WWW: This is a very good essay – with potential to get
even better. There is generally a sharp focus on the question and you’ve raised
lots of relevant points, examples and statistics. There’s no doubt you’re
pushing towards that A grade territory so now we need to replicate this in an
exam situation.
EBI: Arguably the most positive aspect here is that
you’ve written a very strong essay and could still have added more: David Simon
and paywalls, Clay Shirky’s views on news, Baudrillard and hyper-reality (this
could have fitted in the Alain de Botton paragraph perhaps?) One paragraph to look over again is paragraph three – the
illusion of power. This begins very well but I then feel the argument drifts
around to the other side. Surely your examples and statistics suggest audiences
DO have genuine power if UGC is more trustworthy than corporate messages?
Personally, I would focus on the illusion of power in the de Botton section and
bring in hyper-reality to that too. Revise this and see what you come up with. Your introduction paragraph is weaker – make sure you are
sharply focused on the question. It reads like a generic introduction to
new/digital media rather than your specific essay question on consumption and
production.
1) Identify your strongest section
2) Identify your weakest section
My weakest section is paragraph three – the illusion of power. "This begins very well but I then feel the argument drifts around to the other side. Surely your examples and statistics suggest audiences DO have genuine power if UGC is more trustworthy than corporate messages? Personally, I would focus on the illusion of power in the de Botton section and bring in hyper-reality to that too. Revise this and see what you come up with."
Complete the LR task specified in your feedback
It has become increasingly clear through the years of how new and digital media has significantly imposed in our everyday lives - having a largely influential effect on society. Audiences are becoming more and more involved in the consumption and production of the media because of newer forms of it. Supporting this very point, are statistics provided from office for national statistics', who revealed that in 2017, 90% of households in Great Britain had internet access, an intense increase from just 61% in 2007. the statistic alone illustrates the rapid pace of change that has taken place within the media landscape in the last 10 years. Audiences have been argued both to be empowered and controlled by this rapid increased exposure to the media.
A pluralist perspective would argue that society is dominated by a diverse collection of different social classes and cultures - all of which share the same level of authority and influence. This pluralist stance claims audiences have the same level of control as the media institutions in both their consumption and production. Castells supports this point of view, as he claimed that this rise of new and digital media has lead to "Technological blossoming of the culture of freedom, individual innovation and entrepreneurialism". Demonstrating this, is the huge uprise in content from citizen journalists called ‘user generated content’. In other words, technological advancements that have led to social media websites such as twitter or Facebook allow audiences to have this seemingly unlimited space to express their thoughts regardless of what it is they are sharing. Undeniably, audiences are being given a strong sense of power here because they can essentially override bigger institutions if they have something significant enough to do so. An example of this comes from one of the first cases of citizen journalism whereby footage of police brutality against 'Rodney King’. Rodney King was an African-American; After a high speed chase, the officers surrounded him, tasered him and beat him with clubs. The event was filmed by an onlooker from his apartment window and the home-video footage made prime-time news and became an international media sensation, and a focus for complaints about police racism towards African- Americans. What came from this was the fact that the four officers who were involved, were charged with assault and use of excessive force. This is a prime example of how audiences have created content significant enough that is has had the ability to override seemingly more powerful institutions such as the police.
