ISIS Growing Stronger: The Role of the Online Social Media and Propaganda

In the era of globalization and interconnectedness it is much easier to communicate across the borders then it was before the invention of the internet. Nowadays communication through the internet, especially with the use of the social media is the most efficient method of communication since the messages are sent and delivered instantaneously. This effective and easily accessible means of communication is used not only for the entertaining but also for the political purposes by various political organizations including the Islamic extremist terrorist organization or ISIS. The members of ISIS are using the online social networks like Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and others to inflict terror in people, to spread their ideology and to entice the new recruits. Obviously, this modern medium of communication – the use of the social media makes it easier for the terrorists to keep in touch with ISIS’s followers across the globe and to spread their messages instantly with the minimum effort. Unfortunately, various examples from the recent history show that ISIS’s propaganda spread through the online social media appears to be extremely powerful and persuasive.

These three articles Isis has built a global brand using Nutella, celebrity and social media by Hazel Sheffield[1], Who is behind Isis’s terrifying online propaganda operation? by Patrick Kingsley[2] and What is ISIS’ appeal for young people? by Jethro Mullen[3] illustrate the techniques used by ISIS to spread its propaganda through the online social networks. The first article by Sheffield focuses mainly on how the Islamic State extremists use modern marketing techniques through the online social media to choose the right target market and to invite people to join the organization. Various techniques include using the celebrities like Jihadi John in the posters, showing the famous products like Nutella in the images of the terrorists, uploading the photos of terrorists with cats and others are all used by the members of ISIS to increase the awareness in people and to find more followers across the globe. As Sheffield points out the ISIS members are successfully drawing the “fine line” between raising their public profiles and maintaining their underground status and with the use of the right target market spreading their propaganda worldwide.

The second article by Kingsley discusses how extremist jihadists use social media, various apps, and even the full-length movie “The Clanging of the Swords IV” to spread their messages and to intimidate their enemies. As Kingsley argues ISIS’s successful propaganda makes the fighting easier as “in wars gone by, advancing armies smoothed their path with missiles while Isis does it with tweets and a movie”. ISIS has thousands of Twitter followers and their posts are spread with the use of the mushroom effect – the content is reposted by several accounts to guarantee that it stays online. According to Kingsley the terror that ISIS is inflicting in people through the social media is exaggerated as ISIS is less powerful than showed in the social media. All these images of the cold-blooded massacres, tortured victims, and wounded children are examples of ISIS’s slick use of the social media which makes the group seem more powerful than it is in reality. All these social media activities are made to scare and alarm people and to win the ongoing propaganda war.

The third article by Mullen greatly centers on the target market of these above mentioned propaganda. As the author argues ISIS has chosen the right target market to address to the young people and teenagers who are more likely to become converted to extremist Islam. All these promises for the utopian life and rewards in case of conversion seem more attractive to the teenagers whose personalities are not yet molded and who are yet in search of their identities.  Mullen quotes Sasha Havlicek according to whom “We’re seeing young women from across Western countries both expressing their support for and migrating to Syria now in totally unprecedented numbers”. These numerous examples of the young females’ attraction to this extremist Islamic organization are the results of the successful propaganda that ISIS is constantly communicating.

The recent history showed various examples of young people converting to extremist Islam. 19-years-old Aqsa Mahmood[4] who left Scotland joined ISIS and married one of the terrorists, three teenage Colorado girls who wanted to become extremists[5] and other three young females from Denver who attempted to join ISIS[6] are just the few examples from the group of the young people who are attracted to these extremist terrorists. Why is ISIS’s propaganda so successful in luring the people living in Europe and in the United States? There is no single answer to this question but it is obvious that ISIS’s well-planned, well-targeted, and slick propaganda spread through the online social media greatly affects people and their perception of the Islamic extremist terrorist organization.

[1] http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/isis-has-built-a-global-brand-using-nutella-celebrity-and-social-media-10095915.html

[2] http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jun/23/who-behind-isis-propaganda-operation-iraq

[3] http://edition.cnn.com/2015/02/25/middleeast/isis-kids-propaganda/

[4] http://edition.cnn.com/2015/02/23/world/scottish-teen-isis-recruiter/index.html

[5] http://edition.cnn.com/2014/11/12/us/isis-teen-recruitment/

[6] http://edition.cnn.com/2014/10/22/us/colorado-teens-syria-odyssey/index.html?iref=allsearch

Embedded Journalism: The Questions of Objectivity and Bias

The term “embedded journalism” became extremely popular during the Gulf Wars, when the reporters were attached to the American military units during the conflicts. The fact that the reporters were “eating and sleeping alongside soldiers”[1] causes a great controversy and questions the objectivity of the embedded journalism. In the eyes of the critics embedding is often associated with propaganda and partial demonstration of the war reality. Obviously, from one perspective the embedded journalists do share the feeling of patriotism with the soldiers; they overcome various hardships together and in this tense situation it is extremely difficult to maintain the objective view of the reality. Also, the government has a total monopoly as it fully controls what information to be shown or hidden to the audience. Even though these are the important disadvantages of the embedded journalism, from another perspective, embedding is the only method to generate immediate, more precise and meticulous data from the conflict area which was previously impossible before the emergence of the embedded journalist.

