Victoria Diaz

"Be happy with what you have while working for what you want." -HK

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The Effects of Social Media on Relationships

Social media has no doubt affected our society in the ways we communicate, in both positive and negative ways. Positively, it has given individuals the opportunity to keep in touch across the globe, no matter the location. For example, if a family member in Japan wants to keep in touch with a relative in America, Facebook or Facetime is what they may resort to. Negatively, it potentially may impact a relationship in a harmful way such as online dating, or having the urge to search through a significant other’s phone breaking one’s trust. Nonetheless, the internet, or social media, has become a person’s identity. An article, by Forbes, dives into the friendships and relationships specifically of the millennial generation that are impacted by social media. For one, the need for one’s attention through the use of likes and comments on a post has become prevalent as “42% of social media users admit to feeling jealous when a friend’s posts receive more attention than theirs” (Rohampton, 2017). Thus, when a young, early twenty something year old is single, they resort to online dating. They have their entire lives ahead of them to search for romance, but since they are desperate for attention and the need and want to be loved, “59% of millennials consider online dating as a good way to meet new people today” (Rohamption, 2017). Even those social media users who are not in romantic relationships, claim to present their best selves on Instagram, Facebook or what have you, creating an “unrealistic” persona for themselves that is far from their true personality. Social media also has positive impacts on marriages. For example, when a couple such as John Legend and his wife continues to post how happy they are together, other couples strive for that happiness and work hard to make that a reality. In the end, those marriages are successful and genuinely happy. This is the digitization of relationships in today’s world. However, relationships are as artificial, or as real, as one makes them.

Reference

Rohampton, Jimmy. (2017 May 3). Millennials, Here’s How Social Media Impacts Your Relationships. Retrieved from forbes.com

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Media Globalization in a Global Market

Globalization is defined as “a variety of complex and sometimes contradictory social and economic developments that have been taking place for centuries” (Havens and Lotz, 2017, pg. 221). This concept has been around since early history when empires were looking to expand their land. However, in the sense of media globalization, it’s a way to send messages anywhere at anytime instantly. A couple issues that face media globalization is the loss of cultural diversity and the growth of commercialism. This can be seen in various ways, such as Hollywood using Chinese language for a Asian character, which is most time offensive to that culture being presented. Inserting a particular language is not cultural diversity, it’s a representation of the lack of interest, or research, of that specific culture which portrays a negative image for Hollywood movie makers. This can be seen in various films, especially common in the comedic genre such as The Hangover with the character Mr. Chow.

As mentioned in a previous blog post, there are two types of mandates, commercial and non-commercial. Noncommercial is known as a public mandate meaning citizens pay for this type of media through taxes. An example of this, internationally, is the BBC, who charges “an annual fee for television sets” in Britain which was about $225 (Havens and Lotz, 2017, pg. 53). This money is then allocated to the BBC and used to “develop programming for its various radio and television channels” and increasing their streaming services (Havens and Lotz, 2017, pg. 53). The BBC operating in the United States is not as problematic since their British channel is a part of the Westernized world. Thus, they cater to very similar audiences.

Internationally, broadcasting is regulated through national governing bodies such as the FCC that oversees the United States broadcasting system. Also, the “telecommunications infrastructure industries that deliver voice, video, and data services to the public typically face substantial international regulations in addition to national and local ones” (Havens and Lotz, 2017, pg. 76). There is an issue in international regulation as the International Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), tends to favor the Western influence, or so the other countries believe they do. In order for the ICANN to properly regulate the global broadcasting market, they must keep an open-mind, and carefully analyze how they operate across the board. With other countries, certain ways of doing business can be very insulting, thus international governors such as the ICANN must take each step of regulation cautiously.

Reference

Havens, T., Lotz, A.D. (2017). Understanding Media Industries. Oxford University Press: New York.  

[upknorth]

Redefining Monday blues.

#getoutdoors #upknorth Emerald waters of Lake O’Hara perfectly captured by @tannerwendellstewart (at Yoho National Park)

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Fragmentation defined as the “breakdown of the mass-media audience into more targeted niche groups” (Havens and Lotz, 2017, pg. 252). In other words, larger companies are not looking for one specific group of people to target, instead they are researching ways to revamp their brand to cater to every type of audience available to increase services.

