...Mediating Mark Duggan The press is a section of the mass media industry that focuses on presenting current news to the public and is one of the largest forms of media we have in Britain. The press and media in general insist that it is only fact and truth that is reported to the public, however, there are times when the media either permits itself to be manipulated or to act as the agent of manipulation; seemingly, we as the public, receive the opinions of the few, select people that are running the mass media who use the power of mediation to position audience response through encoded values with the media acting as an opinion leader (2-step flow). Mark Duggan was shot by armed police in Tottenham, August 2011, after officers stopped the cab he was in to make an arrest. Duggan was unarmed at the time yet just hours later stories were circulating the media about a dramatic ‘shootout’ with Duggan represented as a ‘violent gangster’. Within just two days of his death, riots had erupted in London as well as copycat riots in other cities up and down the country and reported globally by the press. Before getting out of hand, the riots were a direct response to the actions of the police. Mark Duggan didn’t hit the front page until after the riots had begun and it is likely that, similar to the case of Stephen Lawrence, the audience will never fully know the reality of the initial event. The final inquest report (2014) ruled that the killing was lawful. Looking back on the newspaper...
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...The Simpsons: Miserable but still trying… Homer: Kids you tried your best, and you failed miserably. The lesson is never try. (“Burns Heir” – Season 5, Episode 18)1 Carl’s Matheson’s essay “The Simpsons, Hyper-Irony, and the meaning of life” is a critical analysis of the animated family comedy show The Simpsons. The essay delves into how the show is failing miserably on humoring its viewers and the idea of promoting positive social purpose is not really what it seems after all. According to Matheson, as the show infuses its episodes with heavily induce quotations as a way to humor its viewers. In the process, the show ceases to be funny at all. From these observations, Matheson points out that while the show employs a great deal of quotations and hyper-irony as a form of comedy, it also detaches itself from its viewers in the process. Therefore, losing its audience shared sense of humor as well as the audience itself in the end. The shows critics’ reviews of the early episodes praise the show for its wit, realism, and intelligence. However, in the late 1990s, the tone and emphasis of the show began to change. Some critics started calling the show "tired”. By 2000, some long-term fans had become disillusioned with the show, and pointed to its shift from character-driven plots to what they perceived 1 http://www.buzzfeed.com/louispeitzman/the-100-best-classic-simpsons-quotes#.woxOwzdRev 1 as an overemphasis on zany antics.2 Fast forward to Season 26, the...
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...As Benshoff and Griffin put it, “men in Western culture are taught that it is their birthright to do while women remain relatively immobile in order to be the object of the male gaze.” This ideology is commonly seen in most media texts where males are typically seen in lead roles where they are depicted as functional compared to females who are represented as distracted and dependent on men. Whilst this argument is widely seen throughout studies about gender roles in media, it functions as the center of my argument about the depiction of women in the music videos of “Blurred Lines” by Robin Thicke featuring T.I. and Pharrell Williams and “Uptown Girl” by Billy Joel. Both videos revolve around the acquisition of female attention, which supports...
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...THE POWER OF HABIT Duhi_9781400069286_2p_all_r1.j.indd i 10/17/11 12:01 PM Duhi_9781400069286_2p_all_r1.j.indd ii 10/17/11 12:01 PM HABIT W h y We D o W h a t We D o and How to Change It THE POWER OF CHARLES DUHIGG Random House e N e w Yo r k Duhi_9781400069286_2p_all_r1.j.indd iii 10/17/11 12:01 PM This is a work of nonfiction. Nonetheless, some names and personal characteristics of individuals or events have been changed in order to disguise identities. Any resulting resemblance to persons living or dead is entirely coincidental and unintentional. Copyright © 2012 by Charles Duhigg All rights reserved. Published in the United States by Random House, an imprint of The Random House Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York. RANDOM HOUSE and colophon are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc. ISBN 978-1-4000-6928-6 eBook ISBN 978-0-679-60385-6 Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper Illustrations by Anton Ioukhnovets www.atrandom.com 2 4 6 8 9 7 5 3 1 First Edition Book design by Liz Cosgrove Duhi_9781400069286_2p_all_r1.j.indd iv 10/17/11 12:01 PM To Oliver, John Harry, John and Doris, and, everlastingly, to Liz Duhi_9781400069286_2p_all_r1.j.indd v 10/17/11 12:01 PM Duhi_9781400069286_2p_all_r1.j.indd vi 10/17/11 12:01 PM CONTENTS PROLOGUE The Habit Cure GGG xi PA R T O N E The Habits of Individuals 1. THE HABIT LOOP How Habits Work 3 31 60 2. THE...
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