The above photograph was taken by my sister, of a week plus old kitten she found. To give you an idea of how tiny it was, the background shows a ledge of the balcony. Let's all say 'Aww... So cute...' It makes a great wallpaper, unless you have too many icons. Or you're half-blind and the icons on your desktop are the size of your fists. (Yes sister, that is you.)Moving along, this week I will be focusing on Mass Media in our society. I will be looking at it's effects, and how some of them are subtly manipulating/brain-washing/shaping our thoughts and behaviours.
The effects of mass media swing from Large (Magic Bullet Theory) to Small (Uses and Gratification Theory). In the middle, we have theories of moderate effects (Agenda Setting Function, Cultivation Theory, Spiral of Silence, Media Determinism and Media Hegemony). Analysing the 10 most read news articles on Channel News Asia (extracted 19/10/08), we can observe some of these theories at work.Motor Racing: China F1 Grand Prix
The China F1 race ended over the weekend. Looking back at our recent first ever night race, I recalled a little known fact.
Promotional poster from 2008 Singapore GP
Promotional poster from 2007 Monaco GP
Promotional poster from 2006 British GPIs it just me, or have they coincidentally decided to use computer animated graphics of the F1 cars for their promotional posters for the past 3 years? Wouldn't pictures of the actual car be more appealing?
Here's the truth. F1 is owned by the Formula One Group. This group is made up of the Formula One Administration, which owns the commercial rights to F1, the Formula One Management, which controls the media distribution and promotion of content regarding F1, and the Formula One Licensing, which owns the F1 trademarks and logos. The CEO of Formula One Administration and Formula One Management is Bernie Ecclestone. Currently, this man's net worth is £2.4billion.
So what has this got to do with the posters? Well, when the poster prints anything F1 related, royalties are due. Therefore, if these promotional posters were to be printed with the actual cars, imagine the amount of royalties to be paid. One may argue, 'but F1 is bringing the event to Singapore!' Wrong. Local tycoon Ong Beng Seng negotiated with Bernie Ecclestone to let Singapore play host, with the Singapore Tourism Board footing 60% of the bill and Mr Ong covering the rest. Being a commercialised event, this is one of the cost cutting measures.
This is an example of Media Hegemony, where the powerful elite (Bernie Ecclestone) controls the representations of mass media. In this case, the Formula One Group controls everything F1 related. Kudos to my JDD friends for opening my eyes to this.
2008 Melamine Milk Scandal
The China Melamine Milk scandal was first reported in July of 2008. Fast-forward to 3 months later, why are we still even talking about contaminated milk today? Allow me to share some interesting facts:1) In early 2007, there was a similar scandal involving pet food contaminated with melamine.
2) Later that same year, the Food and Drug Administration of USA admitted that local livestock were fed with food contaminated with melamine.
3) Melamine is also found in snacks like potato crackers and rice rolls. (information provided by AVA, extracted 19/10/08)
Maybe milk should come with warning labels like these?How many of us are aware of the above facts? This is an example of Agenda Setting Function where the mass media repeats a message often enough to prime us to think and talk about a specific subject more often.
Having seen the theories of mass media played in these 2 news articles, can you think of any other way mass media has manipulated/brain-washed/shaped our thoughts and behaviours?
Maybe it's because the newspapers don't have much other things to write about......?
ReplyDeletePress houses are always fighting to be the first with breakthrough news and I guess they're compelled to publish every little bit of information they can get so as to keep up in the race.
I find the "milk" interesting. Imagine how everyone would react. However, it might be of no use.
ReplyDeleteTake a look at the cigarettes' packaging. With the new design, the government is trying to warn people about the danger. But sadly, not much use I suppose.
I do agree that publishers are alwaying vying to be the first in everything. They want to increase their sales volume, and have to come out with eye-catching issues that will draw more attention. Thus, it is inevitable.
Oh on the topic of the F1 posters, have you seen the Brand's Essence of Chicken poster ads at the bus stops? Those little students posing with their bottles of essence are strategically covering the school badge/logo on each other's school uniforms.
ReplyDeleteSo companies nowadays strive to best protect themselves by trying to claim copyright for as many of their logos as possible. McDonald's, for example, will state that "The Golden Arches Logo and "i'm lovin' it" are trademarks of McDonald's Corporation and its affiliates." (seen at Macs Singapore website.) I have also seen similar messages on various McDonald's ads and food packaging that "Ronald McDonald" and all other related icons are trademark of McDonald's.
So maybe in future, even drawing a hamburger will be outlawed.
xy, you have a keen eye for pointing out the chicken essence manipulation.
ReplyDeletedo you realise that even though the school logo has been covered, you perceive it to be from a 'specific' school?
here, we also see manipulation of our perception, by showing us a well known uniform from a top school.
I guess in Sillypore it's like that. When some big news hit, people will react and try to reverse any decisions made. Give it some time, and we'll all learn to live with it.
ReplyDeleteAwww... the kitten is really very cute. Let me know if no one is adopting it.. haha..
