Showing papers in "MedieKultur: Journal of Media and Communication Research in 2010"

Consumption that matters

Abstract: The purpose of this article is to contribute to the understanding of a rising mode of ethical consumption by exploring the brand concept (RED) and its intertwinement of commerce and charity. Based on an analysis of central online media texts, we focus on: 1) the campaign’s “cool” visual and verbal structures of appeal, and 2) the discursive struggle concerning the ethical potential of consumption motivated by the campaign. The analysis is followed by a discussion of the potential and problems of (RED) as a way of handling global responsibility for distant suffering others. We argue that from a perspective focusing on the representation of the distant sufferer, (RED) can be criticised for transforming suffering into aesthetic spectacles in order to legitimise hedonistic consumption. The potential of the campaign is that it acknowledges that effective ethical ways of relating to distant others will have to be integrated into the narratives of self and community circulating in a given context.

Making fictions sound real - On film sound, perceptual realism and genre

Abstract: This article examines the role that sound plays in making fictions perceptually real to film audiences, whether these fictions are realist or non-realist in content and narrative form. I will argue that some aspects of film sound practices and the kind of experiences they trigger are related to basic rules of human perception, whereas others are more properly explained in relation to how aesthetic devices, including sound, are used to characterise the fiction and thereby make it perceptually real to its audience. Finally, I will argue that not all genres can be defined by a simple taxonomy of sounds. Apart from an account of the kinds of sounds that typically appear in a specific genre, a genre analysis of sound may also benefit from a functionalist approach that focuses on how sounds can make both realist and non-realist aspects of genres sound real to audiences.

Risk perceptions and public debates on climate change: a conceptualisation based on the theory of a functionally-differentiated society

Abstract: Mass media and its mechanisms of production and selection play a crucial role in the definition of climate change risks. Different form of logic in the political, scientific and media systems are vital aspects in the public debate on this issue. A theoretical analysis of these aspects needs a framework in terms of social theory: Luhmann’s concept of a functionally-differentiated society and the mechanisms of structural couplings could help to understand the relations and interplay of these systems in the climate-debate. Based on this framework and various empirical studies, this paper suggests: different logics lead to different climate-definitions in science, politics and mass media. Climate change became interesting, but not until it was located in the political decision-making process. Climate issues become publicly interesting, when they are clear, contentious and can be linked to Elite-Persons. In contrast to scientific communication, news media make great efforts to be clear and definite in their communications.

Clicking for friendship: social network sites and the medium of personhood

Abstract: Social networking sites such as MySpace and Facebook depend on familiar social resources, including language, reading/writing and established semantic constructs such as personhood, privacy and friends. However, the use of computers, the Web 2.0 platform, and the latest networking software are revolutionising how “personhood” and “friendship” are produced by communication. We refer to the media theory of Niklas Luhmann to identify specific differences in how communication is organised and reproduced on networking sites. The electronic medium appears to be changing the way participants selectively construct and bind expectations of personhood and communicative ties to themselves and others. Using software available on the Web, users confront each other as digital bodies, as participants in communication, available for friendship within a new “ether of interactivity”.

Tattoo: a multifaceted medium of communication

Abstract: This article suggests the systems theoretical distinction of form/medium as a useful tool for distinguishing social phenomena that might look as if they stem from the same process. This is shown to be the case for the tattoo and tattooing. The tattoo is conceived as a medium of communication through which different forms of communication emerge. Tattooing is one of these forms of communication that shapes the medium in a particular way. The current article sheds a special light on its intricate, communicational constellation, for which the concept of parallax is suggested. Law, medicine and cosmetics as other forms of communication use the medium of tattoo in their own way as well. The form/medium distinction allows us to grasp these different forms of communication, while it shows that they share the tattoo as medium. The article’s ultimate goal is to illustrate that the tattoo figures as a multifaceted medium of communication.

Interviewing media workers

Abstract: The focus of this article is on the use of Niklas Luhmann’s systems theoretical approach in order to analyse interviews conducted with media workers concerning their experiences of ethnic diversity in newsrooms. Applying systems theory means constructing the interview as a social system and seeing the “data” as observations produced by the observer and not as representations of a reality. The first part of the article describes the interview methodology and the second part provides examples, from the current study, of how systems theory can be applied in order to analyse interviews. Using a difference-theoretical approach means looking at the distinctions the informants make when talking about their experiences. These main guiding distinctions can be summarised as immigrant background/competence as well as advantage/competence. Using the guiding distinction of inclusion/exclusion when interpreting the interviewees’ statements, the interdependencies of mechanisms of inclusion and exclusion in newsrooms related to ethnic background can be examined.

Sound effects as a genre-defining factor in submarine films

Abstract: Submarine films can be regarded as a genre with a specific semantic and syntactical structure that heavily depends on the acoustemological nature of submarine warfare. The sound design in submarine films therefore has decisive dramatic and emotive functions. The article presents the sound effects most specific to submarine films and discusses the creative potential they offer both as diegetic sounds bound to submarine existence and as emotive cues with an immediate effect on the audience.

