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Blog #3

In today’s age of social media mass culture, it is a head-to-head race for me personally to define the one platform that I use the most. The race is between YouTube and Instagram and If I had to take one over the other, I think it would be the latter. One of the sole reasons why I use this particular platform the most is the fact that it is very handy to use and shows me content based on my subscriptions and also based on the algorithm on the explore page. I started using Instagram in my early teenage years basically to keep track because everybody started sharing photos and videos on it from simple things like holidays or what they experienced on the weekend. With the evolution of the platform itself, my personal use also changed. Today, I pretty much only use it for entertainment purposes since I am very interested in sports and Stand-up comedy and also to share said content with friends who have similar interests. It takes only a few follows and one is updated about specific topics every couple of minutes. In my opinion, Instagram moved away from only being a platform people use for sharing photos with friends but became an omnipresent medium to communicate, share and inform oneself about whatever topic one is interested in. Among many other studies about the motivation and use of Instagram, Ting et al. (2015) exploratory study elicited five behavioral beliefs about the use of Instagram in Malaysia. Namely, personal gratification, features usefulness, socializing role, product information and entertainment, which meet my opinion about the affordances and benefits Instagram brings as a platform. Nevertheless, next to several positive affordances there is also a dark side of using Instagram. Not only is it highly addictive since it rarely delivers break indicators like the end of a video, but it also influences one’s mental health. Sherlock and Wagstaff (2019) illustrated that increased usage of Instagram was associated with various psychological well-being consequences. These encompass depressive symptoms, general anxiety, physical appearance anxiety, self-esteem, and disturbances in body image perception. This brings us to another very crucial topic that comes with social media, the glorification of perfect bodies, which are inescapable on Instagram. It is no secret that there is a direct correlation between the use of social media and body dysmorphia or eating disorders. Wick and Keel (2020, p. 869) found that “posting edited photos caused increased weight/shape concerns”. In general, the results indicate that the act of posting edited photos is associated with a higher risk of eating disorder issues, with a greater number of problems linked to posting rather than editing photos (Wick & Keel 2020, p. 870). I think this trend of comparing oneself with people on social media is very dangerous, especially for young people because they are still in the main stages of developing their identities and their self-confidence. In sum, careless use of social media platforms of any kind can bring serious harm, especially for young people but it can also be a very useful tool for any kind of information and communication.

References:

Sherlock, M & Wagstaff, DL 2019, ‘Exploring the relationship between frequency of Instagram use, exposure to idealized images, and psychological well-being in women’, Psychology of Popular Media Culture, vol. 8, no. 4, pp. 482–490.

Ting, H, Ming, WWP, de Run, EC, & Choo, SLY 2015, ‘Beliefs about the use of Instagram: An exploratory study’, International Journal of business and innovation, vol. 2, no. 2, pp. 15-31.

Wick, MR, & Keel, PK 2020, ‘Posting edited photos of the self: Increasing eating disorder risk or harmless behavior?’, The International journal of eating disorders, vol. 53, no. 6, pp. 864–872.

