Reading 7: Moral Panics

To quote Murray Hamilton in the film Jaws (1975), "it's all psychological. You yell barracuda, everybody says, "Huh? What?" You yell shark, we've got a panic on our hands on the 4th of July".
The definitive definition of moral panics is "A condition, episode, person or group of persons emerges to become defined as a threat to societal values and interest"(Cohen, 1987: 9). Cohen's definitions go on to say how the nature of the panic is portrayed in "a stylized and stereotypical fashion by the mass media". Krinsky comments on how there is a union between "the media, politicians, clergy, "experts," and activists" as they "do battle with an exaggerated or imagined social menace, in the process stirring up fear, confusion, anger and intolerance in the public mind" (2008: 1). Cohen does highlight that it is the various youth cultures who are commonly associated with moral panics. They were originally from working class backgrounds, but moved towards middle classes and student based groups (similar to groups today). The most notable groups were the Teddy Boys and the Mods and Rockers of the 50s and 60s.
However, Thompson (1998) comments on how youths can be at risk and not just the source. He does say that children aren't normally regarded as a source of risk, unless in the very rare cases, such as the James Bulger case (two ten-year-old boys (Robert Thompson and Jon Venables) murdered two-year-old James Bulger in 1993) (Thompson, 1998: 44).
The most recent example of a moral panic was the riots last summer across the country. This past week, a 34 year-old man (not a youth) was jailed for 11½ for setting fire to a furniture shop in Croydon. Trevor Reeves, owner of House of Reeves store described it as "mindless, brainless work of individuals". Those were his words being broadcast on the BBC the day after the attack (BBC: 2011). The situation did start peacefully as a protest on August 6th, progressing from Broadwater Farm to Tottenham Police Station. The following night, there were some riotous outbreaks and on 8th, all areas of London were on riot alert. This is when it escalated nationwide, fuelled by comments posted on Blackberry Messenger utilizing the power of social media.
However, there have always been protests in our country. It is hardly a new phenomenon. Parallels can be drawn throughout history, exemplified by the Peasants' Revolt against poll tax levied in 1381. Though initiated by the lower classes, there were concerns raised in the upper classes about the need to reform the feudal system. But was the support of nobles driven by panic? There is also the Luddite movement (1811-12), initiated by textile artisans. They protested against changes brought about by the Industrial Revolution by destroying looms. New Government laws came about and 17 people were sentenced to death following mass trial. The Luddites fought the army; more British soldiers were involved in this conflict than against Napoleon. Thirdly, the Riot Act came to law in 1714, claiming that a group of 12 or more assembling unlawfully to be deemed a riot that must be dispersed. Refusal was punishable by the death penalty.
Other notable moral panics in my opinion include act of terrorism (July 7th bombings and 9/11), epidemics of bird flu and to some extent the Cold War.

Reference list

• BBC (2011) London riots: Croydon furniture store a blaze. [online video] (Released 9th August 2011) http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-14454250 [Accessed 23th April 2012]
• Cohen, S. (1987) Folk Devils & Moral Panics: The Creation of the Mods and Rockers. (3rd ed.) Blackwell Publishers: Oxford
• Krinsky, C. (2008) Introduction in Moral Panics over Contemporary Children and Youth. Aldershot: Ashgate
• MrCaneRandagio (2010) Elvis Costello Riot Act. [online video] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dcuHO0I3fzs [Accessed 23rd April 2012]
• OurCeasingVoice (2010) The Clash - London Calling (Official Video) {HD 720p}. [online video] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g4dL0lv72oM&feature=player_embedded [Accessed 23rd April]
• RhinoEntertainment (2010) The Smiths - Panic (Digital Video Single). [online video] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DyJdiE0l23c&ob=av2n [Accessed 14th April 2012]
• Thompson, K. (1998) Moral Panics. London: Routledge

Bibliography

• Clarke, J., Critcher, C., Hall, S., Jefferson, T., Roberts, B. (1978) Policing The Crisis: Mugging, the State, and Law and Order. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan
• Cohen, S. (1987) Folk Devils & Moral Panics: The Creation of the Mods and Rockers. (3rd ed.) Blackwell Publishers: Oxford
• Krinsky, C (2008) Introduction in Moral Panics over Contemporary Children and Youth. Aldershot: Ashgate