Three articles “How ‘Embedded’ Reporters are Handling the War”, “The Dangers of Embedded Journalism, in War and Politics” by David Ignatius, and “The Benefits of Embedding Reporters” by David Verdi analyze the advantages and disadvantages of the embedded journalism and with the help of the examples visualize the practice of embedding. In the first article the author lists several advantages of the method of embedding including its quality to have the immediate connection with the audience, its capacity to generate the accurate data and etc. Before the practice of embedding, writes the author, “the coverage was thin and journalists, who were miles away from the action, found it almost impossible to check the facts”. The author names one of the biggest advantages of embedding its quality to generate the accurate and precise data. Also, another noticeable “advantage is that you get to see what’s going on at a very localised level”[2]. These are indeed important advantages; however, the “localization” of the perspective can also have various disadvantages which are only slightly mentioned by the author.

With regard to disadvantages, Ignatius lists and discusses them in the second article. The biggest disadvantage of embedding is its single-sided perspective of the reality. “We can’t understand what we don’t see; we can’t explain a conflict if we hear from only one side”, writes the author and stresses the importance of objectivity during the military conflict. Observing the events from the inside position hardly ever generates the accurate data and in the majority of cases acts more the purpose of the propaganda. Ignatius visualizes the embedded reporters as “journalists inside the bubble”[3] and compares them to unilateral reporters in terms of the objectivity. With the use of his own example he comes to the conclusion that “although my visits [as an unembedded reporter] were brief, I was able to see things that the embedded journalists could not”[4]. Even though the author highlights the negative sides of the embedded journalism, he also stresses the necessity of embedding during the military conflict, as the neutral journalism is hardly ever achieved during the war.

In the third article Verdi argues that the focal point of all embedded journalists is the same, so the data generated is usually narrow and one-sided; however, the author also stresses the quality of this method to have a direct and instant connection of the people to the battlefield. “This would not be the first time reporters were on the battlefield, but it would be the first time we could see and talk with them, live”[5], writes Verdi and explores the emotional reactions of the people about the instant news broadcasting from the battlefield. Due to the fact that the specific TV channels have various restrictions what should be shown in the television and what should not, the horrible anticipation of unknown or hidden never faded away in people. Verdi also stresses the importance of impartiality of the emotions while making the reports in the battlefield and analyzes its difficulties while being the embedded reporter.

In the era of the modern technological advancement, globalization, and interconnectedness there is a huge demand from the audience of receiving the instant information. In contrast to the past, embedded journalism is necessary in the modern times as it serves the function of the direct and instant transmission of news from the battlefield to the living rooms of the people. With the help of these journalists ordinary people have an opportunity to receive the deeper information about the conflict area and the soldiers. Even though their perspectives are usually single-sided and they only focus on the small picture instead of the big one, as Verdi points out embedded journalists constantly strive to free themselves from the emotional bonds and to generate the objective information. Since it seems almost impossible for the embedded reporters to fully eradicate the patriotic feeling from their hearts, the bias will always exist in their reports; however, the fact that these reports give the viewers the better understanding of the conflict as well as the immediate connection with the battlefield makes embedding the necessary and frequently practiced form of journalism especially during the military conflicts.

[1] http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/2885179.stm

[2] http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/2885179.stm

[3] http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/30/AR2010043001100_pf.html

[4] http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/30/AR2010043001100_pf.html

[5] http://www.nbcnews.com/id/4441056/ns/world_news-mideast_n_africa/t/benefits-embedding-reporters/#.VT4DHyFVikp

From Bread Queues to American Liberalism – the Role of Soft Power in the Cold War

The majority of the wars throughout the history of mankind were won by the superiority of one side in terms of the military power; however, the example of the Cold War, which was a more ideological war, shows the opposite. The Cold War is an illustrious example of the case when the excellence in the military force is not enough to win the war. American soft power and the spread of the liberal ideology was the primary contribution that, along with the military and economic powers, triggered the end of the Cold War.

Three articles How pop culture helped win the Cold War[1] by Dominic Sandbrook, Modern Art was CIA ‘weapon’[2] by Frances Stonor Saunders, and Who Caused the End of the Cold War?[3] By Joseph Nye are greatly centered on the role of soft power in the Cold War. Sandbrook in the first article develops his point and argues that “the man who really ended the Cold War was not Ronald Reagan or Mikhail Gorbachev – but Phil Collins (Sandbrook)” and analyzes the huge impact of the spread of American liberalism during that period. In the Cold War “the personal became political. […] It touched almost every aspect of life: the books you read on holiday, the films you saw at the cinema, the music you played in your student bedsit (Sandbrook)”. Since people have enormous power, the American government, along with the media, communicated all types of pro-American messages that promoted American liberalism to influence the public opinion. The Hollywood media, screening James Bond movies demonstrated “an astounding advance towards comfort and prosperity (Sandbrook)” which could have never been provided by the Communist economy. The concert in 1987 at the Berlin Wall is a great example how people inside the Communist regime strived toward the Western culture.

