Strength in reciprocity between city and country life

 

Leveraging your revitalisation so it benefits those in another region.  

 When the residents of Manhattan started seeking solace from the chaos and noise of their city by picnicking in cemeteries, the New York City Common Council decided it was time to act. It was 1851 and their city’s population had almost quadrupled. They couldn’t take the population to the country, so they brought the open spaces to them, in the form of Central Park.

Building of the park cost over $7 million in land purchases and $4 million in construction costs. 1600 residents were evicted, 700 workers were employed and tonnes of soil moved about - rock taken out and quality topsoil brought in. It was opened to the public in stages between 1858 and 1860.

The 15-acre lawn known as the Sheep Meadow is still one of the most popular destinations in the south end of the park and a reminder of the design source and the original purpose of the park to relieve the local population from the stresses of life in an ever-expanding Metropolis. The Park Website devotes a page to this idyllic meadow, describing it as ‘ideal for relaxing, sunbathing, reading, and picnicking, as well as marvelling at the contrast between the verdant Park and the towering skyline of Manhattan.

Sheep Meadow Central Park with views of Midtown Manhattan skyline. Here Now Shutterstock.com

‘Sheep Meadow and other park meadows were designed to give visitors a taste of a pastoral landscape, an idealized country landscape that was open and expansive. A flock of sheep grazed there, hence the name Sheep Meadow, and kept the grass manicured. The sheep lived in a building known as the Sheep Fold, now home to the restaurant Tavern on the Green.

According to the Central Park Conservancy, the current non-profit responsible for the park’s maintenance and preservation, an estimated 42 million people visit Central Park annually.

To understand what keeps them coming and what drove them to the cemeteries before, this post will draw on the work of 3 sociologists, One German, one American and an Australian. Their collective works span more than a century. 

In his 1903 essay The Metropolis and Mental Life the German philosopher turned sociologist, Georg Simmel, observed the the following in his inimitable style: 

If the unceasing external contact of numbers of persons in the city should be met by the same number of inner reactions as in the small town, in which one knows almost every person he meets and to each of whom he has a positive relationship, one would be completely atomized internally and would fall into an unthinkable mental condition.

Know the feeling? 

In a scene from the 1986 action comedy Crocodile Dundee main character and bushman, Mick, greets every single person he meets on a crammed Manhattan side walk. The comic effect arises from how unsustainable we know that is. But we also like it, because surely everyone is worth at least a greeting, and here is someone prepared to risk internal atomisation to give it a go.  To find out how city people draw the line in relationships we look to the work of twentieth century sociologist, Louis Wirth, a member of the Chicago School of Sociology. 

In Crocodile Dundee Mick uses the skills he honed in the 'bush' to solve 
problems he faces in the city. rimfire films german lobby card  / nfsa

Chicago hugs the shores of Lake Michigan, experiences severe winters and has a population density of 4,582.3 people per square kilometre (11,868 per square mile). Even in 1910 the population had surpassed 2 million. The social issues surrounding its rapid growth gave rise to a school of sociological investigation at the University of Chicago that specialised in the Urban environment. 

Sociology is said to look inwards at ourselves in the here and now as opposed to anthropology which investigates different eras, other lands and foreign cultures. This allows for different research methods such as participant observation and interviews, in addition to empirical (quantitative) approaches.

In Louis Wirth's 1938 Essay 'The Urban Life' he looks for sources of stress which can be hard to pinpoint, and teases out some of the deeper elements feeding into the lives of city residents.  

An urban dweller deals with many people in the course of the day such as the deli cashier and the doorman of his or her apartment building. The urbanite does not develop deep personal connections with these people but only interacts with them in terms of their roles. Personal relations become superficial and transitory. 

Relating continually at this level with nothing deeper or more intimate can lead to loneliness. Wirth also notes the tendency for family members and close friends to move to far reaches of the metropolis, or even the globe, for work or socioeconomic reasons. He reminds us that relationships with work colleagues, retail staff and service providers are maintained at a distance and can't replicate close friendships. He says important relationships must be intentionally nurtured. 

Out in the country, on the other hand, 'unthinkable mental conditions' can arise from too infrequent connections. Rural residents can become isolated or experience the staleness that comes from seeing too much of the same few people. 

Australian registered charity ReachOut is dedicated to better mental health and wellbeing for young people. Their website has resources for rural people experiencing isolation and loneliness. They suggest pursuing an interest which is 1. Routine 2. Social and 3. Stretches you a bit. Broadly speaking these activities replicate city life in healthier doses, providing connection, challenge and predictability. 

