Notes medialandschap week 1
What is the “media industry”?
- broadcasting, print, film, recording industries, social media
- advertising, marketing, PR
- social media companies
media companies= a company whose primary function is to produce or distribute media
content
but times are changing
boundaries, roles are changing
“industry” implies commerciality (money driven, capitalistic) = (not always a good fit
for individual artist)
Why try to define the landscape define at all?
- For us: scope, analysis, easier with precision
- For industry: think about markets, competitors, strategies.
Defining mass media (= media in traditional sense):
Radio, tv, printed newspaper, magazines….
5 key characters
1. One to many, one-way direction (identical message to a mass audience)
2. Experiental (ervaringsgericht) goods
value = immaterial attributes (originality, intellectual property, stories told)
it’s about the experience, you don’t know how good a content is until after you
watch/consume it.
3. High fixed/ “first copy” costs
low marginal costs (=costs per additional unit)
leads to economies of scale= price per unit decreases as quantity of output
increases. You need to produce enough.
4. Potential for (cheap) re-versioning
re-selling in different formats, leads to economies of scope (= average
production costs decrease as variety of output increases)
but also: spin-offs, branded products, etc.
5. High risk.
consumers taste is ‘fickle’ (onvoorspelbaar) and hard to predict.
high first copy costs regardless # of consumers
The mass media market in which all the media products are sold.
media companies produce 2 things:
- Content, sold to audiences
- Audiences, sold to advertisers
attention economy: attention is the real product being sold/bought.
,Why should we care?
- Result: advertising goals influence content/ strategy
- Problematic for journalism, particularly
But also, for artist
- Broader tension: creative industries versus commercial needs
The mass media market is changing:
4 outcomes
1. Convergence= previously separate channels fuses; channels, content & computing
2. Interactivity= two-way replaces one-way (users become mass producers)
3. Diversification= heightened user control & choice; fragmentation/ expansions of
content.
4. Mobility= media ‘on the go’ becomes norm; ‘always on’ culture
But media has responsibilities?
- Media organizations (or at least some) should be socially responsible
- A few core responsibilities.
exchanging ideas/ cohering diverse societies
intergrating/ cohering diverse societies
protecting core values/ vulnerable audiences
- Is it only journalism with social responsibility
High stakes/ high risks
- Media companies have potentially significant influence on (young) (vulnerable)
audiences
who gets a voice (and who doesn’t)
how they are represented (and by whom)
which values are shown and promoted, elevated (and which not)
all of these matters
- So, we should care about how the industry functions
- Bottom line= high stakes
Strong reactions to change
McLuhan’s optimism:
- Technology itself matters
- New technology extends senses
- New, ‘cooler’, media:
liberate audiences from hierarchies, isolation
away from officialdom toward ‘everyday talk’
toward a global village
Postman’s pessimism:
- Print age: detailed, relevant, localized, coherent, rational
- Post- telegraph: dazzling stories from afar outweigh the relevant local
- Tv/images: superficiality
- Attentions, rationally
- Passive audience
, Critique of these critiques
- Both approaches= technological determinism
= that technology itself is primary cause of social change
- Simplifies & overplays tech, ignores social context
- Ignore power relations behind development/use
optimism: tech as solution to man-made problems
pessimism: blames tech for social problems
problematic because….
Samenvatting:
• Media industry has shifting borders, definitions
• Its products, market structures are unique
• It’s undergoing massive changes [t.b.c.]
• Theorists react to those changes very strongly §And companies do, too [t.b.c.]
• But, we are constantly engaging with it §Now... to the “media life” idea from Deuze
Media life (deuze)
Media now so central that we don’t notice them
- We don’t live with media, we live in media
2 clear manifestations:
- Personal/ individualized information space (filter bubble)
- Always- available global connectivity
2 main consequences:
- Liquefies boundaries between work/play & alone/ interaction
- Life changed to accommodate/ exploit media
Also: remember diversification, interactivity, mobility, convergence (slide 27!)
All reflected in “media life” notion
Technological changes/responses create this new individualized connectivity – more
next week(s)
Keep this in mind as the course progresses
See if you (dis-)agree with Deuze’s philosophy
Samengevat:
• Media industry, mass media, & market:
Unique characteristics, fuzzy borders
Social resp./creative-commercial tension unique
Rise of digital media = further challenges, changes
Systematically opposed responses to change
“media life”: one approach to theorizing media
Importance of “individualized information spaces”
• We saw individuality in your own habits, within a corp.-dominated marketplace
Key concepts:
5 characteristics of mass media
Economies of scale, economies of scope
Dual product market
Convergence, Interactivity, Diversification, Mobility
What is the “media industry”?
