Module 2.3: Entertaining the world: Using media across cultural boundaries

Image courtesy of Vancouver125 via Flickr.

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This week's topic is about media across cultural boundaries. In the iLecture by Dr Thomas Jayaprakesh he  uses Arjun Appadurai's definition of Globalisation as 5 inter-related dimensions:

1. Ethnoscape - flow of immigrants
2. Technoscape - rapid movement of technology
3. Financescape - rapid flow of money via markets
4. Mediascape - flow of images and information
5. Ideoscape - images of democracy, freedom, welfare and rights.

There are 3 kinds of geographical audiences. They are:

1. local - the audience who consumes only local popular culture text
2. diasporic audience - a culture of people living away from their homeland consuming media from their homeland
3. Those who consume transnational culture text like foreign films and TV.

Dr Jayaprakesh quotes Henry Jenkins "media convergence has no end point. It's ongoing, occurring at various intersections between media technologies, industries, content and audience". (Jenkins, 2006).

Youth listen to similar music, TV and wear similar clothes meaning the new media landscape has captured the image of western youth, however Asian youth are more complex than superficial and are quite conservative. Youth are generally attracted to commercially based entertainment programs broadcast by global channels. Bollywood films have sold more tickets in the UK than English language films (Jayaprakash, 2011).

The reader by Henry Jenkins 'Pop Cosmopolitanism: Mapping Cultural Flows in an Age of Media Convergence' defines pop cosmopolitan as someone whose embrace of global popular media represents an escape route out of the parochialism of their local community. (Jenkins, 2006). He states globalisation has profoundly altered the nature of American popular culture and that a growing number of popular culture that Americans consume comes from elsewhere, especially Asia. Media convergence is more than simply a technological shift; it alters the relationship between existing technologies, industries, markets, genres and audiences. This results in surges of lurches and panic.

The media imperialism argument blurs the distinction between at least four forms of power: economic (the ability to produce and distribute cultural goods), cultural (the ability to produce and circulate forms and meanings), political (the ability to impose ideologies), and psychological (the ability to shape desire, fantasy and identity). Within this formulation, Western economic dominance over global entertainment both expresses and extends American's status as a superpower national the flow of cultural goods shapes the beliefs and the fantasies of worldwide consumers, reshaping local cultures in accordance with US economic and political interests. (Jenkins, 2006).

Americans can't get enough of Asian media so the American entertainment industry believes that if you can't beat them, join them! There have been a number of large companies producing films in Chinese, German, Italian and Japanese. Many cartoons shown in American now are actually made in Asia. The Power Rangers, which was created in Japan, was remade for western distribution, re-cast with multi American characters and the dialogue altered for Americans. Pokemon was the first Japanese product successfully received world wide and the first to challenge western dominance in the global production of cultural goods. It made $1 billion in product sales within 1 year. Pokemon and Yu-Gi-Oh! are now unavoidable aspects of children's culture. (Jenkins, 2006)

Pop cosmopolitans are increasingly being drawn to Indian fashion and culture. Madonna used henna and an Indian religious iconography in her 'Ray of Light' Tour.

Image courtesy of Henna by Heather via Flickr.com.

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The reader by Ramesh Srinivasan "Indigenous, ethnic and cultural articulations of new media" defines the term 'digital divide' as the gap between people who have access to technology and those who don't, or have very little. Putnam finds a decline in civic, religious and political participation across American society. (Putnam,2000). Could this be because everyone is online? In virtual communities, social networking instead of face to face? There are benefits of recording videos to get community and political backing. Take a look at the Kayapo tribe of Central Brazil. When they were given video recorders they began recording their history, visits to other communities and documenting issues that affected them. It resulted in international exposure and acquisition of sustainable land. Indigenous communities have also appropriated new media to activate their own cultural, political, economic and other causes. A wide variety of indigenous websites are now in existence (Srinivasan, 2006). He notes that physical distance has no consequence as communication is instant via media technologies. It is obvious the Internet provides small communities and indigenous people a means of self representation. Srinivasan concludes eventually varriers between cultural difference and information/media technology will continue to erode and media research will uncover new empowering potential uses of technology. (Srinivasan, 2006).

