Measuring the message: The infinite dimensions of art, culture and media

Dr Archana R Singh

“The medium is the message” Marshall McLuhan

The medium creates the messageThe message creates the meaningThe meaning creates the contextThe context creates medium…

Communication

Art Culture

Media

Medium in search of a messageWhy Stories?

Moral compass of a societyCultural identity of a peoplePsycho-social development of a child (identification and modeling)Literacy and cognitive competenceSocial bonding and cultural capital (peer and family)

Timeline?Oral to Literate to Electronic Storytelling

Medium in search of a form

Evolution of genres- puppets, circus and variety, talent shows, drama, action adventure, comedy,

From comic book to cartoon Slapstick HumourEpisodic PlotsThe child as character vs. the superhero as character

Live action and adventure - Sky King, Davy Crockett, Captain Midnight

Family Life/ Soaps: Lucy, Father Knows Best, Beaver, , Uttaran, Laado

Nature- Animal Kingdom, National Geographic

Children’s specials :Disney Channel, Cartoon Network Sesame Street, Nickelodeon Pogo

Educational – Edutainment, History, Discovery, News and Current affairs

Travel shows- Travel and living, NDTV Good Times,

Medium in search of its audience

Compression of space and time

Larger and larger territories covered: networks of networks emerging (www)

Mobile, wireless access: ubiquity Communication across borders virtually

instantaneously

Commoditization

Spread of private and not public enterprise, interpenetration of marketing, consumption and media

Widespread ideology of consumption/consumer “sovereignty”

Deregulation, Concentration and Conglomeration

Withdrawal of public sector, less regulation, more role for market

Trend to mergers and acquisitions Multi media holdings

7 Trends in communication

Globalization

Growth in international trade in cultural products, rise of 6 or 8 main companies dominating markets and merging industries

AOL Time Warner ;Disney, Vivendi, Viacom, Sony, NewsCorp

Digitization and Convergence

Conversion of sound pictures and text into computer readable formats by representing them as strings of zeros and onesNow, telecommunication providers involved in TV and cableDigitization enables the production, circulation, manipulation and re-purposing or storage of information on unprecedented scale

Specialization /demassification

Narrowly “casting’ or “targeting” communication to particular interests… shrinking share of general interest TV

Personalization

The “daily me”: personal tailoring of media diet/media productsIdeal type: MP3 downloading of custom music

7 Trends in Communication

Encode meaning-----decode meaning

Involves Creation of the Text, design of the sign. symbol or codes and signification or interpretation

Communication is much more than message exchange.. The enrichment that communication brings in terms of culture, cohesion and connectedness is widely acknowledged

Communication construct a map of meaning for people in everyday life

Embraces ideology/belief systems and ritual: mass communication is the representation of shared beliefs where ‘reality’ is produced maintained, repaired and transformed

The Cultural Model

The Individual

RaceEthnicity/Nationalit

y

Social Class

Sex/Gender

Health

AgeGeographic

Region

Sexuality

Religion

Social Status

Language

Ability/Disability

Sources of Cultural Identity

*

Cushner, McClelland, & Safford (1996), Human Diversity in Education: An Integrative Approach, p. 66

TheIndividual

School

Church

Community

Neighbourhood

Peer Group

ElectronicMedia

Family

Technology

Workplace

Print Media

The Arts

Sports

Socializing Agents that Transmit Culture

Fine Arts & Entertainment• Visual Arts• Performing Arts• Multimedia Production

Mass Communication• Print & Broadcast Journalism• Public Relations

Graphic Communication• Graphic Design• Printing

3 Core Career Areas

2 Years of College 4 Years of College More than 4 Years of College

PHOTOGRAPHER GAME DESIGNER MUSEUM CURATOR

FASHION ARTIST FINE ARTIST COMPOSER

INTERIOR DESIGNER DIRECTOR CONDUCTOR

ACTOR GALLERY MANAGER

ASSISTANT PRODUCER STAGE MANAGER

GAME TESTER RADIO ANNOUNCER

PRODUCER SCREENWRITER

PLAYWRIGHT DANCE CHROEOGRAPHER

DANCER CASTING DIRECTOR

Fine Arts and Entertainment

Mass Communication

WITH 2 YEARS OF COLLEGE

WITH 4 YEARS OF COLLEGE

WITH MORE THAN 4 YEARS OF COLLEGE

SOFTWARE APPL. SUPPORT SPECIALIST

JOURNALIST RESEARCHER

ELECTRONIC TECH. NOVELIST HISTORIAN

AUDIO-VISUAL EQUIPMENT TECH.

