Seminar based around Sigmund Freud

The second seminar of the semester focused around the theories of Sigmund Freud and whether they were still relevant today. The starting point for the discussion was focused around chapter 3 of Anthony Kenny's book, Philosophy of the Modern World. As a group we concluded that Freud was still influential and in our everyday lives we say "Freudian slips" for example a man says to his friend 'Would you like to eat bread and butter, or cake?' and the friend replies: 'Bed and butter please'.  After discussing "Freudian slips", Shira asked us our opinions on Freud's theory of the id, ego and superego and whether this theory can be applied today. I think that each human being contains an id, ego and superego as everyone has instincts to do something and our brain tells us whether we should do it and what the consequences are if we carry out that action.

Following this debate, Shira raised an excellent point by saying was Freud a god-like figure and had any other philosophers from history had any ideas that opposed Freud's theories. Freud believed that  the three structuress consisting of our id, ego and superego controlled and shaped us as human beings. Whereas Ancient philosophers such as Plato argued that society had a tripartite structure made up of the appetite, spirit, reason which represent appetite/spirit/reason arts of a human body. The appetite part of the structure represents the abdomen which are the workers and labourers. The chest represents the spirit and this is made up of warriors who are strong and brave. The final part of the structure is the reason which is represented by the head and this consists of rulers, Kings and Philosophers who are intelligent, rational and make decisions on behalf of the people. These people were considered to be special and have a God-like presence among society. Therefore, Plato's tripartite self was not solely based around the mind, but also the occupation of people in society, which is very different to Freud's interpretation of a tripartite self which was influenced by thought and expression.

Lecture on Sigmund Freud

Sigmund Freud
(6 May 1856 – 23 September 1939)

The second lecture of the semester was based around the theories of Sigmund Freud. He was an Austrian neurologist who developed a form of therapy where he accessed the mind of his patients. This therapy later became known as hypnotherapy and is still used as a popular treatment across the world today. Every human being has an unconscious mind which they are unable to control and are not aware of its existence. Freud believed that human beings hide things from themselves and hypnotherapy was a method in which the mind can be accessed to deal with the unconscious mind and this is a key feature in what is known as psychoanalysis.

Freud was an incredibly ambitious theorist who tried to find answers to almost everything in the world.  His ideas are still used today as it can be argued that we live in a Freudian world, from time to time we use “Freudian slips” or parapraxes, which are errors in speech, memory, or action which occurs due to an unconscious thought or memory. Freudian slips got their name from Freud’s 1901 book named The Psychopathology of Everyday Life, which analysed a collection of errors which he concluded were accidental errors of the mind. Freud’s ideas came at a time in history where society has strict moral values and directly challenged the ideas of philosophers such as Rene Descartes and John Locke during the enlightenment period.  Freud believed, like the majority of modernists that the world cannot be fully understood using science, but it can be analysed using the power of the mind.

In his essay written in 1920 named Beyond the Pleasure Principle, Freud suggested that the human mind could be divided into three parts called the id, ego, and super-ego which are all at conflict with each other.  The id is a group of instincts which aim to gain pleasure and to avoid pain and disregards all consequences for its actions.  For example a young child may ask her mother for a toy in a shop but her mother says no. The child will feel upset that she is unable to have the toy and may cry or have a tantrum in order to persuade her mother to buy her the toy thus avoiding pain. The ego is the voice of reason and is in a constant battle with the id and superego in order to make the right decisions about behaviour or thought. When the ego feels threatened by the id and superego, it may use defence mechanisms such as denial and repression. The superego develops through child development, parental rules and through social interaction.  It keeps your mind under control and sets targets throughout life, however these targets are often impossible or difficult to achieve. Freud believed that humans are divided within ourselves as we are not at peace with our minds and due to the conflict between the id, ego and superego our personality is confused and we are unable to release our true personality and identity. This battle between the three parts results in repression as humans are afraid to release their powers in case it has negative consequences.

