Cyantian Mass Media

[Lillowen]

Alright, time for yet another odd question, this time pertaining to something tangentially touched upon several times in the RP, and even vaguely hinted at in the comic.

It is obvious from the comic that Cyantian individuals at Mars Academy are being exposed to a fairly large amount of Terran (predominantly North American and British/UK) mass media, ranging from television to radio to movies to even the internet.  I am interested in five primary things:

1) Is any of this being "exported" back to Cyantia as something more than scientific and academic research (ie. is it being circulated in general over media channels (TV, newspaper, their internet, etc.)?

2) Has any of this caught on in general on Cyantia to the point of being widely shown and popular?

3) Has the media from Terra affected perceptions and styles of media on Cyantia, in effect changing, possibly surprisingly so, what they focus on and use for entertainment?

4) Native Cyantian popular media: how does it compare, stylistically, with genres of similar programming (where such exists) from Terra?  While there are examples in use in the RP (such as Rutilus being into secret agent films and the like), are these styles of media something imported from Terra and/or copied from then altered, or were these things in existence prior and if so in what forms?

5) Among the various races, what is the standpoint on media rights and the like, especially from an off-planet culture such as Terra from which there is plenty of broadcast information but no open relationships nor treaties to handle such things?

Lastly, separate from all of the above, there is the question of media penetration.  From what I can see I would guess the following:

Wolves in Centralis/Teraplex seem to have access to but not use in such profusion as Terrans things such as the equivalent of the internet, cell phones, and things like television and radio.  While the technology behind all this might be interesting to me, the thrust of this is more on how exposed they are to all this.  Currently, most youth live a deeply connected life style, with such things as social networking, the internet in general, and mass media playing a very large and important role in their lives.  The ability for instant communication is also taken for granted.  I am wondering how this is for Wolves in Centralis/Teraplex in a comparison.

The other races seem, from what has been shown, to live markedly less connected lives, perhaps all the way down to the media penetration levels seen in North America in the 1940s or so.  Thus, while communications might be semi-ubiquitous, as well as hardcopy media like newspapers, the idea of constant media connections such as TV, 24-hour radio, and the internet and all its' attendant social media and email seems to not be there for the other races.

The Fox seem to be somewhere in between, media-wise, perhaps, I am guessing, at the level of the 1970's to early 1980s, with solid media penetration but less general connectedness.

I am wondering how true any of this is, whether I've come to correct conclusions for my thoughts, and, if not, where the errors lie and how they affect day to day lives of the Cyantians.  I am aware that this is one of those questions that needs to be broken down by both region and possibly species, thus am looking for those kinds of specifics and demographics.

I would, of course, absolutely adore it if Tiff was willing to jump in on this question.  ^_^

Many thanks in advance,
Lillowen

[hariman]

Well, while I'm not sure of the answers to most of that I do know one thing:

Cyantian Children are most often educated through learning programs delivered via their television sets. Thus, they don't LIKE television time as much, because it's associated with the boring, necessary schoolwork.

From what I've seen in the comics, I'd say the media penetration of terran media onto Cyantia is pretty low, although Quinn DOES use "The Bunny Channel" to study human mating habits.

I think most of the exposure to human media is confined to Mars Academy.

[Shippou-chan]

The fiction I've including in the bottom linked thread of my signature is stuff I could see Cyantian producers creating, based off a number of Terran classics in writing and television.  How well I've reflected Tiff's vision of what they would have, I don't know.

I really don't have any answers besides what assumptions/presumptions I've made myself.

[Lillowen]

I'd considered that when asking, Ship.  I totally understand.  It's why I kind of flung this out there to hopefully be spotted by Tiff and expanded or expounded upon if possible.  While my questions get pretty deep, some of it being answered would be a lot better than none.  It's a mix of curiosity and a wonder about what Fel and others might be exposed to at Mars Academy.  Plus, I was kind of wondering if Cyantians end up getting the "high dose of cultural naivete" bit you sometimes see in comedy sci-fi.

[Renessa]

From the few little snippets I've seen here and there, I think live entertainment is more of a thing than broadcast/prerecorded media.  I would blame this on the more active culture, where going out for an event is valued above staying in for a movie or tv show or broadcasted game.  I don't doubt things are saved at least for archival purposes if not collectors and limited replays.

That's all part of the reason why I felt comfortable making Sriek.  Our media saturated culture can only support a small theatre fanbase, most of the good stuff being far too expensive for even middle class attendance.  However, with the lack of broadcast programming and a more social atmosphere (at least in wolf and mounty lands) I believe theatre and opera would not only be more appreciated but more profitable and thus more wide spread and more affordable.

On the flipside, its also why I felt comfortable making the judgement that there would still be a considerable number of scumbags in the entertainment industry.  Its already been remarked by the cubs that most wolves at least tend to judge on sight and smell, so a lot of the people working in an industry based around looks could be even worse.  I doubt they're quite as bad as some of the scumbags we hear about on a daily basis, but there would still be some.

