My own simple definition of capitalism is a system created to have control over the “weak” and benefit from. it is a political and economical system. the political sphere are concerned with the cultural and social aspect. The government ownership and decision making influence rules and regulations for what is legal or illegal. capitalism is controlled by money rather than social concerns and benefit. If you ask a random person, whats your goal in life aw whats your need? money is answer, the capitalist system placed money worth than knowledge. it plays in the media as well. Media channels censor a lot of shows because of how it runs according to Fuch (2016). As the systems the logic of acoomoditiies. how the media accomodates its content to recive more money. Multiple things come with understanding ccapitalism in media but importantly to study and be aware that the content we are watching is served to meet our needs and entertain us but never to start a conversation or talk about social issues. only its seen through social media activism, which they start benefiting off for the trend.
According to Artz, L. (2008) Mass communication is business theories concerning media that are self serving rationale used by politicians and businessmen to operate.
Artz, L. (2008). Media Relations and Media Product
In the article by Mandour, S. (2013). the two events presented on the tv , broke the stereotypes and laws in the culture of the Lebanese government, cultural , and political structure. having that accomplished , will change the perspective of the citizens against homosexuality. As the issue concerns religious powers, as well s the complex system of Lebanon. As religion interferes in politics and putting laws.
As seen the activist movement, made a huge step towards normalizing the taboo. As they gained their rights over time. by the help of media. MTV has been criticized for its influence and the talk shows it hosted. As LBC gave more attention to the story pay calling out MTV, as they are both in competition.
Mandour, S. (2013). Potential Change in Media Discourse on Sexuality in Lebanon. Retrived from: SaharMandour- Media Discourse on Sexuality(1).pdf
Zaatari’s definition of patriarchy: system of male dominance, in all aspects of life, social, political, and culture.
Patriarchy is reinforced in Beb-Al-Hara by the division of space between the domestic women’s world and the public men’s world that is clearly articulated. Women are not involved in public affairs, only when their husbands consult them on certain decisions. Women are utterly dependent on men who are often women’s only avenue to the outside world by buying groceries and capering on them whenever they go out.
In bad el hara, patriarchy privileges the males and the older generation in terms of acres to resources, decision making, and power. It also privileges those with more wealth and money.
According to Mandour, the event in 2012 represented policy of sexuality by increasingly deploying the homosexuals and heterosexuals alike to soothe the growing social panic over morals, traditions, gender roles, and “Authentic masculinity” in the country.
According to Odeh, Palestinian women are impacted on the internet by cyber crime which increased in Palestine following the technological development and spread use of internet and social media. The cases of cyber crimes reported in the West Bank were mostly sexual extortion or blackmail of women and girls in order to obtain their photographs
Surveillance tower: certain people who observe virtually another person
Problems in the representation of Palestinian women according to TAM: Palestinian women are under represented in most of the Palestinians media outlets. The Palestinian media is dominated by men and the “male culture” which re enforces and spreads stereotypical images of women and promotes gender inequality
Recommendations put forward:
1- Modify editorial policies of Palestinian media outlets
2- The Palestinian media outlet to adopt a women data base, to be used in all media productions.
3- Building the capacities of journalists, media specialists and decision makers in the Palestinian media organizations, in gender equality and UNSCR 1325
Three main points Hall raises about ideology:According to Hall, S. (1990)
Ideologies do not consist of isolated and separate concepts, but in the articulation of different elements into a distinctive set or chain of meanings.
ideological statements are made by individuals: but ideologies are not the product of individual consciousness or intention. Rather, we formulate our intentions within ideologies. the transformation of ideologies is thus a collective process and practice, not an individual one.
Ideologies work by constructing for their subjects positions of identification and knowledge which allow them to utter ideological truths as if they were their authentic authors. Thus, the same “subject” can be differently constructed in different ideologies.
According to Shaheen, J. G. (2003) arabs are showed in a distorted image in Hollywood films, for example; he mentions arabs are presented as carries of primitivism threatening to endanger our modern cozy world with their strange habits and desires. But because of Hollywood’s tightened cultural awareness, they know better than to racially discriminated against a certain group. The relation is more of a cause and effect, for example, powerful colleges of hurtful images serve to deepen suspicious and hatred.
The Politico.eu covered the iannouncement of the peace plan by the headline:”How Trump’s Mideast peace plan could actually matter. This headline shows a bit of controversy over the plan actually working. One bias that appears in the article is the selection of words and images. For example Toosi (2020) uses the fact of the win win situation plan at the top paragraph and emphasizing that palestinians will not settle for the plan.
Another bias is images used , both of the images on the website are for Donald trump and Netanyahu in the congress. No appearance for palestinians or their point of view on the plan.
Another bias is selection , as the article mentions the point of view of the UAE over “peace” plan. As cited by Tossi (2020)The UAE ambassador said: the plan offers an important starting point for a return to negotiations within a US led international framework. This could be a bias toward American association , supporting their point of view.
Nahal Toosi ( 28 January , 2020) how trump’s Mideast peace plan could actually matter , Retrieved from: Politico.eu
Photojournalism is a way to project the struggles of people in different countries.It is sharing news through a visual image. Photography is a part of art , therefore photographers take the picture in their own perspective , but manipulating the image to tell a different story than the truth , when it becomes questionable.To understand the effect of journalism photos more we will go over specific terms.