They also suggest reaching out to city based services which, due to a larger market, can be more specialised. They recommend reaching out to other young people with similar needs and interests. This final point was explored by Australian sociologist, Ken Dempsey, from La Trobe university in Melbourne. His research into rural life found that everyone knowing everyone is not enough. People need community. 

The idea of community fuses two concepts; commonality and unity. Dempsey's fellow researchers at La Trobe say community requires an extra level of connection which will produce 'social solidarity...and the experience of belonging together'.  

Like ReachOut, Dempsey champions the role of the special interest group to meet this need. Although the focus of these groups need not be health, such communities form a valuable safety net where individuals can look out for one another because they get to know each others' 'normal'.  

Mental health service Beyond Blue draw the analogy of  looking after yourself like you would a vehicle. 

though we’re pretty good at keeping the family wagon running, many of us aren’t as great at looking out for ourselves. In order for us to get the best out of our minds and stay healthy, we need to pay attention to doing regular activities that help us stay healthy and connected with the people around us.

For rural men Beyond Blue's four step approach includes: 1. Knowing the signs and symptoms of mental distress 2. Looking out for yourself 3. Looking out for your mates and 4. Knowing when to take action. 

Just as city people must intentionally seek out close friends, peace and quiet and organic nature, country residents must deliberately seek services and interest groups which may be distant. Their worth, however, is measured in improved wellbeing.  

If left unchallenged, the disparity between lifestyles can drive city and country people apart, when their natural assets complement each other. 

Open space, solitude and nature are antidotes to the stress of city life and a group visit to the country can be great for deepening relationships. On the other hand some close neighbours, an intensive course, sporting event or an array of shops within walking distance can be just what the country person needs to inject some efficiency, growth and companionship into life.

It's important to know the limitations each lifestyle can present to the human spirit. In dealing with them, if you can add some reciprocity by taking advantage of the way the regions complement each other it can support populations in another community. Thankfully an array of accommodation types proliferate in both regions. 

masthead image by pixelvario / shutterstock.com 

First published 2014 in Change Magazine 

Pixel-Text past and present

Pixel-Text is the work of  Freelance Writer Anna Allen. 

Anna has worked in the media for over twenty years and written submissions for organisations across Australia. Her work in Television has been augmented by study at Macquarie University, University of South Australia and the Australian Film, Television and Radio School. 

Created in 2006, Pixel-Text draws on academic research to find answers for everyday life. 

The blend of academic writing and journalism aims to identify sources in a way that assists follow up reading in Sociology, Theology, Cultural Studies and History. 

 

Economic crisis opens the way for Havana's city farms

 Old Havana with Presidential Palace in the background. 
The streetscape exemplifies the problems of growing
food in a populous city.  kamira / shutterstock.com

The city of Havana in Cuba is home to around 2.5 million people, yet most of their food is grown within the city. 2003 saw the Caribbean Capital producing 60% of food consumed, but this was not always the case. Fifty years ago Cubans imported much of their food. 

From 1972 the island nation traded under the protection of the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (COMECON) along with the Soviet Union, several Eastern Bloc countries, East Germany, Mongolia and Vietnam. The council's trade agreements subsidized imported food from member nations and inflated values on Cuba's sugar exports. Consequently much agricultural land on the island was given over to broad acre sugar farming which operated with all the mechanical and chemical assistance common to industrialized agriculture. Furthermore farming equipment, fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides and cheap Russian oil poured into the previously undeveloped country.

By 1989, however, COMECON was on the brink of Collapse. The Council's single largest economy, producing 70% of the community national product, was Soviet Russia, which by then was suffering economic depression and massive political change. It is estimated food availability across COMECON member countries declined as much as 60% between 1991 and 1995. The rationing of food became commonplace.     

The weakening and eventual disbanding of  COMECON in June 1991 brought financial crisis to Cuba. Any thought of assistance from near neighbour United States of America was already ruled out by a trade embargo which had been in place since 1962. 

A report by the Resource Centre on Urban Agriculture and Food Security (RUAF) found in 1993/94 imported supplies for agriculture dropped by 67%. Fuel to transport what little food the island produced ran short and farm equipment was rendered useless. Food shortages were felt most acutely in Havana, which is situated at the far western end of the island.  

The people of Cuba took action by growing food and sought Government support to change the way land was used. Emphasis was placed on giving land to anyone who wanted to grow food in the city. The reorganisation was led by the newly created Urban Agriculture Department. The department worked with the Legislative Council to change laws so gardeners would have legal priority for unused space. Citizens who wanted to set up a garden could solicit the local government, usually requesting a specific plot. The residents of Havana responded en masse, heading to their backyards, rooftops and neighbourhood lots to sow seeds.

