world communication

Batman Arkham Asylum

2011-10-16T02:33:00.000-07:00

In Batman: Arkham Asylum the player assumes the role of Batman as he delivers The Joker to Arkham Asylum. There, the imprisoned super-villains have set a trap and an immersive combat gaming experience unfolds. With an original script penned by Emmy Award-winning Batman writer Paul Dini, the game brings the universe of DC Comics' detective to life!
Batman: Arkham Asylum exposes players to a unique, dark and atmospheric adventure that takes them to the depths of Arkham Asylum -- Gotham's psychiatric hospital for the criminally insane. Gamers will move in the shadows, instigate fear amongst their enemies and confront The Joker and Gotham City's most notorious villains who have taken over the asylum. Using a wide range of Batman's gadgets and abilities, players will become the invisible predator and attempt to foil The Joker's demented scheme.

Assassin's Creed Brotherhood

2011-10-16T02:29:00.000-07:00

Assassins Creed Brotherhood Minimum System Requirements
- OS: Windows® XP (32-64 bits) /Windows Vista®(32-64 bits)/Windows 7® (32-64 bits)
- CPU: Intel Core® 2 Duo 1.8 GHZ or AMD Athlon X2 64 2.4GHZ
- RAM: 1.5 GB Windows® XP / 2 GB Windows Vista® - Windows 7®
- VIDEO: 256 MB DirectX® 9.0-compliant card with Shader Model 3.0 or higher (see supported list*)
- DX: 9.0
- HARD DRIVE: 8 GB
- SOUND: DirectX 9.0 -compliant sound card
- PERIPHERALS: Keyboard, mouse, optional controller
- Supported Video Cards: ATI® RADEON® HD 2000/3000/4000/5000/6000 series, NVIDIA GeForce® 8/9/100/200/300/400/500 series
- Note* * This product does not support Windows® 98/ME/2000/NT

Assassins Creed Brotherhood Recommended System Requirements
- OS: Windows® XP (32-64 bits) /Windows Vista®(32-64 bits)/Windows 7® (32-64 bits)
- CPU: Intel Core® 2 Duo E6700 2.6 GHz or AMD Athlon 64 X2 6000+ or better
- RAM: 1.5 GB Windows® XP / 2 GB Windows Vista® - Windows 7®
- VIDEO: GeForce 8800 GT or ATI Radeon HD 4700 or better
- SOUND: 5.1 sound card
- PERIPHERALS: joystick optional (Xbox 360® Controller for Windows recommended)
- Supported Video Cards: ATI® RADEON® HD 2000/3000/4000/5000/6000 series, NVIDIA GeForce® 8/9/100/200/300/400/500 series
- Note* * This product does not support Windows® 98/ME/2000/NT

Aliens vs Predator

2011-10-16T02:24:00.000-07:00

Year: 2010
Genre: Action / FPS / Sci-Fi
Developer: Rebelion
Publisher: SEGA
Platform: PC

Minimum system requirements:
[*] OS: Windows 7 / XP / Vista
[*] Processor: 3.2 GHz Intel Pentium 4/Athlon 64 3000 + or equivalent processor
[*] Memory: 1 GB System RAM (XP) / 2 GB System RAM (Vista)
[*] Graphics: DirectX 9.0c compliant video card with 128 MB RAM (NVIDIA 6600 or better, ATI X1600 or better)
[*] DirectX ®: DirectX 9.0c

Recommended system requirements
:[*] OS: Windows 7 / XP / Vista[*] Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo E6400 or equivalent processor
[*] Memory: 2 GB System RAM[*] Graphics: DirectX 9.0c compliant video card with 512 MB RAM (NVIDIA 8800 series, ATI HD2900 PRO or better)
[*] DirectX ®: DirectX 9.0c

Stronghold 3

2011-10-06T09:20:00.000-07:00

Stronghold 3

lucky shot: see next game »

Your castle walls are being smashed by siege engines, an enemy catapult surrounded by troops is rumbling ever closer, your villagers are starving, wolves have been spotted in a nearby cave, your barracks are desperately empty... just another typical day for a medieval lord in FireFly Studios' Stronghold 3. Since first launching in 2001, the Stronghold series has become one of the most respected in its genre thanks to its mix of precision village building, fast-paced real-time gameplay and dramatic sieges with hundreds of enemies swarming over your castle. Stronghold 3 promises to be the best yet, with a keep full of fantastic new features that ensure old and new fans alike experience a gritty slice of medieval life.

Features:
Improved building system allowing unprecedented levels of realism and intricacy in castle and village design
Realistic physics and cutting-edge graphics bring siege warfare to life in stunning detail
Story-driven gameplay engages players across two campaigns: combat or economic
Dramatic nighttime sieges add a new dimension to the Stronghold franchise
Besiege other players' castles or defend your own in a range of action-packed online multiplayer modes
Play through accurately re-created sieges from the pages of history. Will you succeed where others failed?

source: http://www.southpeakgames.eu/game/Stronghold%203/

developer:

FireFly Studios

publisher:

7Sixty

genre:

strategy /

platform:

PC / Windows

release date: World: 25 October 2011

USA: 25 October 2011

Europe: 25 October 2011

play modes: single / multiplayer

multiplayer: Internet

game language: English

age requirements: 12+ | media: 1 DVD

suggested system requirements:
not specified

see official website

need for speed 2011

2011-10-06T09:10:00.000-07:00

Need for Speed: The Run Demo Announced

Platforms : Xbox 360, PS3, PC

Published : 4th Oct, 2011

The release date for the demo for NFS: The Run has been dated for October 18, with a bunch of features. / By Ian Miles Cheong

Electronic Arts has just announced the demo it has planned for its next racing game, Need for Speed: The Run. The demo will feature the Lamborghini Gallardo and two events. Players who use the game's "refer a friend" capability will even be able to unlock the Porsche 911 to play with in the demo.

You'll be able to race across the desert and survive an avalanche in what looks like the hottest racing game since Burnout Paradise.

The Demo for Need for Speed: The Run will be available on October 18 for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC.

Battlefield 3 Squad Management Explained

2011-10-06T09:06:00.001-07:00

Battlefield 3 Squad Management Explained

Platforms : Xbox 360, PS3, PC

Published : 5th Oct, 2011

DICE explains how squad management will work in the retail version of Battlefield 3. / By Ian Miles Cheong

If you've been playing the open beta for Battlefield 3, you will have noticed the absence of squads in the game, which makes it difficult—if not outright impossible—to join your friends and team up with them in the game's competitive Rush mode. This has, of course, resulted in significant complaints from players both new and old.

Players can breathe a heavy sigh of relief to know that DICE has fixed things. The developers have since responded that the functionality is limited in the Open Beta, but it will not be so once the game goes to retail.

According to the studio, the developers have added the ability to browse and join specific squads through the squad screen. You'll be able to see all the players that are in a specific squad as well as lone wolves. As a squad leader, you will also be able to create a squad, set it to private, and kick malcontents from the squad. In other words, the functionality will be exactly the same as in Battlefield 2 and Battlefield: Bad Company 2.

Over the console, players will also have the option to choose the active VoIP channel on the entire team, or limit it to your squad. You will also be able to invite your friends to the squad. Additionally, it will be possible to mute any player through the scoreboard.

10 game new 2011

2011-10-06T09:03:00.001-07:00

Looks like 2011 is all set to be another great year for PC Gaming. Here's our list of the Top 10 PC Games to look forward to in 2011. / By Gameranx Staff

They say PC gaming is dead, but as Valve has proven time and time again with the success of Steam, they, whoever "they" are, couldn't be more wrong. The PC gaming community is thriving despite stiff competition from its console counterparts and next year promises to be a year like no other with a slew of highly anticipated games. Here is the list of top ten PC Games to look forward to in 2011.

The Witcher 2

The Witcher thrust you into the role of Geralt, last of his kind--a Witcher. Genetically engineered and trained in the deadliest skills, a Witcher's task is do do battle against supernatural creatures.

The sequel to The Witcher, titled Assassins of Kings, puts you back in Geralt's shoes. There is a storm on the horizon. A war is coming. Little else is known about the game's plot, but it is rumored to feature 16 different endings. The game features an entirely new engine--one that's leaps and bounds better than the highly modified Aurora (NWN) engine used by it's predecessor, and a similar combat system.

Players can expect to make a wide array of decisions throughout the game, much like in the original, and follow a multilinear story with branching paths.Needless to say, the game is one of the most highly anticipated titles on the PC platform due to it's exclusivity.