Joseph Turow presents two shifts in media today known as segment-making media and society-making media. Segment-making media includes “those that ‘encourage small slices of society to talk to themselves’” whereas society-making media are “’those that have the potential to get different cross-sections of the population talking to each other’” (Havens and Lotz, 2017, pg. 209). An example of segment-making media is the cable channel Speed which targets specifically those who are interested in motorsports as well as auto racing such as NASCAR, drag racing and formula racing. Fans of this station, will tend to keep conversation about various types of motor and auto sports to themselves because someone who’s interested in the Food Network may not be as engaged in a conversation as two people who love NASCAR racing.

Society-making media is seen more often than not in modern society. The American Broadcasting Company, or ABC, does business with this type of shift in media. For example, their television shows varying throughout the day catering to different age groups and interest groups such as Good Morning America in the AM, soap operas in the early afternoon, talk shows within the later afternoon, evening news, then shows such as Modern Family, Blackish, and The Goldbergs air. Shortly after is the late night shows which tend to be a edgier than the earlier content. One may also view their ownerships such as Disney Channel who targets younger children and tweens. Then there is ESPN which is also owned by Disney catering to their sports fans of all levels of competition. Disney doesn’t cater to one specific audience, they expand and look at ways they can satisfy everyone of all ages; which is why they are the most successful company in the world.

Reference

Havens, T., Lotz, A.D. (2017). Understanding Media Industries. Oxford University Press: New York.  

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The Real and Self-hood

Giving a philosophical perspective in the way humans constitute their identity in the modern world through social media, Jacques Lacan and his psychoanalysis theory is an enlightening explanation. Lacan’s psychoanalysis theory is the study of self and civilization which also brings in a concept he calls the Real. The Real is when an individual loses the idea of themselves because the symbolic categorizes humanity in a particular way.

In regards to the construction of self-hood via social media, is the moment Lacan’s Real is erupted in away, which separates the outside from the inside. The example used in Storey’s text is describing someone sitting inside a car, where “outside reality appears slightly distant, the other side of a barrier or screen materialized by the glass. We perceive external reality, the world outside the car, as ‘another reality,’ another mode of reality, not immediately continuous with the reality inside the car” (Storey, 2006, pg. 377). The glass, or windowpane, separating the individual from inside the car to the outside world, serves as the screen on our phones that separates us from the real world for an hour or two, or more. When inside the car, the external objects “appear to be fundamentally ‘unreal,’ as if their reality has been suspended…they appear as a kind of cinematic reality projected onto the screen of the windowpane” (Storey, 2006, pg. 377). Thus, social media serves as this ‘unreal,’ fantasy of a world that people can escape to; people feel they can be themselves.

Danah Boyd, describes in her blog that we are involved in this “always-on lifestyle,” meaning people feel the need to always be plugged into our devices. However, she describes people always being on their phones not to simply be on social media, but to connect, engage, and network with other people. Boyd describes, “being always-on is not just about consumption and production of content but also about creating an ecosystem in which people can stay peripherally connected to one another through a variety of microdata” (Boyd, 2012, pg. 73). This allows people to constantly grow their relationships and willing to continuously expand their knowledge with the internet at their fingertips. It’s not about the technology, it’s about the people and information consumed and researched.

Reference

Boyd, Danah. (2012). Participating in the Always-On Lifestyle. New York University Press: New York.  

Storey, John. (2006). Cultural Theory and Popular Culture. Pearson Education Limited: England.

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Distribution and Aggregation

Distributors and aggregators really focus on the consumer’s interests and narrow down their choice of media to cater to their wants in television, film, video games, albums, as well as novels. What may help, is knowing what a distributor and aggregator to help better understand this concept behind media. A distributor is basically a middleman between buying from the producers and selling to aggregators, and they have “little actual contact with consumers” and aggregation “refers to a range of activities that bring together media content and consumers” (Havens and Lotz, 2017, pg. 173 and 175). The remake of the 1995 Jumanji film, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, is an example of distribution and aggregation.

