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Media can be analyzed in relation to The Corporation through two lenses:- Many corporations rely on media for their success. Two ways in which they do this is through their use of advertising for specific products, and their reliance on favorable coverage in news and broadcast media. In an era of increasing media ownership concentration, the ties between corporations and media become even more closely intertwined.
- As a documentary, The Corporation is situated in an extensive history of documentary and uses particular media techniques to tell its story.
The following questions will engage you in thinking about the close relationship between media and corporations, and encourage you to analyze how the documentary itself employs different kinds of representation. |
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| Thinking About Documentaries |
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| 1 |
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| Look up the different definitions of documentary vs. fiction film. If one recognizes that all film has a “point of view,” in what ways is “objectivity” a myth? If documentary makers are not aiming to present “The Objective Truth,” how would you describe the function of documentaries as a genre? |
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| 2 |
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| How can you identify the point of view of the directors of The Corporation? Identify three examples of how you would argue the documentary maintains a “fair and balanced” perspective, and three ways in which you feel the documentary is advocating a particular point of view. Evaluate your responses in relation to the definition of documentary on the MediaKnowAll site. |
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| 3 |
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| Locate several different reviews of The Corporation online. How do different critics evaluate the quality of this documentary? Can you find any examples of reviewers using “technical critiques” to express their political agreement/disagreements with the film? |
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| 4 |
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| Compare The Corporation to two other documentaries (e.g., one of Michael Moore’s films and one other classic or recent political documentary your class is discussing). How would you evaluate the choice and diversity of subjects interviewed in the different films and hence the range of viewpoints expressed? How do Mark Achbar and Jennifer Abbott make their point of view known compared to other directors in terms of: forms of editing, construction of sympathy with particular subjects, voiceover, music, choice of images? |
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| 5 |
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Go to “That Movie is a Joke” on The Corporation’s interactive discussion board [search topics with “That Movie is a Joke” and find discussion on September 23, 2004] on The Corporation docback site. Read through the discussion about editing and the debates about liberal media, Fox news, and point of view.
How would you make an argument about what counts as “objective” media representation within this audience? In your response, having watched The Corporation (and not just the trailer), what would you say about the role of editing in this particular documentary and how it tells its story? Tie your analyses to definitions of documentary and identification of key narrative techniques. |
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| The Relationship between Corporations and the Media |
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| 6 |
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| At one point the FOX manager tells the journalist, “We just paid 3 billion dollars for these stations. The news is what we say it is.” If news stations can put profit before “truth” without penalty, why is it that documentaries (including this one) are so often critiqued for their “point of view” or dismissed as propaganda, while the news is often granted authority and not dismissed as propaganda? |
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| Chapter |
Chapter Title |
Scene Reference |
| 17 |
Unsettling Accounts |
12:05:09:11 |
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| 7 |
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| The ideal purpose of news media is to inform citizens through fair, balanced, accurate coverage of current events. If news is objective, one might expect news to consistently inform citizens about the effects of corporations on public interests. Explore the relationship between FOX, Monsanto, and the public’s right to know (in this case, about Bovine growth hormone). Do you see a conflict of interest in corporations owning news media? Discuss these questions in relation to the FOX/Monsanto instance, in which finally the court determined that “falsifying news was not against the law.” |
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| Chapter |
Chapter Title |
Scene Reference |
| 17 |
Unsettling Accounts |
12:05:09:11 |
| 22 |
Psycho Therapies |
12:40:31:15 |
| 22 |
Psycho Therapies |
12:42:55:01 |
| 22 |
Psycho Therapies |
12:47:06:07 |
| 22 |
Psycho Therapies |
12:49:28:00 |
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| 8 |
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| According to those interviewed in the film, what is “perception management” and how is this important to corporations? What kind of image do corporations need to advertise for themselves according to the documentary? Locate on your own some print or televised examples of corporations advertising their “personality.” Can you identify ways in which corporations seek to establish their image of “trust” in your found examples? |
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| Chapter |
Chapter Title |
Scene Reference |
| 12 |
Perception Management |
11:12:40:03 |
| 13 |
A Good Neighbor |
11:14:57:27 |
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| 9 |
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| Why does Naomi Klein mean by “branding”? Given the new global economy, how would you describe changes in the work of corporate public relations in advertising practices and in shaping consumer desires? |
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| Chapter |
Chapter Title |
Scene Reference |
| 14 |
A Private Celebration |
11:18:01:28 |
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| 10 |
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| Recall 10 or more brands, their logos, their jingles, slogans, and any memory of the product. Do you know who owns the brand? Given what you’ve been able to recall, what would you say about the relationship of advertising and branding to the construction of consumer awareness? |
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| Chapter |
Chapter Title |
Scene Reference |
| 11 |
Basic Training |
11:03:15:19 |
| 14 |
A Private Celebration |
11:18:01:28 |
| 15 |
Triumph of the Shill |
11:21:42:12 |
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| 11 |
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| Discuss the “Nag Factor” and Lucy Hughes’ comment, “Is it ethical? I don’t know.” Should advertising targeted to children be controlled by different standards than advertising directed towards adults? If yes, how? And who would get to determine these standards? |
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| Chapter |
Chapter Title |
Scene Reference |
| 11 |
Basic Training |
11:03:15:19 |
| 14 |
A Private Celebration |
11:18:01:28 |
| 15 |
Triumph of the Shill |
11:21:42:12 |
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