Unit 12 Text IWhat Makes Mainstream Media Mainstream.docx
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Unit12TextIWhatMakesMainstreamMediaMainstream
Warm-up
◆Whatismedia?
Howdoyouunderstandtheterm?
Definethetermwithyourpartnerwithin50words.
1.Cambridge:
newspapers,magazines,radioandtelevisionconsideredasagroup
2.Oxford:
themainwaysthatlargenumbersofpeoplereceiveinformationandentertainment,thatistelevision,radio,newspapersandtheInternet.
3.Wikipedia:
Incommunications,media(singularmedium)arethestorageandtransmissionchannelsortoolsusedtostoreanddeliverinformationordata.Itisoftenreferredtoassynonymouswithmassmediaornewsmedia,butmayrefertoasinglemediumusedtocommunicateanydataforanypurpose.
◆Doyouknowthefollowingtermsrelatedto“media”?
Illustratethemwithsomeexamples.
1.Advertisingmedia:
variousmedia,content,buyingandplacementforadvertising
2.Broadcastmedia:
communicationsdeliveredovermasselectroniccommunicationnetworks,e.g.TV,radio
3.Digitalmedia:
electronicmediausedtostore,transmit,andreceivedigitizedinformation,e.g.Internet
4.Hypermedia:
mediawithhyperlinks,e.g.Internet
5.Massmedia:
allmeansofmasscommunications
6.Multimedia:
communicationsthatincorporatemultipleformsofinformationcontentandprocessing,e.g.Internet(includingtext,audio,stillimages,animation,videofootageorinteractivity)
7.Newmedia:
abroadtermencompassingtheamalgamationoftraditionalmediawiththeinteractivepowerofcomputerandcommunicationstechnology,e.g.Internet,websites,computermultimedia,
8.Newsmedia:
massmediafocusedoncommunicatingnews,e.g.
9.Printmedia:
communicationsdeliveredviapaperorcanvas(paper-basedpublication),e.g.magazine,newspaper
10.Publishedmedia:
anymediamadeavailabletothepublic
11.Socialmedia:
mediadisseminatedthroughsocialinteraction,e.g.,Facebook,Twitter
◆Whattypesofmediadomainstreammediaencompass?
Whydoyouthinkmainstreammediaarecontrolledbyandwhatisthemotiveforcontrolling?
◆RecentlyacomplaintpostedonSinaweibo,apopularmicro-bloggingwebsiteinChina,aboutaSanyaseafoodrestaurantoverchargingtouristshastriggeredcontroversyamongWebusers.Howdoesmicro-bloggingaffectthesocietyintermsofthefreedomofinformation?
Howisitdifferentfromthetraditionalmedia?
Theseafoodstall/restaurantwiththeskyhighpricesexposedby罗迪微博:
朋友一家3口前天在三亚吃海鲜,3个普通菜被宰近4000元。
他说是被出租车司机推荐来的。
邻座一哥们指着池里一条大鱼刚问价,店家手脚麻利将鱼捞出摔晕,一称11斤,每斤580元共6000多元。
那哥们刚想说理,出来几个东北大汉,只好收声认栽。
别说服务水平了,连最基本的诚信都做不到,遑论国际旅游岛。
——罗迪微薄(2012年1月28日)
(Moreinformationaboutthenewsisavailableatthefollowingwebpage:
DoyouknowanyothereventthathasgotalotofmediaexposureinChinaortheworld?
Trytouncovertherealreasonswhyitgotsomuchattention.
WhatMakesMainstreamMediaMainstream
NoamChomsky
【1】PartofthereasonwhyIwriteaboutthemediaisbecauseIaminterestedinthewholeintellectualculture,andthepartofitthatiseasiesttostudyisthemedia.Itcomesouteveryday.Youcandoasystematicinvestigation.Youcancompareyesterday’sversiontotoday’sversion.Thereisalotofevidenceaboutwhat’splayedupandwhatisn’tandthewaythingsarestructured.
【2】Myimpressionisthemediaaren’tverydifferentfromscholarshiporfrom,say,journalsofintellectualopinion–therearesomeextraconstraints–butit’snotradicallydifferent.Theyinteract,whichiswhypeoplegoupandbackquiteeasilyamongthem.Youwanttostudythemediatheway,say,ascientistwouldstudysomecomplexmoleculeorsomething.Youtakealookatitsinternalinstitutionalstructureandthenmakesomehypothesisbasedonthestructureastowhatthemediaproductislikelytolooklike.Thenyouinvestigatethemediaproductandseehowwellitconformstothehypotheses.Virtuallyallworkinmediaanalysisisthislastpart–tryingtostudycarefullyjustwhatthemediaproductisandwhetheritconformstoobviousassumptionsaboutthenatureandstructureofthemedia.
【3】Well,whatdoyoufind?
Firstofall,youfindthattherearedifferentmediawhichdodifferentthings,liketheentertainment/Hollywood,soapoperas,andsoon,orevenmostofthenewspapersinthecountry(theoverwhelmingmajorityofthem).Theyaredirectingthemassaudience.