The 2017 film that is set to premier in December was produced by Colombia Pictures, Matt Tolmach Productions, Radar Pictures, and Seven Bucks Productions, which is actually Dwayne Johnson’s independent production company who happens to be a main character within this film. These producers then sold this film to Sony Pictures Entertainment, who distributes Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle to aggregators. Since this film has not yet released, the aggregators are not quite set in stone. However, local theatres will obviously be the first and primarily major aggregates Sony will distribute to. Not only are the distributors in charge of transferring the media content to the aggregator, but they also run the promotional part to better advertise the film, or any type of work. Thus, Sony Pictures will attempt to sell promotional efforts to aggregators, such as theatres to “survive the uncertainties of media markets” (Havens and Lotz, 2017, pg. 174). Another possible aggregator after the release will most likely be Netflix. Along with the theatres, Netflix goes through selection, which is narrowing down “the consumer’s options to a manageable range of choice” (Havens and Lotz, 2017, pg. 175). This is a reason why some films that are unheard of most likely did not premier in theatres and instead went straight to DVD.

Reference

Havens, T., Lotz, A.D. (2017). Understanding Media Industries. Oxford University Press: New York.  

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Regulated Content

One thing I was aware of, but not fully knowledgeable about was the Federal Communications Commission, also known as the FCC, is a governmental agency that enforces the “regulatory provisions that govern many media industries, particularly broadcast and cable television, telephony, and some aspects of the internet” (Havens and Lotz, 2017, pg. 251). The FCC holds a strong role in regulation of content for various shows that air on television especially talk shows, or any show that’s live for that matter. Another lesson I learned was that the FCC regulates content through two types of speech held through what’s called prior restraint and they include obscene and indecent. Obscene is “a type of speech that is not protected by the First Amendment” (Havens and Lotz, 2017, pg. 80). Indecency is “’language or material that depicts or describes, in terms patently offensive as measured by contemporary community standards for the broadcast medium, sexual or excretory activities or organs’” which is legally allowed to air during the hours of 10pm and 6pm (Havens and Lotz, 2017, pg. 80). 

An example of obscene content is a talk show such as The Ellen Degeneres Show who is a comedian that has potential to be edgy, but self-regulates her limits to where she’s not labelled as indecency. The clip you’ll find above displays her comedic monologue that seems it could be edgy with the title “Does Ellen Smoke Weed?”, but Ellen plays it safe as usual. This daytime show is a source of family friendly entertainment where explicit content is practically never seen and also airs between 2 and 4pm depending on location. Yet, shows such as Modern Family or Scandal, tend to air around 8pm or 9pm which is pushing the limit towards the indecent content. However, they are still labelled as obscene since their shows have content regulations to meet and being a series where editing and cutting is present makes it more realistic to place them as obscene. Then there’s The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon or Saturday Night Live who tend to show very sensitive content that may be offensive and unreal in daytime television. Since these shows air after 10pm, the FCC realizes that most families, especially with children, are asleep. Thus, the audience they tend to target are adults who are looking to enjoy adult content. SNL came out with a recent skit called “Close Encounter” with Kate McKinnon, Ryan Gosling, and Cecily Strong. They act out a fictional story about being kidnapped by aliens and the sensitive content tends to derive Kate McKinnon’s language describing how her clothes fell off and the aliens were touching her in certain places and so on. Other skits from SNL as well as The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon tend to get political especially with relative current events and depending on whether one is liberal or conservative, this content will most likely be offensive. Yet, FCC regulates it through the indent speech and is legal to air. As long as live shows self-regulate their content and stay within their guidelines, these entertainers continue to be successful and produce some very laughable content.

Reference

Havens, T., Lotz, A.D. (2017). Understanding Media Industries. Oxford University Press: New York.  