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Blog #2

The largest Swiss media company is called SRG, which is an acronym for “Schweizer Radio- und Fernsehgesellschaft” and means as much as “Corporation for Swiss Radio and Television”. In this article, we focus solely on television, particularly SRF 1 in the German-speaking region of Switzerland. SRF 1 maintains a traditional Swiss identity and offers a diverse range of content, including news and regional productions. Unlike many other countries, Swiss news media doesn't provide 24/7 news coverage. Instead, news segments are embedded throughout the day. Daily news are broadcasted twice a day, a brief version at lunchtime and an extended version during primetime in the evening. “10 vor 10” covers all the background information of the daily news and digs a little deeper into the topics, lasting around half an hour. Adding to that there is a format that covers only regional Swiss topics and one that specializes in the stock market. The daily newsflash in the later hours summarizes the segments in a couple of minutes to finish the day. Based on my own experience this kind of media coverage makes sense, as it avoids overwhelming viewers with the same news over and over again. There is no overload of information in the news shows and people can also selectively consume the news they’re interested in. With segments lasting around 20 minutes on average, the required attention span to follow the news and not be overwhelmed is granted. The wisely chosen broadcasting times between 7 and 11 attract a large audience, since people typically have finished work as well as dinner. According to Koc-Michalska et al. (2020, p. 488) “Misinformation, lies, propaganda and related forms of falsehood have been part of democracy throughout history […]”. Nevertheless, thinking about the honesty or truth-telling of SRF 1, one could make the argument that the quality of journalism and output is very good. Lischer (2014) states that the reason behind this trust lies in the fact that the SRG is working under a concession of the Swiss federation and therefore has a contractual duty to grant the quality of the media they put out, especially the news. The quality of the news programming is therefore settled by law. This works so far because the Swiss federation gives the media company the necessary financial help, but they demand quality in response. The SRG is relatively free in choosing what they want to broadcast but has to meet the main four criteria of “[…] journalistic professionalism, relevance, credibility and a sense of responsibility – and must reach a high level of acceptance by the among the public” (Lischer 2014, p. 11). To successfully fulfill this agreement, there are internal examinations as well as external checks by the University of Freiburg (Lischer, 2014). Because of the review by an external institution, the credibility can be easily accepted compared to if there was nobody cross-checking the facts of what the channel publishes. As Koc-Michalska et al. (2020) state in their article, a common difference between France, the US and the UK is the fact that France has an external supervisor over media content, which leads to higher credibility of the media similar to Switzerland.

References:

Koc-Michalska, K, Bimber, B, Gomez, D, Jenkins, M, & Boulianne, S 2020 ‘Public Beliefs about Falsehoods in News.’ The International Journal of Press/Politics, vol. 25, no. 3, pp. 447-468.

Lischer, S 2014, Fernsehen als Service Public: eine Analyse der Qualität der SRG-Fernsehprogramme, Springer VS, Wiesbaden.

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Hollywood, Bollywood? No, it's...Nollywood!

Hollywood, Bollywood? No, it’s…Nollywood!

Before you read this blog, it is important to understand the type of cinema Nollywood falls under. Below are four examples of Nollywood productions from Nigeria.      …

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The Crossover: Diasporic and Inter-cultural Film and Media

Many successful films in the past decade have been diasporic that teach the audience about different cultures. Diasporic is defined as ‘… used to encapsulate an emerging form of cinema that crosses cultural borders at the stage of conceptualization and production.’ (Khorana, Crossover cinema: a conceptual and genealogical overview [2013])

A main characteristics of diaspora media, as identified in Khorana’s (2016) lecture, is that it may show “Marginalization and stereotyping of racialized communities”.  This is evident in the Australian TV series: ‘Go Back to Where You Came From’, which showed the traditional Australian the daily struggles and hardships of a refugee.

‘I’m always shocked at how little we are represented on film and TV’. - Eugene Lee Yang

Apart from the traditional film internet viral films are becoming a phenomenon. YouTube is the number 1 place to go if you want to get famous. Eugene Lee Yang is becoming one of the most recgonised faces on the internet. In an interview with Kollaboration, Yang speaks about the recognition of Asians in the film industry. ‘I’m always shocked at how little we are represented on film and TV. It’s as if our stories are not controversial, or staggeringly painful enough for the older white audience to pat themselves on the back to say, “Oh, I learned something; I feel bad for what we did in history.”