For more details and media Vist The Witcher 2 Game Page »

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

The latest addition to the Elder Scrolls universe is expected to elevate the series to new heights. Featuring a brand new engine, Skyrim is shedding the poorly aged GameBryo.

Players enter the role of the Dragonborn, an individual prophesied to take on the Sons of Skyrim, an army not unlike the Vikings of old. If you're wondering where Skyrim happens to be, it lies somewhere to the north of Cyrodiil in TES4: Oblivion.

Not much else is known about the game at the time being, but you can expect to be able to choose from a variety of races and fully customizable classes during character creation, and explore a vast expanse of land.

Deus Ex: Human Revolution

Fans of Deus Ex may be bemoaning it's recently announced delay, but the game remains highly anticipated nonetheless. Set decades before the events of the first game, Deus Ex: Human Revolution is a prequel that promises to reinvigorate the cyberpunk setting and the Deus Ex franchise.

Human Revolution is primarily a first person shooter with strong RPG elements that, if it's anything like the first two games, will allow you to approach combat situations based on your own personal preference. You can take out enemy combatants through stealth, brute force, or even use your hacking abilities to get sentry guns and armed robots to do your bidding for you.

Taking a cue from Ghost in the Shell, Deus Ex carries a strong cyberpunk motif. If things continue to head in the direction they're heading in the real world, there's little doubt that we'll be living in a world just like the one depicted by these games.

For more details and media Vist The Deus Ex: Human Revolution Game Page »

New game in 2011

2011-10-06T08:59:00.000-07:00

Gear of WAR 3
NBA 2K11
Lionheart: Kings’ Crusade
WRC: FIA World Rally Championship
Arcania: Gothic IV
EverQuest: House of Thule
Medal of Honor: Operation Anaconda
SBK X: Superbike World Championship
Stronghold: Kingdoms
Lost Planet 2
Empire: Total War – Gold Edition
Fallout: New Vegas
Nail’d
Star Wars: Clone Wars Adventures
LEGO Universe
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed 2
CSI: Fatal Conspiracy
Myth Angels Online

Windows 8 Download

2011-09-30T11:04:00.000-07:00

Microsoft has released its Windows 8 Developer Preview operating system, for PCs and tablets, to the public as a free download.

This is the same software which Microsoft gave to developers on prototype Samsung tablets this week at the company's Build conference in Anaheim.

And while this pre-beta version of Windows 8 is not close to ready for consumer consumption, and meant to be used by developers who are looking to make apps for the desktop and tablet OS, anyone can download the software -- no developer registration or anything like that needed.

The move to release Windows 8 so early on can be seen as a testament to just how much Microsoft wants, and needs, developers to get into building apps for the new OS before it is actually released as a retail product that will compete on tablets against Apple's iPad (running iOS) and Google's Android software.

Steve Ballmer, Microsoft's chief executive, made a surprise appearance at Build on Wednesday and touted 500,000 downloads of Windows 8 overnight as a testament to developer interest in the new platform, according the tech blog This Is My Next.

Microsoft has made available three different versions of Windows 8 for download (two versions built for 64-bit systems which use new processors and can make use of more RAM, versus older 32-bit PCs that use earlier chips and less memory), which all show up as an ISO file when downloaded.

The three versions also vary in size and as an ISO file will need to be downloaded and burned to a DVD or installed on a bootable USB drive before being installed (Microsoft, of course recommends using Windows Disc Image Burner on Windows 7 to get the ISO file onto a DVD).

The three versions, all in English, are:

Windows Developer Preview with developer tools, 64-bit: A 4.8-gigabyte download, this version includes Windows 8 Developer Preview operating system with a Windows software developer kit for Metro style apps made up of Microsoft Visual Studio 11 Express and Microsoft Expression Blend 5, as well as 28 preview apps.

Windows Developer Preview, 64-bit: A 3.6-gigbyte download, this version is made up of just the Windows 8 Developer Preview OS and the 28 preview apps -- no added developer tools

Windows Developer Preview English, 32-bit: The smallest of the bunch, this 2.8-gigabyte download includes the Windows 8 Developer Preview OS and the 28 preview apps.

Since this is a preview version of Windows 8, it still has plenty of bugs that need to be fixed. This isn't yet even a beta release and not polished enough for the mass market. So if you're interested in downloading this early release, it might be a good idea to install it on a spare PC rather than your main computer. If you only have one computer, do consider the risk here.

Microsoft has said that all Windows 7 apps should work in Windows 8 on desktops and laptops, but there are no guarantees that will hold true at this point given the OS is in development.

MICROSOFT’S BUILD CONFERENCE

2011-09-30T10:58:00.000-07:00

There has been a lot of speculation and anticipation surrounding Microsoft’s BUILD conference which started today in Anaheim, California. We can’t be there ourselves, so here’s a link to Winrumor’s liveblog, and be sure t 4: Windows pen and other input options improved.o check out their website for more exciting developments. We’re excited about the new stuff! Are you?
UPDATE 1: It seems that Samsung is making a Windows 8 tablet.
UPDATE 2:The task manager has been updated; it looks fresh and new. Plus, there’s a new backup feature called File History.
UPDATE 3: Microsoft to release Windows 8 developer preview today at 8PM!
UPDATE 4: Windows pen and other input options improved in Windows 8.
UPDATE 6: Hands on video!

UPDATE 7: Windows To Go: Boot Windows 8 from a USB!
UPDATE 8: Nvidia shows off quad-core Tegra based tablet
UPDATE 9: Pretty awesome App Store video from Winrumors. It looks great!

UPDATE 10: This is probably already outdated, but 500,000 downloads of Windows 8 developer preview so far! Off to a strong start, eh?

Moneyball

2011-09-30T10:53:00.000-07:00

Based on Michael Lewis' 2003 book,Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, the surprisingly effective Moneyballhas a smart script, solid direction and great performances. This true story of Oakland A's General Manager Billy Beane and his unorthodox winning formula is a career best for topliner Brad Pitt who plays Beane with the smooth assurance of Robert Redford or Paul Newman. Baseball movies are hit and miss, but this one is the shrewdest take on the game since Ron Shelton's Bull Durham and it has appeal that reaches beyond the ballpark. Well timed to hit theaters near the end of the season, this one should score at the box office.

For Moneyball, key members of the Social Network team including producers Scott Rudin and Michael De Luca and screenwriter Aaron Sorkin reunite to make another true life tale that pays attention to the details and behind-the-scenes maneuvering. The good news is not only doesMoneyball succeed in taking us on a tour of the business side of baseball, it humanizes the shop talk to keep it from crashing into a sea of statistics. Thank writers Sorkin and original writer Steven Zaillian for keeping their eye on the ball in this story of a baseball-obsessed kid Billy Beane (Pitt) whose career takes him to the front office. He shocks the baseball world by ditching his the star players and hiring replacements in the most unorthodox ways imaginable. Credit for this his curious new protocol goes to a business-minded Yale grad named Pete (Jonah Hill) who devises a system that deprioritizes star power in favor of research, cold heart stats and cheaper players. The scenes where the very non-athletic Pete explains his methods to the grizzled veteran coaches are priceless and help give Moneyball its swing. But the film belongs to Beane and Bennett Miller's direction carefully weaves in the no-nonsense man's struggle to keep his career and personal life together despite a divorce and a job that doesn't let him spend much time with his daughter.

Pitt has never been better—he's shrewd and wonderfully engaging—and you can see why he stuck with this role through eight years of development hell including the dispatching of original director Steven Soderbergh just days before the film was due to shoot two years ago. It's a movie star role and Pitt, one of our last movie stars, fits it like a well-worn glove. Jonah Hill is his perfect counterpoint, deadpanning and underplaying at every turn. They make a great pair and Hill is well-positioned to move beyond comedy roles. In the role of the veteran (and conservative) manager, Philip Seymour Hoffman is perfectly cast as a man who clearly isn't looking for any change. Robin Wright appears briefly as Beane's ex-wife and Kerris Dorsey is a delight as his musically-inclined daughter. In flashbacks to Beane's early baseball career, Pitt is nicely played by twenty-something look-a-like Reed Thompson. For baseball fans Moneyball is nirvana. For everyone else, it's simply a smart, damned entertaining time at the movies.