- broadcasting, print, film, recording industries, social media
- advertising, marketing, PR
- social media companies
media companies= a company whose primary function is to produce or distribute media
content
but times are changing
boundaries, roles are changing
“industry” implies commerciality (money driven, capitalistic) = (not always a good fit
for individual artist)
Why try to define the landscape define at all?
- For us: scope, analysis, easier with precision
- For industry: think about markets, competitors, strategies.
Defining mass media (= media in traditional sense):
Radio, tv, printed newspaper, magazines….
5 key characters
1. One to many, one-way direction (identical message to a mass audience)
2. Experiental (ervaringsgericht) goods
value = immaterial attributes (originality, intellectual property, stories told)
it’s about the experience, you don’t know how good a content is until after you
watch/consume it.
3. High fixed/ “first copy” costs
low marginal costs (=costs per additional unit)
leads to economies of scale= price per unit decreases as quantity of output
increases. You need to produce enough.
4. Potential for (cheap) re-versioning
re-selling in different formats, leads to economies of scope (= average
production costs decrease as variety of output increases)
but also: spin-offs, branded products, etc.
5. High risk.
consumers taste is ‘fickle’ (onvoorspelbaar) and hard to predict.
high first copy costs regardless # of consumers
The mass media market in which all the media products are sold.
media companies produce 2 things:
- Content, sold to audiences
- Audiences, sold to advertisers
attention economy: attention is the real product being sold/bought.
,Why should we care?
- Result: advertising goals influence content/ strategy
- Problematic for journalism, particularly
But also, for artist
- Broader tension: creative industries versus commercial needs
The mass media market is changing:
4 outcomes
1. Convergence= previously separate channels fuses; channels, content & computing
2. Interactivity= two-way replaces one-way (users become mass producers)
3. Diversification= heightened user control & choice; fragmentation/ expansions of
content.
4. Mobility= media ‘on the go’ becomes norm; ‘always on’ culture
But media has responsibilities?
- Media organizations (or at least some) should be socially responsible
- A few core responsibilities.
exchanging ideas/ cohering diverse societies
intergrating/ cohering diverse societies
protecting core values/ vulnerable audiences
- Is it only journalism with social responsibility
High stakes/ high risks
- Media companies have potentially significant influence on (young) (vulnerable)
audiences
who gets a voice (and who doesn’t)
how they are represented (and by whom)
which values are shown and promoted, elevated (and which not)
all of these matters
- So, we should care about how the industry functions
- Bottom line= high stakes
Strong reactions to change
McLuhan’s optimism:
- Technology itself matters
- New technology extends senses
- New, ‘cooler’, media:
liberate audiences from hierarchies, isolation
away from officialdom toward ‘everyday talk’
toward a global village
Postman’s pessimism:
- Print age: detailed, relevant, localized, coherent, rational
- Post- telegraph: dazzling stories from afar outweigh the relevant local
- Tv/images: superficiality
- Attentions, rationally
- Passive audience
, Critique of these critiques
- Both approaches= technological determinism
= that technology itself is primary cause of social change
- Simplifies & overplays tech, ignores social context
- Ignore power relations behind development/use
optimism: tech as solution to man-made problems
pessimism: blames tech for social problems
problematic because….
Samenvatting:
• Media industry has shifting borders, definitions
• Its products, market structures are unique
• It’s undergoing massive changes [t.b.c.]
• Theorists react to those changes very strongly §And companies do, too [t.b.c.]
• But, we are constantly engaging with it §Now... to the “media life” idea from Deuze
Media life (deuze)
Media now so central that we don’t notice them
- We don’t live with media, we live in media
2 clear manifestations:
- Personal/ individualized information space (filter bubble)
- Always- available global connectivity
2 main consequences:
- Liquefies boundaries between work/play & alone/ interaction
- Life changed to accommodate/ exploit media
Also: remember diversification, interactivity, mobility, convergence (slide 27!)
All reflected in “media life” notion
Technological changes/responses create this new individualized connectivity – more
next week(s)
Keep this in mind as the course progresses
See if you (dis-)agree with Deuze’s philosophy
Samengevat:
• Media industry, mass media, & market:
Unique characteristics, fuzzy borders
Social resp./creative-commercial tension unique
Rise of digital media = further challenges, changes
Systematically opposed responses to change
“media life”: one approach to theorizing media
Importance of “individualized information spaces”
• We saw individuality in your own habits, within a corp.-dominated marketplace
Key concepts:
5 characteristics of mass media
Economies of scale, economies of scope
Dual product market
Convergence, Interactivity, Diversification, Mobility
