Media isn't actually a "thing." It has the same etymological root as "medium"--the size between "small" and "large" as well as "psychic medium." Media, in other words, has no real substance of its own. It's the thing that's in between speaking and hearing; transmission and reception.
By way of articles, studies, and a couple of polls and links, this blog examines the significance of media in American culture. Post your thoughts after the jump.
To be completely honest reading the “brain dead megaphone” made me slightly lose faith in humanity. While I am fully aware of how easy it is to make people to listen to exactly what you are saying and even to agree with you, it is still a little upsetting to read about it. The line that had the greatest effect on me was “the guests will stop believing in their value as guests, and come to see their main role as reactors to the guy”, this was important because it described the acknowledgement of humans giving up their own minds and thoughts to only react to the ideas of another. The author also states that those reactors would “stop believing in the validity of their own thoughts”, this is another piece of evidence that shows how easily people can be manipulated. Another concept from the reading was the idea of how easy people are interested in the obvious, like the example of how Christmas causes more people to be at the mall which causes lack of parking spaces and a harder time shopping but people still go to the mall just because it is Christmas. The fact that a news reporter was able to broadcast this as news instead of common sense just increases my decline in faith for the people in the world around me.
To be completely honest reading the “brain dead megaphone” made me slightly lose faith in humanity. While I am fully aware of how easy it is to make people to listen to exactly what you are saying and even to agree with you, it is still a little upsetting to read about it. The line that had the greatest effect on me was “the guests will stop believing in their value as guests, and come to see their main role as reactors to the guy”, this was important because it described the acknowledgement of humans giving up their own minds and thoughts to only react to the ideas of another. The author also states that those reactors would “stop believing in the validity of their own thoughts”, this is another piece of evidence that shows how easily people can be manipulated. Another concept from the reading was the idea of how easy people are interested in the obvious, like the example of how Christmas causes more people to be at the mall which causes lack of parking spaces and a harder time shopping but people still go to the mall just because it is Christmas. The fact that a news reporter was able to broadcast this as news instead of common sense just increases my decline in faith for the people in the world around me.
Almost immediately when I began reading I came across a paragraph that really caught my attention. This paragraph had to do with the assertion of dominance and how it can affect other people. I find this fascinating because it’s such a simple trait but I can have a huge influence over a situation. Proceeding with this idea, the article arrives at the point that eventually the people “at the party” will actually start to think like and act like “The Megaphone Guy.” What this guy is really doing is changing the social norm. The other people become passive to their own ideas without even really knowing that they are doing it. Before you know it, things that are important to the megaphone guy, suddenly become important to the others around him. Its almost like he is facilitating the party. He controls what goes on, but it’s a type of control that takes place without any direct confrontation. I think this is a very important piece of the article because it really sheds light on how people can be influenced by others and not even know it. Especially when the megaphone guy “isn’t the smartest, or most articulate, or most experienced person at the party…” Reading that line begged the question “can everyone have an effect on everyone else?” in other words; does everybody influence everybody else and create some sort of equilibrium of influence among the “party”? If this is so, then that explains why we cant tell if we are being totally brain washed by one person, because in fact it’s a melting pot of ideas coming from everyone around, in the same way that our ideas are superimposed on to other people.
It seems that the world that we live in today is becoming less and less logical with what people accept as fact and progressive thinking. The concept of the person in the middle of the room with a megaphone illustrates that people are willing to be interrupted during their own conversations only because the person with the megaphone is loud and hard to ignore. It doesn’t matter that he or she is likely talking nonsense about something that he or she have no business bringing up. What matters is that they are the loudest ones in the room so they have control of the floor. One of the ways in which sharing information has been corrupted by nonsense was initiated during the OJ Simpson trial. The story was drawn out for a very long period of time and seemed to dominate all media networks around the clock. Since this trial, the standards of news reporting have been lowered because too many words were being used with very little substance contributed. The OJ Simpson trial became significant on media television through its dominance by being “loud” to its audience. This constant barrage of nonstop talk by the media has weakened our intellect as a society overall. The author uses the example of 9/11 to demonstrate that too many words were being used and thrown around when we needed action in that moment. As a reader, I am reminded of the important words of Abraham Lincoln. I was asked as a fifth grader to memorize every word Lincoln spoke at Gettysburg. Millions of Americans memorized that short speech, and it has an enormous impact on our country. In contrast, the president who spoke the longest during his inaugural address, William Henry Harrison, paid for it with his life. His three hour speech in the rain led to his death weeks later due to pneumonia—the least significant presidency ever.
While reading “The Braindead Megaphone” I began to look back at my reactions and conversations that I have while there is someone speaking either in person at the front of the room or asserting themselves on the television screen. Saunders mentions that when a person is talking that people will listen and then the conversations that they have will be based off of what is being said by “Megaphone Man”. I never really noticed this subconscious reaction that we all have until now, we will all want to critique and comment on what is being said to a point where it is all we talk about. Also Saunders states that we even begin to use the same phrases as the person speaking, it’s amazing how much of our thought process can be changed just because someone starts to speak loudly enough that it would be a hassle to talk over them. It is also a frightening thought, we are not even aware that the media is shaping our daily lives and what we talk about and what we think. The media may just be trying to distract us from bigger issues for as long as they can so that everyone stays calm and happy. As an example, scientists could have known that tobacco can give you cancer years before the public knew about it, but the media could have distracted us with stories of cute puppies and how a restaurant has a new recipe that is “mouthwatering”. In conclusion the media can control us and make us think whatever it wants as long as it drowns our voices out and makes it so you cannot hear contrasting opinions. The media is playing the role of the Braindead Megaphone and we are the poor suckers that listen to it.