Bend it like Beckham

One of the most clear account of diasporic media is the movie Bend It Like Beckham (2002). The movie refines in on the epitome of British culture of football and idealises the football identity – David Beckham. The movie clearly interweaves the diaspora of Indian-British migrants post 2000 England. Jesminder shares her love for British football while attempting to maintain the norms of her Indian heritage. Ultimately Jesminder is a representation of the challenging attempts to interweave the cross cultural youth of England

References

- Anthique, Adrian 2011, ‘Diasporic Audiences and Non-Resident Media: The Case of Indian Films’, Journal of Audience & Reception Studies, vol. 8, issue 2, pp. 1-23, accessed 5 September 2016 via <http://www.academia.edu/1115535/Diasporic_Audiences_and_Non-Resident_Media_The_Case_of_Indian_Films > 

-  Lee Yang. 2015. HOW BUZZFEED’S EUGENE LEE YANG BECAME ONE OF THE MOST RECOGNIZABLE FACES ON THE INTERNET.  Available at :http://kollaboration.org/3757/how-buzzfeeds-eugene-lee-yang-became-one-of-the-most-recognizable-faces-on-the-internet/. [Accessed 5 September 2016].

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Internationalizing education and cultural competence

A great opportunity these days is for students to leave their country to study abroad. This can help students gain further knowledge and skills that they may not be able to acquire while studying in their home country. This has had a positive impact on the industries that the students are studying to work in. They are becoming more globalized therefore the industry will consist of a more international workforce.

But according to Marginson (2012), 'International education is not the rich intercultural experience it could be'. Australia is known to be a highly social environment and it is recognised that international students struggle to assimilate in the Australian society when studying abroad. This can have the power to reflect on their learning performance.

Speak Properly

Kell and Vogl (2007) understand that large amounts of international students come from Asia, as the rise and globalisation of Asian economies require a larger international context. However, there are certain barriers associated in this process causing a large distance between the local culture and international students. They identify that Language proficiency as a primary factor. International students who come from Asia, tend to have a strong willingness and dedication to increase their knowledge of the English language but of there is more to that. Australia is known for the laid back attitude especially when it comes to language. They have their informal nature way of communicating with cultural slang which of course is hard for international students to adapt to and understand.

References

- Kell, P and Vogl, G (2007) ‘International Students: Negotiating life and study in Australia through Australian Englishes’ Everyday Multiculturalism Conference Proceedings, Macquarie University, 28-29 September 2006.  - Khorana S, 2016, "BCM111: International Media and Communication",Internationalising Education Cultural competence,Lecture 3 of Spring 2016, BCM111 at UOW.

- YouTube. (2016). How to Talk Australians - Episode 1: ‘G’DAY KNACKERS. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DHQRZXM-4xI [Accessed 07 Aug. 2016].

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Globalisation

‘Globalisation refers to an international community influenced by technological development and economic, political, and military interests. It is characterised by a worldwide increase in interdependence, interactivity, interconnectedness, and the virtually instantaneous exchange of information.

Globalisation could lead to the homogenisation of world cultures, or to hybridisation and multiculturalism’ (O’Shaughnessy and Stadler, 458).

Through globalization and the rise in technology, the world has now become a ‘Global Villiage’. This idea provides many positive benefits as many people are connected by ITC (Information Communication Technologys such as Facebook, Skype and E-mail. Globalisation has allowed people to share things, learn from and stay informed globally from things such as sports, music and news. Sharing these things has allowed the world to unite as a ‘Global Villiage’.

However Todd Gitlin in 2001 argued that, “if there is a global village, it speaks American” (cited in O’Shaughnessy & Stadler 2008). So therefore the debate here is if globalisation is cultural imperialism or Americanisation.  Cultural imperialism basically refers to the dominance of Western culture, particularly American culture over other traditional cultures and the implementation of Western values such as consumerism (O’Shaughnessy & Stadler 2008).

Those who debate on the dysopian view of globalisation argue that the images provided by Western advertising and Hollywood films American ideologies of gender roles, religion and capitalism to other cultures. Western values such as consumerism are also spread by Western brands like Coca Cola, McDonalds and Apple.The fear is that cultural imperialism will create a homogenisation, ridding the world of cultural diversity (O’Shaughnessy & Stadler 2008). 