Reading 6: Networking

This reading concentrates on networking, but this is difficult to understand by itself.
Castells defines networks as "appropriate instruments for a capitalist economy based on innovation, globalization, and decentralized concentration; for work workers, and firms based on flexibility and adaptability; for a culture of endless deconstruction and reconstruction; for a polity geared toward the instant processing of new values and public moods; and for a social organization aiming at the supersession of space and the annihilation of time" (2001: 502).
McNeill and McNeill (2003) came up with a series of 5 web structures determining world history. The progression to successive webs was driven initially by biological necessity (i.e, to avoid inbreeding), but also by a desire to discover and access materials to improve life. Not only was information exchanged, but also "goods, technologies, ideas, crops, weeds, animals and diseases" (Van Dijk, 2006: 22). The sequence of webs began with hunter gatherer tribal networks (a key shared idea was the control of fire) to the current global web expedited by exponential improvements in communications, culminating in computers, networks and the Internet.
Nowadays, there is a decentralized network in society in terms of distributing information. Van Dijk describes this as " a static and hierarchical organization" (2006: 24). Nowadays, we have social networking available to us, through the use of websites such as Facebook and Twitter, which "are available at all levels and subsystems of society" (Van Dijk, 2006: 25). However, Kontopoulos makes "distinction between hierarchical and heterarchial modes of organization of the world". The base of the hierarchical structure has thickened rather widened, because so many people are connected, with little scope for expansion, but the volume of information exchange is increasing.
Let me give you an example of how beneficial networking is. 50 years ago, indexers for books would be tied to the publisher or restricted by the limitations of mail. Nowadays, similar workers work at home, whether in London or Shetland, and have immediate access to sources, colleagues and feedback. Working at home is clearly conducive to some people's preferred lifestyle (and also furthers the Green Revolution).
Diagrammatic representations of networks abound, though two dimension scarcely does justice to the complexities, particularly of distributed network chains, typified by social networking. Research by Stanley Milgram and others into the "small world experiment" give fascinating conclusions that could not have been realised during earlier stages of historical web development. Six degrees of separation illustrates how any individual is but six steps away from any other individual on earth through personal association (relationships). Relationships of two therefore build to networks of three or (infinitely) more. Being a friend of a friend takes on a new light and we really need to choose our friends carefully.
If the world's population is 7 billion, if you sat at the head of a pyramid with only 44 friends and one of those friends had in turn 44 unique friends (plus a few duplicates!), and each one of these a further 44, then you are linked to each everyone in the world by just six steps.

⁶√(7,000,000,000) ≈ 43.7

Reference list

• Castells, M. (2001) The Rise of the Network Society. Oxford: Blackwell.
• McNeill, J.R. and McNeill W. (2003) The Human Web: A Bird's-Eye View of World History. London: W. W. Norton & Co.
• Van Dijk, J. (2006) "Networks: The Nervous System of Society" in The Network Society. London: Sage.

Bibliography

• Burnett, R. and Marshall, P.D. (2003) Web Theory: An Introduction. London: Routledge.
• Van Dijk, J. (2006) "Networks: The Nervous System of Society" in The Network Society. London: Sage.

Reading 5: Interactivity

There are many definitions of interactivity. Steuer describes it as "the extent to which users can participate in modifying the form and content of a mediated environment in real time" (1992: 84). Even one of the readings considers it to be "the degree to which two or more communication parties can act on each other, on the communication medium, and on the messages and the degree to which such influences are synchronized" (Liu and Shrum, 2005: 105). Nowadays with the growth and development of the internet, interactivity has helped to preserve small businesses, exemplified by small second-hand booksellers. When dealing online, the purchaser can see stock levels of a particular item. "With online transaction service, people also do not need to understand each other's language to be able to communicate" and "research has shown that computer-mediated communication and face-to-face communication are not functional alternatives" (Flaherty, Pearce and Rubin, 1998). This includes singular purchases such as buying a first-edition work by Arthur Ransome with an American dust jacket!
Liu and Shrum considered there to be three dimensions of interactivity:

• Active control - "voluntary and instrumental action that directly influences the controller's experience" (Liu and Shrum, 2005: 105).
• Two-way communications - "the ability for reciprocal communication between companies and users and users and users" (Liu and Shrum, 2005: 106).
• Synchronicity - "the degree to which users' input into a communication and the response they receive from the communication are simultaneous" (Liu and Shrum, 2005: 108).