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Industry Lore

An industry lore “describes myths regarding what audiences like or don’t like and explains how these beliefs become entrenched and seemingly unalterable” (Havens and Lotz, 2017, pg. 162). In other words, it’s almost like a stereotype in a way, but not quite. An example of an industry lore is airing a television series with a predominantly black cast which one would assume caters to the African-American audience. That is an assumption that is proved wrong through a series called Black-ish that airs on ABC. Black-ish began airing in September of 2014 and is now on its fourth season with Golden Globe and Emmy award and nominations. This show, much like The Cosby Show, was expected to be a fail because of its colored cast, yet it has proven to be quite successful and has developed an audience that is not just of African-American decent.  Hispanics, Caucasian, Asian and other ethnicities enjoy the series just as much and could care less about the color of the cast’s skin. They still find the show relative to modern society and can relate on a personal level with current events taking place as Black-ish portrays how a family would react to certain situations such as racism in today’s world. Racism effects many people nowadays and this really helps give light of how others may be perceiving such events and how they go about them. Other television series that prove against this lore, are shows such as Jane the Virgin, George Lopez, One Day at a Time, Fresh Off the Boat and many more.

Reference

Havens, T., Lotz, A.D. (2017). Understanding Media Industries. Oxford University Press: New York.  

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A New Lens

I wrote my essay midterm on the art of photography and how it developed over the years focusing on specific time periods of the 1940s and 1970s. My artistic career I used as an example to discuss photography was my own, real-life, start-up called New View Photography. NVP’s focus is to look at life in an entirely new way, or as a photographer would say, a different lens. This hobby of mine turned into a little business very recently thanks to the marketing I did on Instagram. The type of photography I primarily work with is landscaping with the occasional action shots and engagement photos as well.

With this as the basis, I gave a brief overview of the history of photography and how it began nearly 200 years ago. In the 1940s, I wrote about a couple contributors to the development and advancement of photography such as Edwin Herbert Land who created the first instant-film camera. I also discussed the emergence of colored pictures and the quality of photos in comparison to the 1970s where SLR cameras began to become a little cheaper, making a camera available to almost anyone. I also mentioned a photographer named Nick Ut who captured some amazing photos during the Vietnam War. I further talked about the quality of photos and how they developed over the years, thus, carrying a more personal and higher value to an individual. Wrapping up, I finished off writing about the present day photography and how accessible it is through cell phones and affordable SLR cameras, making everyone a photography nowadays. However, New View Photography is different, as I hope to spread awareness of environmental changes and the damage humanity has done on our only home; earth. I take shots that emphasize this world’s natural beauty with natural lighting and creative angles with very little to no editing. Thus, my audience captures the most authentic parts of our world, hoping to be inspired to preserve its splendor.

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The Franchise of a Lifetime

A film that comes to mind when discussing the economic history of Hollywood, is the Star Wars franchise. The timeline of this successful series of films began in 1977 with the first film, Star Wars which earned a total of $775 million worldwide. This was the beginning of epic productions with probably the strongest and largest fan base in the world with millions of people that have basically dedicated and adapted to these films, creating their own type of Star Wars culture. The following films came after:

The Empire Strikes Back (1980)

Return of the Jedi (1983)

The Phantom Menace (1999)

Attack of the Clones (2002)

Revenge of the Sith (2005)

The Force Awakens (2015)

Rogue One (2016)

The Last Jedi (2017)

These films were the first of their kind to see success, and continuously see success 40 years later. The total production cost of the nine movies made thus far is $926,000,000 with a total box office of $7,604,560,371. Needless to say, this franchise is the longest and most successful in the film history. The fact that the fan base continues to grow with young people who weren’t even alive when Star Wars originated and are still able to connect with such fascinating films is impressive and one of a kind.

Star Wars franchise is a film that became a popular branded product to continue effective marketing to maintain their audience over the years with toys, school supplies, kitchen accessories, retail and the list goes on. The successes of the short product-life-cycle further extends the brand beyond one product and as Bakker states:

The main value of stars and stories lay not in their ability to predict successes, but in their services as giant ‘publicity machines’ which optimized advertising effectiveness by rapidly amassing high levels of brand-awareness. After a film’s release, information such as word-of-mouth and reviews would affect its success. (pg. 12)

Since this franchise has been around for so long, it continues to draw and both old and new fans through this cultural identity created around the Star Wars films; products continue to be sold and the fans are not tired of the films so the box office continues to grow. This franchise has created such a legacy that will not be ending anytime soon.

