Media Anthropology
Saturday, 5 January 2013
Masterpost: Index
Linked index of weekly topics and tasks.
Week 1: Term Definition
Week 1: Thoughts on Media Usage
Week 2: Media Forms
Week 2: 4 Social Groups and Their Preferred Media
Week 3: Theatre
Week 4: News and You
Week 5: News and You, Again
Saturday, 8 December 2012
Week 5: News and You, Again
Who owns the newspaper and TV
station in your country? Do you think this has an effect on the news that you
hear?
In Malaysia, there are a few major
broadcasting companies to choose your viewing pleasures from. The oldest and
first TV station is RTM, which stands for Radio Televisyen Malaysia. TV1 and
TV2 are owned by RTM, which in turn is owned by the government. MediaPrima offers channels TV3, NTV7, 8TV and TV9, as
well as some newspapers. Astro, on the other hand, provides satellite channels
for both local and foreign programmes.
Truthfully said, while others
may rage over the government owning this and censoring that and being biased on
everything, I myself am not very bothered by it. Who doesn’t want to control
news about themselves, filtering out the negatives from the public? Don’t you
find yourself wanting to untag yourself from horribly-taken candid photos of
you sleeping with your mouth wide open on facebook?
So to me, it doesn’t really
matter who owns any particular newspaper or TV station. They own those stations and newspapers, I
think it’s entirely up to them to be biased or not with what they publicize. You
try spending thousands of money building a TV station and tell me if you’re
able to show completely unbiased media. At some point you would have sponsors
to please, or joint companies whom you’d rather not taint with your broadcasts. It doesn't matter what portions or distortions they show you. What matters is what you do with what you see and hear.
Some would
claim that company-free sources like articles on the Internet have more truth
to it than others. However, can one be entirely
sure of it? In the end, whatever news it may be, as long as you’re not there to
witness it yourself, there’s always going to be a discrepancy in what you see
and hear from second sources. I don’t normally believe that newspapers and TV
show 100% of what’s out there, no matter what company owns them. It doesn’t affect
the news that I hear, because if it’s truly an important piece of news, I would
look it up from other sources to get the general common idea of the so-called
truth. Unimportant news don’t really register in my head, so again, it doesn’t
matter which version I’m listening to, filtered or not, government-biased or
not.
I read or watch from
whichever sources available, but I always take news with a grain of salt no
matter where it comes from.
Image sources:
RTM ; MediaPrima ; Astro
Image sources:
RTM ; MediaPrima ; Astro
Monday, 26 November 2012
Week 4: News and You
How often do you read the
paper or watch the news on TV? How important is it for you to keep up with
current events?
I don’t often get to read the
newspaper or follow the news on TV. The main reason would be the unavailability
of these two media at the university campus where I stay at 5 days a week. And
when I am at home for the weekends, at the most I would probably browse through
the papers until an interesting headline catches my eye. When my younger sister
was smaller, the TV was always set to play the news during dinnertime, and I
would let the voice of the newscaster wash over me as I eat (our TV is set
close by to the dining table). However, at her current age of 10, she has the
say over what is shown on TV as we eat (and most of the time it would be set to
cartoons—marathon runs of Spongebob anyone?)
The other reason is that for
most of the time, I am not really interested in keeping up-to-date with news,
especially since most of what I’ve seen involve politics, mindless
entertainment, war, scandals, politics, and more politics. The “debate” (though
it honestly strikes to me as kids’ tug-of-war) in politics irks me terribly as
I am not the type to be very politically moved. If it does not affect me
directly, I am more of the type to roll with the punches rather than debate my
views on an issue. The US Presidential Election? My reaction most of the time
would be just to shrug nonchalantly.
I understand that the outcome
of politics may very well change my lifestyle. However, I refuse to sit and give
hours of my week to pay attention to various sides arguing about who is right
and who is blackmailing and slandering the society. I am not interested in the
fluff in between, what I am interested
in is the conclusion. Barack Obama won the election? That’s good to know, but no, I don’t need the details of the catfight, thanks. As long as he doesn’t aim
a bomb to my country, I’m neutral with anything really.
The only type of news that I
try to be updated on when possible are pieces about health, murder, robberies
or any other violent acts. Facts published on the news about these issues very
rarely have a reason to be fabricated or written biasedly. I find it (in a
morbid sort of way) interesting to read an article explaining the murder of a
shopkeeper, for example. I would want to know the details, such as when or why
it took place, and what was the murderer thinking as he took a life (as opposed
to listening to sugared twisted words of politicians. Not to say that all of them do so, but with so many opposing "facts" of who said what, I'd rather just not listen at all).
Nowadays my news source tend
to be whatever online articles I come across. I find myself often going to
Yahoo! to browse through the newsfeed roll they have, though most of them are
still either mindless entertainment/scandals (oh my god, they divorced! Yeah, I
really don’t care) and politicians. My friends are a good source of news as
well, as they are able to filter out unnecessary drama relating to a particular
issue and just tell me the important parts.
Sunday, 25 November 2012
Week 3: Theatre
What is Theatre? And how does it communicate messages to the audience?
[ 1 ] Theatre [ image source ]
Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that
uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event
before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this
experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music
or dance. The specific place of the performance is also named by the word
"theatre" as derived from the Ancient Greek θέατρον (théatron, “a
place for viewing”) and θεάομαι (theáomai, “to see", "to watch",
"to observe”).