Discussion 1:

What is the digital divide? What are its consequences, and how can it be overcome?
Digital divide refers to the gap between people who have access to technology and those who do not. For example third world countries, those of low socio economic demographic, or unemployed, those in remote areas with no Internet access, people over 50yrs old and those with disabilities. I found an interesting paper by the NTIA (the National Telecommunications and Information Administration) who states: "We are
approaching the point where not having access to these tools is likely to put an individual at a competitive disadvantage and in a position of being a less-than-full participant in the digital economy. Most groups, regardless of income, education, race or ethnicity, location, age, or gender are making dramatic gains." (Mineta, 2000).

Despite this report being 11 years old, it clearly shows the steps the U.S has made to connect people. And that is happening here in Australia with the NBN too. Over time I feel there will be no remote areas without internet access.

References:
Jayaprakash, T. (2011). 2.3 Entertaining the World [iLecture]. Retrieved from http://dbs.ilectures.curtin.edu.au/lectopia/casterframe.lasso?fid=599174&cnt=true&usr=15477071&name=not-indicated

Jenkins, J (2006). Pop Cosmopolitanism: Mapping Cultural Flows in an age of Media Convergence. In H. Jenkins, Fans, bloggers and gamers: exploring participatory culture (pp 152 - 172). New York: New York University Press.

Mineta, N. (2000). Falling Through The Net: Toward Digital Inclusion. Retrieved from http://www.ntia.doc.gov/files/ntia/publications/fttn00.pdf

Putnam, R. (2000). Bowling alone: The collapse and revival of American community. New York S. Schuster (Ed.)

Srinivasan, R. (2006). Indigenous, ethnic and cultural articulations of new media. International Journal of Cultural Studies, 9(4), 497-518. Retrieved from  doi: 10.1177/136787790606989

Module 2.2: Don't touch that! Copyright, ownership and institutional control

Image courtesy of Mike Seyfang via Flickr.com

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Copyright is a complex area of law which is really difficult to understand. The laws have changed over the years. Did you know that the song Happy Birthday is owned by Walt Disney? And any performance of that song in public results in Disney receiving royalties for it...yes...in movies too! Considering Disney didn't write the song, it's absurd!

The Collins reader titled Recovering Fair Use argues that copyright enforcement has spun out of control. Collins states that the balance between private and public interests in creative works is facilitated by the doctrine of fair use (as codified in the United States Copyright Act 1976, Section 107). He goes on to say despite its flexibility, fair use has been systematically eroded by ever encroaching copyrights. The rise of the Web 2.0 phase with its emphasis on end-user created content has led to an unrelenting wave of creativity, and much of its incorporates or 'mashes up' copyrighted material. The copyright rules have gone too far. the law has abandoned its reason for being: to encourage learning and the creation of new works. Collins refers to Lessig here "few, if any, things...are strictly original throughout. Every book in literature, science and art, borrows and must necessarily borrow and use much which was well known and used before". Recently the Federal Supreme Court and lower courts have stressed that copyright was intended to promote creativity and have upheld the fair doctrine, but in order for the balance to exist in copyright law, cases must come before the course, copyright myth must be challenged.

The Lessig documentary Laws that choke creativity was an interesting read. He is pro-remixes and transformative works and believes the copyright laws are unfair.

• 1941 legal access to music was broken
• People make remixes for fun, not money
• The kids of today don't give 2 hoots about copyright laws. They believe they should be fought
• Music should be made public freely for non commerical use AND not freely for commercial use
• We (our generation) made mixed tapes. Our kids remix music. We watched TV. Our kids make TV.

Another video I watched this week was called A Fair(y) Use Tale which gives us a run-down on copyright laws:

• Only the copyright owner has the right to use their work
• It's forbidden to use a copyright work without permission granted
• Copyright laws differ in different countries
• Fair Use means a copyright may be broken - you can borrow a small amount of copyrighted material to teach, for news reporting, for parody and for critical comment AS LONG as it doesn't change the value of the original work in the marketplace. 