Early initiatives involved only a few plots and contained a handful of root vegetables. But it quickly grew as residents realised they could supplement their rations. 

 An urban plot in Santa Clara, Cuba, where narrow paths maximise growing space. 
The diamond shape midway allows space to turn a wheelbarrow. Sam Oschwald Tilton

While Cuba's urban agriculture takes many forms - ranging from private gardens to state-run operations the 'popular gardens' are most common and range in size from a few square meters to three hectares. Their shared use ranges from one to seventy people per garden site. Some 40,000 people have been re-deployed as gardeners in Havana alone. 

A characteristic feature in cities throughout Cuba consists of raised garden beds bordered by low concrete walls filled with organic matter and soil. Bi-products such as sugar cane waste were used to fill them, following the permaculture principal of localisation.

Permaculture has proven to be a key in unlocking the potential for cities to produce food. Providentially the Cuban Government had sought advice from Australian permaculturalists as early as the 1980's and the input from Australia continued. They succeeded in turning barren spaces such as parking lots into productive areas. Guests at the International Permaculture Conference and Convergence (IPC11) hosted by Cuba in late 2013 claim that Permaculture has taken hold in Cuba like no other place. 

These days Councils and horticultural groups from across the globe are looking to Cuba and their Ministry for Urban Agriculture to learn more about producing low emissions, low chemical input, low-food-mile crops. 

First Published 2014 in Change Magazine

Stop the tall poppy rot - finding ways to support our famous artists

There are some Australians for whom work is play and play is work. They develop their craft,  audiences respond positively, so they attract attention. Sometimes that attention brings notoriety sometimes wealth. But as history keeps reinforcing, talent, notoriety and wealth don't automatically make a person stronger.

We complain about histrionics from celebrities who are just out of teenage hood or criticise some flaw  in a highly patronised act or some seasoned professional caught on security cameras speaking tersely to service personnel. It sells newspapers, generates conversation and makes us all feel connected, but at what price?

Two Australians I would love to see being rude or performing badly are two who are no longer with us. Two men whose daughters are growing up without their Dads. INXS founder, lyricist and lead singer, Michael Hutchence and posthumously awarded Oscar winner, Heath Ledger.

Geographically their home is so remote. Lengthy flight times, expensive fares and a small

Michael Hutchence 
(22 January 1960 – 22 November 1997)
Deva Kaneva / Last.fm

domestic market deter industry specialists from basing themselves in Australia. Our elites - be they artists, sportsmen, winemakers or whatever,  eventually need to travel.  

The film Shine tells the story of David Helfgott, A talented young Australian whose skill and dedication took him to the United Kingdom where he had few support networks, struggled financially and threw himself into study to the detriment of his health.  

Michael Hutchence fell in love with a British woman and for a protracted period was separated from her when he came home. This didn't happen by chance. It was not random.  His work, his dedication to his field and his desire to grow, took him away from Australia.

While they are away working, young people fall in love, life goes on for them. They hook up professionally and personally with people from all over the world and try to make everything work.

I'm not going to analyse the psychology behind the tall poppy syndrome that exists here in Australia, but I will say it's time we all tried to rein it in. The metaphor describes a desire to chop down the tall poppy to level the entire field. It manifests in a tendency for Australians to criticise our prominent practitioners even avoiding investing in them. 

More Australians than ever are successful in Hollywood and yet Australian films still struggle at the box office.

Heath Ledger
(4 April 1979 – 22 January 2008)

Not many of us can claim to have personally known Michael Hutchence or Heath Ledger, but if we did, would it have changed the way we responded to them? After all, they were rewarded financially. They moved into a different league from most Australians in where they travelled, who they worked with and what they could spend.   

Perhaps with their new-found-wealth they were supposed to buy intangibles like familiarity and trust - things we at home take for granted. Things money can't buy. 

As fellow Australians, that was our job. Once they came home we were meant to let them feel like it. Not scrutinizing their private lives by discussing it everywhere from newspapers to panel shows and talkback. Not taking cameras to their private residence and pressing the doorbell to see if they drop everything and come out for a prying interview (Robb 2008).

And when their pictures are no longer in front of us we forget about them. All entertainment, no input. 

Even at the box office we err before investing in their work without first hearing a critic's opinion. We don't want to get ripped off. We want our money to be spent only on the best acts when a financial investment can say so much about a performer's intrinsic worth. For an artist, operating at peak capacity in front of strangers is a vulnerable place, but our finance, either at the box office or through industry investment is a channel for communication. We can affirm them this way. 

