Mandates and Student X Media Industries

Brandi Bradley
Jan 9, 2019
6 min read

FIRST: Don’t forget that we are meeting next week via Google Hangouts.

You must: • Sign up for a spot • Complete the “Getting to Know You” Form • Complete your Mandate (prompt below) and upload to your Wix page on your About Page. • Upload the link to your Mandate to Canvas • Call in to bbradleyfsu@gmail.com using Google Hangout at the time you signed up for.

Also, when setting up your Twitter, be sure to tag me @bbradley2135 and say, "Hi. I'm in your 2135 class." If not, I won't know if you are really my students and I should follow you back.

When thinking about this class, it might be helpful to consider you are not only taking a class, but are also building your own media industry. You are building a media outlet. You will be creating new content, you will be promoting this content to the small audience of your classmates and eventually expand to a larger audience by the end of the semester. Whenever you send out a link to your Wix page this semester on Twitter (which you will be doing a lot), you are inviting someone to engage with your brand. When you think of media industries, you might think CNN, Fox News or other news outlets. Or you might think of television networks like ABC or the CW. Turns out many of these media industries are owned and operated by the same companies. For example, Comcast owns NBC Universal and all its subsidiaries.

If you think that's crazy, check out all the properties Disney owns:

Currently, the Walt Disney Company owns nearly every major movie franchise, with the exception of DC Comics and Harry Potter (which are owned by Time Warner). Considering this: what is the agenda of these companies where you are not only getting your entertainment, but also your information.

Media Industries operate on what is known as a MANDATE. A mandate is the mission statement for the company: their purpose of being. Mandates are either commercial or non-commercial mandates; either they want to profit or they do not. Disney and Comcast have a commercial mandate; NPR and PBS are non-commercial mandates. Which is better for authentic content, commercial or non-commercial mandates? Tough question, right? Commercial mandates mean the company is at the mercy of losing advertisers or subscribers for composing something those advertisers disagree with. However, non-commercial mandates are at the mercy of the donations of its listeners or viewers, so they have to make sure their content is appealing to their primary audience. Media Industries ability to create content is determined upon these three elements: • Technology • Regulation • Economics

Consider the television program Game of Thrones.

Game of Thrones, the HBO series, is based on the book series A Song of Ice and Fire. The first book of that series, Game of Thrones, was published in 1996. It developed a small but loyal following of readers which consistently grew as each book was released. When the author George R.R. Martin conceived the book series, he wrote it with the intent of it never being able to be adapted into a movie. However, as time wore on, technology, regulation and economics changed so that not only could the books be adapted, but they could be done so successfully that it now sets the bar of what can be done with the audio/visual mode. What changed? • Technology: Dragons! In 1996, any dragons on screen would have been animatronic puppets or animated like in cartoons. Advancements in CGI made it possible for fantastical creatures to appear on screen and look realistic. • Regulations: In 1996, HBO was primarily a place for movies. Sex in the City premiered in 1998 and The Sopranos in 1999. When these television shows premiered, they ushered in the Golden Era of Television because without the regulations of Prime Time Broadcasting and the FCC, these programs were able to show commercial-free and push the boundaries for what television writers could compose. "The Red Wedding" was possible because HBO has no limits when it comes to blood and gore. • Economics: Television became legit. Beginning with HBO, other networks began to pay attention. Viewers were paying for the opportunity to watch their favorite TV programing. Television became a more consistent money-maker than the movies, because it was a guaranteed consistent subscription income as long as the show was on television. A multi-generational fantasy genre which required multiple film sites in a variety of climates and the costly fees required to craft CGI dragons no longer seemed like a financial risk, but television gold.

For the purposes of this class, you are now Student X Media Industries. (Feel free to name your media industry as you see fit). You are the writer, producer, and publicist for your projects. You are no longer only looking at assignments as words on a screen, but also who is reading these words and how that audience prefers to consume digital content. You are going to be considering how those words represent you and your passions. Each tweet you send, each photo you crop, each topic you choose to research, will represent you and your brand. What you will have to do is determine your resources. What is your technological capabilities? If you are on the FSU campus, Strozier Library has a treasure trove of available state of the art computers with a multitude of programs installed such as: InDesign, iMovie, Garage Band, Photoshop and other programs your personal laptop might not have. If you don't know how to use any of these programs, you can visit the Digital Studio in the Williams Building or the Williams/Johnson Building. If you are not on campus, make an appointment with me during Office Hours and we can develop a plan.

What is your economic situation? You do not have a budget. You have no Kickstarter or network footing the bill. Most of what you will be building can be done for free with your FSU resources, your laptop, your phone and the knowledge you accumulate throughout the semester. You are learning how to build a website. You are learning how to run a social media accounts. You will learn how to take a large project and break it down into smaller pieces in order to reach a deadline.

What are your regulations? Your assignment prompts. Consider me the FCC. I make the rules and the hoops you must jump through to make sure you are adhering to the standards of quality for FSU.

How do you write your own Mandate? Your mandate should include: • The name of your Media Industry • What does your media industry stand for? What is your brand? • What can a reader of your website expect to see? • Include photos which represent a visual representation of your values. • Contain a minimum of 200 words (and a max of 500)

Struggling? Check out these media industry mandates for inspiration: • Buzzfeed • Goop

What should your Wix page look like? Nearly everything you turn in for this class will be posted on your Wix page. If it is not posted DIRECTLY on the page, then it needs to be accessible using a button and a link to a shared Google Doc file.

Your Wix page needs to look like a professional website. Your Wix template comes with all the fonts and colors which match your template. Take advantage of them.

Also, consider these tips which will make your site look amazing: • You need images. If you can't find images, use fonts and shapes to make your page look engaging. • If you doubt your color matching design skills, you CANNOT go wrong with white background and black and white images. The text is easier to read as well. • Use large headline fonts for your titles • The text for your papers should be at least 16 pt in size. • Don't use script or italics for papers because they are too hard to read. • Don't use black backgrounds with white text for papers. It is too hard to read for an extended period of time. It burns the eyes. • Don't force your reader to download a document in order to read it. It is invasive. Your document is not taking up memory on your reader's computer. • A reader will only click twice to access something before giving up. Make it easy for them. Put it right on the page. • Wix does not allow indents. You have to manually press the space bar 5 times to indicate an indent.

Don't forget! • Mandates are due January 11. Upload the correct link to your Mandate page of your class Wix page to Canvas under assignments. If the link does not work, you will not receive credit for the assignment. Struggling with Wix, check out our Wix for Beginners page • Twitter. Tweets officially begin on Monday. Get your account set up now. Go to How to Set Up a Twitter Account if you need assistance. • Plagiarism, Accountability and Civility Clauses are all due on January 11. These are three different forms you must read and sign. • We are having our first officially getting to know you meeting next week.