Matilda Brooks

News reports often place ideas in an audience’s head, even before knowing the accusations are true and correct. This can lead to unfair trials and false accusations. Kishan in her article How Media Manipulates Truth about Terrorism (1997) raises some strong points on the stereotyping of Islamic people, and how mainstream media places these types of ideas in the audiences heads (Kishan Thussu, 1997). Kishan explains that the western media attempts to dehumanise and demonise stereotypical looking Muslim people, this may include large beards, turbans, or any other attribute the western media has portrayed as a ’terrorist’ or ‘dangerous’ (Kishan Thussu, 1997).  The mainstream western media places various images into its audiences heads, and help the distribution of information leading this audience to always accuse anyone who may resemble this image to be a terrorist or a danger to their society. This is incorrect and unethical. An example of unethical behaviour within the media is Fairfax Media distributing a false image of a teenage boy, accusing him of being a ‘terrorist’ and stabbing a police officer before being shot dead. Fairfax allegedly took this image from his Facebook page, even though the attacker was not his boy. ABC News speaks about the false accusation in their news report here: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-09-25/fairfax-gets-the-wrong-man/5770368?pfm=ms (Om, 2014).

The young teenage boy could not even step outside of his home after being accused as he thought the accusation would have caused the community to turn against him (Om, 2014). The ABC News report however, blocks out his and his families faces when helping the teenage boy get his message out to the audience of the media. Proving it was not him who attacked the police. By balacking out the faces of the family members and the boy, ABC News helped deescalate the situation, and helped the boy have less media coverage with his image. ABC News showed ethical standards in their news reporting, by attempting to resolve the issue in a sensitive way. The majority of media may be unethical in their use of their power, as seen with the false accusation. ABC News, however exposes an ethical way of using the media to distribute messages to their audience.

Thussu, D. K. (1997). How media manipulates truth about terrorism. Economic and Political Weekly, 32(6), 264. Retrieved from https://www.jstor.org/stable/4405068?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents

Om, J. (2014). Fairfax gets the wrong man [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvlV8x05EZ4

Author: Jezahna Poy

Riot Games released a video advertisement April last year on YouTube about their online multiplayer game, League of Legends. The advertisement was made and narrated by YouTube creators, Nevercake (2018), and featured bright cartoon style visuals as well as fast paced humorous commentary to communicate with the target audience.

The intended message that Riot appears to have wanted to communicate is that the game is free to play, competitive and customisable with a large online player community, most likely with goals to motivate uptake of the game by consumers. The choice of YouTube itself as a channel and medium of communication suggests that the target audience is teenagers and young adults, as multimedia content is the preferred method of information intake by teenagers (Neilson Norman Group, 2016). Additionally, 36 per cent of 18-34 year olds prefer to view video content on Youtube compared with just 19 per cent percent preferring traditional TV (Comscore, 2016). The informal use of language in addition to the self-deprecating and satiric humour present throughout the video is often used when advertising to young males in particular. Companies may employ such tactics to represent themselves as less serious and more fun to the audience (Blum & McClellan, 2016).

The visuals have been created to stimulate feelings of high energy and playfulness. As described by Labreque and Milne (2012), high saturation of colour is often associated with feelings of excitement with the use of orange, red, and yellow increasing this perception. The high saturation of colours within this ad are used in small amounts, possibly to create greater impact and action. The ad balances this out by including shades of black and blue to emphasise the feeling of competence and sophistication (Labreque & Milne, 2012).

The advertisement prominently covers the fact the game is ‘Free’, and avoids declaring that elements such as characters and the customisability of characters are paid. This indicates that the product is being marketed as a ‘Freemium’ game, meaning a game that is free to download, but contains in-game purchases to gain the company revenue (Liu, Au & Choi, 2014). When used correctly, emphasising the free elements of a product can help the item gain more attention by the audience (Ciotti, 2012). This was likely the goal of the advertisers when creating the League of Legends ad.

