Blog Entry #2

Do we get the media we want or do we want the media we get? I think both the audience and the distributors of media are both key determinants in media, but at the end of the day, I think the audience is key. The audience will determine the success of media, so distributors will have to accommodate and adapt to what we want.

I think that because of the advancements in media technology, specifically the internet, the determinants of mass media has changed drastically. Back before the internet, the line between distributor and recipient was a lot more defined. The limited amount of medium forms meant that media could be broader and the audience more or less had no choice but to accept what they were consuming. With the internet, the line between distributor and recipient is blurred. Now, because there is something for everybody, we can find what we want. With that in mind, not only can we influence media but we have the ability to create it for ourselves.

I still think distributors can influence what we accept as “popular common sense”, and that will be a natural factor in our response to media. As the book says “media representations or popular common sense; the two are permanently intertwined.” So, in that sense, we do want the media we get, but the way the distributors do this is subtle and is more difficult. I think it is now easier for an audience to influence media by either rejecting or accepting it.

It goes without saying, these perspectives can be vastly different depending on different societies and cultures. For example, in communist countries, the major use of media is for propaganda. The main goal is to instill values that align with the party that is currently in power. The media will not be as flexible to the audiences demand, not as much as democratic, capitalist countries like this one. This kind of media would fall into the Frankfurt School’s theory that media is used as a “kind of social control in keeping the masses ordered.” Media in predominantly western societies, however, will be tailored more to the audience, as success can not only influence their attitudes but it will also earn capital.

Ultimately, both perspectives work together and flow into each other. Both are key factors in characterizing the end product that is mass media. Although mass media is inherently given to the people, and people react to the media, the audience has a powerful influence in defining what the media will inevitably look like.