Distributor: Sony Pictures
Cast: Brad Pitt, Jonah Hill, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Robin Wright, Chris Pratt, Kerris Dorsey, Tammy Blanchard, Kathryn Morris
Director: Bennett Miller
Screenwriters: Steven Zaillian, Aaron Sorkin
Producers: Scott Rudin, Michael De Luca, Rachael Horovitz
Genre: Comedy/Drama
Rating: N/A
Running Time: 126 min.
Release Date: September 23, 2011

Exploring the spiral of silence in the virtual world: lndividuals' willingness to express personal opinions in online versus offline settings

2011-09-28T10:09:00.000-07:00

Journal of Media and Communication Studies Vol. 3(2), pp. 45-57, February 2011
Available online http://www.academicjournals.org/jmcs
ISSN 2141-2545 ©2011 Academic Journals
Full Length Research Paper
Exploring the spiral of silence in the virtual world:
lndividuals' willingness to express personal opinions in
online versus offline settings
Xudong Liu
1
and Shahira Fahmy
2
*
1
School of Journalism, College of Mass Communication and Media Arts, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, IL,
62901, United States.
2
School of Journalism, Department of Near Eastern Studies, College of Social and Behavioral Sciences, the University
of Arizona, 845 N. Park Avenue, Marshall Building 325, P.O. Box 210158B, Tucson, AZ 85721-0158, United States.
Accepted 30 December, 2010
This study extends the understanding of the spiral of silence theory by taking into account the impact of
new media on virtual behavior motivation. It explores individuals' willingness to express opinions online
and offline and tests how the constructs proposed by the spiral of silence theory work in each setting.
Results of a survey (N=503) suggests that when the likelihood of speaking out online increases, the
likelihood of speaking out in a real setting also increases, and vice versa. Findings further suggest that the
congruency of current opinions with one's own opinions predicts the willingness to speak out offline.
Congruency of future opinions, however, failed to predict the likelihood of speaking out offline. Findings
also indicated that congruency of future and current opinions did not predict the willingness to speak out in
the online setting. Furthermore, while experiencing fear of isolation predicted by the willingness to speak
out online, it did not affect offline outspokenness.
Key words: Spiral of silence, opinion-climate online, online environment.

INTRODUCTION
The spiral of silence theory, which proposes that people will choose to remain silent if they evaluate that their
views fall in the minority, matured in a traditional media context (Noelle-Neumann, 1973, 1984). Because the
internet has now passed its incubation stage into a part of the mainstream media (Best and Kureger, 2005), the virtual environment offers new communication possibilities and uniqueness (McDevitt et al., 2003;
Witschge, 2007) that legitimize the retesting and rechecking of established traditional spiral of silence
theory in the virtual setting versus the traditional setting. The literature indicates that experiencing fear of isolation and perceptions of the opinion climate are two key constructs related to this theory, nevertheless, they were not specifically tested in the online discussion context, despite the fact that Internet is used as a public sphere to encourage political issue discussion increasing sharply in recent years (Shah et al., 2008; Tian, 2006); moreover research shows online political discussion has been growing and having a greater influence on public opinion (Price et al., 2006). As expressing online opinions is perceived to be
another dimension of speaking out, and as accessibility of online opinions becomes far more extensive and
immediate than opinions and information presented by traditional media, this study is one of the first studies to
compare and explore expressions of personal opinions in an online environment versus a traditional nvironment. Indeed questions of whether the spiral of silence theory operates differently in the offline and online world remains in question. For example, to what degree can the theory be applied to the online setting? How can online expression affect an individual’s offline outspokenness?
While previous studies found that computer-mediated communication provides an alternative way for
interpersonal communication on politics (Hardy and Scheufele, 2005), and facilitates public discussion of
political issues (Ho and McLeod, 2008; Li, 2007), these studies failed to elaborate on how mediation affects the variables addressed by the spiral of silence model work in the online setting. This study, therefore, seeks to expand our understanding of the spiral of silence theory in three ways: First, this is one of the first studies that attempts to explore how key variables regarding the spiral of silence theory applies to an online context and selective exposure. It tests the different modes of speaking-out regarding a controversial issue — the legalization of same-sex marriage in offline and online settings. Although limited literature examined whether respondents would be willing to speak out if they were placed in a face-to-face discussion group in one condition and in anonline chat room discussion group in the other condition (Ho and McLeod, 2008), results suggested the spiral of silence theory might have different impact on the online world than in the real world. Additional research isneeded, however, to better understand how online discussion and Internet chat rooms could create a platform that would or could generate free exchange of opinions and/or new ideas that might eventually lead to problem-solving (Kalyanaraman and Sundar, 2008; Kim,2006; Bekkers, 2004). Thus the question of whether the spiral of silence works in the same way in offline and online communities merits more attention. Second, to contribute to research validity, this studyexplores the correlation between speaking-out in online and offline settings. While previous studies have viewed traditional media as a tool for social control in manipulating the formation of public opinion (Lasorsa, 1991; Price et al., 2005; Salwen and Lin, 1994), they did not take into account that the Internet itself is a marketplace of diverse opinions. Results of this study, therefore, seeks to expand our comprehension and application of the theory by addressing whether the Internet can help individuals counteract the spiral ofsilence effect and express personal opinions

‘Weeds’ Ends with Season 7, Creator Reveals

2011-09-05T06:27:00.000-07:00

Sad news for all “Weeds” fans: season 6 now over, they only have one more season to look forward to for their favorite show. Series’ creator Jenji Kohan has revealed that there may be no more of the Botwins after season 7.

This week’s season finale has (again) seen Nancy Botwin (Mary Louise Parker) in a situation from which she can’t possibly get out – or so we think. TV Guide has the scoop (story via OMG Yahoo).

Kohan is aware that the tendency of the writers is to back themselves into a corner as regards plot, but, at the same time, she also knows that this is something that can’t possibly last for much longer.

She hasn’t heard anything from the network in this sense, but Kohan says she “feels” the seventh season may be the last. Or that it should be the last, at least.

“In my mind, it is. Everyone’s contract is up next year, [including] the actors and mine. Seven years is a good run, and I’d rather leave while on top. I’d never say never, but I have a feeling this might be it,” Kohan explains.

Showtime won’t comment on this, saying only that whatever decision they make regarding an eighth season, it will be made next summer – and probably announced shortly after.

If the seventh season turns out to be the last, Kohan is ok with it, having long come to terms with the idea that it would be best to end the show on a high note, as opposed to spoil it in a desperate bid to boost failing ratings.

“It’s very strange and exciting and scary and sad in a lot of ways. We have such an extraordinary team. I would hope to take everyone over to [my] next project, including some of the actors, if possible,” the series’ creator says.

“I think it’s such a strong group of people across the board. That will be very hard to let go of. However, I think growth is an obligation of a writer and it’s time to stretch my wings,” Kohan adds.

Keep an eye on this space to see what becomes of this.

Thor – Movie Review

2011-09-05T06:24:00.000-07:00

Where Shakespeare meets Marvel, the biggest and well-greased comic book-based movie making machine, there’s the recently released “Thor” (in 3D): over-dramatic and philosophical in its approach of family conflict, and loud and arresting in its presentation of action scenes. Still, “Thor” lacks an ultimate sense of purpose: it’s like we’ve seen all this in other, better movies.

Marvel made a very odd choice for the director of “Thor,” a release that ties in the “Iron Man” films to the upcoming “Green Lantern,” in preparation for the release of “The Avengers” in 2012 (just make sure you hang out until the credits end, because there’s an Easter Egg in there for you).

British Kenneth Branagh is well-known for his vast Shakespearean work (he directed countless movie adaptations), with his “Hamlet” being the perfect example of how theater should look on film – which is precisely what makes him an odd candidate for a live-action, Marvel-made, 3D, adrenaline-pumping, testosterone-packed movie like “Thor.”

The film starts with scientist trio Jane Foster (an astrophysicist played by Natalie Portman), Dr. Erik Selvig (her mentor, Stellan Skarsgard) and Darcy (an assistant, Kat Dennings) driving in the New Mexico desert to monitor an occurrence that, Jane believes, will revolutionize the world by proving that, as cliché as it may sound, “we are not alone.”
As expected, they get more than they bargain for when, in the middle of the storm, a handsome, blue-eyed, blonde and incredibly muscular man falls out of the sky – and is then smacked by Jane’s speeding truck.

The story immediately shifts focus to Asgard, a brass-colored and magical place where all the gods idly spend their time, enjoying the peace they established in the universe centuries ago while tasting the finest foods and showing off their supernatural, godly powers.