The iLecture by Em McAvan spoke about copyright laws in relation to music and how music distribution has changed copyright laws. Em refers to Lessig's statement that we have changed from a read-only culture to a read-write culture. Read-only meaning the act of consumption where there's a beginning, a middle and an end. Read-write meaning open endedness. Something that's reworkable, able to be reworked. Other points:

• Copyright laws sprung up early in the 20th century when making exact copies (bootlegging) was rife and artists were not being compensated
• Prince (the singer) changed his name so he could start writing his own songs which Warner Bros was opposed to.

The reason why Prince changed his name is here. He states: The first step I have taken towards the ultimate goal of emancipation from the chains that bind me to Warner Bros. was to change my name from Prince to the Love Symbol. Prince is the name that my mother gave me at birth. Warner Bros. took the name, trademarked it, and used it as the main marketing tool to promote all of the music that I wrote. The company owns the name Prince and all related music marketed under Prince. I became merely a pawn used to produce more money for Warner Bros.

• In 1995 the mp3 went public and was infinitely reproducible
• Napster changed the distribution of music drastically. Over 50 million people were members when the site was forced to close in 2001
• The RIAA (Record Industry of America) took on Napster as a file sharer and charged them with facilitating file sharing and illegal music distribution
• A bit torrent site in Sweden was also closed and the owners jailed and fined
• By July 2006 the RIAA had sued over 17,000 people for file sharing, then another 23,000 over the next 3 years
• The record companies are pushing to make examples out of those who distribute and obtain music illegally
• In regards to Fair Use - transformative works are OK as is parody
• The iPod was launched in 2001. iTunes reverted our read-write culture back to a read-only culture through it's encryption methods called DRM
• DRM limits the copying of a file to 5 computers but to an unlimited number of iPods. It doesn't suit the needs of a transformative participatory culture.

The Creative Commons Laws page is quite extensive and even has links to material we can use freely. In a nutshell:

• Attribution - give credit to the original aurthor
• Share Alike
• Non-commercial
• No derivative works (re-works not permitted)

Discussion 1
How has the internet changed our ideas about production and consumption?
The internet has given we consumers the technology to produce (create) our own work. However, as easy as it is - it doesn't make it right. Just because we can, doesn't mean we should. Just because I have the skills to rob a bank, doesn't mean I am permitted to.

The documentary relies a lot on the work of Girl Talk--do you think he is an original artist? Why or why not?
No - he is sampling music from other artists, which in my opinion is stealing.

In addition to charging royalties (which already prevent a lot of people from using copyrighted material in the creation of texts) copyright holders also have the right to veto the use of their material within a context of interpretation they don't like. Is this a type of censorship?
Yes, it's censorship. The artist should either make their material legal to copy or illegal. If they make it legal, they should lose all rights and have no say in it's remixes.

When writing an essay, we can manipulate Shakespeare or an academic source for example, as long as we cite and reference them. Why can't this principle relate to other types of texts we may produce?
Good question. Why isn't this the case?

Peer-to-peer downloading is discussed in the film. Anyone brave enough to share their thoughts on this and whether or not they have done it? Do we all pretend we aren't, by definition, copyright criminals?
When I got my first computer it was around the same time as Napster came on the scene. I joined and downloaded a few songs. My computer developed a virus and ended up at the local tip. I felt it was karma. It made me realise it was the wrong thing to do and since then I've only ever bought songs from iTunes. I've never downloaded a movie of TV show either. Everyone I know does though!

The history of Napster is also discussed in the documentary. Napster users created the biggest library of music in history--why is this something that is discouraged?
It is discouraged because the original artist isn't being credited or paid royalties. Think about any piece of work you create, whether it's a piece of art, sculpture, scribble, poem, song, or even essay. Think about the time you've spent creating that piece of work from it's conception to completion. Would you like it if someone stole it from you? You'd probably be happy to give it away to someone, but if many copies of it were distributed without your permission, how would you feel?

Discussion 2
What are the benefits of copyright?
There are benefits only for the author/artist/creator which simply put is financial compensation. There are no benefits for the consumer in relation to the consumer. As a consumer you need to be aware of the laws and willing to pay the price (fine/imprisonment) if caught using copyrighted material.