ReplyDeleteIt is so scary when everything is contaminated.
Mass media is a term used to denote a section of the media specifically envisioned and designed to reach a very large audience such as the population of a nation state. It can be used for various purposes, in advertising, in politics, in entertainment and etc.
ReplyDeleteI think it is a powerful tool which makes people think and talk about as a common topic, like China’s melamine case and F1 in sg. For eg, years back we see advertisements along the tunnels of orchard road, on tv and probably bus stops showing a blue background with words of ‘What time is it’? It went on for a few weeks before revealing ‘It’s Tiger time’. This was a fresh advertising idea which reaches out to the public and keeps them talking about it for quite a period of time.
So my personal feel is that Mass media does affect people’s thoughts, conversations and behaviors, but with the right kind of approach. As what fen mentioned, though there are publicity and awareness that smoking is bad for health, it doesn’t seem to stop people from smoking. In fact, to my point of view, the stats have been increasing despite soaring cigarette prices in sg.
How does mass media Brainwash/Manipulate/Shaped our thoughts?
ReplyDeleteAs much as I am facinated by Zhed's examples, in circumspect I think mass media has been doing this since it was born.
After all, what is the purpose of media if not to influence our thoughts.
It is interesting/scary though, to think about the efficacy of the methods that are used. It is definitely this "success rate", that necessitates the analysis of the content as well as form of the message.
For example, taking the reference of cars from Zed, how did girls become a standard part of car shows? Yes men are naturally attracted to women in skimpy outfits but over time, you are almost trained to follow the babe in red to see the Ferrari.
Or perhaps I am being over feminist but look at the way females are "supposed" to behave. Crossing your legs when you are seated and having controlled movements are but social constructs created by enforcing the norms in fairy tales. Which in itself (fairy tales)is a kind of mass media. What is the rationale of making girls cross their legs, which modern medical research has shown to be unhealthy?
I might be touching on a sensitive topic here, but look at the sanitary pad commercials that is aired...
The product itself is largely functional, but the commercial reinforces the idea that girls do nothing but run about and play. They jump around wearing pastel colours and basically have low economic value. It basically trains women to act somewhat more frivolously than is necessary.
How lame... yet how effective...
Why should women be demure and shy and "act like a lady", when the once sources of reference that we have is media that does NOT represent reality quite so realistically.
I think one really should trace back where are the point of reference of any social constructs to better decide if he/she wishes to follow them.
Although, DAMN people. Even upon realising that it is JUST a social construct, it has gotten to the point of critical mass. Basically even if you know it, there are SO many that doesn't or chooses to play along and you might be the odd one out.
Maybe Zed's next blog ought to be on cognitive dissonance when although i KNOW that images of ladies are very much construed or misconstrued rather, I still chose to subscribe to them.
Norisha, thanks for the great discussion! cognitive dissonance eh? didn't know you studied psychology too!
ReplyDeleteand it is things like these i notice happening in the mass media of today. as the people of thew world get more educated, they become fully aware of the skills available to them. as the saying goes, 'with great power, comes great responsibilities.'
unfortunately, the bearers of these great powers have decided to use it to their advantage, and forget that at the end of the day, we are all human beings after all.
Regarding the milk scandal. i feel that there is a need to keep on reporting since more and more products are discovered to contain melamine. i mean its the responsibility of the media to do so. they should not be stopping after just one report. that would sound ridiculous. should i guess the media is just being responsible to keep us informed of the progress of the situation? no?
ReplyDeletethere is no doubt that the agenda setting function and media hegemony is used in this issue. however, it is used appropriately as the milk scandal is indeed important for everybody to be aware of it.
ReplyDeleteimagine the media did not give enough emphasis on the piece of news, some clueless people continue to buy other China products which could be harmful. i say this because i am sure there are many China-made products which are not fit for human consumptions and it is just a matter of time before the media is ALLOWED to inform the world about it. just wait and see!
Peiyu & Manda, thank you for your contribution.
ReplyDeleteyes, i do agree with you that it is the job of the media to keep us informed of what is going on in the world, and important things like should be highlighted.
however, how long should the news be reported before it is considered old? for example, it is a fact that many of our food products contain melamine; some in dangerous amounts, so in not so dangerous amounts. but this shouldn't mean that the newspapers will continue to report it for the next few years, until they find something more deadly in our food to report on!
hi zed,
ReplyDeletei have a very obvious example here on the effect of mass media from us.
Just look at the beauty advertisement we have. We would see that advertisers always portray tall and slim models as beauty.
Slowly, we will hold the view that these images are beautiful and the others are not. That is why we see slimming centers popping out along our neighborhoods and in our towns.
Now many strive to reach to that standard of beauty even they know the possible side effects of slimming.
i guess this clearly shows the 'manipulation of our behaviors' through mass media.
Astonishing.
ReplyDeleteI did not know these details about F1. I guess i just never knew much about the various subtleties in Advertisements. Seems like there's a reason for everything!
