organisations and the older established news organisations is the convergence between the use of new technologies into older establishments and the convergence between the new online platforms and the use of more experienced journalists as they can afford to employ them in order to increase the quality of their news. This is where Carr believes convergence will lead to a situation where both will come together with the best of both worlds producing quality journalism.

Andy Lack’s point that all the technological changes taking place should be seen as an opportunity to discover and enjoy new forms of journalism production possibly leading to “the golden age of journalism” is inspiring coming from someone of his age and experience.

In regard to developing a business model in the digital era Carr suggest that the audience will be the ones to pay and interestingly he states that in 2012 the New York Times consumer revenues surpassed the money received from advertising. Also suggesting the need for news to be useful enough to those accessing it to make them want to pay for it.

You’ve got to love Andy Lacks enthusiasm and excitement about the current and future developments in technology and journalism. Carr also offers some realistic insight into the concerns about the future journalism making the comparison between the ecosystem of the web and a self-cleaning oven in that gradually the crap dissolves and the good stuff remains.

Carr goes on to bring up the point of the renaissance of personal artefacts, which I would agree with and can see this with the emergence of some of the newer publications that have become popular with the younger generation like the magazine Frankie. These publications combine both an online presence and offer a physical publication with greater artistic appeal visually through simple stylish layout, quality content and the use of solid recycled paper. Demonstrating as Carr suggests that all is not lost and common ground can still be found between the young and old in the appreciation of the value some of the older media forms. No doubt many will be eliminated due to more competition, higher standards and expectations and greater choice but those who survive will hopefully do so by providing a high standard of media content.

I particularly liked Carr’s opinion on the fact that journalism should be hard to get into as ideally it can be seen, as not really a job at its best, more of an interesting way of life in that you are given the opportunity to meet interesting people and tell their stories.

 

The future of journalism

Over the last two years there has been a rapid decline in the circulation of print newspapers along with a decline in newspaper advertising and a rapid decline in the newsroom workforce. Advertising which could be argued is one of the major avenues for revenue has rapidly declined as advertisers have recognised the effectiveness of online targeted advertising as opposed to print media advertising(o’Donnell 2014).

In 2003 print newspaper advertising was around 45 billion and by 2010 had decreased to $23 billion. Although alongside this drop in revenue online advertising grew from $1.2 billion to $3 billion it hardly compensates for the overall loss of 22 billion in print ad revenue across the industry (Pavlik 2013).

Currently the future of journalism is being debated due to developments in digital technology, faster and more efficient internet access and greater audience participation , with some believing participatory journalism is contributing to the downfall in quality and trust while there are those on the opposite end on the spectrum believing participatory journalism is leading to greater diversity, a wider perspective of views on issues of relevance and creating a more democratic platform of information sharing.

Thornton Quandt in ‘Understanding a new phenomenon: the significance of participatory journalism’ suggests that those who support user-generated content feel that creating an avenue for public debate on relevant issues is beneficial to society and those that support the more traditional form of journalism with its structure and professionalism are more uncertain about the current incorporation of user generated content in online news.

There are many valid issues of concern and support on both sides of the debate. The suggestion in Quandts article that many contributions in the communication process creates confusion and errors is a valid point in the process of communicating in complex societies and no doubt creates many challenges in regard to user generated contributions in online news sites. This is being addressed to some extent by the employment of moderators by news organisations.

A positive comment from a journalist interviewed for Quandts article on participatory journalism said“ We’re in a position as a publisher of a major newspaper, of a major website, to have the tools and the outlook to help people communicate with each other to give their stories out to the rest of the world, to help people inform one another” (Editor USA Today).

Arianna Huffington, founder of The Huffington Post an online American news platform supports user generated content and actively encourages contributions from the audience, although recognises the need for moderating the conversation and so employs up to 30 moderators who work from home as independent contractors who take on the role of gatekeepers to some extent, still maintaining some control and structure around audience contributions. http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/pda/2008/jun/20/futureofjournalismarianna

The statistics put forward in our lecture in regard to where the majority of people access their news clearly shows that those under 30 – the current and future audiences, prefer to access their news through social media. Demonstrating that audiences are deciding what is important to them and both in accessing it and sharing it through twitter, youtube and facebook. I find that often I prefer to access news on facebook through connections with friends whose opinions I respect and trust that share relevant news through their feeds, I also find this more time effective. Supporting the idea that the future success of journalism is through greater engagement with audiences.

 

The evolving mediated public sphere

German sociologist and philosopher Jurgan Habermas well known for his theory on the public sphere believed it evolved through the introduction of coffee houses, lecture halls and newspapers in the 18^th century. This saw the evolution from a monarchical society to a more democratic society (O’Donnell 2014). Public space became available to the public for debate and discussion. He suggested that in these spaces rational discussion was enabled through the bracketing (putting aside) of differences. Critics identified the ease of which white privileged males could enter into these debates through their position of power in society, questioning the ability of other classes and genders that lacked power to contribute in a realistic way.

‘The public sphere is both ideal and actual’ (McGuigan, 2005) although both in 18^th century Europe and in the constantly evolving mediated public sphere of today the idealisation of that sphere and what it actually is have and will no doubt continue to contradict one another (McGuigan 2005). The public sphere often falls short of what we imagine it to be and also in actuality fails to encompass the equal representation of voices hoped for.

 

In an episode from the sixth season of 24, Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland) does his best to extract information from Abu Fayed (Adoni Maropis), an Islamic terrorist, about a plot to nuke Los Angeles. (http://bluebeerriver.blogspot.com.au/2012_03_01_archive.html)

One example of the mediated/cultural public sphere and its influence on political discourse is contained in Keren Tenenboim-Weinblatt’s article “Where is Jack Bauer When You Need Him?” The Uses of Television Drama in Mediated Political Discourse.  Interestingly one of the outcomes of the study into ‘television drama in mediated political discourse’ in regard to the television drama 24 was the fact that there was no difference between viewers and non-viewers and their political alignment and ideological preferences. Those who watched the show where both aligned to the ideology and opposed to it, where as audiences who regularly watched the evening news of CBS, ABC and NBC showed a clearer association to the political identity of that particular news channel (Tenenboim-Weinblatt 2009).

Demonstrating in this instance that although popular culture in the form of television dramas inspires debate and can be used as a point of reference in support of a political ideology its audience is not necessarily in sync with its underlying philosophy. In this case of interrogation and torture in the show 24 it was used to both support these practices and point out the fact that the show is a fiction based drama supporting the view that the practices and outcomes produced where also largely fictional and unrealistic (Tenenboim-Weinblatt 2009).

References:

McGuigan, Jim, 2005, The cultural public sphere, Cultural Studies, 8:4, pp. 427-443.

O’Donnell, M 2014, The Public Sphere of Imagination, lecture, BCM310 Emerging Issues in Media and Communication, University of Wollongong, delivered 24/03/2014

Tenenboim-Weinblatt, K 2009, “Where Is Jack Bauer When You Need Him?” The Uses of Television Drama in Mediated Political Discourse’, Political Communication, vol. 26, no. 4, pp.367-387