The spread of American ideology and liberalism was everywhere, even in the field of art. The second article centers on the way CIA sponsored the famous artists like Willem de Kooning, Jackson Pollock, Robert Motherwell, and Mark Rothko to promote the modern art – abstract Expressionism. All these Avant-garde paintings symbolized the idea that American art was sophisticated and free from political constraints. Since the Soviet regime showed non-conformity to all types of art that was against the Soviet rigid patterns, this freedom of expression was extremely enticing for the Soviet artists. These abstract paintings were everywhere “in the marble halls of banks, in airports, in city halls, boardrooms and great galleries (Saunders)”. This extremely intensive spread of American freedom of expression seemed to be successful as it greatly contributed to the end of the Cold War.

Obviously, American soft power was not the only factor that triggered the end of the Cold War. As Nye discusses in the third article, along with the spread of American cultural values, there were other factors like the decline in the Soviet ideology, economy, resources, and others that contributed to the end of the war. The death rate was increasing inside the Soviet Union and people were often starving to death because the scarce food resources. Also, the Soviet Union was not able to keep up with the technological advancement; there were 50,000 personal computers in the Soviet Union, while 30 million in the United States (Nye). All these economic factors also contributed to the collapse of the Soviet Union which was not only the external, but also an internal process.

All these images that the American media communicated, promoting the liberal ideals, were enkindling the fires of desires among the people living under the Soviet regime who were living in the extreme poverty, queuing for bread, while “millions of British consumers were shopping for new microwaves, video recorders and compact disc players (Sandbrook)”.  These people under the Soviet regime were struggling and even sacrificing themselves to leave borders of the Soviet Union and to achieve freedom.

The wonderful example how people in the Soviet Union were desperately eager to join the American liberalism is the incident commonly referred as “Aeroflot Flight 6833”[4] that took place in Georgia in November 1983. Seven young people coming from Georgian elite families attempted to hijack the plane to flee from the Soviet Union. All these hijackers were young Georgian artists, painters, and actors who were protesting the absurdity of the Soviet regime. The attempt seemed unsuccessful and the hijackers could not reach their goal – the pilot landed back in Tbilisi. As one of the conspirators explained during the trial, all they wanted to “have a better life and live in a free society.” They received the death penalty and were shot in 1984. Nobody knows their place of burial. Later, one of the hijacker’s diary was published where she writes how she wanted to listen to Pink Floyd, wear blue jeans, and freely express herself without the fear of being murdered. This accident became extremely popular and was later named “The Jeans Generation” (Jinsebis Taoba). Famous writers wrote about the “The Jeans Generation” and even today it is staged in the private Liberty Theater in Tbilisi.

This is just one example how deeply the Soviet people were influenced by the messages that the American media constantly communicated. Ironically, some of them were ready to sacrifice themselves but to wear blue jeans even for one time. Even though the American art was greatly banned inside the Soviet Union, people secretly consumed various types of Western art which were full of anti-Communistic propaganda. All these propaganda, promoting liberalism, the freedom of expression, and the “American dream” hugely contributed to the decline of the Soviet mentality and thus triggered the internal collapse of the Soviet Union.

[1] http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/10441108/How-pop-culture-helped-win-the-Cold-War.html

[2] http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/modern-art-was-cia-weapon-1578808.html

[3] http://www.huffingtonpost.com/joseph-nye/who-caused-the-end-of-the_b_350595.html

[4] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aeroflot_Flight_6833

Yellow Journalism

Does yellow journalism still exist today? Yes, it does; however, it exists in a different, less powerful form. How has the essence of the yellow journalism changed since the Spanish American War? What are the possible factors responsible for this change? These questions can only be answered after looking back in time and understanding the initial function of the yellow journalism during the Spanish American War.

The article Yellow Journalism[1] defines the term “yellow journalism” as a sensationalistic style of journalism which often relies on the dramatic, scandalous, exaggerated, and even manufactured events to influence the public. Since 1890’s these eye-catching headlines, hyperbolic articles, and shocking news, were used as the powerful force to manipulate with the public opinion. The World; Remember Yellow Journalism by Clifford Krauss is an extremely useful source to examine the historical background of the yellow journalism. At the beginning of the article Krauss highlights the existence of the yellow journalism in the modern era and then discusses its historical timeline and importance. According to Krauss yellow journalism was so immensely popular in 1890’s that it was not only used as the tool to manipulate with people but also as the force to control the inter-national relations. The power of yellow journalism was so huge that it propelled the United States into war with Spain. ”You furnish the pictures and I will furnish the war”, – wrote New York Journal owner William Randolph Hearst to Frederic Remington, the great illustrator of the American frontier in Cuba. Hearst’s this phrase can be considered as the illustrious example depicting the essence of the yellow journalism. Manufactured news, false illustrations, and no sense of objectivity – this is what made yellow journalism so immensely popular and profitable during the 1890’s.