Reference

Bakker, Gerben. (n.d.). The Economic History of the International Film Industry. University of Essex.

The Numbers: Where Data and the Movie Business Meet. (1997-2017). Box Office History of Star Wars Movies. Retrieved from http://www.the-numbers.com/movies/franchise/Star-Wars#tab=summary

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Creativity Being Strangled

Although it wasn’t a direct point, one of Lessig’s stories, made an evident point in today’s world and that is the definition of culture is not the same because of technology and media. Lessig describes the traditional meaning of culture as “read/write” meaning “it’s a culture where people participate in the creation and re-creation of their culture” (Lessig, pg. 156). The fear that was brought up by John Phillip Sousa, who came to America in 1906 to discuss phonographs was “that we would lose the capacity to engage in this read/write creativity because of these ‘infernal machines’” (Lessig, pg. 156). These machines Sousa is referring to are social media outlets such as Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and so on. We as a society have become so comfortable finding our identity through screens, and each other, that media and other’s lives are “our culture” because we simply cannot make the time to discover, experience, or truly be present in a moment without taking a photo or video of it.

Another point Lessig makes that is relevant to modern society is the idea of the “copyright war.” He believes copyright is “an essential solution to a particular unavoidable economic problem” (Lessig, pg. 158). In other words, individuals would have less speech without it which in turn limits their freedom. He goes onto state it is important to “distinguish between the amateur and the professional.” For example, social media uses at times are viewed as the amateurs who will say anything on their mind without thinking so much about the thought; thus, their words are easily taken out of context. Whereas a professional, such as a successful blogger or author, proofreads and rereads their work constantly before publishing it or making it public.

Lessig also points out that the technologically advanced culture we’ve created for ourselves today creates standard regulations that this world needs. Lessig stated:

Enter the internet, where every single use produces a copy; we go from this balance between unregulated, regulated and faire uses to a presumptive rule of regulated uses merely because the platform through which we get access to our culture has changed, rendering this read/write activity presumptively illegal. (pg. 161)

The internet is the core of our world today, whether it’s work, leisure time, homework for school; there’s literally no way of escaping a screen. Thus, making the temptation to copyright more accessible and the creativity limited with such regulations. This situation honestly can go either way to benefit individuals as well as damage their aspirations of having an artistic career.

Reference

Lessig, Lawrence. (2009). Remix: How Creativity is Being Strangled by the Law. New York University Press: New York.

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Advertiser-Supported vs. Non-Advertiser Supported Media

A similarity seen between media supported by advertising and a media not supported by advertising is either way, the consumer pays for it. Typical American consumption; nothing is really ever “free.”

A non-advertising media that was briefly discussed in the text is Netflix. Now, this type of media is guaranteed paid for by audiences or consumers through two ways: subscription or direct pay. Subscription payment is known as “a form of payment in which a media user provides a source of revenue for the media outlet that typically involves buying access to a package of goods,” which is the primary source of the business’s revenue (Lotz and Havens, 2016, pg. 117). In this case, Netflix is a subscription payment through a monthly plan for consumers that average at $7.99 a month. Direct pay is defined as, “a source of revenue generated from payment by audiences” such as film admissions, movie rentals and so on (Lotz and Havens, 2016, pg. 117). The difference between a supported advertiser media entity and Netflix is such streaming services are not as regulated as channels seen on television or heard on radio stations. Thus non-advertisers, especially subscription paid entities contain “greater content freedom that comes from not having advertisers who might worry about offending part of the audience and because advertiser-supported industries such as broadcasting are regulated differently” (Lotz and Havens, 2016, pg. 117). This means, no commercials during a program and no pop-up advertising while the program is running, not to mention increased risky content that seems to attract millions of viewers nowadays. Such entities have turned out to be very successful for streaming services and premium channels.

