Media Power and Truly Educated Person
What was the role of media in our everyday life ? This may be the important question to ask. So in this blog I'm going to share my views on the power of media and whom we can say truly educated person. So let's see.
The word “culture” itself it so difficult to pin down, “cultural studies” is hard to define. As far as cultural study is concerned, it has broader meaning because we see from various perspective then an individual can know what actually it lays in the meaning. Therefore firstly it becomes my job to deconstruct the meaning of culture as the meaning is elaborated according to different critics so at first we will have glance on the meaning of culture.
When we discussed about Cultural Studies first we discussed about the word ‘‘Culture’’.
‘Culture’, derives from ‘Cultura’ and ‘colere’ meaning ‘to cultivate’. It also meant ‘to honor’ and ‘project’ by the 19th century in Europe it tastes of the upper class .
‘Culture’ is the mode of producing meaning and ideas. This ‘mode’ is a negotiation over which meanings are valid. Elite culture controls meanings because it controls the terms of the debate.
The term culture in American anthropology had two meanings-
(I) the evolved to classify and represent experiences with symbols and to act imaginatively and creatively.
(ii) the distinct ways that people live, differently, classified and represent their experiences and acted creatively.
What is Cultural Study?
Cultural studies is the science of understanding modern society, with an emphasis on politics and power cultural studies is an umbrella term used to look at a number of different subject. Categories studied include media studies including film and Journalism, sociology, industrial culture, globalization and social theory.
“Cultural Studies is not a tightly coherent unified movement with a fixed agenda, but a loosely coherent group of tendencies, issues, and questions.”
Cultural studies is composed of elements of Marxism, Post structuralism and Postmodernism, Feminism, Gender studies, anthropology, sociology, race and ethnic studies, film theory, urban studies, public policy, popular culture studies and Postcolonial studies: those field that concentrate on social and cultural forces that either create community or cause division and alienation.
It is but sure that the study of Cultural Studies in incomplete without the study of 'Power'. In addition, as in our times, 'Media' is the tool to control the perceptions and the subject, the Power makes extensive use of Media. All forms of media. Print, radio, TV, electronic, digital, social.
Media culture :-
In cultural studies , media culture refers to the current Western capitalist society that emerged and developed from the 20th century, under the influence of mass media. The term alludes to the overall impact and intellectual guidance exerted by the media (primarily TV, but also the press, radio and cinema), not only on public opinion but also on tastes and values.
"Noam Chomsky" gives five filters about Mass Media:
● Five filters of Media :
1) Media ownership :
The endgame of all mass media orgs is profit. it is in their interest to push for whatever guarantees that profit.
2) Advertising:
Media costs more than consumers will pay for advertisement. it feels the gap . it access to audience and media is not just selling you product but also selling the advertisers in the form of You .
3) Media Elite :
In the Media Governments, cooperation and big institutions know that how to influence media by using their power and money . if you challenge the power for doing something wrong it is never accept by power. Either you will be punished or you lost your job and everything.
In this where the story which is showing the negative image or real face of power it becomes inconvenient for power and they try to hide it by discreading sourses or trashing the story and put the different story for diverting the conversation.
To manufacture it need enemy, target, terrorism, immigrants or a boogey man to create fear to helps corral public opinion.
The critique of Media studied under Cultural Studies gives an opportunity to provoke our thoughts to understand the how power makes use of media. Here we will see What is Power and how power makes use of media
1. "POWER":-
"Power is the ability to make others do what you would have them do. "
● Six civic sourses of power :-
1) Physical power
2) wealth
3) state action
4) social norms
5) ideas
6) Numbers
● three laws of power :
1) Power is never static
2) Power is like water
3) Power is multiplied by power and powerlessness is multiplied by powerlessness.
● power comes from :
2) Power is like water
3) Power is multiplied by power and powerlessness is multiplied by powerlessness.
● power comes from :
1) Your purpose or social purpose ( Prosocial or Anti social )
2) Education ( teacher - student )
3) Political ( use power to make people fear or for vote )
4) Parents and child.
2) Education ( teacher - student )
3) Political ( use power to make people fear or for vote )
4) Parents and child.
Power is everywhere around us. To read power, one has to start thinking about the things which happens around them. Think how it happens and which type of power is working behind it. After having habit of doing this one can understand the power and also can save themselves from the trap of power.
2. Why Media Studies is so important in our Digital Culture ?
- Media Studies is so important in Digital Culture because it become also part of Digital Culture. Threw Digital tools Media keep all work of their field and some works we can't keep without taking help of digital things. Noam Chomsky is also talking about mass media and how mass media controls the perceptions of large numbers of populations. In our day to day life who decides how certain things works. Well, seemingly it is the government but behind that it is mass media or news papers, news channels which control our perception. We blindly believe what news channels telling us but, before showing any news to us news channels also filters the news. They decide what to show and what not to show, they decides how debates are going to end, in a way every certain things which news channels are showing is pre-decided and planned or we an say scripted. Media controls the elite group of population and it makes us think in a way which they want.
3. Who can be considered as 'Truly Educated person' ?
- At last they are talking about that what actually is being truly educated person and as Noam Chomsky says, “Its not important what you cover in class, its important what you discover”. It is about to inquire and create constructively, independently without external controls. Truly educated person has the spirit of questioning, they don’t accept what comes to them they question in a certain way to identify the fact.
So, this is how power controls media and media controls us but the work of truly educated person is not to believe everything first question then believe what comes your understanding says.
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