As defined by Kandutsch, C. (2015) “Punctum” is the rare or unique detail that makes the viewer feel something and pushed the photo even further into the reader’s mind. The way someone views a picture is different from another persons point of view of it. This kind of meaning is unique to the response of the individual viewer of the image.
Absorption is when a photograph or a painting has people natural not posing for the camera , caught in their own natural state , their figure blend in with the picture. As noted by Kandutsch, C. (2015) if a person is posing in a picture it undermines the integrity and completeness of the story being told. For example,Kandutsch, C. (2015) in the Yarmouk picture , most of the people were not looking at the camera and their being is caught through their natural state of being. The more spontaneous the Better!!!
Facingness : refers to the sense in which the picture addresses itself to and confronts the beholder by facing directly out into the viewers on “this” side of the picture plane as in portrait painting.
Share argues, J. (n.d.) that photographs are never object, because digital manipulation of photographs is happening more often these days, usually going unnoticed and without comment. I agree with his point of view that digital manipulation makes photography no longer true. But i disagree that even photographers by choosing how they angel the photograph , is objective , i think its more creative than obscuring reality .
Moeller, S. (1999) discusses the four Habits that media does in adjusting the a story into a more bias appropriate news for the source.
First, Bias through selection of worthy news, simplifying the causes and the solutions of the problem,assigning “Good” and “Evil” role and deliberate wrong usage of pictures.The US media like ‘The Washington Post’ choose to put a picture of an injured Israeli on the first page(Battah, H. (2009), which by now we all know that the first page is the most important in news. In the In this way, bias is proven since the journalist is selectively placing and comparing two images of a Jewish women stressed from hiding in a shelter and Palestinian mother that has lost her children , these both are different news and the Palestinian side of the story should be covered differently. The journalist downgraded the issue and portrayed a different image of the situation. For example, as noted by Battah, H. (2009). the day the front page photographs of the two Israeli women were published, over 350 Palestinians were killed compared to only 4 Israelis.
Second, Bias by headline and leads and usage of words.For example, The Washington Post quote Israeli military and civilians several times before quoting a single Palestinian, as well as giving more information about Israel in a more sympathetic way. This way, they direct the reader into agreeing with the US politics, insuring that the public’s eye will be on their side.
Third, Bias by using metaphors and imagery that resonate but give off the wrong news . In US television, the anchor excludes any facts about Palestinians or the death count, and gives little report on how Israeli is killing Palestinians each day, omitting it on news to ‘People killed’ rather than being attributed specifically to Palestinians, which makes American viewers side with the Israelis.
Fourth, emphasizing on the American connection to the news.As noted by Moeller, S. (1999) ,the way the American news covers news is bias.Arab viewers have a different perspective than US viewers about the Israel and Palestine conflict since in the US networks, bombing of Gaza has been limited to only 2 minute video packages or five minute talk show segments, barely enough time to get a glance or remember a victim. On the other hand, Arab networks only show Gaza. live images from the streets of Gaza are always broadcasted to hours on end, and they’re unedited, giving the actual reality of the war.
Moeller, S. (1999). Four Habits of International News Reporting.
As the Media is responsible for covering news all around the world and provide insights to the public , it should be trusted and reliable but the opposite is true. Media consumers should not believe what they hear right away , they should question and find other media sources to get the bottom of the truth about the news. What makes media this way is due to how media operates , through the five filter: profit/ownership, advertising, establishment, flak and the common enemy. These filters decide which events are newsworthy , how to cover them, their placement in the media and how much coverage they will receive.
Profit/ownership: huge organizations that have control over the media, and each small organization is being controlled by one of these large organizations. As noted by Herman, E., and Chomsky, N. (1998) these dominant media organizations are controlled by wealthy people or by managers who are controlled by owners and other market-profit -oriented forces and they are closely intertwined with governments and banks. For example, in a report from Al Jazeera reported saying”Palestinians threaten to quit Oslo Accords over Trump peace plan” , it is an example of ownership because the owners of Al Jazeera reported more bias towards the united States point of view, and not a neutral both sided opinion, the effect could be the relationship Al Jazeera which is owned by Qatar has an influence on the news.
Advertising: a form of persuasive communication that promotes goods or services of an identifies sponsor, and stimulates the public to purchase the new product or service which increases the sales.
Establishment: the sourcing of mass media news, where the media focuses on getting its reliable and steady flow of information. For example, the white house and the state department are central place for news coverage. The government and corporations have a big establishment in the media because of the consistent news it provides for the media(Herman, E., and Chomsky, N. ,1998). Editors and journalists who offend these powerful news sources, perhaps by questioning the veracity or bias of the presented material, can be threatened with no access of media coverage.( Al-Jazeraa , 2020)
Flak: when the media stories are inconvenient to the huge corporate organizations, they will use “Flak” which means discrediting media personalities and sources and try to divert the public’s eye.It is characterized by concerted efforts to manage public information.
The common enemy: Communism, terrorists and immigrants are all examples of the common enemy created to shape the public opinion about subjects critical for the elite interests. It portrays the news in a different way to out put the desired fear in the public eyes. For example, the accident
Hoechsman, M., & Poyntz, S. R. (2012). Media literacies : A critical introduction. John Wiley & sons.
Media and People 