In class, one point that struck me was the one in regard to media being any extension of the individual human senses. Can media only be in accord with one sense at a time meaning is it only an extension of listening or can it concurrently be an extension of multiple senses? Professor Parker goes on to add that mass media is "the sum total of media aimed (deliberately or otherwise) at specific, collective, target audience, or combination of specific target audiences." With this, I would assume that media can be a concurrent extension of a sense or multiple senses as to reach target audiences, you must do so in a multitude of ways. All this agrees with a later point in Monday's lecture about media following and reflecting the human opinion rather than affecting and leading. This is where my disagreement enters. I guess I am a bit confused as to how media cannot be a hybrid, performing all of these functions, reflecting, leading, following, and affecting. In the way that I conceive media, supported by my own observations, it does indeed do all of this. With the Vietnam War, the stories became progressively opposed to the war as it went on, thus serving as a thermometer for public opinion. But can't it be said that because of what the public discovered from the media, the rising death toll, amount of casualties, unhappiness of U.S. soldiers, they opposed the war. I mean the general public is only privy to the information that is conveyed by the news as their access is extremely limited. To say that the media only follows would be denying the reciprocity of the relationships of the cascade model.
Questions of the Week- If the media is an extension of the human senses, then can the assumption be made that it has the qualities of an individual actor such as information seeking?
- How does media exclusively parallel human actions if TV is considered mass media and TV is also said to have a major influence on individuals?
Question Answered: How does media exclusively parallel human actions if TV is considered mass media and TV is also said to have a major influence on individuals?
Simple. It doesn't! Media participates in communication which by definition is reciprocal. Media and individuals both contribute and affect one another. The perfect example is television. This medium influences a lot of our social beliefs as we often associate truth with what we see on television especially if we do not have another source to negate whatever we're agreeing with. Conversely, what appears on television is influenced by the public opinion at the time. The many individuals who make "television" possible know that their production will be more successful and well-received if it resonates with the viewing audience. With this simple example of what is obvious, I am not sure if I can agree with media simply reflecting.
