Issues in Publication and Design: 2012

Wednesday 13 June 2012

Reflection

The experience of blogging has been nothing short of spectacular. I have learnt a vast amount of theories and techniques during the process of blogging. Due to the fact that I was required of undertaking this subject, I have therefore, learnt a variety of theories that is based on the Issues in Publication and Design.

Among the theories I have found truly practical, is that a blogger should be aware and understand a country’s cultural belief in order to produce a more effective document. Just as Schriver (1997) had suggested, individuals are able to interact and interpret words and visuals that are based on their values and beliefs.

Without further ado, I would like to take this opportunity to thank Ms. Jenny Heng, for being my sole guidance throughout the semester, and learning would not have been this pleasurable if without you.

References

Schriver, K.A. 1997, Dynamics in document design, John Wiley & Sons, New York, USA.

Racial tension from misinterpreted newspaper context

Perodua's ad promoting their MPV with accordance to the Hari Raya Festive Season
(Image Source: paultan.org)

Traditionally, advertisements are often associated to marketing and consuming products or services. With that being said, advertising practitioners often intertwine the discourse of culture to create a more effective advertisement as studies found that “links have been made between advertising and culture while foregrounding the idea about culture as an important economic commodity”(Aziz & Ahmad).

(Image Source: themalaysianconscience.blogspot.com)

The article, ‘Home Ministry reprimands The Star over supplement’, which was published in The Star, talks about Malaysia’s Home Minister, Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein lecturing The Star Newspaper, because of their carelessness of publishing non-halal restaurants articles alongside the ‘buka puasa’ stories. The Home Minister had criticized the insensitive mistake made by the publication, and the newspaper has since reported that they had suspended the editor that was at fault. In the article, though The Star had been supportive of the Muslim Festivals, there is still a need to exercise extra precautions in all aspects of the editorial work flow in order to avoid making the mistake again.

Racial Tension
(Image Source: freelittlebrain.blogspot.com)

According to Schriver (1997), individuals interact and interpret words and visuals based on their values and beliefs. In other words, a country with cultures and beliefs that vary, are bound to interpret advertisements in a dissimilar way. In a country with many races, similarly to Malaysia, there is still risk of facing racial tension among one another even though we may live in the same country. The distasteful mistake has cost The Star Newspaper bad press where many Malaysian Muslims’ perceived their wrong doings to be racist. Therefore, newspaper editors should be more discerning in their work to avoid creating problems between the races of the country, which may subsequently put the national security on the line.

References

Aziz, J & Ahmad, AL, ‘Characterization and Leitmotif: Archetypal Imageries in Malaysian Festival TV Advertisements’, Malaysian Journal of Communication, [e-journal], vol. 27, no.2, pp.46-58, Available through: http://www.ukm.my/jkom/journal/pdf_files/2011/V27_2_3.pdf [Accessed 8 June 2012].

Schriver, K.A. 1997, Dynamics in document design, John Wiley & Sons, New York, USA.

Photojournalism Ethics vs North Korean’s Censorship

(Image Source: stereosushi.blogspot.com)

Photojournalism was once known for being raw and truthful, but that tradition is long gone. “The camera never lies”, was the given label back in the era where technology was yet advanced. As of today, a visual image may risk alteration, and often manipulate the public’s trust as photographic manipulations are able to gain in political and economic situations (Lester, 1999). Having said that, visual journalists’, by law, are given the role to operate as trustees of the public, especially during significant events (National Press Photographers Association). Hence, the ability to alter images puts the art of photography at risk of losing its credibility (Beehner, 2008).

This combo picture shows the group of journalists and a tire-mark on the left image being removed in the right.
(Image Source:http://news.nationalpost.com)

The article ‘North Korea Restores Order to Kim Funeral with Photoshop’, which was informed in the ABC News on the 29^th of December 2011, reports about the photo alterations from the funeral procession for Kim Jong-II. Apparently, the photo that was released by the North Koreans showed that footprints had been digitally removed after comparing to a similar image that was instead captured by the Japanese. In the article, the European Pressphoto Agency hold the North Korean government responsible as this case affects their transparency and clarification process.

North Korean Army Drill
(Image Source: asiancorrespondent.com)

The North Koreans has always been known for their heavily censored photojournalism (Bozicevic, 2011), however I believe it is to project the stability of the current generation of the North Koreans’, despite years of complete economic collapse. According to Schirato and Yell (2000), different cultural and situation context interprets the meaning of texts or images in a different manner. Perhaps the purpose of altering images of the funeral of Kim Jong-II was meant to be perceived as a form of discipline among the North Koreans. With that in mind, a government is meant to practice transparency to not only the nation, but the world, and this case only reflects on how the North Korean’s lack to abide the photojournalism ethics.

References

Beehner, L 2008, ‘Photoshop is killing photojournalism’, The Guardian, 16 July, viewed 8 June 2012,<http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/jul/16/photography.iran>.

Bozicevic, Z 2011, ‘The altered reality of Kim Jong-il’s Photoshop funeral’, News, 29 December, viewed 8 June 2012,<http://news.nationalpost.com/2011/12/29/the-altered-reality-of-kim-jong-ils-photoshop-funeral/>.

Lester, PM 1999, Chapter Six Picture Manipulations, Photojournalism an Ethical Approach, viewed 8 June 2012, http://commfaculty.fullerton.edu/lester/writings/chapter6.html.