Attitudes towards documentary soundstracks - Between emotional immersion and critical reflection

Abstract: Musical experience is often related to an emotional and imaginative engagement of the listener Discourses of journalistic documentaries relate primarily to inferential knowledge systems in which the uses of background music as a communicative device become an object of epistemological critique By listening to different voices – primarily from four focus group interviews – the article will discuss attitudes towards musical soundtracks in documentaries, attitudes being negotiated between emotional immersion and critical reflection, with the concept of manipulation as an underlying theme In the end, the article will argue for the need for an acoustemological approach (Feld, 1996) to study the epistemological potential of sound in audiovisual media

Mediebrud mellem organisationer og netværk [Media disruptions between organisations and networks]

Abstract: Den foreliggende artikel undersoger eliters afhaengighed af udbredelsesmedie og kommunikationsmedie inden for den Luhmannske systemteori. Gennem anvendelse af et mediebegreb fra medium-theory og koncepter fra elite-forskningen udfoldes eliters medieafhaengighed pa tre niveauer; udbredelsesmediet, system-mediet og foring (lederskab). Eliters specifikke kommunikationsform er afhaengig af de tre mediers aktuelle beskaffenhed. Hypotesen er, at eliters form er medieafhaengig, og at det bliver tydeligt i den aktuelle praesens af netvaerk i samtiden og i den socialvidenskabelige forskning.

Luhmanns massmedieteori och Internet som ett artificiellt intelligent semiotiskt system [Luhmann’s mass-media theory and Internet as an artificial intelligent semiotic system]

Abstract: Artikeln diskuterar hur en modern form av AI-programmering, som kallas Konnektionism i en design som kallas Distribuerad AI (DAI), paverkar den uppfattning Luhmann har om massmediernas roll for den andra ordningens observationer. DAI anvander noder for att skapa aktivitet i systemen och inte de koder som styr processerna i den klassiska eller symboliska formen av AI. Luhmanns teori kan utvecklas genom att ersatta systemens koder med noder som forandras beroende pa i vilken relation de star till andra noder. Pa sa satt kan kommunikationsbegreppet utvecklas sa att det ocksa omfattar systemens interaktioner med omvarlden. Det skapar en battre forutsattning for att observationsmojligheter direkt uppstar genom systemens relationer till omvarlden. Internet och AI-programmerade soksystem och robotar kan da fungera som ett artificiellt semiotiskt system som skapar mojligheter att gora observationer.

Luhmanns massmedieteori och Internet som ett artificiellt intelligent semiotiskt system (Open Access)

Abstract: Artikeln diskuterar hur en modern form av AI-programmering, som kallas Konnektionism i en design som kallas Distribuerad AI (DAI), paverkar den uppfattning Luhmann har om massmediernas roll for den andra ordningens observationer DAI anvander noder for att skapa aktivitet i systemen och inte de koder som styr processerna i den klassiska eller symboliska formen av AI Luhmanns teori kan utvecklas genom att ersatta systemens koder med noder som forandras beroende pa i vilken relation de star till andra noder Pa sa satt kan kommunikationsbegreppet utvecklas sa att det ocksa omfattar systemens interaktioner med omvarlden Det skapar en battre forutsattning for att observationsmojligheter direkt uppstar genom systemens relationer till omvarlden Internet och AI-programmerade soksystem och robotar kan da fungera som ett artificiellt semiotiskt system som skapar mojligheter att gora observationer

Lyden av mediering - En utforsking av nyere sjangertrekk innenfor filmtrailere [The sound of mediation - Exploring new aspects of the movie trailer genre]

Abstract: Nar et biografpublikum oplever lyden i fiktionsfilm, modes de ofte med et udtryk, der indeholder forsog pa at skjule fremstillings- og medieringsprocesser. Pludselige overgange er gerne udglattede, stoj og foruroligende rumklang er ofte undgaet, og onskede lydelementer fremhaeves til fordel for uonskede. Nar lyddesignere gor brug af denne type kontinuitets- og illusionsopbyggende indgreb, konstruerer de samtidig en oplevelse, hvor lydens mediering og lyddesigneres manipulation i hoj grad opleves som fravaerende. I kontrast hertil kan nutidens biografpublikum opleve filmtrailere, hvor sporene efter medieringsprocesser fremstar som tydelige i lyddesignen. I mange filmtrailere knyttes der f.eks. lydelementer til diverse visuelle elementer sasom kamerabevaegelser, klip, overblaendinger og hastighedsvariationer sasom slowmotion. I denne artikel undersoges det, hvordan medieringen understreges ved brug af sadanne lydelementer i filmtrailere, og det illustreres, hvordan lyden har forskellige funktioner.