From: joedees@bellsouth.net
Date: Tue 02 Sep 2003 - 06:43:24 GMT
From: "Scott Chase" <ecphoric@hotmail.com>
To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk
Subject: Re: memetics and models of media effects
Date sent: Tue, 02 Sep 2003 02:10:40 -0400
Send reply to: memetics@mmu.ac.uk
>
>
>
>
> >From: Vincent Campbell <VCampbell@dmu.ac.uk>
> >Reply-To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk
> >To: "'memetics@mmu.ac.uk'" <memetics@mmu.ac.uk>
> >Subject: memetics and models of media effects
> >Date: Wed, 6 Aug 2003 13:53:03 +0100
> >
> >Hi Everyone,
> >
> >Thinking out loud here about a possible paper I may write on the
> >relationship between memetics and some major models of media effects-
> >and just after any initial thoughts, comments, critiques.
> >
> >Long serving list members will know about my general antipathy to the
> >media effects lobby, but certainly if memes exist and are transmitted
> >between people then the media are possible routes through which
> >memetic transmission may occur.
> >
> >If so, how do memes travel through media, and what might
> >differentiate memes from other pieces of information that are
> >transmitted?
> >
> >Many media studies models of media effects and media production, for
> >that matter, offer possible frameworks for analysis and understanding
> >this, and I think it wold be useful for memetics scholars to be aware
> >of them, including:
> >
> >News Values- theories of news values explore why some things become
> >news and others don't, and then why some things become huuge stories
> >and other similar things don't, in terms of the apparent constituent
> >elements of news stories (e.g. the model of Galtung & Ruge).
> >
> >Gatekeeping- related to theories of news values are models outlining
> >the flow of news in the newsroom, and the decision-making process
> >within a news organisation.
> >
> >Agenda-setting- this model argues that the media are successful in
> >telling audiences what to think about, by the media's tendency to
> >highlight some issues/events over others (e.g because the media cover
> >issue a extensively and issue b hardly ever, people will be thinking
> >more about a than b).
> >
> >Framing- going further than agenda-setting, but in the same mould,
> >framing models suggest that the way in which the media frame an event
> >or issue influences public perceptions about that event or issue
> >(e.g. because the British media virtually never reported the conflict
> >in Northern Ireland as a war, people generally didn't perceive it as
> >a war- that's the theory anyway).
> >
> >
> Taking all these topics together one could think cynically how media
> may serve the interests of the "powers that be" (tm) via its selective
> filtering of information or focus on sensational stories (the "trial
> of the century" of the week) not relevant to gov't policies so as not
> to attract attention to the substance (or lack of) and the conseqences
> of these policies.
>
> But with a competitive information market and with media in the hands
> of people having diverse political leanings (eg CNN being seen as
> liberal and FoxNews seen as conservative), uniformity of coverage may
> not be as much a problem. CNN may do the "trial of the century" of the
> week bit too, but be more critical of economic policies implemented by
> a conservative gov't. I haven't seen enough CNN to know if they're
> more critical than FoxNews, but if they truly are leftist in
> comparison to FOX, then it would stand to reason, that their coverage
> of Bush's economic policies would be more critical on average. OTOH
> they (CNN) might not be leftist enough or critical enough for those
> who consider themselves really left-leaning and cynical.
>
> With a greater diversity in the information market, I would hope that
> there's a larger spectrum of news coverage being offered. One can
> choose from news of other countries (eg- BBCAmerica) if they can
> afford cable or satellite packages including such channels.
>
> This would lead into something Robert Wright discussed in his book
> _Nonzero_ about narrowcasting (versus broadcasting). Television as a
> medium has gone from a more general and limited source to a very
> diversified source, paralleling a similar course run by print media
> such as magazines.
>
> Just as there's a _National Review_, a _New Republic_ and a _Nation_
> magazine out there, there's a FOXNews, an MSNBC, and a CNN cable news
> channel. Granted the magazines I mention are actually politically
> oriented in content to a great degree, the news channels themselves
> seem to represent a spectrum of political bias with FoxNews slanting
> right, CNN slanting left and perhaps MSNBC in the middle somewhere.
>
In US weekly newsmagazines, Time is perceived as leftist, US News
and World Report as rightist, and Newsweek as centrist.
>
> Wright's take on narrowcasting was more general and one could look at
> this putative phenomenon in light of there being magazines dedicated
> to sports exclusively as are the television cable channels like ESPN.
>
> Could it be said that media proceed from general ("broadcasting") to
> specific ("narrowcasting") over time?
>
> But with television it may still be the wealthier folks that can
> afford the cable or satellite package that offer a wider spectrum of
> coverage and entertainment, where those who must rely on antenna or
> basic cable might have limited access, if they have televisions.
> Wright addresses the economic aspects of narrowcasting where things
> become cheaper, but this seems to be relative. I grew up having only a
> B&W TV and antenna for some periods of my youth. Cable is now
> affordable, but spending the money for the 100+ channel package and
> premium movie channels isn't all that prudent. Access to the wide
> spectrum of channels involves economics and cost-benefit. Same goes
> for subscriptions to a wide variety of magazines or newspapers. Plus
> there's the time constraint on any mortal being with average
> processing capacities being able to assimilate all this information,
> when they should be at the gym on the stairmaster or treadmill. But,
> if one can afford the dues, some gyms have TV's in view of the
> exercise machines, so at least the time constraints aren't as
> limiting. You could feasibly watch your daily allotment of the "trial
> of the century" of the week while burning your allotment of calories
> on the exercise bike.
>
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>
> ===============================================================
> This was distributed via the memetics list associated with the
> Journal of Memetics - Evolutionary Models of Information Transmission
> For information about the journal and the list (e.g. unsubscribing)
> see: http://www.cpm.mmu.ac.uk/jom-emit
>
===============================================================
This was distributed via the memetics list associated with the
Journal of Memetics - Evolutionary Models of Information Transmission
For information about the journal and the list (e.g. unsubscribing)
see: http://www.cpm.mmu.ac.uk/jom-emit
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