I have found an excellent youtube video giving more detail about Freud's theory of the unconscious mind. Its very informative and well worth a watch.

Freud’s ideas can be viewed as being pessimistic as he portrays a fairly dark and dim picture of humanity and our lives are based around pain for three main reasons.  Our bodies physically decay over time causing injury and disease which eventually kills us. Events in our everyday lives cause us to feel pain as they can upset us or make us feel angry such as losing a loved one. Finally, and most importantly interaction with other people can cause humans a degree of pain. Freud believed that human beings were out to hurt each other both physically and emotionally and the way to cope with this pain is to gain access to the Id through hypnotherapy to make the ego stronger and more able to deal with pain.  

There has been a lot of controversy surrounding the theories of Freud over the last decades which many theorists claiming that psychoanalysis was vague and there has been no definitive proof that it is successful. It has been argued that the unconscious mind was discovered long before Freud’s theories by the German philosopher, Sir Christopher Riegel during the 18^th century who coined the phrase. The 20^th century psychiatrist and psychoanalyst, Wilheim Reich argued that human beings were good people but were oppressed by society; therefore they showed negative behaviour and violence. He also believed that sex was the way in which it was possible to measure a person’s happiness, what a man!!

Seminar based around Tabloid Nation

The opening seminar of semester 1 was focused around the book Tabloid Nation written by Winchester University's journalism lecturer Chris Horrie. I lead the seminar with my seminar paper which discussed the high and low points of the Daily Mirror newspaper and how events throughout the 20th century such as the two world wars and the General Election of 1945 determined the newspaper's future.  Following on from the seminar paper the group discussed how the book is related to the film, Citizen Kane which we watched after the previous lecture. We concluded that the film had similarities to that of Tabloid Nation, as the central character Citizen Kane (who was modelled on the real life American journalist William Randolph Hearst) ended up living his final years alone and died an unhappy man who had all the wealth in the world. In the book by Horrie, Harry Guy Bartholomew who took over the Daily Mirror was fired from the newspaper and ended up dying of alcohol related problems in a small country cottage in Norfolk. From this information, I personally concluded that the journalists do not always have a happy legacy and can be remembered for the wrong reasons.

With regards to Tabloid Nation, I felt that it was a very enjoyable read and parts one and two gave a through and detailed insight into the successes and failures of the industry during the 20th century. I will read the other books that Horrie has written about the journalism industry as if they are as good as Tabloid Nation then I am positive I will enjoy them just as much.

Seminar Paper based on Tabloid Nation by Chris Horrie

The first and second parts of Tabloid Nation by Chris Horrie focus on the development of tabloid newspapers in the 20th century and how the journalism industry was very volatile.  With the continuing success of newspapers such as the Daily Mail, other newspapers such as the Daily Mirror suffered setbacks which would make the road to success more troublesome. The following seminar paper based on Tabloid Nation will focus on one particular newspaper, the Daily Mirror and how events both within the newspaper itself and global events would determine its success as a popular national newspaper.

In 1896, Lord Northcliff began creating a newspaper publishing empire which included the national newspaper the Daily Mail. The Daily Mail featured a women’s section with articles based on fashion, decorating and cookery. These articles were so popular amongst women that it was decided that a daily newspaper should be published that was aimed at a female audience.  In 1903, a new newspaper was introduced named the Daily Mirror and this was targeted at a female audience.  Sales of the newspaper were low with only 25,000 copies being sold each day.  One reason for the low sales figures may have been that women were perceived to be too busy in their everyday lives to read newspapers. After the initial failure, it was decided that action should be taken to modify the newspaper in order to attract more potential readers. The newspaper began to print full page spreads with very little text and printed images of important figures such as King Edward VII in an attempt to increase sales figures by attracting both a male and female audience. By 1907, 290,000 copies of the Daily Mirror were sold each day but one photograph was about to change its success.  In 1910, following the death of King Edward VII, the newspaper printed a front page photograph of King Edward VII resting in peace and overnight sales of the newspaper soared to a world record of 2,013,000 copies. This increase in sales meant that the newspaper had increased its target audience, therefore as long as it continued to contain shocking images the public would still want to buy the newspaper each day to find out what the latest headline photographs were.

