Herman & Chomsky - Evan Pantazis

I found this reading to be particularly relevant to events that occurred this week, namely with the Disney Corporation. We have talked in some detail about Disney and theorists' ideas on ideologies dealing with Disney, but for CMC 200 I wrote a research paper and content analysis on Disney animated films and their effects on stereotypes, gender roles, and the perpetuation of both throughout generations. I related the readings on propaganda and corporation influence on media and information to Baudrillard's ideas of "masked reality" and "simulacra". But also I related the most recent event, Disney's purchase of Lucasfilms, to the fanboy reading from Jenkins.

Because Disney owns the ABC broadcasting network, ESPN, controls one of the largest Hollywood studios, and represents and ideology across the world, it is very safe to assume that they could influence the public's opinion through media propaganda. Not only could they effect the public's opinion, but they could also render cultural norms, as well as limit the exposure to certain information for their benefit. Furthermore, Disney already had a widespread reach of an audience, but now they have tapped into the one of the largest global fanboy cultures in the world with Star Wars, and already plans to Star Wars films.

It would be very interesting to study the changes and reception to the new ownership of Disney by the fanboy culture, or more importantly if propaganda finds its way into the new films and media.

http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/10/30/disney-buying-lucas-films-for-4-billion/