CCT 300: Critical Analysis of Media

CCT 300:Critical Analysis of Media Class 8: Bias, Identityand Privacy

Administrivia • Still ahead of schedule - more time for exam review at end • N.B. Review session != telling you what’s on the test - more a Q&A session to clear up any issues • Genre list edits

Gatekeeping bias • Mass media - limited space for investigation, editing is required • What is and is not included? • How much space is given? (similar to McC’s shelf-space issues) • What is the order of items? • All these influence audience interpretation of importance

Bias and reporting • Reporters are human beings - they conform to social norms • Realize that certain stories “sell” better, which increase fame, fortune • Conflict and common stories easier • Events vs. process stories - process is harder to relate, less done

Example: Media Bias at FOX • Fox News slogans: “fair and balanced” is objectively anything but - but repeated as mantra all the same • “We report, you decide” - reportage is often very one-sided, with other side ineffectually represented or slanted

The Fox effect? • Popularity of Fox changes approaches of other networks (e.g., sensationalist opinions shows on CNN) • Lampooned by Colbert effectively • Increased interest in monitoring: e.g., http://www.mediamatters.org • Alternative views starting to gain steam - e.g., rise of Olbermann show

Identity and Privacy • Mass media - mass audience - isolating perhaps but private • New media - emphasis on data structure, processing and content manipulation allows for individual expression - but also individual tracking

Identity and Media • Mass media - identity constructed in consumer terms, often vague • Niche media - a bit more structured but also certain identities privileged over others - e.g., the poor diversity of the 500 channel universe

Media Stereotyping • Ethnic/visible minorities • (White Male) People of Privilege • Aboriginal peoples • Girls and Women (and Boys and Men) • Gays/Lesbians • http://www.media-awareness.ca/english/issues/stereotyping/index.cfm

Activity • What types of stereotypes exist in media portrayal of these groups? • How do stereotypes influence media representation? • Examples of stereotype change - how, why?

Identity and New Media • Possibility for identity construction and identity play (Turkle) • Creates perception of anonymity (but only perception!) where cues invoking stereotypes can be muted

But… • Stereotypical representations still common • Gender stereotypes in video games (similar to comics - Lara Croft ex.) • Stereotype play in online chat examples

Privacy and New Media • Individuated transactions can be and are monitored - new media make surveillance more efficient • Enforcement haphazard - both panopticon effect and simple logistics • Not just government but corporate - e.g., workplace surveillance and rights of workers to associate

Ex: Face Recognition Analysis • Technologies to scan and detect faces in a crowd • Preliminary systems already exist - potential uses in analysis of closed-circuit surveillance, forensic science, military/intelligence

Problems • Abuse - who controls information? For what purposes is it collected? • Cross-referencing - links to biometrics? Banking data? Advertising? • Voyeurism from afar - violation of shared norms of public spaces • False sense of security - not “needle in haystack” technology, false positives, probability of loopholes

Privacy and 9/11 • American reaction to 9/11 swift and disturbing - USA Patriot Act, FISA warrants applied locally, etc. • Surveillance of communication and artefact alike; combined with secrecy in name of national security • USA and UK now rank near bottom on privacy and surveillance issues: http://www.privacyinternational.org/article.shtml?cmd[347]=x-347-545269

Next week… • The Internet turn - its history, actual impact, potential future impact • Comic assignment and group proposals due!

CCT 300: Critical Analysis of Media