In 1910, Lord Northcliff sold his shares in the Daily Mirror to his brother, Harold in order to focus on the Daily Mail. Harold employed Harry Guy Bartholomew to take on the role of photography editor and the outbreak of war in 1914 gave Bartholomew the opportunity to secure the newspaper’s future. As events of World War One unfolded he seized the chance to publish exclusive images of trench warfare and as a direct result, sales of the newspaper increased to 1.700,000 making it the highest selling daily newspaper of the time.  The effect of the war was crucial to the newspaper’s popularity as people across Britain purchased the newspaper in order to receive the latest information about their loved ones. As the war progressed the Daily Mirror became known as the newspaper which represented the soldiers fighting in the war.  This offered a level of comfort to both the soldiers and their relatives on the Home Front as they felt that the newspaper was taking care of them by spending time gathering vital information. Newspaper companies today also use a similar method to those during World War One as they employ news correspondents to travel to war zones such as Iraq and Afghanistan to gather information for news reports about events such as suicide bombing and the violence of the Taliban.  However, this is slightly different to the reporting during World War One as censoring guidelines have been introduced in the modern day which prevents newspapers from printing shocking photographs which show death or horrific injuries.

As the Daily Mirror became the most popular newspaper in Britain, events within rival newspaper companies would put the Mirror under threat. The TUC publishing company purchased the Daily Herald and invested nearly £8,000,000 in order to outsell the Daily Mirror. In 1934, Bartholomew, who was now the editor in chief of the newspaper decided to take drastic action to save the paper and collaborated with Cecil Harmsworth King. The pair aimed to convert the paper from being a typically British daily newspaper to a modern New York style tabloid newspaper focusing on cartoon strips and letter pages for women. In 1938, an agony aunt was introduced into the newspaper to offer advice to women who were struggling with aspects of their lives. During the next few years the newspaper became one of the biggest selling newspapers in the world with 2,400,000 copies being sold each day. This was partly due to the fact that women were finally able to voice their opinions to a newspaper giving them a level of freedom; therefore it had mass appeal to working class women as well as men. When the Second World War broke out in 1939, the newspaper used similar methods to those used during the First World War, printing articles written by journalists on the front lines which focused on conditions of the trenches and the progress made by the soldiers towards defeating Germany. The war played a major part in people’s daily lives, due to the fact that there was a great deal of worry about the safety of the soldiers and the fact that the Daily Mirror printed the largest number of front line reports of any national newspaper at the time meant that British people felt a certain degree of comfort and viewed the newspaper as a blessing.

After the war ended in 1945, the Daily Mirror continued to be a successful tabloid newspaper and was particularly influential during the General Election of 1945 where the Labour was voted into power by a record majority.  The newspaper printed large campaign articles and posters persuading the public to vote for the Labour Party as it would benefit the working classes of Britain. This was vitally important as the newspaper was aimed at the working classes which made up the high percentage of people in Britain. Therefore, it could gain access to the largest group of people meaning that with the correct style of articles, the Daily Mirror could help determine the politics of Britain gaining even more power. This run of success has continued from the General Election through to the present day where it still attracts millions of readers each day.

From reading Tabloid Nation, it is clear that the Daily Mirror suffered periods of mass popularity and also times where its survival and future as a newspaper was uncertain. One of the reasons why it suffered a period of decline was the fact that rival newspapers like the Daily Herald were gaining increasing power and money was invested in them to attempt to outsell the Daily Mirror, meaning sales figures of the Daily Mirror declined. Action was taken in order to improve the newspaper and these changes had a huge impact on its popularity. The newspaper overcame its periods of unrest and established itself as a popular national daily newspaper with a wide target audience. Over the course of the last 60 years it has emerged as one of the most popular daily newspapers and has continued to be successful to the present day.  In 2009, it was reported that the Daily Mirror sells 2,000,000 copies per day and due to its success it can be regarded in the journalism industry to be one of the most influential newspapers of the 20^th century.

