Showing papers in "Journal of Communication Inquiry in 1994"
31 citations
TL;DR: The idea that rock was dead gained both currency and legitimacy throughout the '80s as discussed by the authors and by the end of the decade, rock had been all but abandoned by most of the hip aesthetes and intellectuals.
Abstract: or, as put forward by English punks circa 1977, were designed more to anger people than to actually present truthful assessments of musical culture. Throughout the ’80s, however, the idea that rock was dead gained both currency and legitimacy. By the end of the decade, rock had been all but abandoned by most of the hip aesthetes and intellectuals. Only the culturally disreputable minority who still lined up for Bon Jovi tickets (bad taste) or the new Guns ’n’ Roses album (bad politics) kept the faith. And here was the real kicker: the cool people delivered rock’s obituary with
20 citations
13 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examine the potential contribution of critical education theory to a project of critique and reformation of mass communication/media studies as it is, in general, currently represented by departments and curricula within United States universities and colleges.
Abstract: In this essay, I want to examine the potential contribution of critical education theory to a project of critique and reformation of mass communication/media studies as it is, in general, currently represented by departments and curricula within United States universities and colleges. My analysis is constructed upon a foundation of a critical theory of the media. This is to argue that, within the thick and complex structures from which flow an unceasing torrent of news and entertainment programming, the mass media represent the single most powerful and concentrated source for the transmission, reproduction and maintenance of the values of dominant culture. Bachelor degree programs in media and related fields exist, by and large, to train new generations of young people to enter these industries and contribute to this ongoing (and seemingly endless) cycle of production, reproduction, diffusion and containment. In other words: the mass media represent the greatest force for social control ever imagined, and contemporary U.S. media education represents an acritical and celebratory indoctrination into the mechanisms and techniques of this control.
12 citations
TL;DR: Gray as mentioned in this paper was reporting for the Washington &a and a colleague of her was killed by the Khmer Rouge in the house they lived in, and she felt remorse, but also an enormous sense of being alive.
Abstract: was right on the edge of death}. She was reporting for the Washington &a and a colleague of hers was killed by the Khmer Rouge in the house they lived in. She felt remorse... but also an enormous sense of being alive. She told me about it as we sat on the steps of her Washington house drinking white wine, eating pati with white bread. And I was listening but I wasn’t looking at her.... I was watching some black ants crawl across the brick walk to eat this small piece ofpaté that had fallen there. And into my frame of vision came Elizabeth’s hand holding a white linen napkin. She just reached down and wiped out the entire trail of ants with one sweep of her hand. I appeared to be listening to her but inside I was weeping, oh Inv God all those ants. all those innocent ants dead for no reason aLaU. -Spalding Gray (1985, 54), Swimming to Cambodia
12 citations
12 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, a pedagogical approach is proposed to train students to have some conception of theories of democratic communication so that they may with some authority interpret and critique the character of public communication processes occurring in the U.S. democracy.
Abstract: Students of organizational communication and public relations are not only people who may become professionals in communication-related fields. They are also citizens, voters, members of communities and of particular minority, racial and gender groups who want to insure that they can participate democratically in our society. Our communications programs ought to train these students to have some conception of theories of democratic communication so that they may with some authority interpret and critique the character of public communication processes occurring in the U. S. democracy. From their subjective vantage points as members of these communities of interest, we can encourage them to study the fundamental question of whether democratic communication actually exists in the United States. We can ask them to question organizations’ current internal and external communication practices and the interaction of these with democratic communication processes. Such a pedagogical approach asks them to use their social role as a tool to consider the contradictions
10 citations
TL;DR: This paper explored some of the ways that feminist and critical pedagogy can help to reconcile these often contradictory goals, beginning with the use of critical theory to train students to critique cultural products created by the institutions that will serve as their future employers.
Abstract: University programs in journalism and mass communication have an academic mission that includes training students in the skills necessary to take jobs in the media. At the same time, these programs are often asked to provide students with the skills necessary to critique the cultural products created by the institutions that will serve as their future employers. This essay explores some of the ways that feminist and critical pedagogy can help to reconcile these often contradictory goals, beginning with
9 citations
TL;DR: The interpretive turn as mentioned in this paper stresses the importance of analyzing culture and cultural products as symbolic codes in their socio-historical context, and emphasizes the need for a qualitative analysis of cultural forms and of the relationship between text and reader.
Abstract: In recent years, mass communications research has echoed the &dquo;interpretive turn&dquo; (Carey 1977; Putnam and Pacanowsky 1983) taken in other areas of communication studies. This movement insists on a qualitative analysis of cultural forms and of the relationship between text and reader. Moreover, the interpretive turn stresses the importance of analyzing culture and cultural products as symbolic codes in their socio-historical
8 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors analyzed the address of the Palestinian delegation to the Madrid Middle East Peace Conference, and found that Abdul-Shafi who delivered the speech was also the writer and the author of the text, and that the Palestinian address deviated from standard &dquo;political speech or political discourse.
