Chapters 1, 8, 9, 10

While reading chapter 1 in Media and Culture, I became aware of the true definition of “medium.” It was defined in this book as “an intervening material or substance through which something else is conveyed or transmitted. It is capable of producing worthy products or pandering to society’s worst prejudices and stereotypes.”
I believe this summation is on point. While the media has its up sides, it can be very damaging and has the ability to lead society down a road of discrimination and into turmoil. It holds such a great deal of power because so many fall victim to believing what they hear and see. The combination of visual and audio information is extremely powerful. Also, how the news is represented and the slant that the reporter/writer/newscaster has makes an impact on ones opinion. It is nearly impossible today to escape the media. Even if you do not take part in watching the news, or reality T.V. shows, there are still advertisements and images, not to mention all the people talking about these shows, stories, and events all around us.
Throughout the reading, I was reminded of how drawn human beings are to narratives. In a sense, it is almost as if we exist to tell and hear stories. This has been with us since the beginning of our existence. We are constantly relating situations of our own to someone else’s and vice versa. People have become so dependent on hearing these stories that they have become addicted to mass-produced media. In turn, many have become less in touch with reality and their ability to distinguish and challenge social inequities has diminished. This all seemed to be an issue with the rise of newspapers. While the newspapers have significant advantages, there were times that the public could not decipher the truth. During the ages of yellow journalism, newspapers were made with a sensationalistic, dramatic style. Corruption, conflicts, and other news was dramatized. The public tended to believe that the printed text was true in totality, which was often not always the case. The sensationalistic stories of today are still in existence, but through the form of T.V. shows like Access Hollywood, magazines, and other tabloid papers.
Pop culture has also been the cause of the diminishment of higher forms of culture. The lines between information and entertainment have been blurred. This is very unsettling in my eyes because it shows how much power all of this “information” has over people. So many of us are consumed by stories in the news, and T.V. shows and cannot tell the difference between a show and reality. The text talks about how high culture is exploited today. It is almost as if we are trying to reinvent different ways of grabbing ones attention, and money, by dramatizing it and making it more exciting. This is seen with the reproductions of Frankenstein by Mary Shelly. The original novel talked about serious themes like abusing science, and judging physical appearances. However, with the recycling of the story into forms like the T.V. show The Munsters, and Young Frankenstein(the movie and the Broadway version), the themes seem to get lost and the story is simplified and turned into more of a comedy.