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Revision notes. Court case what do you know. Exam. You need to talk about two main media and how they are regulated i.e. BBFC and PCC, and this all must be linked to the past, present and future . You may want to also discuss as a contrast Ofcom’s regulatory practices.
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Revision notes Court case what do you know
Exam • You need to talk about two main media and how they are regulated i.e. BBFC and PCC, and this all must be linked to the past, present and future. You may want to also discuss as a contrast Ofcom’s regulatory practices. • You need to talk about the debates in the media industry • You need to talk about case studies to support you argument • You need to use theorists and theory
Past exam questions • These are linked to the following topic areas: • What is the nature of contemporary media regulation compared with previous practices? • What are the arguments for and against specific forms of contemporary media regulation? • How effective are regulatory practices? • What are the wider social issues relating to media regulation? Past examples of exam questions: How effectively can contemporary media be regulated? How far does changes to media regulation effect broader social changes? • In the exam you: • have a choice of two questions • have 60 minutes to answer the ‘regulation’ question • MUST write about two media (e.g. film and newspapers. It doesn’t need to be even between the two media, so could be 90% on one and 10% on the other) • Must include theory or theorists and apply them to your case studies • Should be able to discuss past, present and future
Theory and theorist • Each topic area I have suggested includes theorists in your crib sheet. You must try and learn some of them along with case studies to apply in the exam. • Theory: Use Marxism and Audience Theory
Audience theory • Hypodermic needle theory • Uses and gratification • Effects debate
Theoretic theory: Marxism • Marxist theory: In order to get into the A grade category you must use theory, not just theorists names. Marxist theory best applies itself because we are studying regulation because it says the media produce a dominate ideology, referred to as hegemony. • Hegemony is the process where the ideological beliefs of the ruling class in society become the ruling ideologies, which we all accept as the norm and common sense. Althussar (theorists) said the family (along with the media, law education etc) is an Ideological State. • The importance here is the ruling classes control the media, Ben Bagdikian's said there were 5 main media companies that controlled what we see here and read. So regardless whether the Sun newspaper is regulated we can still consume our media from 20th Century Fox or Sky News who news corps owns. The key issues with this debate is to do with the ruling class control, but who controls the internet? The Modern debate in Marxist revolves around who has control of the internet. • Some governments (e.g. China) place rigid controls on what their citizens can and can't access via the internet. Other entities (e.g. Google) also place controls on the information we can obtain via our browsers, although their censorship is more subtle. However, internet users find ways to escape and challenge controls, and post/read information in defiance of authority. Does this mean the end of hegemony as we know it, as we move towards a pluralistic society? (pluralistic means a society where wide number of people have control) Or will governments and big business gain control over the internet, restricting our access to information, and channelling only hegemonic viewpoints once again?
Marxist quotes • Media as means of production:Chandler: The mass media are, in classical Marxist terms, a 'means of production' which in capitalist society are in the ownership of the ruling class. According to the classical Marxist position, the mass media simply disseminate the ideas and world views of the ruling class, and deny or defuse alternative ideas. This is very much in accord with Marx's argument that:The class which has the means of material production at its disposal has control at the same time over the means of mental production, so that thereby, generally speaking, the ideas of those who lack the means of mental production are subject to it. (Marx & Engels: The German Ideology, cited in Curran et al. 1982: 22).
Quotes continued • According to this stance, the mass media functioned to produce 'false consciousness' in the working-classes. This leads to an extreme stance whereby media products are seen as monolithic expressions of ruling class values, which ignores any diversity of values within the ruling class and within the media, and the possibility of oppositional readings by media audiences. • Stuart Hall have approached the issue of media portrayals of violence in terms of whether such portrayals have served 'to legitimize the forces of law and order, build consent for the extension of coercive state regulation and de-legitimate outsiders and dissidents'. 'They have thus examined the impact of the mass media in situations where mediated communications are powerfully supported by other institutions such as the police, judiciary and schools... The power of the media is thus portrayed as that of renewing, amplifying and extending the existing predispositions that constitute the dominant culture, not in creating them' (Curran et al. 1982: 14; see also ibid.: 27).
Quotes continued • Althusser's tend to portray the great mass of ordinary men and women as incapable of recognising and resisting the appeals of the system of commercial cultural forces around them. Victims of false consciousness, they are seen pretty much as the passive victims of a capitalist conspiracy. As Fred Inglis expresses it, that view assumes that ordinary people are 'bloody fools' (Inglis (1972)).
Debates in regulation • Debates focus around the following • 1. Self regulating vs. state regulation • 2. Press Freedom or public interest vs. state control • 3. Freedom of expression vs. Privacy i.e. article 10 human rights act freedom of expression v’s article 8 privacy. • 4. The effects debate and criticism of that (this is the foundation of this area) • 5 Bias v’s impartiality: The press would argue that it operates in the public interest, but the reality is newspapers are biased because they have commercial pressures to sell newspapers, i.e phone hacking scandal, they have lost public trust, they are also biased because they support political parties. • Media specific debate and problems with regulation and the internet and web 2.0 • You could also use Marxist or femist theory to ar • Candidates need to show a deep understanding of a debate, with application and assessment of theories, research and conflicting ideas, with a range of contemporary examples, at least one reference to the past and one projection for the future.
Question 1 • What do you know about contemporary media regulation compared with previous practices? • Two main areas: BBFC and PCC, these are the main areas you should talk about, but you should contrast how they are regulated with other media why should you do this? And what debate does this lead to? • What does contemporary mean? • Break this down into past, present and future • The question is asking you what has changed
Question 2 • What are the arguments for and against specific forms of contemporary media regulation? Powerpoint 2 PCC and Powerpoint case studies and Powerpoint 2 BBFC.
Question 3 • How effective are regulatory practices?