When it comes to their private lives, however, I believe there should be an agreed code between performing artists and their audience, going something like this: 'You get to watch me perform and you pay. When I go home you stay away.'

Money and guns in movieland, the not-so-subtle connection

Movie Actor Li Bing Bing. Actors are rewarded with money, power and glamour.

Gun toting stars are important to the USA's economy. Moviegoers pay to watch films where conflict is resolved using guns and violence within storylines that seem to justify it. 

Repeatedly modelling this type of problem-solving squanders the opportunity to role play other methods for conflict resolution in front of massive audiences. Nonetheless the movie industry rewards the stars of these films with glamour, power and money.  

To what extent? Power enough to be elected Governor? Or even President? And just how much can one earn in the action genres?

Using net worth* as a guide, some comparisons can be made. The following are a few gun slinging actors. Starting with those whose estimated net worth hovers below $100 million then working through the triple figure stars with longstanding careers in the genre.   

40th American President Ronald Wilson Reagan, 1981-89 Net Worth $13 million. Reagan was a movie and television actor for over two decades.

Colin Farrell is a Golden Globe-winning Irish actor whose net worth is estimated to be $30 million.

Milla Jovovich is an actress, model, musical performer, and fashion designer with the net worth of $36 million.

The daughter of actor John Voight and actress Marcheline Bertrand, Angelina Jolie’s net worth is estimated at $120 million.

Julia Roberts is a highly-acclaimed American actress who was born in Atlanta, Georgia. She is one of the world’s highest-paid female performers, often earning as much as $25 million per film. Her current estimated net worth stands at $140 million. 

Samuel L Jackson is a well-known and highly-respected film and TV actor and producer with an estimated net worth of $150 million. Born in Washington, D.C. on December 21, 1948 Jackson’s early years were spent in the Civil Rights Movement.

Brad Pitt is an award-winning film actor and producer with a net worth of $180 million. Raised in Springfield Missouri, Pitt left the University of Missouri for Los Angeles two weeks prior to his graduation in order to pursue his dreams of a career in acting.

Arnold Schwarzenegger's perceived influence is so broad Time magazine twice listed him amongst their top 100 most influential people in the world (2004 and 2007) The Austrian-American bodybuilder, model, actor and businessman served as the 38th governor of California between 2003 and 2011. He has a net worth of $300 million.

Clint Eastwood is an American actor, director, and producer with an estimated net worth of $375 million. Eastwood was born in San Francisco. He was elected Mayor of his hometown Carmel, California, on 8 April 1986 with a whopping 72.5% of the vote. He drew twice the usual voter turnout for the election. 

Amongst the complex issues surrounding gun culture, where many people feel powerless, surely the Film and Television industry can change something. They can choose which content they fund. Cinemagoers and consumers of movies everywhere should also consider themselves part of this network and not without influence. Next time you buy, rent or subscribe, consider what kind of problem solving you want to fund?

* The net worth of an individual is the value of a person's assets, including cash, minus all liabilities. The amount by which the individual's assets exceed their liabilities is considered the net worth of that person.

Source: http://www.celebritynetworth.com/

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/02/21/the-net-worth-of-the-amer_n_825939.html

Source: http://www.investorwords.com/3267/net_worth.html 

Lessons from a navy-backed swallow

Image designed by freepik.com

I used to think swallows were harassing me as did laps around my local playing fields. I figured they swooped and dived about to drive me out of their territory, and this was clearly their territory.

Sometimes they would line me up and charge in fast, passing within centimetres. I feared for my eyes, but unlike magpies and miners and other territorial birds, these feisty characters don't attack at head height. They fly lower, zipping about my feet. 

Finally I twigged to my error. These darlings weren't attacking me. They were catching bugs stirred up as my feet passed through the grass. Swallows seldom alight, preferring to eat and even drink on the fly.

What an attitude I had. Humbled by a precious bird who chose me for symbiotic benefit, I had a new respect for them foraging so creatively.

It gave me a new perspective on my value ecologically. I could imagine the chat as I approached. 'Take your positions. Here she comes'. 

Google mapping the city of God

Eris - Discovered in 2005.

Using Google Map's measuring tool & Wikipedia I have tried to to visualise the scale of the New Jerusalem, the place described in the bible where people get to live with God. It is also referred to as the City of Zion (source: Revelation 21). 