Odin (Sir Anthony Hopkins) is the king of this magical world connected to the other realms through an equally magical, rainbow bridge guarded by the all-seeing Heimdall (Idris Elba). Odin’s time is nearly up and he’s about to name the heir to the throne.

There’s Thor (Chris Hemsworth), looking positively breathtakingly statuesque in his red cape, hammer in hand, and Loki (Tom Hiddleston), who’s more feeble-looking but whose eyes betray that which he cannot hide no matter how hard he strives: a propensity to evildoing.

The king eventually chooses Thor as heir because he’s the first born, and he’s already proved he’s a worthy warrior and leader of men – but how much of a diplomat is he, another essential quality to every good king, god or not?

Apparently, that’s the one quality that the handsome Thor lacks. The moment Odin’s longtime enemies, the Frost Giants, make an attempt to break into Asgard, the God of Thunder opts to disobey his father’s command and urge to diplomacy, and teach the villains a lesson they will never forget.

His pride gets him banned to Earth where, you guessed it, he meets Jane. We’ve come full circle: man and god finally meet.

Stripped of all his superpowers, Thor is now just a simple mortal who needs “sustenance” (which is what he calls food), and who believes he can just walk into a pet shop and tell the owner he “needs a horse.” Nevertheless, he also happens to look amazing in a tight shirt.

As he sets out to prove he’s worthy of the hammer he’s also been stripped of, he will show mortals that that which they call science or magic is actually fact: they are not alone and, as much as it may pain them to accept that, they are not the most powerful either.

In the meantime, back home in Asgard, Loki is going overboard with his scheming to take over the throne and have Thor out of the picture for good.

There’s a lot going on in “Thor” and the two narratives (which also come in different tones) represent just the beginning. While said duality would, at least theoretically, ensure balance, there’s very little of that.

Critics agree that one of the biggest problems of “Thor” is the fact that it requires the viewer to take everything at face value, without being offered a context for it: quite a lot to ask from your fans. This makes everything going on onscreen not relatable at all, there’s no sense of involvement on the part of the viewer.

Similarly, characters are so vaguely drawn that they’re almost forgettable: Jane is the funny and giggly female stereotype, Thor has an imposing physical presence but zero substance, while his allies and enemies are just as weightless.

The only two characters who actually get a shot at an existence in “Thor” are Odin (which is not that surprising, since this is Hopkins we’re talking about) and Loki, whom Brit Hiddleston plays with the utmost relish, even if he sometimes gets too carried away.

Overall, “Thor” is funny where it’s supposed to be funny, and entertaining where it aims to be so. At the end of it, though, there’s this distinct feeling that it’s all been done before. At best, “Thor” is decently entertaining and forgettable – but, as noted above, important because Marvel wanted us to remember “The Avengers” is coming.

“Thor” runs for 114 minutes and contains violent action and brief, mild obscenity. It opened in Italy and France on April 27, has premiered in the US nationwide on May 6, and will end its run in Japan on July 1, 2011.

The Good

It could be that the script works against Chris Hemsworth in “Thor” in terms of showing off his acting chomps, but he makes for a very believable and awe-inspiring God of Thunder, physically speaking. Hopkins and Hiddleston are the only ones who shine every time they come on screen. Certain scenes come with good special effects and real emotion, but they’re sadly too far in between.

The Bad

“Thor” was converted to 3D in post-production and viewers can tell that instantly, with some minor exceptions. Riddled with very good and very bad moments, “Thor” is Marvel’s own Melting Pot – and it’s not even an insanely entertaining one while at it.

The Truth
“Thor” could have been ten times better than it came out, but that’s not to say it’s a complete waste of time. At the start of the summer blockbuster season, it’s a decent way to spend two hours, though there are countless other action movies which arefar more entertaining.

Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides – Review

2011-09-05T06:21:00.000-07:00

“There’s the Jack I know!” Johnny Depp is back again as Cap’n Jack Sparrow, the always half-drunk, dread-wearing, eyeliner-loving, witty, shameless, coward yet bold at the same time, buccaneer dripping in more trinkets than a souvenir shop. In “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides,” he meets his match.

If at the end of the third “Pirates” movie, it seemed almost a given that Disney couldn’t possibly come out with something new for the exhausted franchise, it’s because it didn’t have director Rob Marshall and Jerry Bruckheimer on board.

Marshall, he of the acclaimed “Chicago” and “Nine,” is well versed in putting dancing on film, a skill that comes terribly in handy when shooting action scenes – of which “On Stranger Tides” has in abundance.

With Gore Verbinski, who directed the first 3 “Pirates” films, out of the picture, it was to be expected for the fourth to be different – nay, it was desired that it be so, otherwise Sparrow would have been dead in the water. Literally.

“On Stranger Tides” aims to rid itself of the cluster of plots, subplots, sub-themes and supporting characters that nearly drove “At World’s End” into the ground towards the third act.

Jack Sparrow is now in London, where he learns that some other pirate pretending to be him is looking for a crew to sail to the famous Fountain of Youth.

The impostor, it seems, is actually one of Jack’s former acquaintances: Angelica (played by the feisty and lovely Penelope Cruz) is trying to get together a crew to sail with her father, the terrible Blackbeard (Ian McShane), for the Fountain.

If they don’t make it there in two weeks’ time, Blackbeard is in mortal danger – and even though he’s a “very bad man,” Angelica can’t let that happen. So, she’ll use whatever ace she has up her sleeve to get Sparrow to show her the way there.

The problem is, of course, that they’re not alone in wanting to get to the Fountain: Captain Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush), now a one-legged aide to the king of Britain, has set eyes on it, as also did the Spanish.

As with every other “Pirates” movie, nothing is what it seems at first sight: Angelica may not be Blackbeard’s daughter, Barbossa may not be loyal to the king, and Sparrow may not know the way to the Fountain as he claims.

None of that really matters, though, because “On Stranger Tides” actually manages to do what only the first installment in the franchise, admittedly the best, did to a certain extent: get from point A to point B without endlessly and pointlessly going around in circles.

Moreover, it brings a much-needed breath of fresh air to the franchise, thanks to the introduction of several new characters that actually do their part in terms of keeping this huge, bombastic ship of a movie balanced.

While some may have decried the departure of Keira Knightley and Orlando Bloom from the franchise, as well as the death of the superb villain played by Bill Nighy (Davy Jones), their absence is not felt as sharply as one may think.

For one, Penelope Cruz brings a much-needed counterpart for Depp’s Sparrow, and they do such a fine job on their own that there’s hardly any need for supporting characters in the film. They could have done just as good a job without the underdeveloped love subplot.

Then, there’s Blackbeard: McShane is menacing even when he doesn’t talk, which means he’s by far the best villain in the franchise. Not only does Blackbeard command the grimiest and deadliest pirate ship ever, Queen Ann’s Revenge (the Black Pearl is gone, by the way), but he can also turn his crew into zombies because they’re more submissive that way.

Blackbeard is so self-sufficient and powerful that he can even command the ship on his own – supernatural powers, it’s always great when a pirate has them.

The only dead weights to the narrative are the cleric Philip (newcomer Sam Claflin) and the siren Syrena (Astrid Berges-Frisbey). They may be unspeakably pretty and their presence makes sense, but it’s their eye-locking and thoughtfully gazing at each other that seem to bring the pace of the film to a screeching halt.

Speaking of the pace, while “On Stranger Tides” is just as action-packed as all the other installments, it makes more sense than them by far, mostly because of the above-mentioned linear plot.

Action scenes and bloodless fight scenes are all well choreographed and acted out, the production value on every minute of the film being painfully obvious. This is a film that stands out for being incredibly labored, nothing is left to chance, from the costumes to the brilliant score by Hans Zimmer.

“On Stranger Tides” has also been shot and is released in 3D, which, again, gives it the upper hand on previous installments, to which it will undoubtedly be compared.

Then again, seeing how “Pirates” will, from now on, move into an entirely different direction with Cpt. Sparrow as the leading character, this is probably the best idea that Disney could come up with to mark the break.

All in all, while still longer than it should have been (137 minutes), and at times a bit too loud and exhausting, “On Stranger Tides” marks a step up for a franchise that many – and critics mostly – believed was dead.

“Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides” premiered at the Cannes Film Festival on May 14, opened nationwide in the US on May 20 and in most territories, and will end its run in Argentina on June 9.

