Jason Paul Grant

Imagined Communities

9/11 was more than a day to remember, the twin towers fell to the ground and there was an enemy that was given the responsibility for the atrocity. America felt the attack at the heart of its financial centre which shocked the nation into realising that they too could be touched by terrorism. Before the attack, it could be argued that American’s were busy living the dream, not really considering their neighbours and more concern with accumulating worth.

Commodity Fetishism

This essay will assess the validity of Marx’s theory of commodity fetishism and consider the relevant academic sources that further his work. Moreover, using the critical theorists who disagree with Marx to gain a clear picture of what commodity fetishism is and the various different understandings of the notion.

The ideologies behind media policy

This essay intends to unearth media policy and how it shapes the media, using the British Broadcasting Corporation as a primary example. By analysing the formation of the BBC to discover how media policy can assist in plurality and freedom. Furthermore, by evaluating the recent changes that the BBC has gone through resulting from media policies, to examine the destructive elements which policies can produce.

Subcultures

For the purposes of this essay, Dick Hebdige’s book Subculture: The Meaning of Style will be used as a basic framework in order to critically explore the concept of what he believes is a subculture. The subculture to be considered is the rave culture and the different sub genres that it has transformed into. Also referring to concepts such as ideology, hegemony and resistance to explain the development of what occurs when groups of individuals go against the status quo.

Crisis in Journalism

Journalism in the UK is in crisis. Newspaper circulations have been falling, trained journalists are leaving for other communication jobs in PR, investigative reporting has become redundant with budget cuts, newspapers are closing their doors and shutting down, local news is being replaced with a network service, there is far more competition for jobs with the rise of journalism studies, the unions are striking, marching, and fighting to save the few jobs that are left. The recent economic crash is being blamed for the turmoil; however it has created the perfect justification for businesses to inflict those cuts to news production, whilst continuing to collect profits.

Creative Industries

Britain has become one of the leading cultural producers in the world and the creative industries sector contributes £60 billion a year to the UK economy. The Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) describes the creative industries to include the following “advertising, architecture, the art and antiques market, crafts, design, designer fashion, film, interactive leisure software, music, the performing arts, publishing, software and computer services, television and radio” http://www.culture.gov.uk/.