An Analysis of the Website - Case Study Example

Analysis This paper is an analysis. It provides for an analysis of the website www.aljazeera.net. The analysis will be presented in the contextof four different theories, Semiotic, Sociological, Marxist and Medium. The website being analyzed is an electronic source of media and an analysis of the page using these theories will be included in the discussion of this paper. Semiotics Semiotic has been described by Ford. Ford explains, "Semiotics and linguistics are properly viewed as neighboring points on a continuum of study, beginning with cosmology and passing through psychology and epistemology. In addition, for the Project, the theory of signs and language is integral to a comprehensive theory of the universe. But without relying on the more controversial aspects of the comprehensive theory, it may still be possible to clarify semiotic and linguistic reality in such a way that the discourse no longer suffers from misconceptions" (Ford 987) The theory of semiotics is relevant when referring to any form of the media and is especially applicable in the form of electronic media. It is through using semiotics that the http://english.aljazeera.net/HomePage. It contains information that is political and of world interest. In order to look at this information and form a comprehensive theory about what is read a semiotic approach to the information is necessary's The linguistics necessary for this theory to be applicable is especially relevant when looking at the information provided on this electronic form of media. Perception is a major point when considering semiotic theory and when conducting this analysis. When I analyzed the website, I perceived what I saw as the truth. That was the first impression I got when I looked at the page. I perused the information posted on the page and I felt it was credible and accurate. In a sense you could say that when I analyzed the webpage using semiotics I felt I trusted the linguistics of what I saw. I also found it to be a comprehensive understanding. Another perception I got when I analyzed the page was one in the respect of order. The linguistics of the information that was presented was done so in an orderly fashion. Ford pointed out that when using semiotic theory "Percepts are not the material objects in the physical realm that the mind imagines (rightly or wrongly) that it is sensing". (Ford 1987) For the reasons just discussed I feel that the senses I experienced when looking at this website were real however my mind did imagine that feeling of trust and truth. What is meant by that is I looked at the headlines and the political information and I sensed the truth. There was no physical realm that guaranteed what I was reading was the truth. However I have been conditioned in life to believe what I read in the paper, or this case the electronic medium, as the truth. It is to the point where I do not question it and my senses take over when I looked at the webpage and felt comfortable with what I saw on it. This is not to say that the information on the webpage was not true, as I am sure it was. However, analyzing the situation in a semiotic fashion I was able to look at the homepage and instantly form senses and feelings that were linguistic and comprehensive. The main article that was headline and stood out the most when first pulling up the page was titled "US carries out 1,000th execution". This article is of a highly political nature as well as one that sparks human emotions. To analyze the webpage using semiotic theory and referring to that article one could say that what Ford said again was true. Ford said that "functional rules of the perceptual realm by trial and error, and are constantly in the process of revising our personal versions of the course of events in it." (Ford) This was especially true when reading the death penalty headlines. The website used headlines and linguistics that would capture an individual's attention and the linguistics of it caused the reader to revise personal events and feelings. The webpage is designed to inform however I feel it is also designed to capture attention and emotion through the use of linguistics. The www.cnn.com and http://english.aljazeera.net/HomePage was also analyzed by me using sociological theory. Through history, sociological theory arose out of attempts to make sense of times of dramatic events. When analyzing the webpage using sociological theory this statement certainly holds true. Much of what is presented on the www.cnn.com and http://english.aljazeera.net/HomePage webpage deals with dramatic events and happenings in the world. The plight of the children in Africa and HIV was featured in one main story on the page. The information that is presented on this website is surely viewed with a sociological aspect by most who read it. The information that is presented don the webpage forces one to attempt to make sense out of what is being read. Deadly fire sweeps German shelter is yet another headline that stands out on the page and forces one to make sense out of what is happening in the world. In a semiotic analysis the webpage sparked emotion through linguistics, in respect to sociological theory the analysis would be one of understanding in regard to accepting what is being presented in the form of news and events that are out of our control. Wright Mills wrote, "Neither the life of an individual nor the history of a society can be understood without understanding both." (2005) To analyze this website using this theory is easy to do because the tenets of sociological theory apply to what is presented on an electronic media medium such as www.cnn.com and http://english.aljazeera.net/HomePage. Wright Mills explains that in essence we do not actually make sense of these things rather we endure them. In a sociological perspective we endure events that we do not understand or like and in an attempt to deal with what heinous has happened we rationalize or try to find an explanation for the event. When Mills Wright writes, "The sociological imagination enables its possessor to understand the larger historical scene