WRITER PUBLIC RELATIONSDEPT MANAGER

WEB DESIGNER REPORTER EDITOR

PUBLIC RELATIONSASSISTANT

BOADCAST NEWS ANALYST ADVERTISING FIRMCEO

MEDIA BUYER RADIO ANNOUNCER

ADVERTISING LAYOUT DESIGNER

TELEVISION ANNOUNCER

COMMUNICATIONSMANAGER

GRAPHIC COMMUNICATION

WITH AN ASSOCIATE’S DEGREE OR LESS

WITH A BACHELOR’S DEGREE

WITH MORE THAN A BACHELOR’S DEGREE

PRE-MEDIA/PRE-PRESS IMAGING SPECIALIST

PRE-MEDIA/PRE-PRESS MANAGER

COMPUTER SYSTEMS ENGINEER

BINDERY & FINISHING TECHNICIAN

PRODUCTION MANAGER EQUIPMENT DESIGN

GRAPHIC DESIGNER OPERATIONS MANAGER EQUIPMENT DESIGN ENGINEER

DESKTOP PUBLISHING INK CHEMIST

DIGITAL IMAGING SPECIALIST

PAPER SCIENTIST

PRESS OPERATOR

Mainstream culture - the arts, artifacts, entertainments, fads, beliefs, and values shared by large segments of the society.

Appeals to as large an audience as possible and rarely challenges current accepted values.

By examining the patterns, values, and ideologies in popular culture, we can find out how a society thinks and behaves and what a society believes.

However, the most important effect of media, and especially TV, is not just derived from the exposure of visual images and commercials that tend to create a popular consumer culture, but also from what we are not exposed to.

The gate keepers of the news industry control all the information, and decide on what to publish or broadcast, based on the ideology and the structure of the institution. This is not censor in classical sense, but rather an auto-control mechanism that functions for the survival of the system and the controlling of the public.

Therefore, whatever is presented in the news would rather be a part of the popular culture (created by the entertainment industry) or would serve it, since the popular culture itself is created for the growth of the capitalist economy and the homogenization of the society, which are essential elements for a stable system.

Mass media creates popular culture

Diamonds Are Forever

Most people will own a diamond at some point in their life. Today, it is considered necessary to exchange diamond rings when marrying. However, diamonds were not always synonymous with love.

Before 1938, diamonds were considered valuable because they were scarce stones.

In 1938, N. W. Ayers, a New York advertising agency was hired to change public attitude about diamonds. The agency successfully transformed public perception of diamonds from a financial investment to a symbol of everlasting love. Few people will fail to recognize the 1947 N. W. Ayer's slogan, "a diamond is forever".

Marketing changed public perception, molded popular culture, and increased sales of diamonds by creating a new target audience.

Case to illustrate popular culture

What are the characteristic activities of this culture, and with what purpose? Who participates? Who is excluded from participating and why are they excluded? What knowledge or skills are required to participate? What equipment, technologies, or media are necessary? To what extent is fashion, appearance, or uniformity of dress important? What common values, beliefs, ideologies, or goals are shared by the

participants? What initiations, rites of passage, or rituals are involved? What kinds of hierarchies exist? What mechanisms of control are involved: rules, laws, policing, security? How does this popular culture promote itself? How is it received (appreciated, supported, discouraged) by the surrounding

culture? What threats or challenges does this sub-culture face?

Popular Culture: Deconstruction

How art, culture and media are interrelated How the medium always looks for the best method to transmit the

meaning How the trends in communication affect the message and

subsequently the culture. How mass media helps in the creation of cultural identity How important mass media is in producing popular culture How fads and trends address particular needs in our society How language influences and is influenced by popular culture How the media and marketing strategies make popular culture a

business

What have we learnt?

archana@pu.ac.in