The media is a rather clouded area of our lives, we consume it at such an amount that it influences our decisions. Print, broadcast and more recently social media have the capability to reach unprecedented amounts of people within seconds in order to spread various messages and information. This shows the impact media has on the world at large. Therefore, it is important to study the media rather than just consume it because of the power and influence it has on society, how it is closely intertwined with our lives and it’s the ability to push human creativity and production.
Studying the media is more crucial than just consuming it, because of the power and influence it has on society. As the media is already an essential entity in daily life, it can and would be used to clout the decisions and opinions of the masses. This can be seen throughout history as the media is often used for propaganda and political communication such as in World War 2 and even today in the presidential elections in America (O’Shaughnessy & Stadler 2012, p.107). The use of media to change the mindset of the masses becomes even more apparent when semiotic analysis is used to study them. The signs and symbols communicate the thoughts that should be instilled in society. To prove the influence of media on human opinion and mindset, Patricia Edgar studied the response provided by adolescents towards violence on screens. she utilised quantitative and qualitative data to report the responses and eventually published her research in her book titled ‘Children and Screen Violence’ (Cunningham & Turner ed.2010, pp. 24-26). Beyond that, Karl Marx argued that media brings forth ‘false consciousness’ through differential opinions and inaccuracy (Cunningham & Turner ed.2010, p. 17). As quoted by Robert W. McChesney “media influence is similar to manipulation rather than hegemony.” (Cunningham & Turner ed.2010, p. 21). This would be further intensified by the gathering of groups of individuals discussing certain issues and swaying the opinions of the people around them. Therefore, it is important to study the media in order to understand the influential role it played in history and the power it still has today.
Furthermore, the study of the media is important due to the close relationship between humans and the media. Within the last century, technology and information became such an important factor in the lives of many (Flemming ed.2000, p. 5). There is no denying the prevalence of media in daily life as most of what we consume that is not digestible is media. It is such an indispensable part of daily life because of its diversity and ease of use. Just as cars are becoming more efficient, so are the technologies used to distribute media. This progression of automation and how it intertwined with the growth of society happened remarkably fast, with older generations never grew up with a computer or the internet (Fleming ed. 2000, p. 6). With the rise of smartphones, the eyes of many are glued to the screen countless hours a day, consuming media. This is paramount as it shows how much people mentally rely on the media for information and entertainment. Technology and the media are so deeply connected with the lives of the masses that people use it to procreate sense of the world around them (McKee n.d., p. 142). As McKee (n.d., p. 144) argued “ We cannot simply collect facts about our society - statistics, for example - and then say that we understand our society and culture because these facts and statistics are just more texts. If we want to understand the world we live in, then we have to understand how people are making sense of that world.” Hence, the understanding of media is parallel to the understanding of human psychology as Thompson (1995, pp. 218-219) stated that the development of the media better reflexive organisation of self and that media is to a degree, an embodiment of people’s philosophies.
In addition, the media is a major platform for human creativity and production. The study of media makes it evident that people are able to express themselves on a public space. With media, creators are able to gain recognition for their work as the media, especially new form media, is a two-way connection. The audience is able to give feedback and express thoughts on the work (McKee n.d., p. 140). Through content analysis of the work itself and the audience’s response on the show, producers would be able to improve production and the content. This shows that the media breeds conversation and was reflected since the 18th century, issues that the media brought to light often has the power to gather groups of people to discuss current events (Thompson 1995, pp. 69-71). This in turn forces creators to be more creative and increase production to satisfy the audience. As commonly seen on many blogs, youtube channels and other online spaces, creators are able to converge two seemingly distinct forms of media such as journalism and movies to transform the art of storytelling (O’Shaughnessy & Stadler 2012, pp. 38-40). With the gathering of people in public areas and the increase in production value of creative work, the local economy would grow along with it. Major companies such as Nike are spending ample money to advertise using media, driving the masses to their products (O’Shaughnessy & Stadler 2012, pp. 35-36). Such results are achieved through the firm's quantitative analysis of their demographic and content These creative and highly produced content is a driving force for the economy. Therefore, by studying the media, an understanding of the link between creativity and the economy could be achieved.
To conclude, it is important to study the media rather than just simply consuming it is because it is closely intertwined with our lives and even more so as technology continues to develop. Besides that, the media has huge power and impact on society, so much so that it is able to sway our opinions and mindset. The way the information is presented to the society may shape the way of lives for future generations. Lastly, the media is an outlet for creativity, such that its presence and scale of production would be able to drive the local economy forward. Therefore, understanding the media and the way it works is as crucial as understanding contemporary society and predicting the future of our world.
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References
Cunningham, S & Turner. G (ed.) 2010, Media Studies & Communications In Australia, 3rd Edition, Allen & Unwin, Australia.
Fleming, D (ed.) 2000, Formations : A 21st-century media studies textbook, Manchester University Press, Manchester and New York.
McKee, A n.d. A beginner's guide to TEXTUAL ANALYSIS, Metro Magazine NO. 127/128.
O’Shaughnessy, M & Stadler, J 2012, New Media And Technological Development, 5th Edition, Oxford University Press, Australia and New Zealand.
Thompson, J. B. 1995, The Media and Modernity: A SOCIAL THEORY OF THE MEDIA, Cambridge University Press
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