Now, when discussing advertiser-supported media, the first thing that comes to mind is the Super Bowl Commercials, or really any sports-related event, are heavily supported by various advertisers. The reason primarily being, America is sports, and if a company wants to have their name known, stations such as ESPN, FoxSports, ABC, NBC, or CBS are the places to be. Such media entities are also paid for by us or “at least people who buy the products that advertise in the shows do, because the costs of advertising are added to the cost of the goods” (Lotz and Havens, 2016, pg. 113). The platform advertisers use to support their fellow media units are pretty heavily regulated since it’s primarily daytime content being aired; both for radio and television. A good example, is the Budweiser commercial from the 2017 Super Bowl that aired earlier this year. Last year, Budweiser aired a lost puppy potentially being found by a Clydesdale which the audience saw as adorable and heart-warming. This year, the company decided to go with a more dicey approach in light of the recently elected President, Donald Trump and his immigration ban. They portray the German born founder, Adolphus Busch, migrating to the St. Louise to start this notable beer brand with his father-in-law Eberhard Anheuser; stating a well-known American brand was not even created by a U.S. citizen. Simply a German man with a big American Dream.

Reference

Lotz, Amanda and Timothy Havens. (19 January 2016). Understanding Media Industries. London: Oxford University Press.

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Net Neutrality Regulation Change?

Media is extremely different today in comparison to the 1940s; primarily since it is the center of everyone’s lives. No matter the location, media always manages to be accessible. The process of regulating today’s media consists of many exclusions, but also easier ways to access prohibited content. For example, a Rated R film that a 10 year-old boy accessed through YouTube since his parents never set their parental controls. Regulation is known as, “the laws, guidelines, and policies that govern how media industries produce, distribute, and exhibit their products” and for the U.S., “regulation encompasses the creation of laws and rules governing the operation of media industries and the enforcement of those laws” enforced by regulatory bodies (Lotz and Havens, 2016, pg. 68-69). However, the third category of regulation that is relevant to today’s world is, access, which was created due to technological expansion, particularly the use of the internet as a primary medium.

In the United States in the recent years, net neutrality rules which were created by the Federal Communications Commission, have been the talk in relevance to regulate data services from internet companies such as Verizon and AT&T to provide equal service from streaming companies such as Netflix and Amazon Prime. Yet, since Donald Trump took office, the net neutrality guidelines may become weakened and therefore, giving the “powerful more power” (Dunn, 2016). Still, Netflix has recently stated that the new rules will not affect their “domestic margins or service quality because [they] are now popular enough with consumers to keep [their] relationships with ISPs stable” (Dunn, 2017). The FCC continues to try and delegate these laws despite the potential change under new presidency and companies such as Google, Facebook, Amazon, and Netflix continue to try and fight to save Obama’s net neutrality regulation.

I encourage reading the attached articles through the links in the quotes to have a better understanding of the Net Neutrality and the affect it may have on you, the consumer.

Reference

Dunn, Jeff. (18 Jan 2017). Netflix says it is ‘unlikely’ to be affected by weaker open internet laws under Trump. Business Insider. Retrieved from www.businessinsider.com

Dunn, Jeff. (11 Nov 2016). It looks like we’re going to have a less open internet under Donald Trump. Business Insider. Retrieved from www.businessinsider.com

Lotz, Amanda and Timothy Havens. (19 January 2016). Understanding Media Industries. London: Oxford University Press.

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Mandating ABC

Going with commercial media in America, the top stations include NBC, CBS, Fox, the CW, and ABC and are said to be “free” television offerings. However, “all of the marketing and advertising budgets that companies spend to buy advertising comes from consumers who pay inflated prices for goods to cover advertising expenses” which means, us, the public pays for the commercial system (Lotz and Havens, 2016, pg. 51).