The Good

There’s a new dynamic obvious in “On Stranger Tides” and it marks a much-needed change from previous installments. The fourth “Pirates” film is better balanced, better acted, and boasts mind-blowing special effects and excellent 3D.

The Bad
This is a film based on a popular Disney ride, so it’s a wonder it’s made it so far as it is. In other words, some of the jokes and moments seem dated and overdone. Parts of “On Stranger Tides” play out like scenes we’ve already seen – and of which we’ve already grown weary.

The Truth
As critics put it, “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides” is much better than the third installment, a bit improved as compared to the second, and somewhat worse than the first. Fans should not – and will not, most likely – miss out on yet another crazy ride with Captain Jack Sparrow at the helm.

Uses and Gratifications Theory in the 21st Century(USES AND GRATIFICATIONS THEORY )

2011-09-05T06:18:00.000-07:00

ACTIVE AUDIENCE
Also, in the 1980s, researchers reevaluated the long-held notion of an active audience. During this time, some researchers reiterated that although both uses and effects sought to explain the outcomes or consequences of mass communication, they
did so by recognizing the potential for audience initiative and activity (Rubin,
1994b). Levy and Windahl (1984) attempted to articulate a theoretically more complete notion of audience activity and to test a model of audience orientations that
linked activity to U&G, and Rubin (1984) suggested that audience activity is not an
absolute concept, but a variable one. Notably, Windahl (1981) argued that “the notion of activeness leads a picture of the audience as superrational and very selective,
a tendency which invites criticism” (p. 176). Instead, he argued audience activity
covers a range of possible orientations to the communication process, a range that
“varies across phases of the communication sequence” (Levy & Windahl, 1984, p.
73). More succinctly, different individuals tend to display different types and
amounts of activity in different communication settings and at different times in the
communication process.
In support of this, theoretical active audience models have increasingly emerged
that range from high audience activity to low levels of involvement. For example,
both dependency and deprivation theories suggest that some individuals under certain conditions such as confinement to home, low income, and some forms of stress
formhigh levels of attachmentto media.These include television (Grant,Guthrie,&
Ball-Rokeach, 1991), newspapers (Loges & Ball-Rokeach, 1993), and communication technologies such as remote control devices (Ferguson & Perse, 1994).
DEPENDENCY THEORY
Media dependency theory itself posits that media influence is determined by the interrelations between the media, its audience, and society (DeFleur & Ball-Rokeach,
1982). The individual’s desire for information from the media is the primary variable in explaining why media messages have cognitive, affective, or variable effects. Media dependency is high when an individual’s goal satisfaction relies on in-
8 RUGGIEROformation from the media system (Ball-Rokeach, 1985). Rubin and Windahl (1986)
augmented the dependency model to include the gratifications sought by the audience as an interactive component with media dependency. For Rubin and Windahl,
the combination of gratifications sought and socially determined dependency produced media effects.They argued thatdependency on a mediumor a message results
when individuals either intentionally seek out information or ritualistically use specific communication media channels or messages. For example, McIlwraith (1998)
found that self-labeled “TV addicts” often used television to distract themselves
from unpleasant thoughts, to regulate moods, and to fill time. This link between dependency and functionalalternatives illustrates how U&G is a theory “capable of interfacing personal and mediated communication” (Rubin, 1994b, p. 428).

formation from the media system (Ball-Rokeach, 1985). Rubin and Windahl (1986)
augmented the dependency model to include the gratifications sought by the audience as an interactive component with media dependency. For Rubin and Windahl,
the combination of gratifications sought and socially determined dependency produced media effects.They argued thatdependency on a mediumor a message results
when individuals either intentionally seek out information or ritualistically use specific communication media channels or messages. For example, McIlwraith (1998)
found that self-labeled “TV addicts” often used television to distract themselves
from unpleasant thoughts, to regulate moods, and to fill time. This link between dependency and functionalalternatives illustrates how U&G is a theory “capable of interfacing personal and mediated communication” (Rubin, 1994b, p. 428).

DEPRIVATION THEORY
Deprivation theory has an even longer history in U&G research than dependency
theory. Berelson (1949) studied the effects of the 1945 strike of eight major New
York City daily newspapers on audience behavior. Since that time, additional studies of media strikes have emerged: Kimball (1959) replicated Berelson’s study during the 1958 New York City newspaper strike; de Bock (1980) studied the effects of
newspaper and television strikes in the Netherlands in 1977; Cohen (1981) examined a general media strike; and Walker (1990) analyzed viewers’ reactions to the
1987 National Football League players’ strike.
Related, Windahl, Hojerback, and Hedinsson (1986) suggested that the consequences of a media strike for adolescents were connected to the total degree of perceived deprivation of television as well as the specific content such as entertainment, information, and fiction. These deprivations are related both to media
variables like exposure, involvement, and motives, and nonmedia variables such as
socioconcept orientation and activities with friends and parents. Windahl et al.
found that individuals in more socially oriented environments tended to feel more
deprived than those in conceptually oriented settings.

Uses and Gratifications Theory in the 21st Century (1950S AND 1960S RESEARCH)

2011-09-05T06:16:00.000-07:00

Despite disagreement by communication scholars as to the precise roots of the approach, in the next phase of U&G research, during the 1950s and 1960s, researchers
identified and operationalized many social and psychological variables that were
presumed to be the precursors of different patterns of consumption of gratifications
(Wimmer & Dominick, 1994). Accordingly, Schramm, Lyle, and Parker (1961)
concluded that children’s use of television was influenced by individual mental
ability and relationships with parents and peers. Katz and Foulkes (1962) conceptualized mass media use as escape. Klapper (1963) stressed the importance of analyzing the consequences of use rather than simply labeling the use as earlier researchers had done. Mendelsohn (1964) identified several generalized functions of radio
listening: companionship, bracketing the day, changing mood, counteracting loneliness or boredom, providing useful news and information, allowing vicarious participation in events, and aiding social interaction. Gerson (1966) introduced the
variable of race and suggested that race was important in predicting how adolescents used the media. Greenberg and Dominick (1969) concluded that race and social class predicted how teenagers used television as an informal source of learningThese studies and others conducted during this period reflected a shift from the
traditional effects model of mass media research to a more functionalist perspective. Klapper (1963) called for a more functional analysis of U&G studies that
would restore the audience member to “his rightful place in the dynamic, rather
than leaving him in the passive, almost inert, role to which many older studies relegated him” (p. 527). Markedly, Geiger and Newhagen (1993) credited Klapper
with ushering in the “cognitive revolution” in the communication field. From the
1950s forward, cross-disciplinary work between U&G researchers and psychologists has produced abundant research on the ways human beings interact with the
media.

1970S RESEARCH

Until the 1970s, U&G research concentrated on gratifications sought, excluding
outcomes, or gratifications obtained (Rayburn, 1996). During the 1970s, U&G researchers intently examined audience motivations and developed additional
typologies of the uses people made of the media to gratify social and psychological
needs. This may partially have been in response to a strong tide of criticism from
other mass communication scholars. Critics such as Elliott (1974), Swanson
(1977), and Lometti, Reeves, and Bybee (1977) stressed that U&G continued to be
challenged by four serious conceptual problems: (a) a vague conceptual framework, (b) a lack of precision in major concepts, (c) a confused explanatory apparatus, and (d) a failure to consider audiences’ perceptions of media content.
U&G researchers produced multiple responses. Katz, Gurevitch, and Haas
(1973) assembled a comprehensive list of social and psychological needs said to be
satisfied by exposure to mass media. Rosengren (1974), attempting to theoretically
refine U&G, suggested that certain basic needs interact with personal characteristics and the social environment of the individual to produce perceived problems and
perceived solutions. Those problems and solutions constitute different motives for
gratification behavior that can come from using the media or other activities. Together media use or other behaviors produce gratification (or nongratification) that
has an impact on the individual or society, thereby starting the process anew.
Seeking to more closely define the relation between psychological motives and
communication gratifications, Palmgreen and Rayburn (1979) studied viewers’ exposure to public television and concluded that the U&G approach served well as a
complement to other determinant factors such as media availability, work schedules, and social constraints. Palmgreen and Rayburn argued that the primary task
facing media researchers was to “integrate the roles played by gratifications and
other factors into a general theory of media consumption” (p. 177). Essentially,
Palmgreen and Rayburn were responding to earlier researchers’ (Greenberg, 1974;
Lometti et al., 1977) call to investigate gratification sought and gratifications re-
6 RUGGIEROceived. Blumler (1979) identified three primary social origins of media gratifications: normative influences, socially distributed life changes, and the subjective reaction of the individual to the social situation. Also, in response, McLeod, Bybee,
and Durall (1982) theoretically clarified audience satisfaction by concluding that
gratifications sought and gratifications received were two different conceptual entities that deserved independent treatment in any future U&G research.
Another related theoretical development was the recognition that different cognitive or affective states facilitate the use of media for various reasons, as predicted
by the U&G approach. Blumler (1979) proposed that cognitive motivation facilitated information gain and that diversion or escape motivation facilitated audience
perceptions of the accuracy of social portrayals in entertainment programming. In
related research, McLeod and Becker (1981) found that individuals given advanced
notice that they would be tested made greater use of public affairs magazines than
did a controlgroup.Bryantand Zillmann (1984) discovered thatstressed individuals
watched more tranquilprograms and bored participants opted for more exciting fare.

