Super-curricular

Tom Hanks and Idris Elba both recorded short videos and published them in social media to share their covud-19 diagnosis and their experiences as a whole. These stories fit several of Galtung and Ruges news values. Madonna called Covid-19 ‘the great equaliser’. However, her point was undermined with the mise-en-scene since she was naked in a bath with rose petals. Actor Florence Pugh created cooking videos to distract people from the virus while Jack black danced in his underwear on Tik Tok. Large sums of celebrities felt intitled to continue posting on social media in order to keep a positive connection with their fans so that they will be more inclined to buy cinema tickets and magazines etc. This lead to ‘parasocial interactions’. Lots of main stream shows developed the working from home approach and relocated to more domestic settings. The concept of hosts as 'family men' became very important. However some believed that children could be a rather exploitive consequence for the hosts to appeal to their audience. Krasinski used his celebrity status to bring joy to those who have lost out due to covid-19. Chris Hemsworth announced that his health and fitness app would be free for all for six weeks. Lots of musicians streamed their performances. Lady Gaga created a 'one world: together at home concert which raised a large sum of money for global coronavirus relief. Table-reads. These were streamed on Youtube to encourage donations and charities. 

Overall, from this, I learnt how much of an impact celebrities can have on their fans and as stated, how they can create feelings of 'belonging and community' in times of difficulty. Celebrities created a light and enjoyable environment for all and allowed fans to be distracted from their own personal struggles. 

I believe that I could relate this to my studies through understanding how much of an impact celebrities can truly have on their audiences and this will help me to understand why certain adverts and social media platforms choose to use celebrities in their work as it increases audience watching, participation and enjoyment.