So, what is yellow journalism of the modern era? The paparazzi journalism can be considered as the modern form of the initial yellow journalism. Taking photos and writing articles on the famous politicians, athletes, and celebrities, while they are living their normal life routines is a popular form of media nowadays. The scandalous headlines, shocking news, and the exaggerated information are often found in paparazzi media. Similar to yellow journalism which greatly interfered with the inter-national relations and politics, paparazzi journalism interferes with individual, private lives of celebrities. Using different methods, paparazzi journalists attack the celebrities and afterwards write superficial, mainly manufactured or greatly exaggerated news about their private lives. What paparazzi journalists are doing in today’s era in the majority of the cases is very similar to the “furnishing” that yellow journalism did in 1890’s. It can be said that the essence of the yellow journalism has not changed; however, the scale has changed. Instead of covering the most important news, today’s yellow journalism mainly covers the minor news and gossips.

It is obvious that after so many years the screaming headlines, scandalous articles, and the hyperbolic news are still popular in the modern era; however, their power is not as immense as before. Due to the existence of many leading news agencies that claim objectivity, the yellow journalism of the modern era is not the influential force to control public opinion anymore. Due to the technological advancement, the people in 21^st century have access to enormous amount of information. They have an ability to evaluate important events from various perspectives and finally formulate opinions based on their own judgment. It seems almost impossible from today’s perspective how the major inter-national conflicts could have ever been so greatly influenced by the falsified news, manufactured by the yellow journalism.

The term “yellow journalism” had a different meaning during the Spanish-American War and has a totally different meaning in the modern era. It can be said that the change in the essence of the yellow journalism is greatly catalyzed by the modern interconnectedness, emergence of many objective news agencies, and the possibility to access to the vast amount of information. Will yellow journalism still exist after another century? I suppose that it will. Public will always love scandals.

[1] “Yellow Journalism.” PBS. PBS, 1999. Web. 10 Mar. 2015. <http://www.pbs.org/crucible/journalism.html&gt;.

The Power Relations and the Evolution of the Press

      Since the day the printing press’s invention, the press has been one of the most powerful tools of controlling the public opinion. Has the nature of the press changed in the modern times? Obviously, along with the technological advancements of the modern era, the press, as well as other mediums of communications, went through in various stages of evolution. Along with the press’s evolution, the power relationships over the press have also been changed. The press of the modern era is comparably free of bias and subjectivity and the individuals are empowered to contribute to; however, the governmental control over the press which was almost absolute during the 19^th century is still apparent even today.

Three articles, “How Lincoln Played the Press” by Garry Wills “Lessons of Abraham Lincoln’s war with the press: Commentary” by Fred Hiatt and “How the Civil War gave birth to modern journalism in the nation’s capital” by Paul Farhi all illustrate the biased press of the 19th century, absolutely controlled by the governmental authorities. “Every bit of that information was blatantly biased in ways that would make today’s Fox News blush”, – writes Wills and describes the process of how the politicians cultivated their own party’s papers. According to Farhi the politicians usually established close, corrupt relationships with the reporters, while the reporters wrote the flattering accounts for them. Wills and Hiatt both illustrate Abraham Lincoln as one of the most successful “players” in these dirty games.Lincoln understood the power of the press in molding the public opinion and worked hard to have a total control over what was written on him. According to the articles Lincoln secretly financed the “Illinois Staats-Anzeiger” and had his own scribe, Robert R. Hitt, who was making the records that favored him. What was written in the 19^th century’s newspapers was greatly depended on what the politicians wanted to be written and the free press as a phenomenon was completely unknown.

What has changed in the relationship of the politics and the press since the 19^th century? As Farhi points out in his article “not much has changed in 150 years”; however, this statement is strongly arguable. It is clear that the government’s control over the press still exists even in the modern times. Every country owns the state media and it is influenced and controlled by the governmental authorities; however, the power of the modern free press which did not exist in the 19^th century cannot be neglected. Since the 19^th century major power shifts happened in the newspaper industry.

Along with the technological advancement – creation of the social media and the internet, individuals are empowered to contribute freely to the press without any governmental restrictions. In the modern era everybody can be a journalist, expressing his/her opinions through the internet medium. The power over the press is shifted from the authorities to the ordinary people. The raise of the private or the independent media, which has no direct control from any political party, loosened the authoritative domination over the press. In contrast to that of the 19th century, the press of the today’s era is much more liberated from the governmental ties.

Despite the fact that the majority of the democratic countries promote the existence of the free press which is liberated from the state’s interference, there are still many, non-democratic countries in the modern world in which the government has the absolute power over the press. In these non-democratic counties like North Korea the freedom of press is a totally unknown phenomenon. All the mediums of communications are state-run organizations, promoting the existing ultimate political authority or the power. Similarly to the 19^th century’s press, the politicians have the absolute domination over what is written in the press and the level of corruption in the media industry of these non-democratic countries is extremely high.

