An Analysis of the Media and Culture Issues of Society :: Media Cultural Essays

The issue of the relationship between the mass media and the customary culture has always been a controversial issue in fond sciences. The political economists insist on the role of the media industry in the creation of this phenomenon of the twentieth century. Though, advocates such as John Fiske, argue that popular culture is actually the creation of the populous itself, and is independent of the capitalist production process of the communication sector. Basing his argument on the immense interpretative power of the people, Fiske believes that the audience is able to suss out all the indented meanings within a media message. He also believes- by giving new meanings to that specific message they can oppose the power block that is trying to impose its ideology to the public. Consequently, this anarchistic activity of the audience creates the popular culture as a defence mechanism. Even when we accept Fiskes ideas, we can non disregard the manipulative power of the media an d its effects on cultural and social life. Everyday we are exposed to millions of different visual messages, which tell us what to eat, what to wear, what to bring in and what to listen. No matter how hard we try to avoid being influenced by these directives, we can only protect ourselves to a certain point. After that, no interpretive power can be helpful. Media then leads us to a path that ends up in the same department store with our neighbour, with whom we have probably never spoken to before. Ironically, we are holding the same pair of socks or CDs, and we might never want to recall the TV commercial that had opened the gates to this path. The coupled States is the biggest economical power in the world today, and consequently has also the strongest and largest media industry. Therefore, it is essential to take a look at the crucial relationship between the media and the popular culture within the social context of the United States for a better understanding of th e issue. For a simpler analysis of the subject we shall divide the media industry into three principal(prenominal) branches Entertainment, News and Commercials (which is the essential device for the survival of the industry, and shall be considered in integration with Entertainment). Researches have shown that the most popular reason behind TV viewing is liberalisation and emptying the mind.