References
Blum, L., & McClellan, S. (2006). Why more brands risk mockery to boost image. Adweek. 47(26), 9. Retrieved from https://search-proquest-com.ezproxy.cqu.edu.au/docview/212456809/fulltext/B37107D00FA14E47PQ/1?accountid=10016

Ciotti, G. (2012). The 5 most persuasive words in the English language. Retrieved from https://www.copyblogger.com/persuasive-copywriting-words/

Comscore. (2016). What millennials’ YouTube usage tells us about the future of video viewership. Retrieved from https://www.comscore.com/Insights/Blog/What-Millennials-YouTube-Usage-Tells-Us-about-the-Future-of-Video-Viewership

Labrecque, L. I., & Milne, G. R. (2012). Exciting red and competent blue: The importance of color in marketing. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 40(5), 711-727. doi:https://doi-org.ezproxy.cqu.edu.au/10.1007/s11747-010-0245-y

Liu, C.  Z., Au, Y. A., & Choi, H. S. (2014). Effects of freemium strategy in the mobile app market: An empirical study of Google Play. Journal of Management Information Systems, 31(3), 326-354. doi:10.1080/07421222.2014.995564

Neilson Norman Group. (2016). Young adults/millennials as web users (Ages 18–25). Retrieved from https://www.nngroup.com/articles/young-adults-ux/

Nevercake. (2018). What is League of Legends? Told by Nevercake . Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=brNGDA5R048

Matilda Brooks

Examining the website: Eco Projects Australia (https://ecoprojectsaustralia.com.au/) gave an insight into the audience this company is trying to appeal to; labourers, project managers and/or councils, and how their message may be communicated to this audience with a better understanding of website functionality. This type of audience may appreciate a more condensed array of information, to communicate a more concise message. Within the website, three separate pages explore the projects worked on by this company. This could be reduced to one concise page with images and headings of the projects, without the clutter of the information. If an individual does want more information the images may be interactive, and once clicked will display a new page with information about the specific project. Sharpless (2006) indicates that some sites are so cluttered with information the user may misunderstand or miss the message altogether (Sharpless Smith, 2006, p.111). The Eco Projects Australia site features a lot of cluttered text, which gave me, as the user, less interest into reading on. Cutting down this information and making it concise and to the point may appeal to more users, and distribute a more concise and meaningful message. The overall functionality of this website is appealing, yet could be improved for the goal of the user. Szewczak (2009) discusses the goal of the user in his book, he explains that users primarily seek information when visiting a website (Szewczak J., 2009 p.97) Furthermore, he explores the importance of usability in relation to the goal of the user (Szewczak J., 2009 p.94). Usability or functionality of a website help assists the user in achieving their goal. Another aspect, which may dissuade the particular audience when trying to achieve this goal, is the social media buttons. These may be more useful when they are larger. The LinkedIn button does not take the user to the actual Eco Projects Australia LinkedIn profile but instead takes them to the dashboard of the LinkedIn site. This site (LinkedIn) is a valuable source of information for any user and may assist in achieving the goal of the user.

References:

Smith, S.S. (2006). Web-based instruction: A guide for libraries. Chicago, USA: American Library Association.

Szewczak, E. J. (2008). Selected readings on the human side of information technology. Hershey, USA: Information Science Reference.

Matilda Brooks

A logo is the visual representation of what the company wants to communicate to their audience, the logo is always specific to the brand and the audience they are attempting to communicate with, for example Billabong uses a wave symbol in their logo to communicate with an audience who surfs, or Swarovski uses a swan to communicate the elegance and style of their products, communicating with the elegant and stylish audience. Lee explains that corporate business logos represent the companies’ message (Lee I., 2016h). The symbols and logo functions as the development of the brand identity design (Lee I., 2016). The symbols of a logo can communicate a specific message to a specific audience; for example, the Commonwealth Bank logo represents their trustworthy nature and loyalty to its’ customers.

This is done through the use of the ‘Southern Cross symbol’ the yellow diamond shape (cut out by the black shape) follows the same line or shape as the Southern Cross. The Southern Cross is representative of Australia’s knowledge, loyalty and trust, it can be found on our own Australian flag; which reflects the trust and appreciation that is expressed when using this symbol. Thus, this symbol communicates the loyalty and trust they will receive if they become customers, this message is extremely important to communicate as a bank, where customers expect to have to trust, the logo reinforces this.