I can sense the passion in Norisha as she makes her argument. And honestly, i do not know what to say. I guess.. why unfortunately the majority of people do subscribe to some of the social norms that rile her so, rest assured that her voice in this matter is not a lonely one. The unfair expectations placed on women sometimes can be rather mind-boggling, and bending.
I especially liked that part where she said how fairy tales can be likened to a form of mass media that since a young age managed to bind themselves and their ideals to impressionable children.
I could not help but wonder, if that was the intent of the author of fairy tales? Or were fairy tales an outlet, a soothing reminder of the love that is possible at difficult times? An imagined, and hoped for, world where good triumphs over evil. Prince Charming and Princesses, along with their associated physical constructs, may be unrealistic, perhaps this emphasis on ideas of physical beauty were never meant to belittle the rest of the population.
With enough exposure, and experience, i'm sure kids grow up, and realise the world isn't all it's portrayed (by media, or by fairy tales) to be. That's why we live, and we learn.
Hi Zed
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, the postings that you had done for the past 7 weeks are somehow systematic and progressive. Therefore, to me, it explains the reason why this posting is the last and perhaps, the most debatable.
I do agree that the media is a very influential tool. It is a huge and useful platform used by all types of people and reasons. Be it political propoganda or simply, advertisement.
With regard to pp, Im sure, in recent times, you have seen how some countries in SEA use media to make their people believe their agenda. The media shapes their behaviour.
Additionally, it also shapes the behaviour of the people when little knowledge is known about what the media is conveying or their preconceived knowledge is either limited or vast.
Having said that, the influence of the media is only successful depending on whether a person is well informed and well read or simply blase about his/her surrounding.
If you are au fait with the news and have a great grasp on general knowledge, you will not be easily 'makan' by what the mass media has to offer. Alot of thought is put in before a verdict is made.
However, if we have limited knowledge on a product or our preconceived knowledge is for the product, it is easier for mass media to influence the outcome of our verdict.
Knowledge is the key to understanding the whole shenanigan
On a separate note, the female models used in motor shows and cars, etc. are one of the many pull factors that attract people to attend or watch those stuff. I think people have already good content/knwoledge on the cars but simply support such causes because of these pull factors.This relates back to the part where knowledge plays a role in our final verdict to decide whether to go or not to go or to watch or not to watch.
Nonetheless, whether it is to manipulate or to educate, mass media, has to a large extent, separates the knowledgable and incorrigible decision makers...
Cheers!
p.s. I hope whatever I've just said make sense. :-)
This entry has got the potential to be the most debatable one ever in your blog.
ReplyDeleteAfter watching the news on telly, it's perfectly natural for a person to think, "Hey, so this is what's goin' on, and that's how it is, and that's how it's gonna be." People tend to take newsworthy stories at face value - the more sensational it is, the more greedily they'll wolf it down.
Also, journalistically, there's the issue of self-censorship - journalists have known to purposely avoid newsworthy stories, while nearly as many acknowledged they have softened the tone of stories to benefit the interests of their news organizations. So sometimes, the media tells you only the bits you wanna hear, and it gives you the illusion that you know exactly what's going on in the outside world.
And herein lies the biggest problem: choice. (Very Matrix-like, huh? Lol.) For instance, the media presented to the world that an aircraft crashed into the Pentagon on 9/11. Would you choose to believe that? Or would you choose to dig deeper and find out that there are anomalies to the claim, like the mysterious disappearance of the aircraft parts?
Or if our government claimed that "M-S-K" truly escaped from the toilet window of a maximum-security detention centre, would you believe that? Or would you question why there was a four-hour time lag between his "escape" and the notification of the public?
Okay, these are crude examples, but because people by nature aren't inquisitive, they won't bother about looking further into the information presented to them unless it involves them personally. And sad to say, this is where the manipulation of the media triumphs.
The reporting of the tainted milk scandal was probably a good thing, despite the mayhem and panic it caused in China, and gradually, pretty much everywhere else.
ReplyDeleteImagine if there was no whistle-blowing on this incident, we would still be drinking tainted milk, and hundreds of other milk-based products.
But it is true that perception of people towards the food standards and safety in China has dipped considerably, as such reports do pop-up every now and then.
hi ruuderek!
ReplyDeleteyes, i agree with you that perceptions towards food safety in China dropped, but don't you think that they will still continue to be one of the largest manufacturers and mass producers? now, who do you think is to 'blame' for this?
consumers. think about it, whenever we visit a supermarket we are always on the lookout for the cheapest. and for manufacturers to lower their cost yet continue to make profit, they will have to turn to China to produce their products. within China, factories vie for these contracts by offering lower prices. their solution to cut cost? melamine.
see the sad truth?
haha. it's funny how most of us are so cynical of the food produced in China. I guess the increasing reports of melamine contaminated food has really causes us to be skeptical in consuming any china produced food products. However, this does not only happen in China. Recently, I chanced upon an article that reports Malaysia producing melamine tainted biscuit products. Hmmm.. seems like more and more food products are dangerous to be consumed :/ this is so depressing! :((
ReplyDelete