A round-up of this week's media stories
Mainstream media's portrayal of women is far too narrow
TICKETS ARE selling fast for the Irish Feminist Network's March 11th screening of Jennifer Siebel Newsom's documentary, Miss Representation, which links the under-representation of women in positions of power to a narrow portrayal of women in mainstream media.
The film focuses not just on the self-image fallout from the sexualised representations that are there – a topic that had a recent airing at the Leveson Inquiry into the UK press – but on what’s not there: appreciation of women as intellectuals. Headlines such as “Condi Rice, Dominatrix” are cited.
The organisation organised a second screening for the film (tagline: “you can’t be what you can’t see”) at Dublin’s Sugar Club after tickets for the first screening, held last night, sold out well in advance. “Media creates consciousness, and if what gets out there that creates our consciousness is put out there by men, we’re not going to make any progress,” actress and talking head Jane Fonda says.
Comedian Margaret Cho finds a more succinct way of summing up her position: “The media treats women like shit.”
Sun on Sunday takes shape
DETAILS ARE beginning to drip out about the Sunday edition of the I which is under pressure to capture much of the News of the World's 2.67 million circulation – half of which has since disappeared from the British Sunday tabloid market – and dispel suggestions that the newspaper's launch is more about expedient PR on the part of Rupert Murdoch than it is commercially wise. "Star" columnists at rivals such as the Daily Mailwho can be persuaded of its long-term future and/or enticed by "hello" cheques are expected to be poached, while one confirmed "name" to grace the pages of its all-important sports section will be footballer-turned-manager-turned-pundit Roy Keane. Ideally from News International's perspective, the first issue this weekend will lead on a massive scoop - one without a sniff of illegality. As with Saturday's edition of the Sun, there will be no "News in Briefs" (page three).
Cinemas go digital as Hollywood cans film
NO MORE scratchy surfaces, no more reel changes and, for advertisers, plummeting campaign costs – the conversion of Irish cinemas to digital will gather pace over the next few months following a major investment by distributors.
Pan-European digital cinema service company XDC is pumping €50 million into the conversion of Irish screens to digital following its recent acquisition of the Thurles-based company Digital Cinema, run by Kevin Cummins.
“That means we will be moving fairly rapidly,” Mr Cummins said.
Belgium-based XDC has identified the Irish market as “a perfect candidate for 100 per cent digital conversion”. Through Digital Cinema, it has agreed full conversions with the Omniplex and Gate chains, among others, with some 75 per cent of the market committing to upgrades.
Digital Cinema data suggests 150 out of about 453 screens in the Republic are digital. Fully digitised sites include Cineworld Parnell Street in Dublin, the Movies @ cinemas in Dundrum and Swords, the Gate cinema on Cork’s North Main Street and UCI Newbridge.
The addition of satellite facilities as part of the upgrades is also facilitating the exhibition of live sport events, turning cinemas into all-purpose media venues.
Digitisation – which has an average cost of €60,000 per screen – is part of a push by Hollywood distributors to avoid the expense of striking and shipping thousands of 35mm prints. Distributors generally pay 80 per cent of the cost of conversions, with exhibitors carrying 20 per cent.
According to estimates from Core Media, cinema advertising spend will stabilise at €7 million this year. And, having slipped slightly to 16.3 million last year, admissions are expected to be buoyed in 2012 by major releases such as Peter Jackson's the Hobbitand the latest James Bond and Batman instalments, Skyfalland the Dark Knight Rises.
The market in the Republic will also benefit from 33 new screens, including new cinemas at the Odeon at the Point Village and IMC in Tallaght.
However, it’s the dramatic decrease in production costs and cut in lead times from the current four to six weeks to two to three weeks for digital-only campaigns that could bring new advertisers into a market dominated by large consumer brands.
Sales house Carlton Screen Advertising is now trialling a digital-only offer to advertisers.
“We’re approaching a tipping point,” said Eoin Wrixon, general manager of CSA, of digital conversion. Cinema, he points out, also retains the advantage of offering an easily segmented audience that – last-minute trips to the popcorn counter aside – is largely captive.
Eurosong is douze points for Late Late
VIEWERSHIP OF the Late Late Showtends to spike over the course of a programme whenever Irish guests get their Tubridy-time, meaning RTÉ will be all too happy to devote tomorrow's show to that most Irish of traditions, Eurovision.
Excluding December's record-breaking Toy Showaudience, the most-watched edition of the Late Latelast year was February 11th, when the Lipstick-singing Jedward were chosen as Ireland's representatives – an average of 886,100 viewers tuned in to see this peroxide-tinged conclusion.
So what to expect of Eurosong 2012? With crushing inevitability, Jedward are back, this time with Waterline, described by music blog Popjustice as "a Backstreet [Boys] vs Busted banger of Eurovision-winning proportions".
Oh dear. Deserving second-favourite, and reassuringly less likely to romp home in Azerbaijan, is Donna McCaul's track Mercy– as fitting a Eurovision title as you can get. Alarmingly, both acts have called in the writing and/or production talents of pop's peerless professionals: the Swedish.
