CCT 300: Critical Analysis of Media

1. CCT 300:Critical Analysis of Media Class 6: Economics and Media: Lessons from Reinventing Comics

2. Example: Newspapers • Major medium of the modern era • Early roots in community and political activism – activist elements squeezed out to appeal to mainstream audiences • Newspapers as a threatened or dying breed – why? • Coping with change, or not? • What replaces this void?

3. Rise and Fall of the Hit • Mass media having trouble maintaining mass market domination • NSYNC as last “hit”? Still some life in “hit” model – e.g., products spun off Michael Jackson’s death, John Lennon 70th anniversary album – but these are retro • Even “mass” hits aren’t as massive as before

4. The Long Tail • New media - digital distribution is no longer a zero-sum game • Potential for equal access to all sorts of media product • Niches and word of mouth drive content sales and production • Result - a lot of potential niche success stories, but less “hits”

5. Adaptation • Mass media has already begun to adopt to this - e.g., creating content aimed at specific audiences, going for quality vs. quantity • Examples? • Mass “hit” model not dead - American/Canadian Idol example

6. Reinventing Comics • 12 basic concepts, 4 sections • Comics as Art • Industry and Audience • Creator/Audience Diversity • Effect of Digitization

7. Reinventing Comics (1): Creation as Art • Comics as Literature • Comics as Art • Creators’ Rights

8. Comics as Literature/Art • Comics can be both literature and art if properly done • Many of you have already discovered this in writing the paper • Six steps in UC – building a foundation for something more than surface understanding as driving force

9. Comics as Literature • Focus on complex narrative • More complex than simple serialized strip or simple webcomic - a full story from beginning to end (or a serialized strip that takes months/years to tell story…)

10. Comics as Art • Comics as visual narrative – complexity of narrative extends to area • Japanese influence - a range of interesting non-action transitions directly supporting artistic storytelling

11. Creators’ Rights • Like other media, similar battles between creators/publishers (examples?) • Creator concerns for ownership and control, fair share of profit • Increasing interest in maintaining fair access and compensation for talent – away from studio work for hire models • Challenges?

12. Reinventing Comics (2): Industry and Audience • Industry Innovation • Public Perception • Institutional Scrutiny

13. Innovation in Industry • Creators’ rights require innovation in industry model - and sometimes drive it • Simple model of “getting into the business” - photocopy a drawing and sell it yourself - trite but true - but it’s more complicated in practice

14. Steps in Traditional Publishing • Author • Publisher • Accounting • Marketing • Printing • Distribution • Warehousing • Retail • Transportation among above

15. Creation and Distribution… • Many will sacrifice control over non-creative tasks to gain broader market • Often a good idea – but can be a trap – why?

16. Public Perception • Comics as kid-lit – what effect does stereotype have? • Traditional model of production creates vicious cycle around stereotype – perception of comics as kid lit influences what is and is not produced which reinforces perception

17. Comics and Censorship • US history - tainted by censors who lamented the debasement of culture, perversion of youth - pretty much everything • Ironically, drove comics underground where they became even more debased (e.g., R. Crumb and other alt comics of 60s) • Driven by perception - if comics were seen as valued art, would this happen?

18. Reinventing Comics (3): Audience/Creator Diversity • Gender Balance • Minority Representation • Diversity of Genre

19. Comics and Gender • Traditionally creators and audience were male - leading to particular stereotypes of both genders • Creators have been female - but still expected to follow expectations of audience • To what effect? • Alternatives?

20. Minority Comics • Stereotypical audience, and many creators - white, male, straight, Christian, young, physically able, middle class • Similar to gender issues – stereotype can be hard to break through • To what effect? • Alternatives?

21. Diversity of Genre • Superhero domination of shelf space via perception, creation and audience - a vicious cycle • Non-traditional graphic novels - breaks through ideas of what a comic “must be” • Required breaking through comic store as core distribution channel

22. Next week… • More on economics and application to comics