Wanted: the media that we need

              The question for this blog is: Is the media we want the same as the media we need? The media we want is definitely not the same as the media we need. We are made to think that we need what the media is selling to us but we don’t. We are just made to want things. I don’t need a fancy Iphone. My old phone worked fine, but I told my dad that I desperately needed an Iphone and now I have one. The truth is, I don’t need one but I was made to think that after seeing that basically everyone has one. The media, such as Apple commercials made everyone think that we need to have an Iphone and if we don’t, we’ll be an outcast.

                One blog that I read talked about how we want the media we get because we don’t get to choose the media we are given. Since we don’t get to choose, we end up wanting the media we are given because we don’t have any other choice. We have to settle for what is given to us and we end up wanting it because we are so convinced that it is really what we want. “What the media wants us to think about the world, is what we think about the world”. I really liked this quote from this student’s blog because it is exactly what I believe.  http://cpcfkells.blogspot.ca/.

                One student talked about reality tv and how we think we are seeing people’s everyday real lives but we aren’t. Even though it is supposed to be real and unscripted, it isn’t. It is still television so it is edited just like other shows on tv. “Shows such as “Keeping up with the Kardashians”, “Jersey Shore”, “Real Housewives of Vancouver”, etc, are all meant to show viewers the real life of living a rich life, but it fails to show the actual reality. The producers pick and choose the interesting parts that they want the viewers to see”.  http://adelina23.wordpress.com/. When we see these reality stars living these extravagant lives, we want to be just like them because we think it’s very real. We want to try to get the things that they have because we end up thinking that we need the same things as them if we want to have a great lifestyle like they do.

                Another blog I read talked about how we want the media we get because the media makes it seem like what they are offering us is what we really want and even need. “In the end consumers want what they get, because they desire what media gives them”. http://hecticglow.blogspot.ca/. We don’t actually want or need the media we get but we are persuaded into thinking that we actually do.

Our media choices do not better inform us about important social, political, cultural and/ or economic matters. The men that run the media choose what we see based on what they want us to see. Most media that we see isn’t here to inform us; it’s here to distract us from what is going on in the world. They have their own view of life and they want us to view life the same way. The only thing that I am better informed about through the media is celebrity gossip which isn’t important at all.

Overall, we are not better informed by the media and wanting and needing the media are two different things.

The media we want?

Hey readers. I was asked to write about whether we want the media we get or if we get the media we want, but I decided to take a different approach to answer this question. When I looked at this question, I kind of thought that they were the same things so I can’t give a straight answer to this. Instead, I’m going to sit on the fence for this one and give two answers.

                I think we want the media we get. The media makes us want whatever they tell us and then we get it. The media makes us think we want something that we don’t need. They persuade us so much by making us think that we won’t be cool unless we buy a certain product or that we are defined by the things we have, so whatever they are selling is essential to our lives. For example, a few years ago, the cool phone to have was a Blackberry. Everyone had them because it was cool to have one. Now, the cool phone to have is an Iphone. If you don’t have an Iphone but you have a Blackberry, you are not cool because everyone has an Iphone. Even though Blackberry was cool, it isn’t now and that is the media’s fault. The media tells us what is cool and what isn’t and if you don’t have the cool product then you are not cool.

                I also think that we get the media we want. We always complain about how we hear a lot about celebrity gossip and how it ends up on the news, but I think we are a bit to blame. No matter how many times we deny being interested in the life of Hollywood, ultimately we are. If we weren’t interested, the media wouldn’t be focusing so much time on them because no one would care. Gossip magazines sell because we keep buying them. The media is just giving us what we want. The media is a business and we are the customers. They have to give us what we want or they won’t make any money. “It could be argued that audiences influence, if not control, media output through their choices of what media products to consume”. We also use the media as a tool for information. We know how we want to use the media and we take advantage of it. We use it for the latest information about anything. We can be in control if we want to be. “For most people today the media are the main source of their knowledge and entertainment and are part of the very structure of their lives”.

                The reason I gave two answers is because I think there is two sides to the media. There is the controlling side that tells people what to think and then there’s the side that lets us control it. We get bombarded with mass media and we get persuaded into ways of thinking but we have the power to choose what kind of media we want and we have the power to think for ourselves.

O'Shaughnessy, Michael, and Jane Megan. Stadler. Media and Society. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2012. Print. Pg. 8 and Pg. 38.

1F25: Blog Response 1 Media Impact on Others

                So this is my second blog. This blog will be about what I think about what everyone else had to say in their blogs. After reading some of my classmate’s blogs, my impression of the media’s impact on me has not changed. I found some similarities with a couple of the blogs and also some differences of opinions. A common theme in the blogs was that we all get bombarded with mass media.

                One of the quotes I liked was from http://shanwhite95.blogspot.ca./. I really liked this blog because she says to be critical when viewing the media. She also says how the media doesn’t want you to ask too many questions or form your own opinions. I completely agree with this. They don’t want us to think. They do our thinking for us and want us to just accept everything they tell us. Her quote was, “The key to surviving the media in today’s world is to not let what you see or hear from them control your life; to have a critical eye when receiving any information from the media”. I like this quote because it’s important to be critical because you don’t know if the information that they are telling you is true. You need to form your own opinions because you are your own person; it is important to think for yourself.

                One of the blogs I read, I disagreed with. The blog http://tizid1995.wordpress.com/ talked about how media has helped them filter misinformation and has made them capable of analysing the truth. I disagree with this because the media isn’t doing this at all; it’s the exact opposite. Too much media consumption will make us not be able to filter misinformation. We should be doing what the author of this blog is saying but mass media is getting in the way of that. I did like one of the quotes from this blog though and that was, “Speaking of the news, the media tends to bring more attention to news that may not seem as important as others”. I liked this quote because I mentioned something similar in my first blog entry. It’s true. It seems like they want to distract us from the important issues going on so they focus on unimportant news stories instead like celebrity gossip.

                My favourite blog that I read was justmediaculture.wordpress.com. This blog talked about the company Monsanto which made me really happy because I’m glad that someone in my class is aware of Monsanto and is informed about the dangers of genetically modified food. I’m glad that people are thinking critically and forming their own opinions. The quote that I liked from this blog was, “Whether or not my principles and motives would be the same is open to speculation but I can safely confirm that my exposure to mass media has helped me be a more informed and opinionated thinker”. This is how mass media should be used. The right way to use mass media is to become more informed and to form your own opinions. I’ll say it again- I loved how this person talked about Monsanto and how the protest was ignored by mainstream media. This blog has a totally different view on the media than other blogs. Instead of talking about how we get bombarded with the media, this person says how the media doesn’t report everything, only what they want to. This blog shows how the media impacts us differently and that even though something isn’t mainstream, people will still be aware of it because of how many media outlets there are. If something isn’t on the news, you could find it through social media.