Manovich (2001) The Language of New Media

Link to text >>  |  Link to Video>>  |  Link to Review>> Argument – Manovich maps out parameters to define what new media is, what distinguishes it from old media, how it developed out of other media forms, and how it can be studied.  Throughout the book he situates new media in relation to older … Continue reading →

Creeber and Martin (2009) Digital Cultures

Link to Text >> Ch 1. Digital Theories Argument – Creeber and Martin 2009 trace the history of Critical Media Studies as a precursor to the study of digital media.  They situate New Media studies within post-structuralist theories of media that emphasize multiple layers of meaning that are actively produced by users.  There is no … Continue reading →

Terranova (2000) Free Labor: Producing Culture for the Digital Economy

Argument In the digital economy many internet users provide free labor, whether they conceive of it as work or pleasure.  Free labor is “simultaneously voluntarily given and unwaged, enjoyed and exploited” (33). Summary While other have pointed out that knowledge workers provide immaterial labor to corporations (Lazzarato 1996), there is another type of labor taking … Continue reading →

Lazzarato (1996) Immaterial Labor

Argument Since the 1970s the nature of work has changed so that it isn’t always recognized as work.  Much of the work performed today is immaterial labor and it involves new power relations in which workers, who are free, use their mental skills and personalities to produce information commodities. NOTE: Lazzarato is not describing digital … Continue reading →

Jhally and Livant (1986) Watching as Working: The Valorization of Audience Consciousness

Argument Sut Jhally and Bill Levant confirm and extend Smythe’s audience theory of labor.  They explain that working at watching essentially works the same way that all labor functions within capitalist economies.  The media system is designed to squeeze the most profit out of the audience’s watching time using the minimum production costs necessary.  They … Continue reading →

Smythe – Communications: Blindspot of Western Marxism (1977)

Argument Communications are the blindspot of Marxist thought.  Instead of critiquing media messages and their meaning/ideology, Marxists scholars should focus on how the media industries exploit audiences who labor for free.  The economic function of media is to deliver audiences to advertisers.  Therefore the audience is the commodity that is bought and sold and exploited … Continue reading →

Pybus, Jennifer (2011) The Subjective Architects: When Tweens Learn to Immaterial Labor

ARGUMENT Through voluntary immaterial labour with branded interactive media, the tween is the architect of his or her own subjectivity as a consumer. SUMMARY Tweens are defined as ages 8-13.  The market artificially demarcates “Tweens” as a distinct category of youth in order to produce a subject that is willing and ready to consume the … Continue reading →

Gitelman, Lisa. (2006) Always Already New

On Media History All historians are doing a form of media history.  History only survives by being represented in media (writing, photos, tablets etc.) therefore media are the instruments of history.   Historians are generally blind to the media themselves and only focus on the content of media.  Media historians use media as both the instruments … Continue reading →

Peters, John Durham. (1999) Speaking Into The Air – Reading Notes

Main Argument Communication is a modern notion, developed in the nineteenth century and he argues that it has not been studied enough.  Peters traces the evolution of ideas around communication throughout history and extrapolates their wider social, political, philosophical and religious implications. Introduction What is communication and what does the term mean? “Divisions between self … Continue reading →

Curran, James. (2002) Media and the Making of British Society c. 1700-2000

The study of media history is plagued by three main problems: Mono-medium history – Many study a specific medium and provide a historical account of that one medium.  This results in incomplete understanding of the historical role of media Media-centric narrowness – focuses on the content of the media or the organizational structure of institutions … Continue reading →