From one perspective it can be argued that the relationship between the politics and the press has not been drastically changed since 19^th century, since in the majority of countries the governmental power still controls the media; however, from another perspective the raise of the free press is also considerable. In contrast to the 19^th century’s press which was fully controlled by the authorities, the modern press of the 21^st century is more liberated and individualistic. The emergence of the social media grants the power to individuals to contribute to the press and thus diminishes the absolute governmental domination.

The Future Trends in Watching TV

What are the changing trends in watching TV and how does the technology affect the viewing habits? These are the major questions that both articles The New Water Cooler Is a TV Show by Rachel Doods and From YouTube to Vice – 10 trends that are changing how we watch TV by Stuart Dredge answer.

In the article The New Water Cooler Is a TV Show Doods explores the role of the newly emerged “after shows”. These “after shows” are made by fans who love post-episode analysis. According to Doods “After shows are an old-media solution to a new-media problem: they keep audiences and sponsors engaged with a network by joining in the online conversation”. “After shows” have many advantages: they are cheap to make, easily accessible to all types of people, and the problems discussed are recent and involving. In consideration of these advantages “after shows” tend to be extremely popular: according to Doods “”Talking Dead” host Chris Hardwick is also an avid social networker and zombie enthusiast, with 1.6 million Twitter followers” and “Andy Cohen, a Bravo executive who has more than 627,000 followers on Twitter, hosts “Watch What Happens””. These numbers are extremely high and impressive, highlighting the disappearance of the dividing line between the Web and TV.

In the article From YouTube to Vice – 10 trends that are changing how we watch TV Dredger is more focused on listing and analyzing ten major trends of watching TV. Dredger talks about the possible changes in the habits of watching TV and explores the role of Twitter, Facebook, Youtube and other “online watercoolers where people watch or discuss their favorite shows” (Dredger). The author also highlights the role of the technological development and emergence of tablets and smart phones where people can watch their favorite TV shows without sitting in front of TV. The role of kids is also another crucial theme discussed in this article. It is obvious that the younger generations radically change the ways to watch TV. Watching TV is substituted by the tablets, whose growth is startling: “the percentage of children with access to a tablet at home has surged from 20% in 2012 to 51% in 2013 and 84% now” (Dredger). It is apparent that TV has been changing over the years, but what will be the major trends in watching TV in the future is still unknown.

Possible Changes in the Trends of Watching TV

It is difficult to say what is on the horizon of TV; however, the possible changes in the trend of watching TV are apparent. These trends can be: TV and Web integration, use of tablets or smart phones instead of watching in front of TV, and via Facebook, Twitter and other social networks communication with friends and sharing ideas about the show. Though some of them are already applied today, these trends will become much more applicable in the future.

TV and Web integration will be the most beneficial for the audience since it will give consumers what they want without any limitations. It will allow the audience to get their favorite content from internet. To take an example of Google TV, it allows consumers to browse Web sites and watch television simultaneously. Consumers can access HBO, CNBC, and content from other providers through the Chrome browser. In the future with the help of this kind of internet televisions, the dividing line between TV and Web will become more blurred.

Use of tablets or smart phones more frequently than TVs will be not less advantageous for the people. Generally people do not have time to sit and watch the shows in front of TV. In most of the times they are involved in many other activities and concentrating on TV becomes difficult. In this case use of tablets, laptops, or smart phones is the solution. The habit of watching TV will completely be changed since the majority of people will prefer to watch their favorite TV show while having lunch in café, or being in the public transport, instead of sitting in front of TV at home.

Twitter, Facebook and other online social networks play crucial role in the future of TV. On one hand, they are brilliant advertisements of TV shows’ and promote people to watch them; however, on the other hand if one does not watch the show immediately after the release the posts on Twitter on Facebook will ruin their expectations since everybody will be talking about it. On Facebook or on Twitter live conversations are happening around TV where the large audiences are involved. I think in the future the “after shows” will become even more popular and will become equally famous as the shows themselves.

It is obvious that today’s television watching habits are radically different from those of our parents or grandparents. The majority of people does not sit in front of TV, but prefer to watch their favorite shows in internet or in their tablets/smart phones/laptops. This is the era when consumers control what to watch not the companies. In the future the line between TV and Web will become even more blurred and online social networks and TV will become more firmly connected.

 

American TV Shows’ Dominance

Both of these articles The International Language of Tube by June Thomas and Who’s Afraid of a Few Subtitles? The Rise of International Television by Alison Willmore discuss the roles of international TV shows on the global scale and their chances to become as popular as the American ones. Both of these authors encourage the rise and popularity of non-American TV shows; however, both of them acknowledge the factors that may hinder their attractiveness and fame.

