MTD1Notes WEEK 1

Intro to class – tour of syllabus

What is media?

Forms: TV, film, newspaper, radio And …

What differentiates mass from “non-mass”

History (selections):[[1]]

pre-1800, Prehistoric

• prehistoric –
  • carving on tooth, on bone
  • includes the medium of “transmission” or recording as well as the message itself
    • functions include marking time, symbolic markers for trade of goods, possibly religious significance, maps – representation of places
  • 1100 - 1399
    • Medieval Manuscript with Glosses[[2]]
• 15th C
  • 1400-1599
    • Gutenberg (1454 – Gutenberg prints indulgences – pardons for future sins) (technology and communication with the divine)
  • 1492: German map-maker Martin Behaim constructs the first globe. (fundamental to our conception of the world and our relationship to it)
• 19th C.
  • 1837: Daguerre creates daguerreotype.
    • Boston from a hot air balloon, 1860[[3]]
  • 1839: Electricity runs a printing press.
  • 1839: In London, a commercial telegraph line sends messages.
• 20th C
  • 1961: Sony markets a helical scan videotape recorder.
  • 1963: TV is now principal source of news in U.S., according to Roper Poll.
  • 1963: TV news “comes of age” in reporting JFK assassination.
  • 1963: First live televised murder: Jack Ruby shoots Lee Harvey Oswald.
  • 1969: moon landing broadcast live[[4]]
  • 1969: UCLA computer sends data to Stanford computer, foreshadowing Internet.
• 21st C
  • 2000: Sony Playstation 2 uses DVD for home video games.
  • 2000: Bluetooth lets computers converse via low power radio signals.
  • 2000: From Japan, the camera-phone.
  • 2001: Stunned world watches television reports of 9/11; a few cheer.
  • 2001: Patriot Act allows examination of library, Internet use.
  • 2002: Friendster sets up Internet social contact network.
  • 2007: More than six million “residents” of Second Life.
  • 2007: Survey: 27% of Americans did not read any books in past year.
  • 2007: Survey: 27% of Americans read at least 15 books in past year.

what is media? Media vs. medium (form vs. content, how form shapes content) Usually we think of as mass media (term coined in 20’s) *At the time, most media was mass, individuals largely did not have access to the tools of production, only of reception Commented on by Bertolt Brecht Brecht on radio, 1932 From Brecht on Theatre.; Pdf linked to wiki[[5]]

Communication can be visual (image/text)– aural (words/sounds, eg. drums) Frequently one is linked with and supports (or undermines) the other

What is the function of media? Richard Serra – television delivers people[[6]]

Merchants of cool 55 min.[[7]]

corporate ownership of the media[[8]]

are there ways to break the marketing "feedback loop"

• diy movement[[9]]
• handmade craft[[10]]
• world on fire video Sarah McLachlin[[11]]
• Steve Mann[[12]][[13]][[14]]
• Indymedia[[15]]

Dove Evolution [[16]] Manipulation – literally – tools in the toolkit? (the video makes you aware of the tools of production)

Talking back to the media: Parody (elements of) [[17]]

• who is each made by ?
• who does each benefit?

Advertising Age – ad review[[18]]

Exquisitely Combines Social Responsibility and Brand Marketing

Onslaught video[[19]]

Talking back to the media: palm oil critique of Dove by Greenpeace[[20]]

Media questions:

• Who is speaking
• What techniques are used to deliver the message
• What is the speaker’s intention
• Who is the intended audience
• Is the message true, correct, fair, complete?