Are there other ways of thinking about copyright that should be considered?

In my opinion everyone using someone else's material (whether it be a quote, a song, movie, written text) needs to be credited back to the original author. I wouldn't like to know how many people have taken one of my recipes from my cooking blog and called it their own. When I have time, I'm going to put up some copyright rules on the page.

Reference
Collins, S. (2008). Recovering Fair Use. M/C Journal, 11(6). Retrieved from http://journal.media-culture.org.au/index.php/mcjournal/article/viewArticle/105

Module 2.1: Entertain me

This week's tutorial and readers were about blockbuster movies, fan fiction and vidding. Let's start by defining some terms.

• A blockbuster movie can be defined as a movie with high production costs and good returns
• A pre-sold identity is an actor who appears in a sequel and already has a huge following from their first movie
• Vidding is when people cut and paste images or video clips and add music to make their own creation, similar to remixes and mash-ups
• Fanfiction (or fanfic) is a work of fiction written by fans for fans, taking a source text or a famous person as a point of departure. It's shared online. Thousands are written daily
• Fandom is a community of similar people who interact in some way through discussions or their creative works
• Fanlore is a wiki—a multi-authored website—that any fan can contribute to. Our goal is to record both the history and current state of our fan communities—fan works, fan activities, fan terminology, individual fans and fannish-related events.

The reader by Henry Jenkins is about the video called Vidding. Vidding is described as an expression, a creative outlet, to give people something to say. Video makers (or Vidders) learn about themselves when making videos as it gives them an outlet for emotion. New vidders arrive on the scene every day, without any historical context or legal fears, and plunk their vids onto YouTube without a second thought. They post publicly and promote themselves enthusiastically, and why not? That's what everybody does on the Internet. (Jenkins, 2008).

The iLecture by Tama Leaver is about Dr Horrible's Sing-a-long Blog - a short series never aired on TV, but released on the internet. The creator, Joss Whedon had created TV series like Buffy The Vampire Slayer and Fireflies and already had a huge following, however his next project Dr Horrible obtained a large following even before it's release. Conversations, not just promotion portals; and participation, not just dissemination (Leaver, 2011). He goes on to talk about the shifting roles of actors into directing, producing or writing; and also the shift from zappers to loyals. Zappers watch TV, casuals commit to one or two shows, but loyals watch the whole series and buy promotional material. Australians download more television per capita than any other nation. (Leaver, 2011). This is because Australia doesn't get new US shows until weeks, sometimes months after the US launch date and Aussies want to keep up to date with the show's online communities.

Image courtesy of Richard Elzey via Flickr.com
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The reader by Marco Cucco entitled The Promise is great: the blockbuster and the Hollywood economy was a very interesting read as I am an avid movie watcher. It tells the history of the blockbuster and the US film industry. From as far back as the 1950's Hollywood was experiencing a slum in movie sales due to people moving to the suburbs, buying houses and cars and having no time or money for the luxury of movies. The film executives, in response to this down-turn, decided to release fewer, but larger (big budget) movies per year and focussing on their promotion. Television had an impact on movie-goers with the release of the VCR. Steven Spielberg encompassed the idea of promoting his blockbuster movie, Jaws on television a week before it hit the cinemas. This defined the future of film promotion from there on in. Jaws was also the first movie to be released on the opening weekend at several cinemas setting in motion a strategy that is still used today. (Cucco, 2009).

Since the 1970's some genres have fallen by the wayside - musicals, westerns, biblical films, war films and films taken from literature. More popular are science fiction and adventure films. A blockbuster is not thought of as an artistic product, but a commercial one, meant to produce money and cover the expenses of those films that have not reached the break-even point as well as those projects that have been stopped during their development. (Cucco, 2009).

Stars are considered pre-sold identities or high concept as they draw in the fans from the original movie back into the cinema for the sequels. From an economic point of view, the star has 2 fundamental functions: to guarantee the movie access to the market and guarantee that the public will be attracted to the cinema. This is possible because stars have turned into brand products. (Cucco, 2009).

Discussion 1
What are some of the ways you participate as fan? Have you ever written fan fiction? Do you participate online in a fan forum somewhere? Why do you think we do this?