These form a 3D model representing popular online marketing tools based on interactivity. High scorers across these include online stores (such as Amazon) and related web communities, whereas the bottom end of the scale includes the likes of unsolicited emails (junk or spam). It is no surprise that social networking sites (Twitter, Facebook, etc.) have become intrinsic to many online marketing strategies on behalf of their clients. Cool social networking brings about cool products and brand association. Loyalty and memorability go hand in hand, particularly if allied to unexpected bonuses, like the festival tickets to raise the profile of the VW Fox amongst the mostly mobile young adults of Sao Paulo. In terms of advertising, McStay describes interactive advertising as building "richer, deeper and engaging relationships, but then the same can be said of successful advertising campaigns" in fostering "long-lasting brand relationships often characterized by trust and goodwill...consumers, to some extent, can take control of media, marketing and advertising" (McStay, 2010: 191).
On anniversaries, Google's homepage occassionally goes interactive. This can include strumming guitar chords and play music. On 21st May 2010, recognising 30 years since Pacman's launch, users could play the game within the outline of the letters. Its popularity spawned a Facebook page, currently having almost 1 million likes. Interactive advertising examples include the picture above. There was also a series of recent adverts released by the British Army, relating in the first person; the audience is presented with a series of situations and three suggested responses.
Interactivity is a product of technological (and digital) advances and applications. McStay mentions how Diageo Guinness used GPS-enabled and non-GPS enabled mobiles which enabled users to find the nearest Guinness through Guinness "Navi". It could show maps of establishments, photos, reviews, opening times, etc. (McStay, 2010: 202-203). Pardon the pun but "It must do you good".

Reference list

• Flaherty, L.M., Pearce, K.J. and Rubin, R.B. (1998) 'Internet and Face-to-Face communication: Not Functional Alternatives', Communication Quarterly, 46 (3), 250-268
• Liu, Y. and Shrum, L.J. (2005) 'Rethinking Interactivity: What It Means and Why It May Not Always Be Beneficial', in Stafford, M.R. and Faber, R.J. (2005) Advertising, Promotion and New Media. M.E. Sharpe: New York. Chapter 5
• McStay, A. (2010) 'Creativity, Science and the New Consumer', Digital Advertising. Basingstoke: Pelgrave-MacMillan. Chapter 7
• Rolighetsteorin (2009) Piano stairs - TheFunTheory.com - Rolighetsteorin.se. [video online] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2lXh2n0aPyw [Accessed 11th April 2012]
• Steuer, J. (1992) 'Defining Virtual Reality: Dimensions Determining Telepresence', Journal of Communication, 42 (4), 73-93.
• tippexperience (2010) NSFW. A hunter shoots a bear!. [video online] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ba1BqJ4S2M [Accessed 21st April 2012]

Bibliography

• Liu, Y. and Shrum, L.J. (2005) 'Rethinking Interactivity: What It Means and Why It May Not Always Be Beneficial', in Stafford, M.R. and Faber, R.J. (2005) Advertising, Promotion and New Media. M.E. Sharpe: New York. Chapter 5
• McStay, A. (2010) 'Creativity, Science and the New Consumer', Digital Advertising. Basingstoke: Pelgrave-MacMillan. Chapter 7