I've compared it with both the continent of Australia and a planet in the solar system. Revelation says:

'The city lies in a square, its length being the same as its width. And he measured the city with his reed (rod)-12,000 stadia (about 1,500 miles) (2,400 kilometres); its length and width and height are the same.'

                                                                                             Revelation 21:16

The 12,000 stadia converts to 1,500 miles which converts to 2,400 kilometres. Remember the length is the same as its width so squaring 2400 kilometres produces a whopping area of 5,760,000 square kilometres. By Comparison the city of New York is approximately 8,600 square kilometres (source: citymayors.com). 

To visualize 5 million square kilometres, go to a map of Australia and begin in the Torres Strait directly above Cape York Peninsula. Extend south to the Medindie lakes area east of Broken Hill in New South Wales. Then turn west and go to Perth. From Perth go north to a point in the ocean just below Denpasar in Bali. Connect all the points and you have a rough square in which the city will fit.

The bible verse also says the city will have a height equal to that again (a square with sides 2400 km high). Wikipedia says that’s the same diameter as Eris, the new dwarf planet discovered in 2005. Images from the Hubble space telescope put the diameter of Eris at 2400 km, larger than that of Pluto.

Spanish flags in Canberra honour Christian hero

 

In Canberra throughout May, Spanish flags will fly to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the naming of Australia by the Spanish* captain, Pedro Fernandez de Quiros, on the day of Pentecost in 1606.

An initiative of the specially formed community group, Naming Australia Incorporated, the Spanish flag-flying is one of a series of events planned to honour the occasion.

They include a visit by members of the Spanish Parliament, a Naming Australia Essay Competition for students in ACT, a Fiesta, the Floriade 2006 floral carnival and a Gala Dinner. The Canberra Times will feature on the naming of Australia in their 12th of May edition, ahead of the anniversary Sunday 14th May.

While Naming Australia Incorporated hopes the commemorations will strengthen ties between Australia and Spain, the date is also important for Christians.

In 1606 the 14th of May was the 50th day after Easter, Whitsunday, or the day of Pentecost. Captain de Quiros was not only aware of the coincidence, but the devout Catholic went as far as naming Australia in honour of the day, calling it Austrialia del Espiritu Santo, which translates to The Great South Land of the Holy Spirit.

Sources:
http://www.namingaustralia.org.au/
http://www.namingaustralia.org.au/competition.htm
http://www.embaspain.com/home.html
http://www.embaspain.com/IVCentNavEnglish.html
http://www.embaspain.com/IVCentNavQuirosEnglish.html

de Looper, Michael (1989) ‘Pedro Fernandez de Quiros’ Understanding our Christian Heritage II, A Journal of the Christian History Research Institute, Orange NSW www.chr.org.au pp 34-38

Langdon, Robert (1988) The Lost Caravel Re-explored, Brolga Press, Canberra pp 53-57.

*de Quiros was Portuguese by nationality but sailed on behalf of the King of Spain, who funded his voyages

Fame, infamy and the girl next door

How media conglomerates in the 1990's influenced the increasing interconnections between people and places around the world.

Emma Balfour in 'Emma'
Vogue Paris June July 2001

Fashion model, Emma Balfour, grew up in Adelaide, lives in Sydney and gets her family's travel expenses paid when she works overseas. When Emma worked full-time she lived in London for convenient access to her employers on the Trans-Atlantic and European fashion circuit (Inchly 2001, p. 76). In Australia we see her work in Vogue. Images from photo sessions could be printed in any of Vogue's eight different editions worldwide (Zanetti 1995, P. 14). Balfour's international and intercontinental connections, and those of Vogue's publishers, Conde Nast, typify the trend towards 'global' or 'transnational' business and media connections (Thompson 2000, p. 202).

I will explain 'globalisation' and the way it is influenced by and the influence it has upon, the business of technologically mediated communication, and the trend towards conglomeration. Data suggests increasing interconnections between people and places, facilitated by mediated communications systems (from here on 'the media'), can produce a dependency upon that type of connection. A corresponding reduced vitality of relationships within neighbourhoods can result. I will attempt to explain how global media monopolies require dependency among readers and viewers (from here on 'consumers'), but although they can manipulate this dependency, they cannot control it. 