In the article The International Language of Tube Thomas analyzes the popularity of American and non-American TV shows. The article examines Danish, Norwegian, British, French, Spanish and other non-American shows and the reasons of their high ratings and excellent reputations. Thomas also talks about the barriers that may impede the popularity of these shows: language and accessibility. According to the author even though Danish show Borgen is extremely well-known and high-rated, because there was only Danish version of the show, non-Danish people could not watch it. “Unfortunately, since I don’t speak Danish, that source was of no use to me” writes Thomas and describes the language barrier as the primary difficulty of non-American shows to become well-known globally. Thomas also highlights the problem of accessibility of the non-American shows that are available only on the national TVs that are not accessible worldwide.

In the second article Who’s Afraid of a Few Subtitles? The Rise of International Television using the specific examples Willmore describes the American method of remaking the foreign TV shows. The Returned is the illustrious example of non-American TV show that is adopted and re-made by the Americans. Willmore quotes the part of Charlotte Koh’s, Hulu’s head of content’s, words who states that “We’re used to sharing our stories with the rest of the world. We’re not used to dubbing or subtitling, really” (Koh). Koh’s explanation makes it clear why Americans tend to remake the foreign TV shows instead of subtitling or translating. Also, according to Willmore American shows are much more accessible globally, than French or Danish ones.

What are the Major Factors that Impede Non-American TV Shows’ Popularity?

It is obvious that every small country in the world has even one high-quality TV show that is popular in that country or region but totally unknown globally. What are the factors that make American shows much more well-known than non-American ones? The answer is obvious: non-American TV shows are not in English and generally people are not enthusiastic to read subtitles; non-American shows are less accessible; themes of the non-American shows are usually not global, but more culturally constructed; American TV shows are much higher-budgeted and have extremely high-quality technological effects.

All these factors hinder the popularity of non-American TV shows on the global scale. Even though there are some extremely well-known exceptions –The Returned, Borgen, Spiral, still non-American TV shows that are produced in smaller countries or in non-European countries tend to be popular only inside the boarders of that specific countries. Georgian well-known TV show The Detectives can be considered as the great example of this case. Since Georgia is a small country, not culturally or economically influential or popular, even the most popular TV shows like The Detectives are not able to become well-known outside the country.

Why The Detectives Can Never Become Popular Outside Georgia?

Even though The Detectives is very similar to the other investigation TV shows, it can never achieve success outside Georgian boarders. The first reason is its language; The Detectives is in Georgian and nobody except Georgians in the world speaks Georgian. The second reason is the setting of the story – it is set in the capital of Georgia, Tbilisi. Why would the members of the non-Georgian audience like to watch the TV show that is set in the city that they have never even heard of? The third reason is accessibility – one can only watch The Detectives on the national TV channels. Even though there are web pages where The Detectives can be watched, there are no English or dubbed versions. The fourth reason is the lack of high-budget, technology and high-quality effects. Even though this show is not specifically on Georgian culture and the themes are universal, based on the real accidents, these four factors are absolutely enough for the members of the foreigner audience not to watch it.

The Detectives is only one specific example of the TV show that is produced in the small culturally “minor” country; however, the reasons of non-American TV shows’ less attractiveness are the same for all foreigner TV shows. Despite the popularity of some exceptional non-American TV shows, the majority of them are not known at all. I believe there are many elaborated, sophisticated, non-American shows that would have been astoundingly popular, but are absolutely unknown because of the cultural and technical reasons.

 

Hollywood’s Strategies and Blockbuster Movies

 

The both articles Why Hollywood Is Caught in the Blockbuster Trap — and Won’t Break Free Anytime Soon By Anita Elberse and The Rise and Rise of the Comic Book Movie By Thomas Winward discuss today’s immensely popular comic book characters, blockbuster movies, “blockbuster era”  and Hollywood’s strategies of selling the Lowest Common Denominator movies.

In her article Anita Elberse greatly focuses on Hollywood’s one of the most successful strategies – new project’s resemblance to an existing hit. According to Elberse since the taste of the consumers constantly changes, this method guarantees the movie’s success. Elberse uses her own data to demonstrate the immense popularity of the “non-original” movies that are actually based on other hits, books, video game, or the comic book. The incomes of these “non-original” movies are striking, “In 2011, non-original films collected $6.6 billion at the box office, significantly more than the $3.5 billion grossed by original films” (Elberse). It is remarkable that according to the income, among these blockbuster movies the films based on comic books are the leading ones. According to the author Hollywood’s primary motivation is to make the movies successful in the marketplace. Usually the financial investment and the popularity of the products are directly proportional, thus Hollywood high-profitable blockbusters tend to be the most lucrative and popular.

The second article by Thomas Winward answers to the significant question about the comic book movies: what caused this storm of their popularity (Winward)? The author analyzes the story-line of the comic book movies particularly the relationship between the Joker and Batman and arrives to a conclusion that these movies are based on today’s actual political and international problem: “how much bad does it take to achieve good” (Windward)? Even though these blockbuster comic book movies may cover serious political/social issue the reason of their popularity lies merely in their special, high-quality effects, action and fighting, high-budget, and Lowest Common Denominator. These movies are products that produce the most of a company’s profit and hold up the rest of the organization.