in terms of its meaning for the inner life and the external career of a variety of individuals." This statement and tenet of sociological theory certainly applies when analyzing the website. This is because the information that is presented on the webpage is not to upset or to cause angst to the reader/viewer of the webpage. It is an electronic form of media and the media's job is to present the news. It is the news that is disturbing and the events that are taking place that an individual has to come to terms with in the sociological sent that Mills Wright just referred to. Just as in semantic theory sociological theory requires processing as well. The processing of linguistics and senses is the main focus of semeiotic theory whereas making sense of these linguistics and senses is what sociological theory is all about. It is through sociological theory that we try to make sense out of situations and events. As humans I think we do this because it is easier to accept unsettling events when we have an explanation for them. In reality there may never be an explanation for the events that occur but it helps us feel better inside when we do. It can be thought of as a form or rationalization. When one looks at the webpage there are many events recorded that make you wonder why they happened. It is by finding a rational reason in our minds that we are able to accept these events. Sociological theory is a good theory to use to analyze this webpage because of the nature of the webpage, which is to report events. It is not the fault of www.cnn.com and http://english.aljazeera.net/HomePage what they report. They merely present an account of events that have occurred. It is through sociological theory that we as individuals rationalize the events. Mills Wright summed up the sociological experience when he said, "is the idea that the individual can understand his own experience and gauge his own fate only by locating himself within this period that he can know his own chances in life only by becoming aware of those of all individuals in his circumstances. The webpage can certainly be analyzed using Marxist theory. Marxist theory is a very popular theory and it is widely referred to for a number of different reasons. According to Woods, Marxist Theory can be thought of as "ideas that provide a fully worked-out theoretical basis for the struggle of the working class to attain a higher form of human society--socialism." At first it might seem as if Marxist Theory is not relevant in the analysis of this webpage but after further consideration it may be the best form of analysis available in which to analyze this webpage. There are several reasons for this. The first is because the webpage is made for the working man to read. It has news of events that the working man would not have knowledge of if it were not for this form of electric medium. It keeps them informed. To be educated would afford an individual the opportunity to gain status in a higher form of society. This is not to say that because you read the webpage you will go up in status in society. What it is to say is hat when a person is educated and informed they are more capable of functioning and attaining goals then if they were not. Everyone wants to fit into society and by being informed of world events, politics and the stock market makes an individual belong. By belonging it is meant that they are part of things that happen and know things that are going on in the world. It is by being informed that a person can feel better about themselves and better about their position in society. It is the working man that most of these events reported on the webpage relate to-either directly or indirectly. The webpage cover the entire world and in order for a person to feel that they ft into world, needs to know a little about it. From a Marxists theory the webpage gives the working man an opportunity to feel like a part of a higher society. Not a higher society in the sense of money but in the sense they feel like they belong because they are informed. Information is a powerful thing and in order for common people to feel like they have any power over the world, to be informed is one way to do this. Woods quintessentially sums up this premise, and I feel the Marxist analysis of this web page when she says, "The theories of Marxism provide the thinking worker with such an understanding--a thread which is capable of leading him through the confused labyrinth of events, of the complex processes of society, of economics, of the struggle of classes, of politics. Armed with this sword the worker can cut the Gordian knot which binds him to the mightiest obstacle in the way of the advancement of himself and his class--ignorance." (Woods 2005) An analysis of the webpage using medium theory is a complicated one. However, the medium theory is a complicated. Then viewing semiotic, sociological and Marxist theory it can be said at this point they all have the uprise if answering a question and making individuals feel more at ease with themselves and the world. It is in our quest to discover new ways of looking at viewing things, like the news, that we become better people and ultimately better citizens. When thinking of the medium theory it is easiest to understand the theory if you think of the finite. Essentially medium theory is the quest to find the finite or the absolute in something. This theory certainly applies when analyzing this webpage. When we read the news and see the different events that are happening in the world, most of them not good, we want answers. If we go about seeking answers using the medium theory then we are able to something absolute or finite on the situations we read about. This theory is significant in the analysis of the webpage because of the fact that the information being presented on this webpage has two parts to it that apply to the medium theory. The first is that the information we obtain from the websites forces us an individuals to seek answers. As well, the answers that we either conjure up or come to for other reasons, give a sense of finality to the situation is we read about on the