I had to think about this question for awhile because I immediately thought I wasn't a fan of anything. After gazing out the window for inspiration I could only come up with this response...

I love Super Mario Bros - and a big thanks to Carissa for the link to the cardboard box game, I loved it. lol I originally had the game on Nintendo 64 and finished all worlds. Then I bought it for my kids to play on their Nintendo DS' (well! for me to play!). Then I bought it for the Wii and finally I liked the Facebook page. That's as far as I go in regards to fandom I'm afraid :(

Discussion 2

Do you use any interactive media texts online? What are they, and what options do you have to interact on them?

The interactive online texts I use are Facebook, the Oasis site, my cooking blog and Best Recipes. I interact with Facebook everyday by posting status updates, commenting on my friends statuses and uploading photos for my friends and family to see.

I use Oasis nearly every day for uni learning, watching iLectures, reading suggested texts and posting in Blackboard. I find Oasis a user-friendly site and look forward to reading fellow student's messages.

When my husband and I renovated our kitchen last year I finally got a new kitchen after 19yrs. Since then I've developed a love of cooking. I joined Best Recipes after searching for a particular recipe. It is an Australian cooking site where recipes and tips are shared. I've uploaded pictures and recipes to the site, posted questions in the forums and have learned valuable cooking tips from the other members.

I also started my own cooking blog. I cook simple, quick and family-friendly meals. They are not gourmet, but they are very nice and great for busy people who don't have a lot of time to spend in the kitchen. Followers can post comments and questions and also print the recipes so they can try them out.

https://www.facebook.com/nell68crab
http://www.bestrecipes.com.au/forums/member.php?u=116758&tab=aboutme&simple=1
http://nellscookingblog.blogspot.com/

Discussion 3
How is the blockbuster film deemed to be different to other types of film? Cucco explains the blockbuster is a film which usually costs a lot of money to make, but also makes a lot of money in sales. They always have a major star and usually has exceptional special effects.(Cucco, 2009).

Are these differences meaningful?
They are meaningful because of the major star, special effects and the money spent on making the films. Cucco explains the reason why the blockbuster came about was because when people stopped going to the movies in the 1950's due to buying expensive commodities like houses and cars, major film companies reduced the number films released each year to focus on a major film (a blockbuster). They are also meaningful because the intent is that the blockbuster will make enough money to compensate for losses of movies which have poor sales and those which don't finish production. (Cucco, 2009) .

Why do you think we associate the blockbuster model with a drop of quality? (And what makes a film a 'quality' one?)
I disagree. I don't know anyone who associates a blockbuster with poor quality. I consider myself a movie buff and see hundreds every year...I must admit I look forward to Thursdays when new movies air at my local cinema. I think what makes a film a quality one is 3 things: a) the main actor(s); b) the special effects; and c) the Director. I will always go out of my way to see a film if I'm familiar with the actor(s), the Director and if I've enjoyed their previous films.

References
Cucco, M. (2009). The Promise is Great: The blockbuster and the Hollywood economy. Media Culture & Society, 31, 215-230. doi:10.1177/0163443708100315

Jenkins, H. (2008). Fan Vidding: A Labour of Love (part 2). Retrieved from http://henryjenkins.org/2008/12/in_many_ways_the_emergence.html

Leaver, T. (2011). Entertain me [Lecture]. Retrieved from http://dbs.ilectures.curtin.edu.au/lectopia/casterframe.lasso?fid=599139&cnt=true&usr=not-indicated&name=not-indicated

Module 1.2: The media is the message. When the media converge.

Image courtesy of Asthma Helper via Flickr.com

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This week our Learning Portfolios were clarified and it was made clear to me I need not to only summarise my weekly enrties, but to expand on the main topics, include Discussion Board posts, notes about tasks and readers and also my own research with references. So here goes:

• Participatory Culture can be defined by stating we are both consumer AND producers or in other words 'prosumers'
• Media Convergence is when the old and new media merges. We now have the technology to consume, produce and distribute our own content
• Transmedia can be defined as telling stories across multiple platforms
• Remediation is taking one representation of one medium and putting it to another, ie. taking stories, characters, plots from one medium to another, like from book to movie
• Re-mixing means reformulation, retelling, recirculation of stories.