ABC, otherwise known as the American Broadcasting Company, is owned by The Walt Disney Company, who also owns ESPN, Disney Channel, SOAPnet, A&E, Lifetime, and so much more; basically the world. As mentioned before, ABC is a type of commercial media, meaning they “primarily value the earning of profits and thus make decisions based on the perceived consequence of the profitability of content, whether such content is sold directly to audiences or supported by advertisers” (Lotz and Havens, 2016, pg. 25).  ABC’s Television Group mandate consists of massive commercialized advertising through billboards, promotions on social media, public transportation ads, along with consistent profits being made by viewers through outlets such as Netflix, hulu, and cable subscriptions just to name a few. Nothing is free in this world, and ABC, being owned by Disney, is well-known for being the most successful business in our world today; meaning the ABC experience will always come with a price. The media on ABC Television consists of a variety of content to specific demographics; it all depends on the time of day ABC is being viewed. For example, Good Morning America from 7 to 9am is straight news the first hour and more family friendly news the second hour. Then there’s soap opera’s such as General Hospital, One life to Live, and All My Children which air in the late morning/early afternoon. Then there’s the evening news hour that begins with local news then goes into ABC World News with David Muir  and right after are game shows such as Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune, which is catering to a 50 and older demographic. Lastly, there’s the late night content that comprises talk shows such as Jimmy Kimmel Live! which airs more edgy content meant from young adults and up.

ABC does pretty well reflecting their content in relation to their mandate. However, it’s been quite risky lately with shows such as Blackish, Scandal, Modern Family, Grey’s Anatomy, Once Upon a Time and so many more.  These shows have nothing family friendly about them, unless kids are over the age of 18 in a household. ABC’s content has grown out of the “goody-two shoes” Disney they’ve always been known for, however, ABC has also grown to air more realistic, and entertaining content that will capture their audience. Not to mention, through social media, ABC receives content feedback from their viewers and rely on them for a successful series. In the end, ABC has done well for themselves and continue to be successful both on and off screen.

Reference

Lotz, Amanda and Timothy Havens. (19 January 2016). Understanding Media Industries. London: Oxford University Press.

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Formatting ‘Beauty and the Beast’

A film that was predicted to be successful, that also faced some controversy prior to coming to theaters in March of 2017 was the latest Disney’s Beauty and the Beast. One of the media industries response to risk concepts that fits this film well is formatting which is a strategy that is “used by media industry workers to combat uncertainty of audience behavior [and] is composed of a variety of techniques that emphasize features of media content” (Lotz and Havens, 2016, pg. 40). The film was the first of “live-action adaptions to retell a more contemporary Disney animated feature, [and was] getting a comparatively unprecedented shot of nostalgia and multi-generational interest” (Mendelson, 2017). Thus, the film had a controversy with the public on a particular gay character they included that most parents were extremely against their children watching for that reason exactly. They feared this modern day influential character may reveal to their children that being gay is okay; which in fact it is in our world. However, traditional families and parents were outraged and refused to support the film. This is where formatting comes into play, that the uncertainty of how the audience may react to the film in and out of theaters which questions the potential success of the film.

However, this film was still very successful as it brought in a worldwide total of $1,260,914,165 with $756,900,000 internationally and $504,014,165 domestically; which reveals America is still very much against homosexuality. This film still remained true to the original Beauty and the Beast romantic genre even with the gay character included. This can be seen in the example of genre where “the ability to gather and manipulate data about viewer preferences has led to far more refined understandings of genre” (Lotz and Havens, 2016, pg. 42).  Disney simply tried to captivate a modern audience of those in homosexual relationships in hopes to inspire and expand their viewership. Despite the controversy, the film was still successful as those who were against their children viewing the film heard from those who saw it in theaters that the gay character was extremely subtle and nothing blatantly revealed that this character was gay, such as a kissing scene.

In addition to formatting, this film held examples of “known talent” and “known products.” Known talent is known as “actors, directors, writers, and producers who have succeeded in the past or with whom audiences are familiar and regard positively” (Lotz and Havens, 2016, pg. 40). Comedian Josh Gad and Emma Watson who is known for her role as Hermione Granger in the well-known series Harry Potter, was one of the main known talents in this film as well as one of the main reasons this film was as successful as it was. Not to mention the Director, Bill Condon, was known for his films Kinsey (2004) and the Oscar Award Winning Dreamgirls (2006). Beauty and the Beast was also successful for this industry “belief that those who have succeeded in the past are likely to succeed again” and this cast and crew went above and beyond the projected success on top of a media controversy building up to the debut (Lotz and Havens, 2016, pg. 40).

Beauty and the Beast is 10th-highest-grossing film of all time.