[hariman]

Hmm. I do recall that Cere enjoyed Space/Soap Operas, so there are still some regular shows on, just probably not as many as there are on earth.

[Tiffany Ross]

Alright, time for yet another odd question, this time pertaining to something tangentially touched upon several times in the RP, and even vaguely hinted at in the comic.

It is obvious from the comic that Cyantian individuals at Mars Academy are being exposed to a fairly large amount of Terran (predominantly North American and British/UK) mass media, ranging from television to radio to movies to even the internet.  I am interested in five primary things:


1) Is any of this being "exported" back to Cyantia as something more than scientific and academic research (ie. is it being circulated in general over media channels (TV, newspaper, their internet, etc.)?

SOME of it is, more so to track science on Earth.  Entertainment is likely only brought back for amusement.

2) Has any of this caught on in general on Cyantia to the point of being widely shown and popular?
I'd say no.  As mentioned in other threads, they do have their own programming.

3) Has the media from Terra affected perceptions and styles of media on Cyantia, in effect changing, possibly surprisingly so, what they focus on and use for entertainment?

Nope.

4) Native Cyantian popular media: how does it compare, stylistically, with genres of similar programming (where such exists) from Terra?  While there are examples in use in the RP (such as Rutilus being into secret agent films and the like), are these styles of media something imported from Terra and/or copied from then altered, or were these things in existence prior and if so in what forms?

Also as mentioned in other replies, most programming is education based and informative.  There might be recordings of just about anything that can be accessed at any time on their 'tvs', but they do have a preference for watching plays and support the arts.  Their entire society is geared toward public gatherings and this is pretty much world wide.  They also prefer watching things that portray their own species, so most american tv is amusing to them, but not taken as seriously as their own entertainment.  In short, Cyantians can be snobs about their arts.   However, there are always exceptions and the media can be imported and translated on the fly by their technology in the EXACT same voices, but in another language.  This has been mentioned in No Angel I believe.  They can be easily transferred once being recorded on station equipment and put on data crystals, then sent to Cyantzium, where it's probably just beginning to find fans.

5) Among the various races, what is the standpoint on media rights and the like, especially from an off-planet culture such as Terra from which there is plenty of broadcast information but no open relationships nor treaties to handle such things?

Cyantians don't typically 'steal' ideas from each other.  They improve upon ideas and make them their own.  They don't recognize terran media rights at this time, since it's not aimed at them to begin with and has a limited following.  That could mean a cyantian version of The Office being put on in new plays monthly.

Lastly, separate from all of the above, there is the question of media penetration.  From what I can see I would guess the following:

Wolves in Centralis/Teraplex seem to have access to but not use in such profusion as Terrans things such as the equivalent of the internet, cell phones, and things like television and radio.  While the technology behind all this might be interesting to me, the thrust of this is more on how exposed they are to all this.  Currently, most youth live a deeply connected life style, with such things as social networking, the internet in general, and mass media playing a very large and important role in their lives.  The ability for instant communication is also taken for granted.  I am wondering how this is for Wolves in Centralis/Teraplex in a comparison.

Because most things were written before any of us knew what social networking was, it's not something I gave a lot of thought to including.  The technology in the Wolf society is taken for granted as being there and always being there.  Because the wolves use vision and smell in their communication more strongly than humans ever would, social networking is not something they do.  They do prefer face to face conversation and being able to easily communicate with each other is merely a convenience and way to get together.  As for news, it's likely all digital at this point.  No newspapers.

The other races seem, from what has been shown, to live markedly less connected lives, perhaps all the way down to the media penetration levels seen in North America in the 1940s or so.  Thus, while communications might be semi-ubiquitous, as well as hardcopy media like newspapers, the idea of constant media connections such as TV, 24-hour radio, and the internet and all its' attendant social media and email seems to not be there for the other races.

The Fox seem to be somewhere in between, media-wise, perhaps, I am guessing, at the level of the 1970's to early 1980s, with solid media penetration but less general connectedness.

Technology is actually pretty much the same throughout the world of Cyantia.  What is not the same is the people's access to it.  The Fox are currently a very restrictive society where only the rich and powerful have powerful electronics and the regular people have NOTHING.  Not even little tv set things.  They live very technologically barren lives. 

Other races have differing levels of technology.  An elder might have a tv/computer device that the entire community has access to as a group.   Families might have one device in others that acts as an all around tv/computer.

I am wondering how true any of this is, whether I've come to correct conclusions for my thoughts, and, if not, where the errors lie and how they affect day to day lives of the Cyantians.  I am aware that this is one of those questions that needs to be broken down by both region and possibly species, thus am looking for those kinds of specifics and demographics.

I would, of course, absolutely adore it if Tiff was willing to jump in on this question.  ^_^

Many thanks in advance,
Lillowen