The Video by Henry Jenkins called 'Participatory Culture' states that spectoral culture is being replaced with participatory culture where the audience can participate. He also says reality has already crossed platforms. Reality is complex enough for us to have many different characters or many different stories on many different platforms. (Jenkins, 2009). He goes on to say everyone can now have a say on mediums which weren't available to them before, ie blogs and social networks. Different groups gain representation. Different groups challenge dominant media images that have been constructed for their lives. (Jenkins, 2009). Our goal is to ensure the right tools are given to the oppressed people to get their stories out - to take entertainment out of the hands of the media moguls and movie makers so they can tell the stories that haven't been depicted so far. (Jenkins, 2009).

The Reader by Lawrence Lessig called 'Four Puzzles From Cyberspace' raises the questions a)How does cyberspace differ from everyday life? and b) How should we go about regulating that space? It consisted of 4 stories on cyberspace. The first story 'Borders' is about how coding limits game playing in MMOG's. The second story 'Governors' is about a US state making gambling illegal to all residents. When an off-shore online gambling organisation entices those residents in - they are no longer covered by the Governor's laws so are not punishable. The third story 'Jake's communities' is about a quiet, unassuming student who online is a sex-story author. He is arrested for his behaviour, however the charges are quashed because there was no evidence of any crime. The final story is called 'Worm' and is about a worm created by the FBI which can infiltrate itself into computers searching for particular stolen documents which are of a national security nature.

Lessig raises the issue of regulability - the capacity of a government to regulate behaviour within its proper reach, ie. to regulate the behaviour of citizens while on the Internet. To regulate well you need to know a) who someone is; b) where they are; and c) what they are doing. (Lessig, 2009). In a way the government already know this. They know who we are from census, council, telephone and electricity records. They know where we are and where we are going by the above records, plus speed cameras, red light cameras, toll cameras and location services in our smart phones. They also know what we are doing from the camera's mentioned above, Facebook and Twitter updates, blogs and internet searches.

The iLecture by Dr Helen Merrick tells the story of remediation through the many media formats of Star Trek. Star Trek was the most popular sci-fi TV show which gathered fans very quickly. From the original TV series came books, arcade and board games, role playing computer games, movies then fan movies.

Discussion 1
What are some of the ways cyberspace differs from our every day life?

The points that stand out for me were:

a) Online you can be a different character without consequences. Here I refer to the story of Jake the sexual deviant who is a quiet unnoticed student in real life, but an explicit sex-story author in cyberspace;

b) Lessig states in real life there are man-made laws and social norms to adhere to. That norms constrain us;

c) He states in real space we don't have much control over code (laws) but in MMOG's we do;

d) In reference to the illegal gambling story Lessig says that the internet made the gamblers free from punishment. This was because the law in real life only confined the residents of the state of Boral from gambling, but online gambling was completely anonymous and therefore uncontrolled;

e) Not everyone has a voice in real space, in relation to media. But in cyberspace everyone with internet access can be heard. Everybody can voice their concerns. As Henry Jenkins says in his video on Participatory Culture "Minority groups get a say".

I also noticed some similarities between cyberspace and real space:

a) In reference to the game Second Life, hundreds of hours are spent on creating things and communities. This also happens in real life (Lessig, 2009);

b) Problems can be programmed into the story and then coded away. (Lessig, 2009). This also happens in real life. Problems present themselves to us which are out of our control, but can be solved by ourselves;

c) Cyberspace and real space are both confined to laws. (Lessig, 2009). Laws in real life are enforced by the police and judicial system, laws (or codes) in cyberspace, like MMOG's are written by the programmers;

d) Lessig states we we build our lives in places with limits. Well this too is true in real life.

And, how should we go about regulating that space?

In a way this has already happened in relation to netiquette and social acceptance while on line. Some websites have very strict rules for membership and those that don't adhere are thrown out. There is a social norm online too and barriers which shouldn't be crossed. This isn't regulation, but education. If you've been thrown out of a website/forum/guild enough times, you're going to start to conform! It will only take time, but eventually players will get the message as to what's accepted and what isn't.

