hannahmedia101blog-blog

[hannahmedia101blog-blog]

BLOG-POST TWO – FAKE NEWS

https://cosmosmagazine.com/society/who-spreads-fake-news-overwhelmingly-old-white-men

BACKGROUND INFORMATION 

The fake news story that I have chosen for this blog post is ‘Facebook SOLD to U.S. Government for $10 Billion - Privacy Concerns On The Rise”, and the source of this fake news story is : http://now8news.com/facebook-sold-to-u-s-government-for-10-billion-privacy-concerns-on-the-rise/

This article is about how the American Government has (apparently) secretly bought Facebook after an agreement was reportedly reached between the two parties, it then goes on to talk of (supposed) privacy breaches by the US Government. 

INTRODUCTION 

This blog-post will discuss the idea of ‘fake news’ and explores some of the motives behind why people chose to publish ‘fake news’. The American Heritage Dictionary (n.d.), defines ‘news’ as “information about recent events or happenings, new information of any kind and newsworthy material”. The concept of ‘fake news’ tends to be defined by the media as “viral posts based on fictitious accounts made to look like news reports” (Edson, Lim & Ling, 2017). However a recent study by Allcott and Gentzkow (2017), defines fake news as “news articles that are intentionally and verifiably false and could mislead readers”. 

ANALYSIS

Appeals to truth - 

This article makes an appeal to truth by citing the US Government and for many people they may see this being mentioned and automatically assume that what is written in this article is true, when it is in fact not. They also reference a press release, “According to today’s press release, negations began in March...”. I think that by talking about the US Government and a press release in the same article, many of the people who read this may assume that it is a press release made by the US Government.

Ideological beliefs, emotional & psychological traits -  

This article reinforces the belief that many people have, that the Government is watching them and collecting their data, for example “there’s no denying the information gained by Facebook from its users is valuable and there is no question that the US Government has been caught gathering private information without people’s consent”. This article also mentions how certain US intelligence agencies “excessively use the site to monitor the activity of its users”, which once again allows people with emotional / psychological traits and idealogical beliefs that they are being watched by the Government to believe that they are. 

Language strategies - 

This article uses many language strategies to grab the readers attention. One of the many strategies used is rhetorical questions, for example “Does this mean the government now has an even larger agenda ahead of them?”, “But will you keep your Facebook account?” and “Are you concerned about the privacy issues?”. According to Study.com (n.d.), a rhetorical question “is something that is used to persuade or subtly influence the audience, a question that is not asked for the answer but for the effect”. The writer of this article is trying to persuade people to believe what the article is saying. Another language strategy that is used to make the article appear true, is through the way in which the article is written. This article is written in a neutral and objective manner which is the way most news stories and articles are written and so for many readers this article could appear true and factual. 

I think that this article would be read by people who believe that the US Government is ‘spying on its citizens’ or those who are believers in conspiracy theories as there is a theory that they do spy on their citizens using social media and other technology. This article was written by Now8News; however I was unable to find the writer of the article itself. I think this article was written with the intent of getting people to believe in conspiracy theories. 

CONCLUSION

This article was written by a site that is known for producing fake news which is just one of the many factors contributing to it being fake news. The writer uses language strategies and draws on peoples’ ideological beliefs and emotional and psychological traits to make this article to appeal and appear to be truthful. 

Reference list -   

[hannahmedia101blog-blog]

BLOG - POST ONE - Portrayal of identity in music videos

This post will examine the ways in which identity is portrayed in music videos (e.g. stereotypes). It will focus on a particular music video, for this I have chosen Boys - Charli XCX, and decide who the intended audience is and why. It will also explore how effective the chosen video is at communicating the message within current contexts. I have chosen this music video as I think it will be interesting to examine the ways in which identity is portrayed towards the younger generation.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mPRy1B4t5YA

https://www.google.com/search?q=identity&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjZ2f3XpuXjAhVaX30KHd0fBXEQ_AUIESgB&biw=1440&bih=821

What is identity ?

According to Richard Jenkins (2008) identity is "the human capacity - rooted in language - to know 'who's who' (and hence 'what's what'). This involves knowing who we are and, who others are, them knowing who we are, us knowing who they think they are, and so on".

What are stereotypes ?

A stereotype, as defined by the Oxford English Dictionary, is a “widely held but fixed and oversimplified image or idea of a particular type of person or thing”.

Within the social sciences there are three approaches to stereotypes, the first being an economic one, the second a sociological approach and the third is called the social cognition approach (Bordalo, Coffman, Gennaioli & Shleifer, 2013).

Analysis / observations of video

One thing that I noticed in particular about this music video is that the majority of the people/actors present in it are male. However something that I did notice about the male actors is that not all of them were portrayed in the typical male stereotype that exists today (strong, tough, etc). I noticed that some of them were portrayed as more feminine than would typically be seen in a music video.

I think that the intended audience for this music video is the younger generations. One of my main reasonings behind this, is that the singer of this song tends to make music that is more directed towards younger people. The type of audience that I believe this music video to be targeted at is a mass audience, one which is undifferentiated collectivity (Delmotte, I., & Ballinger, D., 2019), of the younger generation.

In this music video, the role of identity and the portrayal of stereotypes can be seen through the following aspects;

Some of the actors in this video may be perceived as being an aspiration that is unrealistic (for example body shape), this can be seen at 0:13 - 0:16 seconds in the music video for Boys by Charli XCX.

Another observation that I have made about the video is that the way that the charters are dressed does not stick to gendered norms or stereotypes, for example at 0:21 a male is seen wearing pink which may typically be a colour win by females.  While continuing to watch this music video I noticed that the colour pink appears a lot.

At 1:20, a man can be seen holding a baby, this challenges the social norm that it is a womens job / role to care for the child.

A man can be seen washing dishes at 2:04, once again challenging a social norm that housework is a womens responsibility.

I think one of the main themes and messages that is being portrayed through and by the music video Boys by Charli XCX, is that it is okay for males to be feminine. There are many scenes and aspects of this video which show men in a way that is typically not seen on screen, for example wearing pink and shown doing things that may typically be assumed to be a females responsibility. Personally, I do think that this video conducts and portrays this message in an effective manner.

Reference list -

Ballinger, D., & Delmotte, I. (2019). Audiences [Powerpoint slides]. Retrieved from https://elearn.waikato.ac.nz/course/view.php?id=40200

Bordalo, P., Coffman, K., Gennaioli, N., & Sheleifer, A. (2013). Stereotype. Harvard University.

Oxford English Dictionary. (n.d.). Stereotype. Retrieved from https://www.oed.com/view/Entry/189956?rskey=5abmMC&result=1&isAdvanced=false#eid

Richard Jenkins (2008) as referenced in Ballinger, D., & Delmotte, I. (2019). Identity &

representation [Powerpoint Slides]. Retrieved from https://elearn.waikato.ac.nz/course/view.php?id=40200