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Tama Leaver / @tamaleaver

News and Trolls: Olympic Games Coverage in the Twenty-First Century.

18 October 2012

Curtin University is a trademark of Curtin University of TechnologyCRICOS Provider Code 00301J

Overview

1. The Olympic contradiction.

2. Channel 9 Olympics Coverage sucks.

3. Trolling (for change)?

18 October 2012Internet Research 13, Salford.

Curtin University is a trademark of Curtin University of TechnologyCRICOS Provider Code 00301J

[1] The Olympic contradiction.

18 October 2012Internet Research 13, Salford.

Curtin University is a trademark of Curtin University of TechnologyCRICOS Provider Code 00301J

The Olympic Pie: National Slices …

NBC (US): time-delayed coverage of key events until primetime. Online available, but only to specific cable subscribers.

Australian coverage: Channel 9 free-to-air (single channel); Foxtel (subscription + iPad app), 8 channels.

Only 30% Australian households have subscription TV.

Olympics FREE via YouTube in 100+ countries where the IOC was unable to sell national broadcast rights

18 October 2012Internet Research 13, Salford.

Curtin University is a trademark of Curtin University of TechnologyCRICOS Provider Code 00301J

IOC YouTube Channel …

18 October 2012Internet Research 13, Salford.

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#NBCfail

Curtin University is a trademark of Curtin University of TechnologyCRICOS Provider Code 00301J

18 October 2012Internet Research 13, Salford.

Curtin University is a trademark of Curtin University of TechnologyCRICOS Provider Code 00301J

@NBCDelayed

18 October 2012Internet Research 13, Salford.

Curtin University is a trademark of Curtin University of TechnologyCRICOS Provider Code 00301J

@NBCDelayed

18 October 2012Internet Research 13, Salford.

Curtin University is a trademark of Curtin University of TechnologyCRICOS Provider Code 00301J

Source: https://plus.google.com/112794044897464667374/posts/FwDEPGrE28J

Curtin University is a trademark of Curtin University of TechnologyCRICOS Provider Code 00301J

18 October 2012Internet Research 13, Salford.

Curtin University is a trademark of Curtin University of TechnologyCRICOS Provider Code 00301J

[2] “Channel 9 Olympics Coverage sucks”http://www.facebook.com/ch9fail

18 October 2012Internet Research 13, Salford.

Curtin University is a trademark of Curtin University of TechnologyCRICOS Provider Code 00301J

18 October 2012Internet Research 13, Salford.

Curtin University is a trademark of Curtin University of TechnologyCRICOS Provider Code 00301J

Recognisable (Trolling?) Memes …

18 October 2012Internet Research 13, Salford.

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Karl Stefanovic …

18 October 2012Internet Research 13, Salford.

Curtin University is a trademark of Curtin University of TechnologyCRICOS Provider Code 00301J

[3] Is this “trolling”?

Australian media currently in a huge moral panic about ‘trolling’

‘Trolling’ seems to mean any online abuse of any sort in media uses.

Is something like the Channel 9 page a trolling response?

18 October 2012Internet Research 13, Salford.

Curtin University is a trademark of Curtin University of TechnologyCRICOS Provider Code 00301J

Trolling (usually) understood …

Deliberate baiting/provocation online to provoke an intense emotional response.

Usually trolling done using anonymous/fake profiles.

Memes strongly associated with trolling (4chan as probable origin of LolCats, trollface, etc.).

Trolling/media symbiotic circuit: “Trolls need the media to become hysterical, and the media needed trolls to terrorize; each side benefit[s] from the overreaction of the other.” (Phillips, 2011).

18 October 2012Internet Research 13, Salford.

Curtin University is a trademark of Curtin University of TechnologyCRICOS Provider Code 00301J

“Channel 9 Olympics Coverage sucks” as mainstreamed trolling?

Used memes and commentary to attract mainstream media commentary (minimal success; more focus on Twitter).

Group had practical not disruptive aims (mostly): better coverage. NB: praise of ABC paralympic coverage.

Memes depleted? Neither radical nor disruptive but banal social commentary?

18 October 2012Internet Research 13, Salford.

Curtin University is a trademark of Curtin University of TechnologyCRICOS Provider Code 00301J

Memes & Image Macros …

“An internet meme is a piece of culture, typically a joke, which gains influence through online transmission. While not all internet memes are jokes. … what makes Internet memes unique [is] the speed of their transmission and fidelity of their form.” (Davison, 2012, p. 122)

“An image macro is a set of stylistic rules for adding text to images. Some image macros involve adding the same text to various images, and others involve adding difference text to a common image.” (Davison, 2012, p. 127)

18 October 2012Internet Research 13, Salford.

Curtin University is a trademark of Curtin University of TechnologyCRICOS Provider Code 00301J

Image Macro Commentary?

Chuck Tryon calls the 2012 US elections the ‘image macro election’ due to widespread use of image macro memes (Tryon 2012).

NBCfail and the Channel 9 sucks pages more like image macro politics: specific commentary with practical (often banal) aims for change.

This is NOT trolling which is disruption for disruption’s sake.

18 October 2012Internet Research 13, Salford.

Curtin University is a trademark of Curtin University of TechnologyCRICOS Provider Code 00301J

Olympic ‘brand’ too big to challenge?

Monopoly coverage: Channel 9 still had stellar ratings, and Foxtel gained viewers and praise for their offering (often Foxtel subscribers used the FB group to goad free-to-air viewers into subscribing.) More like a Foxtel ad!

Little mainstream coverage made almost no difference (or perceived future plans) to Nine’s coverage strategy.

NBC similarly did incredibly well, even with delayed broadcast times!

Routing around: more people learnt about VPNs, but still didn’t really ‘damage’ mainstream broadcasts.

18 October 2012Internet Research 13, Salford.

Curtin University is a trademark of Curtin University of TechnologyCRICOS Provider Code 00301J

References

Davison, P. (2012). The Language of Internet Memes. In M. Mandiberg (Ed.), The Social Media Reader (pp. 120–134). New York: NYU Press.

Phillips, W. (2011). LOLing at tragedy: Facebook trolls, memorial pages and resistance to grief online. First Monday, 16(12). Retrieved from http://firstmonday.org/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/3168/3115

Phillips, W. (2012). The House That Fox Built: Anonymous, Spectacle, and Cycles of Amplification. Television & New Media. doi:10.1177/1527476412452799

Tryon, C. (2012, October 17). “Binders Full of Women:” 2012 and the Image Macro Election. The Chutry Experiment. Retrieved from http://www.chutry.wordherders.net/wp/?p=3498

18 October 2012Internet Research 13, Salford.

Curtin University is a trademark of Curtin University of TechnologyCRICOS Provider Code 00301J

Questions, Criticism, Comments?

Or find me later …

www.tamaleaver.net

@tamaleaver

t.leaver@curtin.edu.au

18 October 2012Internet Research 13, Salford.