...: Exemplar: Institutions: How the media reported this press release.

Sunday 23 January 2011

Exemplar: Institutions: How the media reported this press release.

From The Telegraph Newspaper amongst other sources.
Despite being distributed by beauty giant L'Oréal and the fact that Margiela is no longer part of his eponymous fashion brand, Maison Martin Margiela is trying to stay true to its 'no-label' approach, naming its first scent, Untitled.

L'Oréal is also behind the fragrances of denim brand Diesel, which now owns Maison Martin Margiela. The Untitled launch has been long-awaited since the avant-garde fashion label has been in business for more than 20 years and is just now releasing its first scent.

Launched in Paris this week, Untitled is a unisex frag -created by perfumer Daniela Andrier, the 'nose' behind YSL's Rive Gauche, Gucci Rush for men (that I heart), and several Prada scents- that is described as floral, woody, and very green (including notes of fern) as well as ambery and oriental.

The unisex element as well as the typical 'blank canvas' packaging contribute to the notion of a non-stereotypical scent that, according to a press release, "can be worn by anyone, anywhere".

A statement released last year read : "This signature scent will inspire radical new perspectives for perfumes with a more personal approach, following the success of the brands with star logos[...]" .

Untitled will become available at colette.fr in a world-exclusive 'preview' January 25 and will be rolled out internationally through April. It joins the ranks of other 'avant-garde' and 'niche' scents that are gaining in importance such as Standard by Comme des Garçons and Artek.

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Why Media Studies IS an academic subject.

Every now and then, Media Studies gets what is ironically called “a bad press”.

Even after a general election in which the media played a pivotal role (television debates, the 24-hour news feeding off the corpse of Gordon Brown after his accidental on-mic comment, the on-screen worm during the debates etc.), even after all that, Media Studies gets described as a “Mickey Mouse subject”.

It would be hilarious if it wasn’t so serious. We live in a mediated world, a reality constructed around us and constantly filtered through the media. Although you might experience some of reality directly (in an unmediated way), your response to that reality is inevitably informed by your exposure to the modern media. When you see yourself in the mirror, do you not judge yourself by the standards of beauty and style laid down by the fashion and beauty industries?

When someone is innocently taking pictures of kids playing in the park, are we suspicious that they’re up to no good? In our relationships with each other, do we take people at face value, or do we make judgements based on the way we think they should be? When we desire consumer goods, why is that exactly? Why do we want things? How does that happen?

We get soundbite politics – because of the media. We get personality politics – because of the media. We learn to act the way we do – because of the media. We learn to talk the way we do – because of the media. We get turned on, we get excited, we get angry, we laugh and we cry – because of the media. We became convinced that Gordon Brown wasn’t up to the job – because of the media. We panic about vaccines, medicines, food, drink, sunshine – because of the media.

To understand how things happen, why they happen, and why they keep happening is, for me, a fit subject of study.

None of this is to mention the skills you develop in Media Studies – skills in writing, editing, analysis, research, design, publishing, video and audio editing/mixing, project management, people skills etc. – which are incredibly useful and incredibly transferrable. One of the things you often hear from the media who give Media Studies a bad press is that, “Anyway, there are no jobs, there are too many people coming through and they won’t get jobs in the media.”

Well. Either it’s a Mickey Mouse subject, or it’s “too hard”, a demanding and impossible industry to get into. Which is it? It’s like saying you shouldn’t study Physics because you won’t get a job at CERN; or that you shouldn’t study law because you won’t get to be a “top barrister”. If you study English and you don’t do so at Oxford or Cambridge, what are your chances of getting a “top job”?

The transferrable skills you learn in Media Studies will equip you for working life, whatever you end up doing. And most of you will end up doing several jobs.

So. Next time someone scoffs at Media Studies, ask them this: when did you last go a day without being exposed to the media, in print and on screen? When did you last have an opinion of your own making?

Next time someone calls it a Mickey Mouse subject, ask them this: who owns the Mouse? What other companies do they own? What was the turnover of this company last year? Which member of the board of this company is also a member of the board of another huge company? How does one business relate to the other? How influential are they? Who are their competitors? How does this competition benefit or harm consumers? What ideology does the company who owns the mouse try to impose upon the world? Why do they do this?

Mickey Mouse subject?

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Sunday 23 January 2011