Unit 12 Text IWhat Makes Mainstream Media Mainstream.docx

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