Another example of an important, symbolic corporate logo is the Google logo. The company uses all primary, bright colours to communicate personality, individuality and playfulness (Wiley, 2010).

As Google has such a large audience, the company seems to want to deliver a ‘fun’ or playful image (Wiley, 2010). They want to communicate to their large audience that they are no ordinary search engine, but they are much more (Wiley, 2010). The bright colours and recognisable typeface is tweaked and changed very slightly over the many years in business. The design gave much room for the brands identity and thus contributed to more exposure of their message of having a bold individuality and recognisability to their wide audience.

Lee, I. (2016). Encyclopedia of e-commerce development, implementation, and management. Hershey, USA: Business Science Reference.

Wiley, J. (2010). The Google design, turned up a notch. Retrieved from https://googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/05/google-design-turned-up-notch.html?m=1&fbclid=IwAR1ocGND2jiGDDmrSGXrJ40SIvIaoy5LlgffKvDh7u-YvjkCYpiEh3vE-eQ

Author: Jezahna Poy

Listen:

Notes
Original radio interview: https://www.abc.net.au/radio/programs/pm/hobart-uni-students-facing-eviction-due-to-housing-shortage/10608356

Transcript

This audio segment will discuss the effectiveness of radio as a channel of communication, through the lens of a specific radio article by the ABC named ‘Hobart University students facing eviction due to housing shortage’ (Ogilvie, 2018). Visit the link in the notes if you would like the listen to the original article.

The interview by the ABC was broadcasted in December 2018 and discusses the lack of housing in Hobart by exploring the current living situation of students using accommodation at the University of Tasmania. Although the primary listeners may be those already interested in hearing about Tasmania’s housing shortage, the article seems to be looking to raise awareness of this specific issue amongst the Australian public in general.

The selection of radio for this interview suggests that the reporters were looking to impact the audience on an emotional level, perhaps to motivate listeners to empathise or even assist in resolving the issue in some way. Radio communication is often an effective choice of channel for this goal as it frequently makes use of non-verbal cues such as the tone, speed, and pace of the speech (Cenere, Gill, Lawson & Lewis, 2015, p. 77). In this sense, the producers of this piece most likely chose radio to convey the emotion and humanity of the situation through the use of voice. Although the addition of visuals may typically increase the emotional impact of a story (Joffe, 2008), the advantage to this choice of radio is that the listener can be placed within the environment while still generally protecting the privacy of the interviewee.

An additional benefit of radio in terms of this particular message is the ability that audio has to effectively communicate non-verbally through the layering of sound. Sound effects typically evoke mental imagery, encourage stronger emotional reactions from listeners, and also act as a non-verbal descriptor of the environment (Rodero, 2012; Miller & Marks 1992). In this case, the included  ‘kitchen’ sound effects throughout the beginning of the interview were likely purposefully added to immerse the audience into the apartment of the student, and therefore create a more personal feeling to the interview. Overall, radio was an effective choice of channel for ABC’s message, as it allowed for the audience to engage emotionally with the affected individuals without invading [on] their privacy.

References

Cenere, P., Gill, R., Lawson, C., & Lewis, M. (2015). Communication skills for business professionals. Melbourne, Vic: Cambridge University Press.

Joffe, H. (2008). The power of visual material: Persuasion, emotion and identification. Diogenes, 55(1), 84–93. doi:https://doi.org/10.1177/0392192107087919

Miller, D. W, & Marks L. J. (1992). Mental imagery and sound effects in radio commercials. Journal of Advertising, 21(4), 83-93. doi:10.1080/00913367.1992.10673388

Rodero, E. (2012). See it on a radio story: Sound effects and shots to evoked imagery and attention on audio fiction. Communication Research, 39(4), 458-479. doi:10.1177/0093650210386947

Ogilvie, F. (2018). Hobart University students facing eviction due to housing shortage [Audio file]. Retrieved from https://www.abc.net.au/radio/programs/pm/hobart-uni-students-facing-eviction-due-to-housing-shortage/10608356