However, this ‘culture of freedom’ and apparent ‘power’ can be challenged. Another perspective is that this superficial power internet users have is all an illusion. Opposing to Pluralists, are Marxists who claim that the capitalist owners of the mass media intentionally aim to promote ideas that give them huge massive benefits to their class of which they are members. This idea that audiences are enabled to produce their own content, is giving audiences space to communicate their own personal ideas and thoughts is all a ploy scheme of making audiences feel like their opinions are voiced when in reality, audiences are still only listening to the media influencers and elite. An example of this is how user-generated content is actually used generously in marketing. Companies will gladly take advantage of audiences as 65% of brands (or news institutions) believe user-generated content is more influential than brand videos and photos (but only when it supports their argument). The power audiences have is also challenged by how we still have a hierarchy even within social media i.e media influencers like celebrities or politicians. This brings up the interesting argument that in fact audiences are still ‘sheep’. This is demonstrated by Pareto's Law, which adamantly states how the "minority of producers serve a majority”. Audiences’ consumption of the media is being governed by a small portion of the media. Furthermore, supporting this further is the fact that "the top 5% of all websites accounted for almost 75% of user volume" according to Lin & Webster. Despite the vast, large number of content creators, the bigger institutions seem to overwhelming draw in the most audience. This clearly depicts their control over audiences; new and digital media simply gives the elite another form of controlling audiences. Marxist’s would go on to claim that it has merely helped to reinforce the status quo by promoting dominant ideologies in order to maintain the power structures in society.
An alternate argument towards the concept of user-generated content is that news institutions realise that while it’s conventional to be creating high-quality content, it’s important to remember that a shaky homemade video can convert better than a million-dollar ad campaign. That’s because for today’s consumers, authenticity is much more important than looking professional. Audiences are drawn in by the raw, genuine footage and subsequently are far more likely to be drawn in and believe what they are presented with. This means news organisations are far more likely to upload real content - simply because of audiences power to create content.
The fusion of the internet into our everyday lives has become significantly more concentrated; A reason for this is the accessibility audiences now bear. A large majority of internet users are accessing the web via their handheld devices such as mobile phones or tablets. This is reinforced by David Robert Grimes who, in a Guardian article, stated that "An estimated 61% of millennials garner news primarily through social media." Clearly, This accessibility is a huge benefit to audiences because they are given the ability to access any source of information at the touch of their fingerprints. It could be argued that although there may be a hierarchy of people in power in the media, audiences still control the content produced. Their interests and opinions need to be reflected to ensure the continuation of media texts. This is why television shows, podcasts, broadcasts eventually stop - audiences govern if it suits them or not. This is especially evident as Aleks Krotoski was noted to say the Information Revolution was a "paradigm shift - on par with the printing press.” A huge medium, the print industry, has come to the end of its golden age simply because of audiences adaption to new and digital media. The decline of newspaper specifically demonstrates this.
Elaborating on the Marxist perspective of the media, Alain De Botton has argued that audiences respond passively when consuming media. Audiences are bombarded with information, leaving them helpless to the news and our consumption of it and therefore maintaining the status quo because they are so bewildered by the flooding of content. This essentially promote hegemonic ideology and ensure the dominance of the upper class. Furthermore, this links nicely into Lasswell's 'hypodermic needle model' - which suggests audiences are passive, like Botton claims, and simply absorb whatever the media presents them with and internalise what they see. In other words, the media can 'brainwash' audiences easily because of how submissive they are towards the media. This is supported by Baudrillard’s theory of hyper-reality; Hyper-reality refers to ‘a condition in which "reality" has been replaced by simulacra’. Division between "real" and simulation has collapsed, therefore an illusion of an object is no longer possible because the real object is no longer there. This links to the earlier point of audiences being fooled by 'the illusion of power' that the media creates - in other words, audiences are not powerful and are simply being brainwashed. This suggests they can control audiences easily, making them hugely influential and powerful. Yet, these theories, especially the hypodermic needle model has been criticised widely, it is said to be outdated and too obsolete. Research methodology became more highly developed, it became apparent that the media had selective influences on people. As a result, an alternative model, called the two step flow developed by Lazarsfeld. The two-step flow of communication model hypothesises that ideas flow from mass media to opinion leaders, and from them to a wider population. So rather than whatever the media pushes, it is down to people like celebrities to really influence audiences. This suggests media institutions don't have the power, rather the media figures such as celebrities and politicians do.
To conclude, it appears that there is a huge amount of evidence both in favour of the media having the power and audiences having the power. However, it feels that, to me, it is more evident that the media retain all the power - and audience are merely alluded by the power it 'appears' they have.
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