What Is Hollywood’s Strategy Focusing on Blockbuster Comic Book Movies?

There are many factors that determine the popularity and the market success of the comic book movies. It is obvious that Hollywood uses its own strategies, how to make these movies immensely profitable as well as popular throughout the universe. This strategy includes: 1.The Lowest Common Denominator, 2. the extremely high-budget/the impressive, special effects, and 3. resemblance to an existing hit. These are the primary components that determine the profitability as well as the fame of Hollywood’s blockbusters. 

The term Lowest Common Denominator means that the movie is appealed to as many people as once as possible. In my opinion this is one of the most influential strategies of Hollywood. To examine the comic book movie The Dark Knight, the problems illustrated for example the battle between good and bad, morality, right vs. wrong, are easily comprehensible for all types of audiences, despite their age, sex, social status and etc. The Lowest Common Denominator is definitely the key to success of these blockbuster movies.

It is obvious that all these comic book blockbuster movies are extremely high-budget films. The fact that the majority of the high-budgeted movies have impressive technological and high-quality effects, music, design also attracts the audience. The movie The Amazing Spider-Man is the typical example of the high profitable comic book movie with high-class effects. Hollywood invests enormously large amounts of money in these potentially successful blockbusters while these movies prove to be successful and become extremely profitable. In my opinion this strategy of releasing high-budgeted blockbuster movies itself guarantees their popularity and productivity.

Would the Amazing Spider-Man or The Dark Knight or any of the comic book movies have been so globally popular if not the theme’s, motif’s and characters’ resemblance to an existing hit? I think this resemblance is one of the key factors of their success. To take an example of all these popular heroes, themes and story-lines, the large amount of them are re-makes of the older versions. This method of Hollywood, focusing on the earlier popular hits guarantees the attractiveness and thus profitability of their remakes.

It is obvious that Hollywood uses the sets of strategies to make its high-budgeted movies world-wide popular and thus immensely lucrative. From one perspective these blockbusters are indeed successful in the marketplace; however, from the other perspective creativity, originality, and artistry is lost. Unfortunately, because of their Lowest Common Denominator, high-budget and fame, these comic book blockbuster movies substitute the earlier elaborated, refined, sophisticated, and original movies.

The Essential Components of the Horror Movies

Why do the majority of teenagers love horror movies? What is so involving, attractive and entertaining in this genre? Indeed, the largest amount of horror movies are made for teenagers, who enjoy adrenalin rush that they experience while watching.  Personally, I love the mystery, suspense and the tension of this genre. If the horror movie is well-made it completely involves me, as if I am the actual person going through in the mysterious adventures in which the characters go through. I enjoy the feeling of being unsecured and scared while actually being in the safe environment. It is interesting what are the essential components that make a horror movie scary, startling, involving, entertaining, mysterious, and entertaining.

Among the technical codes, it is important some parts of the movie to be made by hand-held camera. It should also include the low, black lightening and incidental, distorted sounds. The movie “Paranormal Activities” is one of the best examples in which the hand-held camera is used. The use of hand-held camera evokes the feeling of the plot’s authenticity. With regard of black, low lightening, since the black color is directly associated with something negative, it creates the mystery and the suspense in the storyline.

From symbolic codes of the horror movies, setting, weather and characters play the crucial role. Usually the story of the horror movies takes place in secluded areas, for example in the isolated house, the secluded woods, the summer camp during the off season and etc. One of the most prominent examples of the secluded settings of the horror movies is illustrated in “The Shining”. In this movie story takes place in a huge, isolated, private house, which has a labyrinth in front it. The labyrinth in this case also has a symbolic connotation. Being secluded from the outer world creates the sense of insecurity, mystery and a tension in the movie. In most of the horror movies weather is usually gloomy or stormy. The deliberately selected gloomy weather is a symbolic code highlighting the frightening atmosphere.  The negative characters of the movie typically wear black, strange clothes, wear masks or have scars/tattoos highlighting their ominous characters.

With regard to the conventions of the horror movies, they are extremely important to make the movie startling, involving, and scary. One of the most frequently found convention in the horror movies is the unconsidered warning. Usually the main characters of the movie are warned about the possible danger; however, the leave the caution unheeded. This convention is used as a foreshadowing the development of the fear-provoking events. The cut of electricity/phone lines is another commonly found convention. When the power is suddenly cut it enhances the feeling of tension, while the cut of the phone lines creates the sense of isolation from the “safety zone”. In most of the horror movies there is a character (usually a female) that hears the strange noises and investigates the issue. In most of the cases he/she is the first victim of the serial killer/supernatural creature /psycho/evil spirit and etc. For example in “The Sinister” the protagonist of the movie is aware of the murder that has taken place in his new house; however, he investigates the issue and finally becomes a victim of his investigation. In many of horror movies either the prologue includes the demonstration of the events that has happened before, or there is a flashback revealing the terrible crimes that has taken place before “our time”.  For example in the first several minutes of “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” viewers are exposed to what has happened before in the family of the traumatized young hitchhiker; however, the main part of the movie takes place after many years, when this hitchhiker grows up and becomes a psychopathic killer. This method creates trepidation as well as foreshadows the threatening development of the movie.