John B. Thompson states:

One can speak of globalization... when the growing interconnectedness of different regions and locales becomes systematic and reciprocal to some degree (2000 p. 202)

Conde Nast is part of a global media conglomerate. Conde Nast publishes editions of Vogue in Spain, France, Great Britain, Italy, Portugal, Germany, United States and Australia (Zanetti 1995, p. 14). Conde Nast also produces twenty other magazines (CJR p.2). Conde Nast, however, is just one 'unit' belonging to a parent company, Advance Publications. Advance own twenty-six newspapers, and publish over 40 weekly business journals (Standard 2001, p. 1), their trade and consumer magazine unit, Fairchild, publish another thirteen magazines (CJR p. 2) The Industry Standard lists Advance Publications as the 'number two US magazine publisher (behind Time, Inc.)'. At this point it can become difficult to discern between a connection and a division. The Industry Standard lists Time, Inc. amongst Advance's competition, which sounds contradictory, because Advance have a 'partner', called AOL Time Warner (Standard 2001, p. 1).

AOL Time Warner is one of the world's largest media conglomerates (Herman & McChesney 2000, p. 218). They do in fact own the magazine publisher, Time, Inc., listed amongst Advance Publication's competitors. This situation highlights a divergence from anticipated notions of competition, once we enter the oligopolistic top end of the media market (pp.223,224). In their book Global Media, Edward Herman and Robert McChesney list some of the companies owned by Time Warner in 1997 and give us preliminary insight into the scope of interconnections within global media conglomerates.

Time Warner 1997... owns Time, Inc., which publishes 24 magazines, including Time, Sports Illustrated, People, Fortune, and Life; Warner Music Group, including Warner Bros., Atlantic, Interscope and Elektra Records; Warner Brothers studios; owns part of the WB Television network. Time Warner is the largest owner of cable systems in the U.S., as well as owning such cable channels and CNN,HBO and Cinemax (1997, p. 1)

Herman and McChesney call this the 'tiered global media market' (2000, p. 220) or 'vertical integration' (p. 221). Conglomeration of companies has many benefits. Profit margins are increased through 'cross-selling and cross promotion' (p. 221). They say AOL Time Warner is but one of six huge vertically integrated media conglomerates that control the majority of media activity in the global marketplace, but this is only a recent trend. The market activities that birthed these giants have only happened since the 1990's, when 'an unprecedented wave of mergers and acquisitions among global media giants' was seen (2000, p. 220). Katherine Ainger says, the problem with this development is: 

We are creating a world in which a small & shrinking commercial monopoly gets to tell all the stories while the rest of us get to watch and listen (2001, p. 11).

Media networks are not the only businesses to move towards global distribution. Neither are they the biggest players in the trend towards conglomeration. (Herman & McChesney 2000, p. 220) (Klein 2000, p. 421). Deregulation, downsizing and cost-cutting have contributed to the shaping of a 'global economy' where 'multinationals' dominate trade throughout industry (p. 421) (Thompson 2000, p. 202. What makes media networks so important in global marketing is the role they play in connecting vendors to consumers when the two are separated geographically. John B. Thompson states:

Distance has been eclipsed by proliferating networks of electronic communication. Individuals can interact with one another or can act within frameworks of mediated quasi-interaction, even though they are situated, in terms of the practical contexts of their day-to-day lives, in different parts of the world (2000, P. 10).

This is particularly noticeable in advertising. Again, promotional trends within the media reflect trends in promotion generally. It is a realm in which 'networking' directs players towards services they can use (Castells 2000, p. 10).  

Exemplifying cross promotion, Vogue can promote a film while promoting clothes while making it look like they are profiling an actor. One such profile in 1998 has images of Australian actor, Toni Collette, modelling Akira Isogawa's clothes alongside text about her career. The article mentions her latest film, Velvet Goldmine, nine times and gave its release date in Australia at the end (McGregor 1998, pp. 124, 128). Isogawa gets a model for his clothes, Miramax get haute couture for their star, Vogue get a 'feature', Collette gets exposure as an actor. And all this available to 8 different editors spread across the globe.  The unique 'Synergy' combines interest and appeal (Herman and McChesney 2000, p. 221). 

Toni Collette, Australian actress 2001

Toni Collette, Australian actress 2001

According to Dorothy Smith, appeal is necessary to 'create the "motivational" structure which returns the purchaser again and again to... the fashion boutiques [and] to the magazine racks displaying fashion magazines' (Smith 1988, p. 41). Designers at the Balenciaga fashion house must have thought Emma Balfour offered a characteristic appeal that no European model could. Along with that, props, lighting, camera techniques, accessories, and the work of stylists, makeup artists and hairdressers further refine the mood (Sauve 2001, p. 124). The enhancement, however, moves the images into the realm of fiction. Turner, Bonner and Marshall spoke to publicists during their study, 'The Production of Celebrity in Australia'. They confirmed that appeal in the media is not only constructed but also carefully targeted (2000, p. 81).