1980S AND 1990S RESEARCH
Rubin (1983) noted that gratifications researchers were beginning to generate a
valid response to critics. He concluded that his colleagues were making a systematic attempt to (a) conduct modified replications or extensions of studies, (b) refine
methodology, (c) comparatively analyze the findings of separate investigations,
and (d) treat mass media use as an integrated communication and social phenomenon. Examples include Eastman’s (1979) analysis of the multivariate interactions
among television viewing functions and lifestyle attributes, Ostman and Jeffers’s
(1980) examination of the associations among television viewing motivations and
potential for lifestyle traits and television attitudes to predict viewing motivations,
Bantz’s (1982) exploration of the differences between general medium and specific
program television viewing motivations and the comparability of research findings, Rubin’s (1981) consideration of viewing motivations scale validity and the
comparability of research results in U&G research, and Palmgreen and Rayburn’s
(1985) empirical comparison of alternative gratification models.
Likewise, Windahl (1981) also sought to advance U&G theoretically. In his
“Uses and Gratifications at the Crossroads,” he argued that the primary difference
between the traditional effects approach and the U&G approach is that a media effects researcher usually examines mass communication from the perspective of the
communicator, whereas the U&G researcher uses the audience as a point of departure. Believing it was more beneficial to emphasize similarities than differences,
Windahl coined the term conseffects and argued for a synthesis of the two approaches. Thus, he suggested, observations that are partly results of content use in
itself and partly results of content mediated by use would serve as a more useful perspective. Windahl’s approach served to link an earlier U&G approach to more recent research.
Aspiring to heighten the theoretical validity of structural determinants, Webster
and Wakshlag (1983) integrated the dissimilar perspectives of U&G and “models
of choice,” attempting to locate the interchange between programming structures,
content preferences, and viewing conditions in the program choice process. Likewise, Dobos (1992), using U&G models applied to media satisfaction and choice in
organizations, predicted television channel choice and satisfaction within specific
communication technologies.

Uses and Gratifications Theory in the 21st Century

2011-09-05T06:14:00.000-07:00

Uses and Gratifications Theory
in the 21st Century
Thomas E. Ruggiero
Communications Department
University of Texas at El Paso
Some mass communications scholars have contended that uses and gratifications is
not a rigorous social science theory. In this article, I argue just the opposite, and any
attempt to speculate on the future direction of mass communication theory must seriously include the uses and gratifications approach. In this article, I assert that the
emergence of computer-mediated communication has revived the significance of uses
and gratifications. In fact, uses and gratifications has always provided a cutting-edge
theoretical approach in the initial stages of each new mass communications medium:
newspapers, radio and television, and now the Internet. Although scientists are likely
to continue using traditional tools and typologies to answer questions about media
use, we must also be prepared to expand our current theoretical models of uses and
gratifications. Contemporary and future models must include concepts such as
interactivity, demassification, hypertextuality, and asynchroneity. Researchers must
also be willing to explore interpersonal and qualitative aspects of mediated communication in a more holistic methodology.
What mass communication scholars today refer to as the uses and gratifications
(U&G) approach is generally recognized to be a subtradition of media effects research (McQuail, 1994). Early in the history of communications research, an approach was developed to study the gratifications that attract and hold audiences to
the kinds of media and the types of content that satisfy their social and psychological needs (Cantril, 1942). Much early effects research adopted the experimental or
quasi-experimental approach, in which communication conditions were manipulated in search of general lessons about how better to communicate, or about the unintended consequences of messages (Klapper, 1960).

Other media effects research sought to discover motives and selection patterns
of audiences for the new mass media. Examples include Cantril and Allport (1935)
on the radio audience; Waples, Berelson, and Bradshaw (1940) on reading; Herzog
(1940, 1944) on quiz programs and the gratifications from radio daytime serials;
Suchman (1942) on the motives for listening to serious music; Wolfe and Fiske
(1949) on children’s interest in comics; Berelson (1949) on the functions of newspaper reading; and Lazarsfeld and Stanton (1942, 1944, 1949) on different media
genres. Each of these studies formulated a list of functions served either by some
specific content or by the medium itself:
To match one’s wits against others, to get information and advice for daily living, to
provide a framework for one’s day, to prepare oneself culturally for the demands of
upward mobility, or to be reassured about the dignity and usefulness of one’s role.
(Katz, Blumler, & Gurevitch, 1974, p. 20)
This latter focus of research, conducted in a social-psychological mode, and audience based, crystallized into the U&G approach (McQuail, 1994).
Some mass communication scholars cited “moral panic” and the Payne Fund
Studies as the progenitor of U&G theory. Undertaken by the U.S. Motion Picture
Research Council, the Payne Fund Studies were carried out in the late 1920s.
Leading sociologists and psychologists including Herbert Blumer, Philip Hauser,
and L. L. Thurstone sought to understand how movie viewing was affecting the
youth of America (Lowery & DeFleur, 1983). Rosengren, Johnsson-Smaragdi, and
Sonesson (1994), however, argued that the Payne Fund Studies were primarily effects-oriented propaganda studies, as opposed to the U&G tradition, which focuses
on research of individual use of the media. Likewise, Cantril’s (1940) study of
Orson Welles’s “War of the Worlds” radio broadcast was more narrowly interested
in sociological and psychological factors associated with panic behavior than in developing a theory about the effects of mass communication (Lowery & DeFleur,
1983).
Wimmer and Dominick (1994) proposed that U&G began in the 1940s when researchers became interested in why audiences engaged in various forms of media
behavior, such as listening to the radio or reading the newspaper. Still others credit
the U&G perspective with Schramm’s (1949) immediate reward and delayed reward model of media gratifications (Dozier & Rice, 1984).
Regardless, early U&G studies were primarily descriptive, seeking to classify
the responses of audience members into meaningful categories (Berelson,
Lazarsfeld, & McPhee, 1954; Katz & Lazarsfeld, 1955; Lazarsfeld, Berelson, &
Gaudet, 1948; Merton, 1949).
Most scholars agree that early research had little theoretical coherence and was
primarily behaviorist and individualist in its methodological tendencies (McQuail,
1994). The researchers shared a qualitative approach by attempting to group gratifi-cation statements into labeled categories, largely ignoring their frequency distribution in the population. The earliest researchers for the most part did not attempt to
explore the links between the gratifications detected and the psychological or sociological origins of the needs satisfied. They often failed to search for the interrelations among the various media functions, either quantitatively or conceptually, in a
manner that might have led to the detection of the latent structure of media gratifications.
Criticisms of early U&G research focus on the fact that it (a) relied heavily on
self-reports, (b) was unsophisticated about the social origin of the needs that audiences bring to the media, (c) was too uncritical of the possible dysfunction both for
self and society of certain kinds of audience satisfaction, and (d) was too captivated
by the inventive diversity of audiences used to pay attention to the constraints of the
text (Katz, 1987). Despite severe limitations, early researchers, especially those at
the Bureau of Applied Social Research of Columbia University, persevered, particularly in examining the effects of the mass media on political behavior. They studied voters in Erie County, Ohio, during the 1940 election between Roosevelt and
Wilkie (Lazarsfeld et al., 1948) and voters in Elmira, New York, during the 1948
Truman–Dewey election (Berelson et al., 1954). Both studies suggested that the
mass media played a weak role in election decisions compared with personal influence and influence of other people. As a result, Berelson et al. began amplifying the
two-step flow theory, moving away from the concept of an “atomized” audience
and toward the impact of personal influence (Katz, 1960).