Reading 4: Advertising

This reading relates to advertising, mainly in the form of Andy McStay's chapter on "The consumer society and advertising" in Media Studies: Texts, Production and Context (2009) and also, to some extent, Jean Baudrillard: Selected Writings (1988).
Advertising, along with mass production and the phenomenon of mass consumption, was tied in with advances in science and technology during the 19th century, the Industrial Revolution. This meant a growth in transportation alongside technical innovation, including Isambard Kingdom Brunel's construction of the Great Western Railway. Weightman (2007) describes how industrialisation first became prominent in Europe before in America, but how ordinary working-class people were able to afford items that were only previously available to the wealthiest. People's lifestyles dictated the changing nature of government investments in education in direct support of modernisation and industrial competitiveness. Weber (1981) and Veblen (1899/1975) described how there was and is competition for status among social groups; the mass advertising industry emerged as a means of enlightening consumers about products and "developing sophisticated techniques for inducing devices and needs among ordinary people for things that hitherto they did not realise they needed" (McStay, 2009: 340). Nowadays, people buy things unnecessarily, especially if items are perceived as bargains - "Buy 1, get 1 free".
Advertising is a key component for commercial media, supporting the growth of press, radio, TV movies, etc. for the past 150 years. All commercial media has depended on advertising to generate its revenue. This is the case for networks such as Sky, whereas the BBC features no advertising because it is "owned" by the license payers, rather than a commercial enterprise. The earliest advertising came in the form of newspapers, with circulation volumed helped by the development of the printing press.
In terms of consumption, it involves everyone; the wealthiest people consume the most products and resources, but the products may be manufactured in third world countries. Miller (1995) describes consumers as "rational" and they make purchases "on basis of functional decision making to further their own interest". However, modern consumption is irrational. Even though it can benefit the economy and it is "necessary to be modern", we are exhausting the earth's resources. People consume products because of their image rather than their utility. Baudrillard talks about a product's use-value and sign-value; use-value refers to its functionality and sign-value to "consumption used as a marker that positions us in some way" (Baudrillard, 1968: 62).
Ritzer (1997) states that people consume signs (messages and images) rather than commodities and questions whether brands are a guarantor of quality. For example, you go to a supermarket for aspirin and you choose between the leading brand and the store brand. The leading brand is usually the more expensive and the store brand costs a matter of pence. It is the same for most supermarket products. If something has a brand, it is generally more expensive. An episode of Top Gear around one Christmas had a feature discussing the placement of a car manufacturer's badge on a product like a bottle of aftershave or wine, resulting in it costing a lot more. The presenters then joked about with a plate of sick being worth nothing, but it would cost £13.80 if it included a BMW badge. As it shows in the videos below, companies will brand anything.

Reference list

• Baudrillard, J. (1968) The System of Objects. London: Verso Books.
• foxybingo241 (2010) top gear porsche smoking pipes. [video online] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YHr36rbWnKA [Accessed 7th April]
• F4r1nUrl4u8 (2009) Top Gear News S12E07. [video online] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBMxtIRVIe4&feature=relmfu [Accessed 24th April 2012]
• McStay, A. (2009) "The consumer society and advertising", in Long, P.; Wall, T.; Bakir, V. & McStay, A. (2009). Media Studies: Texts, Production and Context. London: Pearson Education.
• Miller, D. (1995) Acknowledging Consumption. London: Routledge.
• Ritzer, G. (1997) Postmodern Social Theory. New York: McGraw-Hill.
• Veblen, T. (1899/1975) The Theory of the Leisure Class. New York: Augustus M. Kelly.
• Weber, M. (1981) General Economic History. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers.
• Weightman, G. (2007) The Industrial Revolutionaries: The Creation of the Modern World, 1776 - 1914. London: Atlantic.

Bibliography

• Baudrillard, J. (1988) "Simulacra and Simulations". in M. Poster (ed.) Jean Baudrillard: Selected Writings. Cambridge: Polity.
• McStay, A. (2009) "The consumer society and advertising", in Long, P.; Wall, T.; Bakir, V. & McStay, A. (2009). Media Studies: Texts, Production and Context. London: Pearson Education.
• McStay, A. (2010) Digital Advertising. Basingstoke: Palgrave-MacMillan

Reading 3: Imagined Communities

Out of the first three readings, this one strikes most accord with me. It is mainly John Harris' Cool Cymru, Rugby Union and an Imagined Community (2007), but also ties in well with Imagined Communities (2006) by Benedict Anderson. 

It starts by discussing Cool Cymru, which Harris describes as "an oxymoron" and says that Wales has natural beauty but is "considered something of a remote, tribal backwater" (Harris, 2007:152). However, in 1999 when they hosted the Rugby World Cup, there was a growing sense of optimism along with the construction of the Milennium Stadium in Cardiff. This saw a regeneration in the dockland area of the city as well. Barcelona saw a similar serge in rejuvenation after they hosted the 1992 summer Olympics, including the developments of areas such as Port Vell. In the 1990s, Cool Britannia saw the emergence of the Britpop scene, which included the rise of popular bands such as Pulp, Blur and Oasis. Wales gained "increased visibility and credibility within the popular realm" through bands such as Catatonia, the Stereophonics and the Manic Street Preachers (Harris, 2007: 152). There was the already popular Tom Jones, who for his Reload album in 1999 recorded duets with Catatonia's Cerys Matthews and the Stereophonics.