【4】Thereisanothersectorofthemedia,theelitemedia,sometimescalledtheagenda-settingmediabecausetheyaretheoneswiththebigresources,theysettheframeworkinwhicheveryoneelseoperates.TheNewYorkTimesandCBS,thatkindofthing.Theiraudienceismostlyprivilegedpeople.ThepeoplewhoreadTheNewYorkTimes–peoplewhoarewealthyorpartofwhatissometimescalledthepoliticalclass–theyareactuallyinvolvedinthepoliticalsysteminanongoingfashion.Theyarebasicallymanagersofonesortoranother.Theycanbepoliticalmanagers,businessmanagers(likecorporateexecutivesorthatsortofthing),doctoralmanagers(likeuniversityprofessors),orotherjournalistswhoareinvolvedinorganizingthewaypeoplethinkandlookatthings.
【5】Theelitemediasetaframeworkwithinwhichothersoperate.IfyouarewatchingtheAssociatedPress,whogrindoutaconstantflowofnews,inthemid-afternoonitbreaksandthereissomethingthatcomesalongeverydaythatsays“NoticetoEditors:
Tomorrow’sNewYorkTimesisgoingtohavethefollowingstoriesonthefrontpage.”Thepointofthatis,ifyou’reaneditorofanewspaperinDayton,Ohioandyoudon’thavetheresourcestofigureoutwhatthenewsis,oryoudon’twanttothinkaboutitanyway,thistellsyouwhatthenewsis.Thesearethestoriesforthequarterpagethatyouaregoingtodevotetosomethingotherthanlocalaffairsordivertingyouraudience.Thesearethestoriesthatyouputtherebecausethat’swhatTheNewYorkTimestellsusiswhatyou’resupposedtocareabouttomorrow.IfyouareaneditorinDayton,Ohio,youwouldsortofhavetodothat,becauseyoudon’thavemuchelseinthewayofresources.Ifyougetoffline,ifyou’reproducingstoriesthatthebigpressdoesn’tlike,you’llhearaboutitprettysoon.Infact,whatjusthappenedatSanJoseMercuryNewsisadramaticexampleofthis.Sotherearealotofwaysinwhichpowerplayscandriveyourightbackintolineifyoumoveout.Ifyoutrytobreakthemold,you’renotgoingtolastlong.Thatframeworkworksprettywell,anditisunderstandablethatitisjustareflectionofobviouspowerstructures.
【6】Therealmassmediaarebasicallytryingtodivertpeople.Letthemdosomethingelse,butdon’tbotherus(usbeingthepeoplewhoruntheshow).Letthemgetinterestedinprofessionalsports,forexample.Leteverybodybecrazedaboutprofessionalsportsorsexscandalsorthepersonalitiesandtheirproblemsorsomethinglikethat.Anything,aslongasitisn’tserious.Ofcourse,theseriousstuffisforthebigguys.“We”takecareofthat.
【7】Whataretheelitemedia,theagenda-settingones?
TheNewYorkTimesandCBS,forexample.Well,firstofall,theyaremajor,veryprofitable,corporations.Furthermore,mostofthemareeitherlinkedto,oroutrightownedby,muchbiggercorporations,likeGeneralElectric,Westinghouse,andsoon.Theyarewayupatthetopofthepowerstructureoftheprivateeconomywhichisaverytyrannicalstructure.Corporationsarebasicallytyrannies,hierarchic,controlledfromabove.Ifyoudon’tlikewhattheyaredoingyougetout.Themajormediaarejustpartofthatsystem.
【8】Whatabouttheirinstitutionalsetting?
Well,that’smoreorlessthesame.Whattheyinteractwithandrelatetoisothermajorpowercenters–thegovernment,othercorporations,ortheuniversities.Becausethemediaareadoctrinalsystemtheyinteractcloselywiththeuniversities.SayyouareareporterwritingastoryonSoutheastAsiaorAfrica,orsomethinglikethat.You’resupposedtogoovertothebiguniversityandfindanexpertwhowilltellyouwhattowrite,orelsegotooneofthefoundations,likeBrookingsInstituteorAmericanEnterpriseInstituteandtheywillgiveyouthewordstosay.Theseoutsideinstitutionsareverysimilartothemedia.
【9】Theuniversities,forexample,arenotindependentinstitutions.Theremaybeindependentpeoplescatteredaroundinthembutthatistrueofthemediaaswell.Andit’sgenerallytrueofcorporations.It’strueofFasciststates,forthatmatter.Buttheinstitutionitselfisparasitic.It’sdependentonoutsidesourcesofsupportandthosesourcesofsupport,suchasprivatewealth,bigcorporationswithgrants,andthegovernment(whichissocloselyinterlinkedwithcorporatepoweryoucanbarelydistinguishthem),theyareessentiallywhattheuniversitiesareinthemiddleof.Peoplewithinthem,whodon’tadjusttothatstructure,whodon’tacceptitandinternalizeit(youcan’treallyworkwithitunlessyouinternalizeit,andbelieveit);peoplewhodon’tdothatarelikelytobeweededoutalongtheway,startingfromkindergarten,allthewayup.Thereareallsortsoffilteringdevicestogetridofpeoplewhoareapainintheneckandthinkindependently.Thoseofyouwhohavebeenthroughcollegeknowthattheeducationalsystemisveryhighlygearedtorewardingconformityandobedience;ifyoudon’tdothat,youareatroublemaker.So,itiskindofafilteringdevicewhichendsupwithpeoplewhoreallyhonestly(theyaren’tlying)internalizetheframeworkofbeliefandattitudesofthesurroundingpowersysteminthesociety.Theeliteinstitutionslike,say,HarvardandPrincetonandthesmallupscalecolleges,forexample,areverymuchgearedtosocialization.Ifyougothroughaplacel