As for regulation - I use Lessig's idea in the story about the FBI worm - maybe a worm could be sent to everyone's computer searching for specific illegal activity. Here is another article by Lessig. This one is about how the internet could possibly be regulated.

Lessig, L. (2006). Four Puzzles From Cyberspace. Retrieved from: https://www.socialtext.net/codev2/four_puzzles_from_cyberspace_ 

Jenkins, H. (2009). Participatory Culture and How the Media is Changing. Retrieved from: http://cinematech.blogspot.com/2009/05/great-video-w-henry-jenkins-on.html

Discussion 2

What is your favourite media text? Young and the Restless: I've been watching this soap opera since I was a teenager in the 1980's when I would watch it in the school holidays with my Nan. I have many favourite TV shows, but because this is the longest running, I will focus on this one.

Why is this my favourite? I love how you can miss an entire month's viewing but still be able to catch up. It's been the number one daytime serial for 20 consecutive years (CBS n.d). I love the themes - romance, crime, suspense and a little humour all rolled into one show. All the actors are beautiful, clean, straight-teethed, immaculately dressed and made up and speak eloquently. I lose myself in this show. I imagine myself as one of them - wealthy and glamorous.

Who participated in the production of the text? It was created by William J Bell and Philip Bell for CBS channel. It is produced by CPT Holdings . The head writer is Maria Arena Bell who is also the Executive Producer - it's a family production. There are many other writers and it's a Sony Pictures Television presentation in association with Bell Dramatic Serial Company and Corday Productions, Inc. (CBS n.d).

How is it distributed? It airs daily in America on CBS channel and Monday to Friday on W channel through Foxtel and Austar here in Australia. If you miss those episodes, you can view the entire week on a Saturday morning. It's also available in HD. It used to air on Channel 9 in Australia for many years, but switched to W in 2004. There was a huge uproar when Channel 9 stopped airing the show. When W channel began airing it here, it had jumped 4 years. We Australian viewers had lost 4 years of events. Some characters had died, grown to adulthood and were married to different characters!

Do consumers participate in the production and consumption of the text? No, but the show has an interactive website and you can post comments on their message board and contact the executives via post and email. Fans can follow the show on Twitter and join their Facebook page. You can view old episodes online and buy paraphernalia from the site. There is a large fan community.

Young and The Restless (n.d.) Retrieved from: http://www.cbs.com/shows/the_young_and_the_restless/

Discussion 3

How do views about recent developments in the media differ between students and friends/family/older generations/different cultures? Why?

They differ greatly and I don't think it's simply generational and culture related. I think it may also be demographic and socio-economic.

I believe the difference between students and friends is simply related to technology. Students these days are very tech savvy and would definitely have a computer, internet and would more likely access their media via the internet. My friends however, even though they have the internet, use it for Facebook alone so their media use is fairly traditional - newspapers and TV. They are not so tech savvy.

Friends, family AND students differ to the older generation in a big way. The majority of the older generation still buy the newspaper, magazines and watch TV and more often than not - don't have the internet. So there is a generational gap there.

The cultural gap I am referring to is the internet filtering policies in China. I found a Harvard study on this here. It states that during 2002 the authors tracked 19,032 web sites that were inaccessible from China on multiple occasions while remaining accessible from the United States. Such sites contained information about news, politics, health, commerce, and entertainment. (Edelman & Zittrain, 2003).

Now demographically - think about the low income families who can't afford a computer, let alone have internet access. These people would be disadvantaged in regards to how they get their media, stay connected and social networking.

References
Edelman, B., & Zittrain, J. (2003). Empirical Analysis of Internet Filtering in China. Retrieved from: http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/filtering/china/

Jenkins, H. (2009). Participatory Culture and How the Media is Changing. Retrieved from: http://cinematech.blogspot.com/2009/05/great-video-w-henry-jenkins-on.html

Lessig, L. (2006). Four Puzzles From Cyberspace. Retrieved from: https://www.socialtext.net/codev2/four_puzzles_from_cyberspace_