National Press Photographers Association 2012, NPPA Code of Ethics, viewed 8 June 2012,http://nppa.org/professional_development/business_practices/ethics.html.

Schirato, T. & Yell, S. 2000, Communication and cultural literacy: an introduction, 2nd edn, Allen & Unwin, St. Leonards.

Obscenity in publications against Malaysia’s culture and belief

(Image Source: newsbeatonline.co.cc)

Despite modernization and development, the Asian community has yet to give up on their traditional values, and have remained anachronistically stable (Fung, 2000). In other words, in the eyes of a westerner, an Asian is seen to possess a backward and retrogressive mind. Fung (2000) also adds that the Islamic tradition in Malaysia suppresses women’s participation, thus entrenching the patriarchal tradition, which then employs different manifestations of feminist values between the Asian and western context. With the employment of such conservative values in Malaysia, laws and regulations of any publications are existent, and are to be abided in order to avoid obscenity, or harmful and indecent content (Azmi, 2004).

(Image Source: habermonitor.com)

The article ‘Malaysia ‘bans’ Peter Mayle book Where did I come from?’, which was published in the BBC News on the 21^st of February 2012, talks about a British author, Peter Mayle, whose book had been ordered to be banned by the Malaysian officials. Apparently, the book consisted of harmful content that is seen as a threat to the public morals, with claims of having the capability to “corrupt people’s minds”. It is apparent that Malaysia, a country of the Islamic faith, upholds its strict rules and regulations, and will take no chances of publishing anything that is of association with sex and religion.

(Image Source: paw.princeton.edu)

Walsh (2006) suggests that in order to build interaction between readers, it is necessary to understand the social and cultural context beforehand. Thus, western publishers are to co-operate and respect a country’s culture and belief to produce a book that is suited to a country of traditional values like Malaysia. Schriver (1997) too, agrees that a reader’s interaction and interpretation is based upon their values and beliefs. Therefore, publishers of any sort ought to consider if their materials afflicts a country’s beliefs and culture to avoid cases like Peter Mayle’s from happening again.

References

Azmi, IM 2004, Content Regulation in Malaysia: Unleashing Missiles on Dangerous Web Sites, Journal of Information, Law, and Technology, viewed 8 June 2012,<http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/law/elj/jilt/2004_3/azmi>.

Fung, A 2000, ‘Feminist Philosophy and Cultural Representation in the Asian Context’, International Communication Gazette, [e-journal], vol. 62, no.2, pp. 153-165, Available through: SAGE journals online [Accessed 8 June 2012].

Schriver, K.A. 1997, Dynamics in document design, John Wiley & Sons, New York, USA.

Walsh, M. 2006, "'Textual Shift': Examining the reading process with print, visual and multimodal texts", Australian Journal of Language and Literacy, vol. 29, no. 1, pp. 24-27.

Advertising, Sex and beliefs

An Arabian shampoo ad
(Image Source: adoholik.com)

I believe advertising has changed over the years, whereby the growth of feminism has evolved the advertising industry, bringing forth a more gender equalized society. However, studies found that over a 15-year span, the portrayal of women as “sex objects” and “alluring” has increased dramatically in advertisements to further benefit the industry financially (D'Enbeau, 2011). Fung (2000), on the other hand, suggest that the feminist philosophy has flourished in the West, though it differs in Asia despite its modernization and development, seeing that the Asian society is still deeply entrenched in the patriarchal tradition.

Megan Fox for Armani
(Image Source:http://djanecouture.wordpress.com)

The article ‘The highly sexual art of selling perfume’, which was published in the Daily Life on the 21^st of May 2012, explains how advertising agencies promote their product with portrayals of women in hyper-sexual images. Madonna’s first fragrance, for instance, was highly criticized for revealing scantily clad images in its advertisement, which was subsequently banned in the States soon after it was launched. In a nut shell, the article emphasizes that high-end brands often glamorizes imageries that are perceived as overly sexy (Oakes, 2012).

(Image Source: simply-showbiz.com)

Schriver (1997) relayed that individuals interact and interpret words and visuals based on their values and beliefs. In other words, individuals whom live in dissimilar cultural backgrounds or beliefs may deduce an advertisement in a different manner. Hence, if the Asian society employs advertisements that were suited for the Western community, there is a high chance of creating an offence among the society of Asia due to their conservativeness and practice of traditional values. With that in mind, I find that the advertising industry needs to take extra precautions and understand the audiences’ cultural context before producing an advertisement. So, with the Western marketers producing such distasteful advertisements such as Madonna’s, perhaps it is time for a change, instead of constantly associating women with sex found in advertisements.

References

D’Enbeau, S 2011, ‘Sex, Feminism, and Advertising: The Politics of Advertising Feminism in Competitive Marketplace’, Journal of Communication Inquiry, [e-journal], vol.35 no.1, pp. 53-69, Available through: SAGE journals online [Accessed 8 June 2012].

Oakes, S 2012, ‘The highly sexual art of selling perfume’, Daily Life, 21 May, viewed 8 June 2012,<http://www.dailylife.com.au/dl-beauty/the-highly-sexual-art-of-selling-perfume-20120518-1yvd4.html>.

Schriver, KA 1997, Dynamics in document design, John Wiley & Sons, New York, USA.