 To be startling and to play on audience’s primal fears is the central aim of the horror movies. These above listed codes and conventions are essential for horror movies to be “successful”. These components of the horror movie create a feeling of adrenalin rush, which is usually the reason why I as well as the majority of the teenagers are attracted with it. Teenagers take pleasure in sensing the fear in an actually safe environment. Not only teenagers but women are also not less important audiences of this genre. The film industry is producing many contemporary horror movies with female protagonists who become stronger to overcome the obstacles. They also include woman-related themes like babysitting or pregnancy to attract the female audience. Considering all these factors, today the horror genre stays as one of the most popular among all the others.

Photoshopping of the Cover Images of Magazines

            Should famous oversized women be illustrated on the covers of the well-known magazines, like “Vogue”, “Cosmopolitan”, “Elle” and etc.? Should these women be Photoshoped in order their “flaws” to be covered?  Should every woman look like a super-model in order the magazine to become the best-seller? Does Photoshoping simply distort the reality? These are the questions that arise after the release of scandalous covers of “Vogue” and “Elle” depicting altered images of Lena Dunham and Melissa McCarthy respectively. Since nobody is perfect, the photos of these women are deliberately altered to cover their round curves, wrinkles, dimples, and etc. to reach the fake super-model-like appearance which is nothing but the counterfeiting of the reader’s reality.

           The altered photo of Lena Dunham on the cover of “Vogue” did not stay unnoticed by the current editor on jezebel.com, Jessica Coen. Since jezebel.com is a website that made its name by criticizing artificiality of woman’s magazines, this incident appeared to be a great chance to protest the fakeness of Photoshopping. In her article Coen demonstrates the untouched as well as altered images of Dunham and meticulously explores every change that is made to “fix” her “flaws”. The author criticizes the photographer’s, Annie Leibovitz’s use of composite images and digital manipulations. Jessica Coen’s extremely negative and straightforward tone is discussed by Jadi Kantor from New York Times. According to Kantor Lena Dunham was not a right target for jezbel.com since she managed to “put her own “different” — that is, typical — body on television” (Kantor). The second article discusses the issue from more neutral perspective. Lena Dunham’s response to these scandal was simple and straightforward: “”Vogue isn’t the place that we go to look at realistic women, Vogue is the place we go to look at beautiful clothes and fancy places and escapism, and so I feel like if the story reflects me and I happen to be wearing a beautiful Prada dress and surrounded by beautiful men and dogs, what’s the problem? If they want to see what I really look like, go watch the show that I make every single week” (Thorpe).

            Melissa McCarthy being on the cover of “Elle” was another subject matter of critique. Both of the articles on huffingtonpost.com and slate.com discuss how this cover distorts the reality. According to June Thomas from slate.com “Elle” should not get credit for illustrating a plus-sized woman on its cover since her images are greatly altered and Photoshopped. The same idea is shared in the article on huffingtonpost.com – curvier cover models are treated differently. They are clothed in a way to cover their whole bodies or the photos are taken from very close view and their bodies are not demonstrated at all. Melissa is not an exception; she wears a huge coat and her hair is fashioned in a way to cover almost the quarter of her face. “Elle” justifies her look and states that “[…] the stars choose pieces they feel good in, and this is no different: Melissa loved this look and is gorgeous on our cover” (Krupnick). Too look at the super-models whose bodies are fully exposed it is hard to believe that Melissa McCarthy’s look was purely artistic.

            In my personal opinion heavy Photoshopping is nothing but the distortion of the reality. Unfortunately, not only the covers of the magazines are Photoshopped. 21^st century’s teenagers deliberately modify their photos in order to reach idealistic “perfection”. The inclination towards perfection is highly triggered by the images of nude models whose bodies look unbelievably amazing. The fact that celebrities are highly Photoshopped also affects the psychologies of those teenagers who are plus-sized. Besides the negative effect on young people the altered images are simply fake and artificial. The fact that the images of men illustrated on the covers or in the magazines are not as greatly altered as those of the women raises the question: why are women supposed to look perfect? The answer to this question raises the gender equality issue which was the feminists’ major concern for a long period of time. I do not think that the women who are over-weighted need to be “fixed” in order to look like super-models. If everybody strives to look like the super-models then the individuality of the people will be lost. Photoshopping and modification of magazine’s covers not only acts as a catalyst in teenagers’ psychological as well as mental problems but also facilitates the process of loosing individuality of people.  

            The beauty is a relative term which is highly determined by the certain individuals’ subjective viewpoints. An over-weighted woman can be beautiful without the need of Photoshopping. The magazines’ editors concern is only the marketability of their product. It is obvious – as perfect an attractive, thin, high, beautiful, and glorious celebrity looks, as better the magazine is sold. Unfortunately, its impact on people, its fakeness and bias is the minor concern.