Beginning the 18th century, due to accompaniment by technological innovations, the expansion to include ordinary people, and the introduction of serious critical review, theatre began to see some changes. Dominated by a genius actor David Garrick, who was also a manager and a playwright, a more natural form of speaking and acting that mimicked life were emphasized. It is from this that realism and naturalism movements were born. The audience were also pushed back to behind the proscenium (the area of a theatre surrounding the stage opening, where the arch acts as a picture frame through which the action can be seen).
Beginning the 18th century, due to accompaniment by technological innovations, the expansion to include ordinary people, and the introduction of serious critical review, theatre began to see some changes. Dominated by a genius actor David Garrick, who was also a manager and a playwright, a more natural form of speaking and acting that mimicked life were emphasized. It is from this that realism and naturalism movements were born. The audience were also pushed back to behind the proscenium (the area of a theatre surrounding the stage opening, where the arch acts as a picture frame through which the action can be seen).
The origins of theatre were vastly different from
today’s modern theatre. Theatre first emerged from myths, rituals, and
ceremonies. The desired results that arise from certain actions performed by a
group or leaders of a group led to the early societies to believe that they
were related. The repetition of these actions in order to gain the desired
results set the ground for theatre.
Mythologist Joseph Campbell claims that rituals are
mainly concerned with pleasure, power, and duty, and are accompanied by myths.
These myths are then spread by the tradition of storytelling, and like all
subjects told as stories, the myths are then developed and enhanced beyond the
original rites. They evolve to gain more entertainment and aesthetics values. Now
performed for their own sake, the original actions now rapidly move towards
becoming theatre.
[ 2 ] Chinese Drama [ image source ]
The exact year of the origin of the Chinese drama is
unknown. It has been developed by assimilation, by the patronage of succeeding
emperors and the corresponding conversion of the Chinese people. Their theatre communicates messages by accompanying religious worship with music and dances. Music has already existed in China
by B.C.5400. The ceremonial dances were mainly to celebrate, and to portray
civil and military accomplishments. These dances (which describe the occupation
of the society of the time; e.g. harvesting, war, etc.) show various sensations
such as working, joy, content, fatigue, etc.
During the rule of emperor Hsuan Tsung (or Ming Huang),
a school was established by him in the gardens of his palace. This was where
young men and women were taught the arts of dancing and music. Many actors of
this age associate themselves with this school, calling themselves members of
the College of the Pear Orchard.
The Indian theatre has 2 unique variations of origins.
The first is the mythical origin, where Indra the thunderer (part of the divine
races that occupied the earth), approached the throne of the Godhead and,
delegated by the other gods, asked that their eyes and ears be feasted on a
dramatic spectacle, a merry play for their enjoyment. The Veda of the Theatre
sprang into existence, the quintessence of the drama drawn out of the four
Vedas; dance from Rig, song from the Sama, mimicry from Yajur, and passion from
Atharva. Vishwakarma the celestial architect built a stage in Indra’s heaven,
whilst the sage Bharata was appointed as theatrical manager and conductor of
the heavenly performances.
The second origin of the Indian theatre, based on
reality, is from the ancient custom of reciting national poetry at both social
and religious gatherings. The words bharata and magadha meant “minstrel” or
“actor”. According to Bana, a famous novelist from the age of the Arabian
Phrophet, claims that the Hindu epics were read aloud in places of worship. So
excellent were these public recitals that royalty often attended. Musical
accompaniment and dramatic gestures enhanced the success of these recitals. These recitals, accompanied by music and gestures, are the theatrical way the Indians communicate their messages.
References:
[1] MSUIIT.edu ; Wikipedia ; TheatreDesigner
Friday, 9 November 2012
Week 2: 4 Social Groups and Their Preferred Media
[ 1 ] Kids + Video games [ image source ]
Plenty of kids nowadays have started to become addicted
to video games. One of the reasons is perhaps because video games have become
much easier to obtain than in the previous generation. Previously, you would
have to have a specific platform (e.g. Playstation; home console, Gameboy;
portable console) in order to play certain games. However, with the advance in
technology, there is less of a platform-barrier, due to how games can now be
multi-platform (e.g. PSX2; game simulator that allows Playstation games to be
played on PC) and can also be found easily online (e.g. free flash games on
various websites).
[ 2 ] Young adults + Mobile devices [ image source ]
Mobile devices have become almost like a default
accessory to a young adult’s lifestyle. Whether it is a regular phone, a
smartphone, a tablet, or a gaming device, it is relatively hard to find someone
without any of these on their person at any time. With the booming popularity
of social media, it has helped bring upon the advent of smartphones that alert
users of any messages from their social feeds. Perhaps it is due to the need to
occupy their time in boredom, or perhaps they feel the need to always be
somehow connected to people wherever they are.
[ 3 ] Office workers + E-mail [ image source ]
Based on recent articles in the last 6 months, office
workers seem to prefer the usage of e-mail rather than phone calls when dealing
with work. E-mailing someone presents a rather professional and neutral outlook
to clients. You are able to choose and compose your words at your own pace,
never risking the stumble and stutter that come with feeling nervous. However,
on that same line of thought, it also takes out the personal feel of human
interaction, and may promote higher occurrences of introversion in society.
[ 4 ] Elderly + Television [ image source ]
It may not sound very surprising that the elderly of
this day and age watch more television than any other age groups. John Logie Baird's
first demonstration of televised moving images was in 1926, thus the current
elderly grew up alongside the growth of television. Other factors that possibly
contribute to this is having more free time due to retirement, thus seeking
entertainment and companionship.
References:
[ 1 ] AboutOurKids[ 2 ] ibtimes
[ 3 ] TechRadar ; Independent.co.uk
[ 4 ] Encyclopedia.jrank
; Mashable
; Wikipedia
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