Further insights from Turner et al, give us grounds to speculate that publicists from Miramax (producers of Velvet Goldmine), controlled the construction of appeal in the Toni Collette feature specifically with their film in mind (p. 1). Furthermore they reveal that Toni (at the time) had her own publicist who only directed her towards media exposure that furthered her career (p. 43). As a result, if readers feel a connection with Collette, it is one that is limited and controlled. Readers can't ask their own questions of her and are unlikely to ever meet Collette to verify her testimony of the human experience (Roman et al 1998, p. 42).

 We start to see a pattern described by Katherine Ainger (2001, p. 10). Stories, images, 'repackaged' to suit the interests of a third party. Purchasing never seems far away. Manuel Castells says the media network is integral to capitalism and capitalism is integral to the media market.

 It is indeed capitalism in its pure expression of the endless search for money by money through the production of commodities by commodities (2000, p. 79).

Media technologies have become the bona fide infrastructure of global capitalism. Although their merging, collaboration and downsizing are typical of corporate business practices more broadly during the last decade, consumers have grounds to be suspicious according to Katherine Ainger:

In a recent CNN discussion, Gerry Levin, Chief Executive of AOL Time Warner, announced that global media would become the dominant industry of this century, more powerful than governments (Ainger 2001, p. 10).

Katherine Ainger and Langdon Winner have mentioned two areas, however, where media conglomerates depend, to maintain their power, on ingredients outside of their otherwise comprehensive control. The first is 'cultural resources' the second is a yielding consuming public. Ainger says the media is 'extractive'. In order to get 'cultural resources' it draws on people's lives.    

Wealth is being made from words, ideas, knowledge, songs, stories, data, culture... they are mining cultural resources in every part of the world and repackaging them as cultural commodities and entertainment... (Rifkind in Ainger 2001, p. 10)

Every edition of Vogue is packed from cover to cover with images of people like Emma Balfour. Is Emma a cultural resource? Using Ainger's definition, Emma becomes a cultural resource because her story is in Vogue.  Vogue Australia subordinated the Balenciaga images to text about Emma's life. They called the feature "Second Coming" (Inchley 2001, p. 76). Vogue Paris told her story on the contributor's page (Complices 2001, p. 16). They also called the Balenciaga fashion feature 'Emma' though its focus was Balenciaga (Sauve 2001, p. 124). Manuel Castells states that in the expensive world of the media: 'the simplest message is an image. The simplest individualized image is a person' (2002, p. 13).

The attraction for consumers is the offering of a connection with a glamourous person they are unlikely to meet (Turner, Bonner & Marshall 2000, p. 8). Consumers who pursue connections through texts, however, will always be subordinating face-to-face family and neighbourhood relationships during reading time. In the absence of strong family and neighbourhood relationships consumers may become more and more dependent upon the mediated connections. 

In Langdon winner's discussion of technologies possessing power, he, like Ainger, speaks of 'requirements'. I see dependency in consumers as a requirement of the media conglomerate. Winner States:

In this conception, some kinds of technology require their social environments to be structured in a particular way in much the same sense that an automobile requires wheels in order to run (Winner 1999, p. 33).

Winner takes his definition of 'required as being a 'practical necessity' and uses an analogy that I think is useful in depicting the relationship between media conglomerates and consumers.

thus, Plato thought it a practical necessity that a ship at sea have one captain and an unquestioningly obedient crew (p. 33).

In using the metaphor of consumers as an unquestioningly obedient crew, I do not mean that they consume media products without questioning what they receive, but that they unquestioningly continue to purchase and use media technologies.

Gumpert and Drucker (1998 pp. 6,7), Herman and McChesney (2000, p. 216), and Katherine Ainger (2001, p. 10), all report that consumption rates of media technologies, media products and mediated entertainment are increasing in the industrialised world. Gumpert and Drucker's figures indicate that when families in western countries buy a new media technology they seldom rid the home of the pre-existing piece. The new piece gets added in. 

One motive for high rates of television viewing in the western wold is a perception that vicarious participation in life, from the safety of the lounge chair, will protect consumers from 'dangers' within their community (Gumpert & Drucker 1998, p. 4). The consequences can be a weakening of relationships. the perception of danger, however, can be constructed or even implicit in media reports. Tanja Dreher has studied responses to the high media profile of Western Sydney suburb, Cabramatta.

Categories which recur in media representation of Cabramatta are youth, gangs, refugees... corruption, murder, immigration, heroin and crime. In much of the extensive literature discussing these categories, there is broad agreement that all are routinely reported in narrow and negative terms, as outside and threatening to 'mainstream' society (Dreher 2000, p. 131).