The idea of Americanisation is the idea that the American culture is spreading itself all over the world and becoming the predominant, default culture of today. The biggest example of this would be the second largest fast food restaurant chain McDonalds with over 36000 francises and a revenue of $27.44 Billion in 2015. The reason why McDonalds was able to impose itself all around the world is it’s success adaptation to the local culture. E.g. The kinds of pie produced in Hawaii and Japan are different even though it is still under the McDonalds brand. In Hawaii they have the Haupia Pie which has one of the traditional Hawaiian Desserts. Whereas in Japan they have the Anko Pie (Red Bean).

What is interesting most in regard to globalisation is the exploitation of other cultures for profit by introducing child labour and sweatshops

References

-Appadurai, A 1996, ‘Disjuncture and Difference in the Global Economy,’ Modernity at Large: Cultural Dimensions of Globalization’,Minneapolis and London: University of Minnesota Press, pp. 27-47.

- O’Shaughnessy, M and Stadler, J 2008, ‘Globalisation’, Media and Society (fifth edition), Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 458-471.

- Khorana, S 2016, ‘Globalisation’, PowerPoint slides, International Media and Communication, BCM111, university of Wollongong, viewed 5 August 2016

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Nollywood and Korean Cinema

Global film is a new part of a world becoming smaller and people finding new types of films to influence other cultures. It has a large influence on other cultures in how they are produced and changed.

Nollywood has had an immense effect of the Nigerian Culture. Nollywood has changed the way movies are produced, what the themes of movies are and by extension what the audience values in the movies. Nollywood is the Nigerian version of American Cinema, ‘Hollywood’. Although there are similarities between Hollywood and Nollywood, there are many differences comparisons.

Firstly, films produced from Nollywood are made on a low budget and are distributed differently to the audience compared to Hollywood. Nollywood produced films go straight to DVD and are not shown in theatres, however they are shown all around the streets. The Nigerian film industry is so big that they produce 30 new Nollywood movies per week with an average of 50,000 copies sold in the stalls on the Nigerian streets. Due to the low budget, these Nigerian films lack the special effects that Hollywood Films have.

There are controversies regarding the globalisation of Nigerian cinema. The fact that it could change the way the content is created in which whether or not it stays true to the Nigerian culture. However, on the flip side, globalising Nigerian Cinema can stimulate the economy and it may shed light on the political issues within Nigeria and how the people are suffering.

On a different side of entertainment, Korean Cinema is creating an uproar not only within surrounding South-East Asian countries but also the west. The Korean Wave or ‘Hallyu’ first appeared in the mid-1990s after Korean TV dramas and pop music gained great popularity in Chinese-speaking communities. Korean pop music, especially dance music began to gain popularity among Chinese teenagers after it was introduced in 1997 by Seoul Music Room, a radio program in Beijing. In the last decade, the Korean culture has spread all over the world with great popularity especially surrounding South-East Asian countries such as Vietnam, China and Japan. It has also gained great popularity in South America.

The film industry in Korea is one of the largest sector in the Korean economy with over ₩884 billion( $1.057Billion AUSD) in 2015. Korean movies have had such a great impact on other countries around the world, it has influenced Hollywood’s production of film. The link below shows how Korean cinema has influenced the way Hollywood is producing their films.

References

- Onuzulike, U 2007, Nollywood: The Influence of the Nigerian Movie Industry on African Culture, The Journal of Human Communications, vol. 10, no. 3.

- Okome, O 2007, Nollywood: Spectatorship, Audience and the Sites of Consumption, University of Alberta Press, vol. 3. no. 2.

- YouTube. (2016). Korea Today-What makes up a good TV show? 미국 드라마 거장에게 배우는 TV콘텐츠 성공비법. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-ESqDLdSJI [Accessed 24 Aug. 2016].

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Media: a catalyst to Globalisation? Globalisation is one of those flippantly used terms that is seen to be unifying nations, developing them into a “ international community” which is mainly influenced by “technological development and economic, political, and military interests”.