MEDIA EFFECTS THEORIES

2011-09-05T06:04:00.001-07:00

MEDIA EFFECTS THEORIES
Cultivation Theory

Developed by George Gerbner
Central Claim: Persistent long term exposure to TV content has small but measurable effects on the perceptual worlds of audience members.
Heavy TV viewing creates an exaggerated belief in a “mean and scary world.” (Gerbner)
TV has surpassed religion as the key storyteller of our (US American) culture.
Vicarious experience?

Video Screen Time
How much television do you watch on an average day?

4 or more hours?
2-4 hours?
Less than 2 hours?

How much time daily to you spend on the internet or playing computer games?On-Screen Time
Television Viewer Profiles

Heavy viewers: 4 or more hours a day
Moderate viewers: 2-4 hours a day
Light viewers: less than 2 hours a day

These distinctions can be applied to Internet and computer game usersCultivation Theory Research
Content analyses of prime time television
    --The “TV world”
    --The Violence Index
National surveys of TV audience
    --Classify as heavy, moderate & light viewers
    --Survey concerning perceptions of real world
Calculate Cultivation Effect (or “Cultivation Differential”)
    --Overall (“across the board”) effects
    --Subgroup breakdowns (Mainstreaming, Resonance) as well.
Cultivation Differential
The difference in the percent of people giving the “television answer” within comparable groups of light and heavy viewers.
Examples: Comparing light and heavy viewers among college students; among teachers; among senior
citizens.
Cultivation Effects
Why do cultivation effects differ among subgroups? Two explanations:
Mainstreaming: Heavy viewers from different groups develop a similar outlook.
Resonance: TV content “resonates” with real life experiences to amplify the cultivation effect in certain groups.
What About TV Violence?

According to Gerbner, violence is TV’s principal message.
Although other media have violent content, television violence is the most significant.
In the 1970s, 2/3rds of prime-time programs contained violence or the threat of violence (Gerbner, 1980).
What about today?
According to Gerbner, elderly, children, Latinos, African-Americans, women, and the less educated are most often the victims of TV violence.
TV places marginalized people in symbolic double jeopardy by simultaneously under-representing and over-victimizing them.
What about today?

Social Action Theory

Developed by Anderson and Meyer
”For most of the history of research in mass communication, content has been seen as a silver bullet shot from a media gun to penetrate a hapless audience" (Anderson & Meyer, p. 48).
Audiences are not hapless nor passive.
Media audiences participate actively in mediated communication; they construct meanings from the content they perceive.
Social action theory sees communication interaction in terms of actors’ intent, receivers' interpretations, and message content.
Meaning is not delivered in the communication process, rather it is constructed within it.
Each communication act generates at least three separate and potentially different sites of this construction.

Meanings arise in:
1. The intentions of the producer.
2. The conventions of the content.
3. The interpretations of the receiver.Using Social Action Theory

Determine the intentions of the media creator (e.g., producer, actor, writer).
Examine the media content (visual, verbal, musical, etc.)
Identify possible receiver interpretations.
Assess the possible effects on receivers (including you).

Media Effects: An Example
Cover Story: By Dan MacMedan for USA TODAY, 26 February 1999
How Bad is Wrestling for your Kids?TV Wrestling

Two big enterprises - WCW (owned by Turner/Time-Warner), and WWF (owned by USA Networks).
On three nights a week.
Pay-per-view events monthly.
Over 40 million viewers
Wrestling target audience- Men from 18-34
33% of viewers are under age 17
13% are between age 6-11
Often, 7-8 of the week’s 10 top-rated cable shows are wrestling programs.

Modeling Behavior?
A report released this week presents data from a study conducted by Indiana University and Inside Edition. The research team monitored 50 episodes of “WWF Raw” between Jan.12, 1998 and Feb.1,1999.A sampling of specific incidences and the number of times the behavior occurred:

Grabbing/pointing to one’s crotch - 1,658
Giving the finger - 157
Simulated sexual activity - 128
Satanic activity - 47
Simulated drug use - 42
Urination, talking about/appearing to - 21
Character appearing as a prostitute -20

Media Effects-Music Video?
Do music videos have messages?
Apply social action theory:
--intentions of the artist/producer
--content features
--viewer/receiver interpretations
Any likely effects?Agenda-Setting Theory
The Agenda: Not what to think, but what to think about.
The Theorists: Maxwell McCombs & Donald Shaw
About the theory:

It contrasts with the selective exposure hypothesis of cognitive dissonance, reaffirming the power of the press while maintaining individual freedom.
It aligns well with social judgment theory.
It contrasts with the selective exposure hypothesis of cognitive dissonance, reaffirming the power of the press while maintaining individual freedom.
It is consistent with a “use and gratification” approach to television viewers’ motives (and dependency theory).
It represents a back-to-basics approach to mass communication research, with a focus on election campaigns.
In political media, who sets the agenda?
If we weren’t here tonight, how many of us would be watching Monica and Barbara (the Lewinsky interview)?

Agenda Setting?

Media agenda and public agenda: a close match.
McCombs and Shaw assert that the agenda-setting function of the media causes the correlation between the media and public ordering of priorities.
However, correlation does not prove causation.

Agenda Setting: Who are the people most affected by the media agenda?

Those susceptible have a high need for orientation or index of curiosity.
Need for orientation arises from high relevance and uncertainty.

Agenda Setting: Which issues are boosted by media attention?

The media seem particularly effective in creating public interest in political candidates and campaign strategy.
Agenda-setting researchers now realize that the campaign itself is the primary issue.
Does the impeachment trial illustrate this?

Agenda Setting: Do priming and framing dictate what people think?

Priming is “a psychological process whereby media emphasis on particular issues not only increases the salience of those issues, but also activates in people’s memories previously acquired information about those issues.”
Framing calls “attention to some aspects of reality while obscuring other elements, which might lead audiences to have different reactions” (McCombs & Shaw)

Media Dependency Theory

Developed by Ball-Rokeach and DeFluer
Key Idea: Audiences depend on media information to meet needs and reach goals.
Key Idea: Social institutions and media systems interact with audiences to create needs, interests, and motives in the person.

The degree of dependence is influenced by:
1. The number and centrality of information functions. Media functions include:
        Entertainment
        Monitoring government activities
        Education
        Social Cohesion
2. Social stability
When social change and conflict are high; and established institutions, beliefs, and practices are challenged; people make new evaluations and choices. In such cases of instability, reliance on media may increase.Media Dependency Theory: Some Questions

Do media create needs?
Do people turn to media to achieve gratification and satisfy needs?
Are media needs personal, social, cultural, political, or all of these?
“The media are our friends”??

Stoner takes pole in San Marino

2011-09-05T05:34:00.000-07:00

Casey Stoner blazed to his eighth pole of the season with a new qualifying record at Misano.

As has been the case all weekend, Yamaha's Jorge Lorenzo looked the only driver capable of truly challenging Stoner.

The pair had traded fastest laps as the session developed, before Stoner made his move with 15 minutes to go - setting a 1m33.495s and then immediately bettering that with a 33.138.

It was a new record qualifying lap at Misano, breaking Stoner's own mark he set with qualifying rubber for Ducati in 2008.

Lorenzo still had time to respond and his two tilts in the final minutes. He was often able to dip below Stoner's time in the first two sectors, but lost out particularly in the final quarter and ultimately had to settle for second, 0.120s down.

"The team has done a great job, the bike feels pretty good and we managed to get some good times," Stoner said. "It's been a good weekend for us but it will be a tough race, the weather takes its toll and Dani and Jorge are very close to us."

Dani Pedrosa was also in the mix but never quite as threatening as Lorenzo, the Spaniard rounding out the front row as he finished within 0.2s of his Honda team-mate's benchmark.

Ben Spies was a late improver as the field switched to soft rubber in the final five minutes, the American putting his Yamaha amongst the Hondas as he jumped from eighth to fourth.

Behind him, Gresini's Marco Simoncelli beat Honda works rider Andrea Dovizioso to fifth. Tech 3 Yamaha's Colin Edwards - who will leave the squad at the end of the season - was three hundredths of a second down the road in seventh.

Alvaro Bautista continued his and Suzuki's strong recent form by sealing eighth, having run as high as fourth during the session.

Hector Barbera meanwhile finished as the top Ducati rider in ninth, with Valentino Rossi finishing 11th behind Hiroshi Aoyama.