To be completely honest reading the “brain dead megaphone” made me slightly lose faith in humanity. While I am fully aware of how easy it is to make people to listen to exactly what you are saying and even to agree with you, it is still a little upsetting to read about it. The line that had the greatest effect on me was “the guests will stop believing in their value as guests, and come to see their main role as reactors to the guy”, this was important because it described the acknowledgement of humans giving up their own minds and thoughts to only react to the ideas of another. The author also states that those reactors would “stop believing in the validity of their own thoughts”, this is another piece of evidence that shows how easily people can be manipulated. Another concept from the reading was the idea of how easy people are interested in the obvious, like the example of how Christmas causes more people to be at the mall which causes lack of parking spaces and a harder time shopping but people still go to the mall just because it is Christmas. The fact that a news reporter was able to broadcast this as news instead of common sense just increases my decline in faith for the people in the world around me.
ReplyDeleteTo be completely honest reading the “brain dead megaphone” made me slightly lose faith in humanity. While I am fully aware of how easy it is to make people to listen to exactly what you are saying and even to agree with you, it is still a little upsetting to read about it. The line that had the greatest effect on me was “the guests will stop believing in their value as guests, and come to see their main role as reactors to the guy”, this was important because it described the acknowledgement of humans giving up their own minds and thoughts to only react to the ideas of another. The author also states that those reactors would “stop believing in the validity of their own thoughts”, this is another piece of evidence that shows how easily people can be manipulated. Another concept from the reading was the idea of how easy people are interested in the obvious, like the example of how Christmas causes more people to be at the mall which causes lack of parking spaces and a harder time shopping but people still go to the mall just because it is Christmas. The fact that a news reporter was able to broadcast this as news instead of common sense just increases my decline in faith for the people in the world around me.
ReplyDeleteAlmost immediately when I began reading I came across a paragraph that really caught my attention. This paragraph had to do with the assertion of dominance and how it can affect other people. I find this fascinating because it’s such a simple trait but I can have a huge influence over a situation. Proceeding with this idea, the article arrives at the point that eventually the people “at the party” will actually start to think like and act like “The Megaphone Guy.” What this guy is really doing is changing the social norm. The other people become passive to their own ideas without even really knowing that they are doing it. Before you know it, things that are important to the megaphone guy, suddenly become important to the others around him. Its almost like he is facilitating the party. He controls what goes on, but it’s a type of control that takes place without any direct confrontation.
ReplyDeleteI think this is a very important piece of the article because it really sheds light on how people can be influenced by others and not even know it. Especially when the megaphone guy “isn’t the smartest, or most articulate, or most experienced person at the party…” Reading that line begged the question “can everyone have an effect on everyone else?” in other words; does everybody influence everybody else and create some sort of equilibrium of influence among the “party”? If this is so, then that explains why we cant tell if we are being totally brain washed by one person, because in fact it’s a melting pot of ideas coming from everyone around, in the same way that our ideas are superimposed on to other people.
It seems that the world that we live in today is becoming less and less logical with what people accept as fact and progressive thinking. The concept of the person in the middle of the room with a megaphone illustrates that people are willing to be interrupted during their own conversations only because the person with the megaphone is loud and hard to ignore. It doesn’t matter that he or she is likely talking nonsense about something that he or she have no business bringing up. What matters is that they are the loudest ones in the room so they have control of the floor.
ReplyDeleteOne of the ways in which sharing information has been corrupted by nonsense was initiated during the OJ Simpson trial. The story was drawn out for a very long period of time and seemed to dominate all media networks around the clock. Since this trial, the standards of news reporting have been lowered because too many words were being used with very little substance contributed. The OJ Simpson trial became significant on media television through its dominance by being “loud” to its audience. This constant barrage of nonstop talk by the media has weakened our intellect as a society overall. The author uses the example of 9/11 to demonstrate that too many words were being used and thrown around when we needed action in that moment.
As a reader, I am reminded of the important words of Abraham Lincoln. I was asked as a fifth grader to memorize every word Lincoln spoke at Gettysburg. Millions of Americans memorized that short speech, and it has an enormous impact on our country. In contrast, the president who spoke the longest during his inaugural address, William Henry Harrison, paid for it with his life. His three hour speech in the rain led to his death weeks later due to pneumonia—the least significant presidency ever.
While reading “The Braindead Megaphone” I began to look back at my reactions and conversations that I have while there is someone speaking either in person at the front of the room or asserting themselves on the television screen. Saunders mentions that when a person is talking that people will listen and then the conversations that they have will be based off of what is being said by “Megaphone Man”. I never really noticed this subconscious reaction that we all have until now, we will all want to critique and comment on what is being said to a point where it is all we talk about. Also Saunders states that we even begin to use the same phrases as the person speaking, it’s amazing how much of our thought process can be changed just because someone starts to speak loudly enough that it would be a hassle to talk over them. It is also a frightening thought, we are not even aware that the media is shaping our daily lives and what we talk about and what we think. The media may just be trying to distract us from bigger issues for as long as they can so that everyone stays calm and happy. As an example, scientists could have known that tobacco can give you cancer years before the public knew about it, but the media could have distracted us with stories of cute puppies and how a restaurant has a new recipe that is “mouthwatering”. In conclusion the media can control us and make us think whatever it wants as long as it drowns our voices out and makes it so you cannot hear contrasting opinions. The media is playing the role of the Braindead Megaphone and we are the poor suckers that listen to it.
ReplyDelete