Panel Report: Patterns of Media Reception

Chair: Epp Lauk, University of Jyväskylä, Finland


Speakers:


Auksé Balčytiené and Aušra Vinciuniené, Vytautas Magnus University, Lithuania
František Kalvas, University of West Bohemia, Czech Republic
Martin Buchtík, Charles University in Prague, Czech Republic

Media inform us permanently and we receive a lot of information. But there are some specific types of informing - one of them can be "larp". And every country is specific in this way.

Auksé Balčytiené and Aušra Vinciuniené present their project "Discovering the Individual in Contemporary Communications: The Baltic Perspective". And they try to broaden our understanding about diverse challenges that contemporary media is facing in rapidly changing economic, technological and social and cultural conditions. After answering 100 questions they recieved some data and made analysis.
Media is not only confronted with economic crises and devaluation. The mass media is loosing its omnipresence and new communicative spaces are being formed due to new technologies and social networks offering individualized participation, new consumption and access. It has dramatic effect on how journalists and also audience react to changing conditions in media and communication.

František Kalvas concentrates on results of a quick response study on information flow of Václav Havel's death. He sent 3 questions to 254 respondents (students, university staff, members of his family and his friends) and he wanted to know: When they recieved the information? By which channel? Did they deliver it to someone else? He recieved 389 relevant answers and made quick analysis. 29 % respondents recieved the information about Havel's death via the Internet (by Skype, Facebook, e-mail etc.), 39 % recieved it from another person (face to face, by phone or SMS), 17 % found it on TV and 14 % on radio. "Only 3 people of this sample recieved this information next day," he highlights. 53 % of respondents then said this information to another person (face to face, phone) and 38 % did not inform anyone.

Last speaker is Martin Buchtík who introduce larps. His presentation named "Larp as an alternative medium: A Sociological perspective" tries to introduce larp (short for live action roleplay) as an alternative form of medium. What are the key characteristics of larps? "„Consumer“ is co-creator, unique roles, multiperspective approach, creator has only partial control, each participant should take an active part," he enumerates. He things that larping has grown into a specific medium with a unique combination of characteristics, however it is still on the boarder of game.