Yamaha's Cal Crutchlow had threatened the top six but fell in the final minutes, while Randy de Puniet dropped his bike at Rio after just 11 minutes. He was fifth fastest at the tim,e but slipped to 14th as the flag fell, ahead of fellow Ducati riders Nicky Hayden and Loris Capirossi.

Toyota targets 90% output in June as part supplies ease

2011-09-05T05:31:00.001-07:00

Toyota Motors has said its production in Japan is likely to return back to normal levels faster-than-expected.

The company's spokesperson Paul Nolasco told the BBC that output at its domestic factories is expected to recover to 90% of pre-quake levels as early as this month.

Last week, Toyota had reported a 74.5% plunge in production at its Japanese factories in April.

Toyota is the world's biggest car manufacturer.

Production at Japan's car manufacturers has been hit hard due to disruptions in the country's supply chain in wake of the 11 March earthquake and tsunami.

However, the company said the situation had been gradually improving.

"We have had a constant recovery in our supply chain and that is starting to have a positive effect on our production," Mr Nolasco said.

'Extremely committed'

Toyota said the speed at which the company's production is recovering was a result of the combined effort of the firm and its suppliers.

"The key behind all of this has been the extremely committed effort by our suppliers to get back on track," Mr Nolasco said.

"After the quake we were facing a shortage of almost 500 parts, the numbers have since decreased to 30 parts or may be even less right now," he added.

Toyota said that it had also sent workers from its own factories to help its part suppliers get back to normal production.

The company said that while the recovery had been fast, there was still work to be done.

"Ninety percent is not the end game, there is still room for improvement," Mr Nolasco said.

"We still have to reach full capacity and also have to take care of our overseas production," he added.

Audi Releases First R8 GT Spyder Video

2011-09-05T05:29:00.001-07:00

Audi has released a new commercial showing its fastest drop-top model ever, the Audi R8 GT Spyder. The video follows after the official public release of the roofless sports car at Le Mans 2011, and show the car’s on road and on track performance, hinting at the convertible supercar’s heritage.

By now you probably already know that the only 333 lucky mortals will get to own one. The new flagship of the Audi range now develops a total of 560 hp - 35 more than the regulat V10 Spyder and the same as the R8 GT Coupe it draws its power from. The supercar is also full 85 kilograms (187.39 lb) slimmer than the already toned regular version, thanks in part to the extensive use of CFRP.

The R8 GT Spyder is capable of two very impressive figures: a 0 to 100 km/h (62 mph) sprint time of 3.8 seconds and a top speed of 317 km/h (196.97 mph). The rear spoiler, front splitter, upgraded brakes and weight reduction regime (less sound isolation, thinner glass and carbon-fiber components) have all carried over from the R8 GT Coupe, as has the Alcantara interior.

Speaking of the interior, it's black and can be adorned with stitching in a choice of titanium gray or crimson for added refinement. Alcantara upholstery comes standard – on the sport steering wheel and windshield frame, too.

Standard equipment includes LED headlights, LED tail lights, an automatic air conditioning system, the navigation system plus, an alarm system and the driver information system with a built-in laptimer.

Talking about standard equipment and interior quality is a bit theoretical, because only 333 will ever be made, and they should sell faster than new iPhones. The R8 GT Spyder will have a base price of €207,800 in Germany.

IFA 2011: Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.9 LTE Hands-On

2011-09-05T05:28:00.001-07:00

Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.9 LTE was yet another Android-based device that Samsung Electronics brought to Berlin to showcase during the IFA 2011 conference, and Softpedia had the chance to have a look at it too, so as to offer you a series of photos with the upcoming 4G-capable tablet.

The same as the original Galaxy Tab 8.9, the LTE-capable tablet PC comes to the market with a touchscreen display that is 8.9-inch large, and which can deliver a 1280 x 800 pixels resolution.

The large display is complemented by impressive multimedia capabilities and great connectivity features, all powered by a 1.5GHz dual-core application processor.

The new device also comes to the market with 16Gb or 32GB of internal memory, and with a microSD memory card slot with support for up to 32GB of additional storage space.

On the back, the new tablet PC sports a 3-megapixel photo snapper with support for video recording capabilities, complemented by a 2MP camera on the front for video calling.

In addition to the LTE connectivity, the new Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.9 LTE also sports HSPA+ 42Mbps, as well as WiFi and Bluetooth 3.0 capabilities, a 3.5mm headphone jack, and built-in GPS receiver.

The new device runs under Google's Android 3.2 Honeycomb operating system, with the Samsung TouchWiz on top of it, support for Adobe Flash Player 10.3, and for a wide range of mobile services from Google.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.9 LTE will provide users with fast access to Google Search, Maps, Talk, Gmail and to the Android Market, so that they can download and install various applications and games on their tablet PCs.

Moreover, Samsung loaded it with services like the Social Hub, Music Hub, and Readers Hub, as well as with access to the Samsung Apps portal. The LTE device measures 230.9 x 157.8 x 8.6 mm and weighs in at 455 grams, while packing a 6100 mAh battery inside.

Honda CBR250R Gets Street Sport Exhausts from Yoshimura

2011-09-03T23:46:00.000-07:00

The bike that was bound to be a hit ever since it saw daylight in Milano, at last year’s EICMA show, is now receiving attention from the aftermarket component specialists at Yoshimura, just like its bigger siblings.

Specifically, the CBR250R entry level sportbike develops 7bhp in standard form, shy of the 33bhp restriction for category ‘A’ licence holders.

Yoshimura have developed a new R-77J Street Sport slip-on end can to do just that. Both Stainless Steel End Cap and Carbon End Cap versions will be available in three sleeve versions; Stainless, Titanium and Metal Magic and features a removable dB-Killer baffle. Peak power and torque are improved, with a significant weight saving over stock.

As a fresh reminder, we’ll tell you that the CBR250R comes fitted with Combined ABS, a class-first, a system that includes a Combined Brake System (CBS) and an Anti-Lock Brake System (ABS).

Tech Specs are as follows:

CBR250R R-77J Street Sports slip-on Stainless end cap
180-420-5V50 Stainless Steel     £493.07
180-420-5V80    Titanium    £575.25
180-420-5V20     Metal Magic    £575.25

CBR250R R-77J Street Sports slip-on Carbon end cap
180-420-5W50    Stainless Steel    £575.25
180-420-5W80 Titanium                 £657.43
180-420-5W20 Metal Magic            £657.43

Noise Output (decibels)
With dB-Killer fitted: 86 dB @ 4,250 rpm
Without dB-Killer fitted: 94 dB @ 4,250rpm

IFA 2011: BlackBerry Torch 9810 Hands-On

2011-09-03T23:44:00.000-07:00

The BlackBerry Torch 9810 smartphone was unveiled roughly a month ago as the successor of last year's fairly popular Torch 9800, the very first device from Research In Motion to arrive on shelves with a sliding design while packing both a touchscreen display and a QWERTY keyboard.

Apparently, RIM considered the one-year old slider a success, and decided to come up with a successor for it, none other than the BlackBerry Torch 9810 that Softpedia met at the IFA 2011 show in Berlin.

The new mobile phone keeps the same form factor as the predecessor, but also adds a series of enhancements into the mix, starting with the faster 1.2GHz application processor, and going all the way to the new BlackBerry 7 OS loaded on it.

The new device boasts a 3.2 inches touchscreen display capable of delivering a 480 x 640 pixels resolution, and pairs the said fast CPU with 768 MB of RAM to deliver increased performance levels.

Those who will purchase the new mobile phone will also enjoy 8GB of internal memory, which can be easily expanded through the addition of memory cards of up to 32GB in size.

The BlackBerry Torch 9810 features HSDPA 14.4Mbps and HSUPA connectivity options, as well as WiFi 802.11 b/g/n and Bluetooth 2.1 capabilities, and a microUSB port, not to mention that it was packed with built-in GPS receiver too, and with a 3.5mm headphone jack.

Other than that, we can count the 5-megapixel photo snapper that is present on the handset's back, which offers auto focus, LED flash, and support for video recording.

Measuring 111 x 61.9 x 14.5 mm and weighing it at 161 grams, the new smartphone includes a Li-Ion 1300 mAh battery inside, which can deliver up to 6 hours and a half of talk time, or up to 300 hours of standby time.

The new slider runs under the BlackBerry 7 OS, and offers fast Internet navigation, access to social networking websites, access to applications and games available for download via the BlackBerry App World, along with support for various services that RIM put in place for its users.