Abstract: weave together the fabric which joins our past with the future. To reaffirm a wholeness of vision which once brought about a rebirth of civilization and a world order based on harmony and diversity.&dquo; At this point Haim Yavin, the chief anchorman of Israel’s solitary state-run channel, raised an eyebrow2 and asked Ehud Ya’ ari, Israeli Television’s expert reporter on &dquo;Arab affairs&dquo;: &dquo;Is he [H. A. Shafi] a philosopher or what?&dquo; Two assumptions were implied by Yavin’s rather perplexed reaction to the speech: (1) That Abdul-Shafi who delivered the speech was also the &dquo;writer&dquo; and the &dquo;author&dquo; of the text; (2) That the Palestinian address deviated from standard &dquo;political speech&dquo; or &dquo;political discourse&dquo; (Gastil 1992; Sullivan 1993). By closely analyzing the address of the Palestinian delegation to the Madrid Middle East Peace Conference, this article attempts to &dquo;unravel&dquo; Y avin’ bewilderment at the
8 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors move the rich theoretical repertoires of communications theory and practice outside ourselves, engaging such concepts as ritual, articulation, commodification, subjectivity or representation to better understand who and where we are.
Abstract: parts, roughly as follows: theoretical and conceptual framework; textual perspectives; the production of culture and the culture of production; media reception; and media, power and community identity. It had been my logic in Part Five to use the technical learning from sections one through four to beg a familiar question: so what? How can we move the rich theoretical repertoires of communications theory and practice outside ourselves, engaging such concepts as ritual, articulation, commodification, subjectivity or representation to better understand who and where we are
TL;DR: A horse dragging a cart through the street should fall, people would run from blocks around to stare, newspapers would write about this fascinating event, a monument would be put up to mark the very spot where the horse has fallen.
Abstract: If a horse dragging a cart through the street should fall, people would run from blocks around to stare, newspapers would write about this fascinating event, a monument would be put up to mark the very spot where the horse has fallen. Had the horse belonged to a race as numerous as that of human being, he wouldn’t have been paid this honor, how many horses are there after all? But human beings--there must be a thousand billion of them!&dquo;
TL;DR: Shohat argues that race and ethnicity adhere in all films, not only in those in which ethnic issues appear on the ‘epidermic' surface of the text as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: In &dquo;Ethnicities in Relation: Toward a Multicultural Reading of American Cinema,&dquo; Ella Shohat notes that debates over race and ethnicity in American cinema tend to be regarded as having only limited significance, or as being relevant to only a specific corpus of films--certainly not to the vast majority of &dquo;Hollywood’s ethnically embarrassed texts.&dquo; Shohat argues, rather, that &dquo;race and ethnicity adhere in all films, not only in those in which ethnic issues appear on the ’epidermic’ surface of the text.&dquo; This multicultural theoretical frame assumes that race and ethnicity are &dquo;culturally ubiquitous and textually submerged,&dquo; that filmic images and sounds
TL;DR: In the last half of the nineteenth century, the option of marriage was losing popularity, and not exclusively among men as mentioned in this paper, and the rate of marriage declined steadily in the latter half of 19th century while at the same time the age at first marriage was rising.
Abstract: Much has been said in recent years about the economy of sperm that existed in England during the Victorian era, i.e., the application of the Victorian thrift ethic to male sexuality. Men were cautioned to save their sperm for judicious investment (in the next generation) rather than to spend it recklessly when the spirit moved them. This is a reasonable interpretation of attitudes to sex, but, in implying a stable supply of women ready and waiting for marriage, it goes too far. For there is statistical and anecdotal evidence that in the last half of the nineteenth century the option of marriage was losing popularity, and not exclusively among men. This article attempts to interpret the falling marriage rate in Victorian England as more than a function of demographic factors. The rate of marriage declined steadily in the latter half of the nineteenth century while at the same time the age at first marriage was rising. There
TL;DR: In South African schools, despite educators knowing about it, it is very difficult to know who &dquo;is doing&dqo; it as mentioned in this paper, despite educators having actually heard of it and it is no longer necessary to suspect that Media Education will probably be confused with library skills or information technology or practical technical skills (such as how to use a slide projector).
Abstract: Media Education exists in South African schools. Many educators have actually heard of it and it is no longer necessary to suspect that Media Education will probably be confused with library skills or information technology or practical technical skills (such as how to use a slide projector), as it was just three or four years ago. Despite educators knowing about it, it is very difficult to know who &dquo;is doing&dquo; it. Problems (but little actual debate) remain about where Media Education exists in the school syllabus, around what should be taught and who should teach it. It is on the agenda, but no one can tell you quite where and how. If you inquire about assessment no one will be sure about how to go about it and it mostly isn’t &dquo;being done&dquo; in any serious or concerted way. Reasons offered are that teachers are already overburdened, Media Education is viewed as something in addition, and other areas of study are considered
TL;DR: The authors argue that De Beer's reports of intimidation ignore the history of how these situations came about and that only through an understanding of context in relation to the surface events reported by the journalists he cites can an adequate explanation be offered.
Abstract: This response to de Beer (1993) argues that he has inadequately conceptualized the context within which the alleged ’censorship of terror’ occurred. Only through an understanding of context in relation to the surface events reported by the journalists he cites can an adequate explanation be offered. De Beer’s (1989, 1991, 1993) reports of intimidation ignore the history of how these situations came about.