Introductory lecture

Modernism introductory lecture

So as year two begins at university, so do the journalism lectures. The first lecture of Semester 1 focused around the subject of modernism in the 19^th and 20^th centuries. Modernism was based around a concept that everything was in relation to everything else and there was no definite answer. For example, according to modernists time can only be described as relative as there is no certain answer to when time began or will end. This theory was controversial at the time as it opened up a whole new way of thinking which had never been explored before and rejects the ideas that were presented during the Enlightenment and Renaissance periods.  Around this time there were key figures such as Sigmund Freud who paved the way for a new understanding of the world from a psychoanalytical perspective. In addition, composers such as Wagner and Nietzsche created a new genre of operatic music which would revolutionise operatic styles forever.

Sigmund Freud was an Austrian neurologist who specialised in psychoanalysis and his 1899 book, The Interpretation of Dreams which highlighted how dreams are a strong medium for gaining access to our true thoughts and emotions. He believed that every human being alive had a subconscious where they were not in control of their individual thoughts and behaviour. Throughout our lives, we experience events such as dreaming in which we attempt to gain access to. These events are a sign of repression and as humans we attempt to block painful or traumatic memories and experiences. The next lecture in History and Context of Journalism focuses on Freud and his psychoanalytic theories so I will be able to write a blog based around his theories.

Wilheim Richard Wagner
22 May 1813  – 13 February 1883

Wilhelm Richard Wagner was a 19^th century German composer who used erotic and sexual music in his operas in order to create emotion and expression. This is particularly highlighted in his opera Tristan und Isolde where the harmonies and tone of the music express sexual pleasures and fantasies followed by tragedy and death. The composition of his music was considered to be revolutionary during the century as music prior to this time was expressed happiness and love. Wagner’s operas had such a profound effect on audiences at this time that a theatre was constructed in Germany, named the Bayreuth Festspielhaus which stages his most famous operas for a period of time each year. The theatre is still open today and Wagner fans are prepared to wait years on a waiting list just to purchase tickets to see a performance.

Friedrich Nietzsche
October 15, 1844 – August 25, 1900

Another figure of the 19^th century which influenced the modernist movement was Friedrich Nietzsche. Nietzsche was a composer who also studied theology and how mankind had evolved from being primitive creatures living in caves to civilised beings within a constantly changing society. He believed that mankind was destroying itself as it was keeping weaker people alive through the use of medicine contradicting Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution that the fittest in society will survive while the weak die. As evolution had been halted by the introduction of medicine mankind had to find a new method by which society could advance. Nietzsche’s answer to this was for mankind to evolve through new technology and high education and breed a new generation of people that were superior (super people), while disabled and seriously ill people in society had to be killed. This process came to be known as ergonic breeding. Following on from his theories of ergonic breeding, Nietzsche became mentally unstable and spent his final years in silence staring at a blank wall.

Following on from the lecture, we watched a screening of the 1941 American film, Citizen Kane. The film follows the life of a character named Charles Foster Kane who is based upon the American newspaper tycoon, William Randolph Hearst.  In the film, Kane is a young aspiring journalist who aspires to create his own newspaper empire and gain wealth and power. As the years pass he marries and divorces twice and his final divorce from his wife, Susan Alexander leads him to a life of misery where finally he dies a lonely old man in a mansion. I have posted a Youtube link to a video of a scene near the end of the film where Kane realises that all the fame and fortune he had of being a journalist and editor was for nothing as he is lonely and unhappy. He gets angry and destroys objects that remind him of the past as they are of no use to him now.  The film really gave me an insight into what life is like as a journalist and how power and wealth can have devastating consequences if you are not careful.

Link for the Youtube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3hfQ2IOc8s&feature=player_detailpage