Responses from locals indicate 'people who live and work in Cabramatta feel passionately about news reporting of the area' and that 'most feel frustrated' and misjudged. 

You have to meet people and talk to people and not believe what they say on television. Never judge a person by what they say in the papers, because they always say the bad things (Resident in Dreher 2000, p. 132).

Well, we never get to hear about good stuff (Resident p. 131). 

Further, Dreher unearths the same ingredient we discovered in the fashion magazines... the agenda of a third party. 

Criminals, youth, refugees, 'westies' [residents of the western suburbs of Sydney] generally appear in news reporting only in response to issues or agendas determined by others (p. 133).

Dreher found neighbours whose relationships had broken down because of misleading portrayals of cultural differences in movies (p. 140). This may have simply been a result of the creation of drama in the film or the maintenance of the level of entertainment (Postman 1986 p. 89) (Turner et al 2000, p. 9). Other residents claimed being disadvantaged in job placement when employers found they lived in (or even near) Cabramatta. Residents of  Northern and Eastern suburbs of Sydney consistently expressed bewilderment at how anyone could live 'out there' [in the western suburbs] (p. 133). Sadly, the perceptions may have arisen because of some political agenda (Castells 2000, p. 80). In conclusion Dreher states:

I do want to suggest that media representations may contribute to perceptions of  people and places of which we have little other experience (Dreher 2000, p. 141).

In an unexpected convergence of the data at hand, Vogue makes reference to Toni Collette's childhood in Western Sydney. They make no attempt to dress it up. 

I grew up in Sydney's Western Suburbs. I was well aware of the shit that goes down. I didn't have to research this side of things (Collette in McGregor 1998, p. 128). 

We quickly notice, however, the connection between her history and a second film, David Wenham's controversial film The Boys. Collette's childhood no doubt sounded like credibility for her role in the fictionalisation of events surrounding the Anita Cobby murder, which happened in the western suburbs (p. 128) (Hogan 1998, p. 86). Moreover, her streetwise suitability for that role could have translated into further credibility for her role as the 'wife of a 70's glam-rock star' in Velvet Goldmine. The problem with Collette's comments is that they tie the events in the film to a location, and build expectations of the area as a place where 'shit goes down', whereas bad things can happen anywhere.  The controversy surrounding the release of the film, however, 14 years after the murder took place indicated that the event was something from which the community had barely begun to recover (fisher 1997-2002, p. 1). In fairness to Collette, several publicists, a writer and magazine editors could have stopped her comments getting into print (Turner et al 2000, p. 43). An infamous image can be useful in some circumstances. With Collette's interview taking place in Los Angeles (McGregor 1998, p. 124), I suspect any concern held by Producers' in Australia probably carried little weight.

Katherine Ainger directs a challenge at both producers and consumers about the divisive capability of this type of globalised, mediated connectedness.  

In every country media corporations help to break our relationships to our communities, educators, collective cultures, experiences. They turn us into isolated consumers - and then tell our stories back to us (2001, p. 11).

I do not think this could happen without widespread acceptance of the separation between producers and consumers that typify globalisation. Tanja Dreher found the same residents who had complained about Cabramatta's media profile, sought to find out 'all about the government' through news and current affairs television (Dreher 2000, p. 134). Non profit, open publishing projects like 'Indymedia' on the world wide web offer some relief from the tangled interests of politics and profiteering (Roman 2002, p 2), but the problem of verification persists with reporters and readers separated. Consumers can hardly blame a scheming controlling media for narrowing their field of information, if the media has become their primary source of discovery. Particularly when the reduction in access and reporting is caused by the same merging and downsizing being implemented in other industries. 

I think suspicious, disgruntled consumers of media products still have power. Langdon Winner has paved the way for some innovative power-play in his musings about Plato's crew of a ship at sea. Like Katherine Ainger, I assert that consumers who allow themselves to be come dependent upon mediated technologies for their news, entertainment and relationships become that yielding consuming public or  unquestioningly obedient crew 'required' for global media to maintain power. In conclusion I ask: If consumers cancelled their newspapers and magazine subscriptions, melted down their radios and put their televisions out for hard-rubbish collection and didn't replace them, then started mining their own neighbourhoods and communities for live, unmediated, unconstructed, non-sponsored cultural resources, would that constitute a mutiny on Plato's ship?

Submitted 08/11/2002, Major Assignment: Cultural Change & Communication Technologies, Bachelor of Arts, University of South Australia 

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