webpage. Medium theory is also used in mathematical equations to give meaning to squares and other finite properties. Although the news is not a mathematical equation it holds the same premise when using it to analyze information. This is essentially what is being done when we read the news and react to it. The medium theory applies to the website we have been discussing in this paper because it presents information that prompts us to explore the finite meaning in them. The sociological theory can be referred to when using the medium theory. This is because the sociological theory's goal is to question and to use the things that have put into question as tools. Tools in the sense as intellectual tools. Therefore, I feel in order to find the finite in something you must first question it then address the situation in an intellectual fashion. Intellectual in the sense of forming the question, intellectual in the way that we go about answering the question and intellectual because of the way that we find something finite or absolute in it. All of these theories may seem complicated. However if you get to know the theories and think about them and use your intellect you will discover that we use these theories all of the time without ever putting any thought into the processes we are using to do this. In respect to the medium theory there has been modern day discussions about the medium theory and the media. Woods wrote "In the 1985 book, No Sense of Place, Joshua Meyrowitz, sought to explain society's transition from a print culture to an electronic culture. He believed that electronic media were causing the forefront or public behavior to merge with the backstage or private behaviors of life." Meyrowitz's tenets of the medium theory differ greatly from the mathematical medium theory that quests to find the finite and absolute in things. However that version is relevant to the news and the media. What Meyrowitz is referring to is a transition in our society and how electronic medium, much like www.cnn.com and http://english.aljazeera.net/HomePage, is helping to reshape our culture. Woods once again offers a definition given by Meyrowitz that will help you to further understand the t medium theory. Woods explained, "Meyrowitz first developed the term medium theory to address the larger societal implications of new media. In his opinion, much of the research into new media was concentrated on the content it conveyed (Meyrowitz, 1985, 1994). In this content research, many theories and researchers viewed the new media as "neutral" conduits for carrying the message. Meyrowitz suggested Cultivation Theory and Uses and Gratifications research as two examples of theories proclaiming to overcome content research, yet ultimately, these two theories focused primarily on content (Meyrowitz, 1985). Scholars were often ignoring the impact the medium itself had on society in favor of content analyses, which are often easier to demonstrate a particular effect as the result of new media. Medium theory was developed to help explain how new communication technologies weren't just channels for conveying content, but they were new environments themselves (Meyrowitz, 1985, 1994). Taking this theory into consideration and analyzing the webpage it can be said that it does help contribute to this new age of society. The website does provide content and it is content that we must scrutinize and find meaning in no matter which theory we choose to do it in. The medium theory is important because our society has become one that is dependent on electronics and what they provide. We can now read the morning paper online and formulate our opinions and even learn a new way to look at the linguistics of what we read. Content information is written differently than the information that we see in print and in essence what Bercovitch is saying is that while all of these things change our society will too. In conclusion there is much to think about. The four theories used to analyze the webpage all give an individual much to think about as well. When it comes to analyzing the webpage and the conclusions that are reached from the analysis it is fair to say that there are no right or wrong answers, only opinions. I like to analyze the webpage using a combination of the four theories to come up with my final conclusion about the page. Semiotic theory certainly can be used to analyze the webpage and the linguistics that his theory speaks of holds relevance in the medium theory. By that I mean the medium theory discusses how e, as a society, are looking and things differently and even reading differently. I feel that the semiotic theory applies here because the linguistics of what we read and how we read it is changing. In lieu of this new theory by Meyrowitz it would be interesting to know if we translate it different. I do feel that taking the seismologic theory into consideration once again, that I would have formed the same emotions and gotten the same senses from the articles on the webpage if I had read them in print. However, to be perfectly honest, I do not know if that is true or not. I do feel that sociological thought and Marxist thought were particularly relevant to this analysis as well. I feel that it is a good analysis because in a sense all of the individual different theories blend together and help make one. This does not mean one theory cannot be applied to the webpage; it means that in the course of analyzing it all four of the theories had something to offer in the form of analyzing the page. If I had to pick just one theory to best analyze the webpage I would choose the Marxist theory. I would choose the Marxist theory because I feel the news doe inform people and by being informed this puts you on a higher level. I think the Marxist theory works best for the analysis. References Ford, O.T. (1987) "Semiotics Theory" As viewed on the worldwide web at URL http://the-stewardship.org/research/semiotics.htm Woods, Jan. (2005) "What is Marxism" International Socialism. Wright-Mills, C. (2005) "Theories" As viewed on the worldwide web at URL http://www.trinity.edu/mkearl/theory.html Read More