Reference

Lotz, Amanda and Timothy Havens. (19 January 2016). Understanding Media Industries. London: Oxford University Press.

Mendelson, Scott. (7 March 2017). Review: Disney’s ‘Beauty and the Beast’ Get’s Lost in Translation. Retrieved from forbes.com

The Numbers: Where Data and the Movie Business Meet. (2017). Beauty and the Beast. Retrieved from http://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Beauty-and-the-Beast-(2017)#tab=summary

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Revisit: The Medium is the Message

Previously for this reading, “The Medium is the Message,” I discussed the relevance of Twitter as the medium and Toynbee’s concept of “etherialization” and the individualized, or customized,  perspective organized within the constant refreshed news feed in the app. Revisiting this reading, I’ve chosen another concept within the reading and will tie in mass customization.

The medium creates the environment and in turn, the message, created by the users, is openly expressed. Pope Pius makes a statement in the text about his concern with the study of media saying, “’It is not an exaggeration to say that the future of modern society and the stability of its inner life depend in large part on the maintenance of an equilibrium between the strength of the techniques of communication and the capacity of the individual’s own reaction’” (McCluhan, 1964, pg. 10). McCluhan goes on to say that the, “subliminal and docile acceptance of media impact has made [mankind] prisons without walls for their human users” (1964, pg. 10). Society has become beyond comfortable with a cell phone, tablet, or any type of immediate media source at our fingertips; so much, it’s disturbing. We’ve developed this idea that as long as we’re behind a screen, nothing can go wrong; we’ll always be protected. This screen is actually what McCluhan calls “prisons” with no barriers. Social media cannot be used as an example enough for this approach. Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook have certain barriers where a user is allowed to post “freely” to an extent where the company draws the line on what may be too graphic or inappropriate.

Twitter is primarily written content and barely visuals, however it is a perfect example of the idea that “for each of the media is also a powerful weapon with which to clobber other media and other groups” (McCluhan, pg. 10). So many people use this medium as a platform to utilize their freedom speech, and with today’s events, it is more prevalent.

Yesterday, a female ESPN reporter named Jemele Hill openly expressed on Twitter her feelings towards Donald Trump and today the White House has asked ESPN to fire her. This all has occurred on Twitter alone and then spreads to television news broadcasts, newspapers and more. Twitter, the medium is the gun, and the users are those who pull the trigger by posting online. After that; unnecessary mayhem.

Reference

McCluhan, Marshall. (2016 January 19). Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man. Oxford University Press.

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Mass Customization

Lately, I’ve been doing my best to read a physical book rather than stare at a screen for majority of the day. After all, being a college student requires a lot of screen time with homework and researching on the internet. Before I came to college, television was my primary medium of all types of media, especially the news. Since I’ve moved out to Colorado about 5 years ago, majority of my consumption of media derives from my cell phone as well as my laptop. If there was to be a percentage for both devices, I’d say about 60% from my cell phone and 40% from my laptop. Obviously, social media is one of my main hubs of where I consume news nowadays, especially twitter and Instagram. I use twitter to see what’s going on in the world and Instagram as more of a leisurely scroll.

Mass customization truly began in the 1960s with radio and magazine industries; making the transition from mass production. As defined by the text, “mass customization begins with the identification of niche audiences and the development of media goods specifically targeted at those narrow audience targets – whether based on demographics (features such as gender, age, race) or different attitudes and interests (specific hobbies, beliefs” (Lotz and Havens, 2016, pg. 20). Personally, social media is the ultimate example of mass customization of media for a couple reasons: anyone is capable of a holding their own social media account; there’s a sense of “freedom” to truly express oneself and make the account “their own.” It’s something people build up overtime and may either be proud, or ashamed, of what they may have posted in the past. Majority of the world utilizes social media for various reasons and is seen as one of the medias that, “we may not need in the sense that we need food, many people nevertheless see media as central to their lives” (Lotz and Havens, 2016, pg.2). Media is present all around, and nowadays, it’s difficult not to conform a part of the mass customization of the media industry.

Reference

Lotz, Amanda and Timothy Havens. (19 January 2016). Understanding Media Industries. London: Oxford University Press.