Anderson begins by examining Marxist/socialist views of nationalism and how nation, nationality and nationalism are "notoriously difficult to define" (Anderson, 2006: 3). It is somewhat incompatible with the desired new social order of brotherhood and comradeship. Anderson suggests that "nationalism has proved an uncomfortable anomaly for Marxist theory and, precisely for that reason, has been largely elided, rather than confronted” (2006: 3).  Nairn is quoted in saying that “The theory of nationalism represents Marxism’s greatest historical failure”.

Even though in 1983 Anderson refers to conflicts between Marxist regimes which marginally owe something to nationalism, nowadays there are no more federations. Most of them broke up, along lines of nationhood around the time of the fall of communism in Eastern Europe in the early 1990s.

Anderson also mentions imagined communities and the fact that you may never meet or know everybody in a small village. He quotes from Seton-Watson in Nations and States – “All that I can find to say is that a nation exists when a significant number of people in a community consider themselves to form a nation, or behave as if they formed one” (Seton-Watson, n.d.) To put this into sporting terms, this is like wanting an athlete representing Great Britain in the Olympics to beat someone else in, say, the kayaking, even though you have no idea who they are. It is simply because of the Union Jack, or its blue equivalent this summer, thanks to Stella McCartney. In terms of football, I want England to beat Argentina, even if it means cheering for Rooney, Terry or Cole who I hate every other weekend. However, for me being a Newcastle United fan, this means booing two of my favourite players – Fabricio Coloccini and Jonas Gutierrez. But, the rest of the time I would applaud them with the black and white shirt on.

About 15 months ago, I was a stranger in a strange land, sitting in the Sydney Cricket Ground cheering loudly for a group of South Africans, albeit wearing three lions on their shirt. This was in the name of patriotism (nay, nationalism), to beat the Aussies at their chosen game and in their country. How they wallowed not in their scandalized press and TV. One of the most memorable headlines was on 27th December in the Daily Telegraph, where they took the famous poster from 1882 which originally had the words "In affectionate remembrance of English cricket which died at the Oval on 29th August 1882...N.B.-The body will be cremated and the ashes taken to Australia". They replaced them with "In affectionate remembrance of Australian cricket which died at the MCG on 26th December 2010...N.B.- The body will be cremated and the ashes taken to England".

Now, once again I am a stranger in a strange land. However, this time I saw the benevolent host in reverse, a triumph in their chosen national sport. This is a glorious era for Wales. They were unquestionably the best "home" nation at the 2011 Rugby World Cup and have recently won their third 6 Nations Grand Slam in 8 years. Bendict Anderson in Imagined Communities said that Wales was a post-industrial recognition. Yet, it did create a divide, the south more associated with industry. For many years before 2005, they had struggled in rugby against their "Big Brother", even though their nation sport has long been regarded as football. There is a parallel involving another country which regards rugby union as its national sport. However, New Zealand were dominated especially in the late 1990s and early 2000s by their rival, a nation whose national sport, as previously mentioned, is cricket. Both Wales and New Zealand celebrate rugby like a religion.

Wales is an imagined community in terms of Anderson's definition, but the divisions between north and south people, whether or not they speak Welsh, are emphasized by the mutual remoteness of individuals in their imagined nation. Do you actually have to be Welsh to represent Wales? No, there is a New Zealander representing them. The example of this is Grannygate and the eligibility of individuals to represent certain nations (Shane Howarth and Brett Sinkinson for Wales).

Everybody has their own opinion of nationalism. Do you have to be born in the country you represent? Kevin Pietersen and Jonathan Trott were both born in South Africa, but represent England. However, one member of England's Ashes winning team in 2005, Geraint Jones, has returned to play for the country of his birth, Papau New Guinea. But does this matter if you are a supporter? Sometimes, winning is all that matters, no matter who is taking part...

Reference list

• Anderson, B. (2006) Imagined Communities. London: Verso. Chapter 1.
• Harris, J. (2007) Cool Cymru, Rugby Union and an Imagined Community, International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, (27)3/4: pp. 151-162.
• Seton-Watson (n.d.) Nations and States, quoted in Anderson, B. (2006) Imagined Communities. London: Verso. Chapter 1.

Bibliography

• Anderson, B. (2006) Imagined Communities. London: Verso. Chapter 1.
• Harris, J. (2007) Cool Cymru, Rugby Union and an Imagined Community, International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, (27)3/4: pp. 151-162.