Wanted: The Media That We Need

OH SHEESH Y'ALL ITS HALLOWEEN!
*Ahem* that was a rather embarrassing outburst, especially saying it in a squeaky high pitched voice that startled the roommates. but now for the nitty gritty.

After reading blogs (mostly by clicking random links shotgun-style) I've seen that for the most part we all believe that we get the media we want. I too believe that the media does in fact give us what we want, however, the thing we want is to be entertained not informed. We see this during election times, where we reduce complex arguments into soundbites or "zingers" so we can have the Coles notes to eliminate our need to overthink and research. Lauren Stirling (http://lostirling.wordpress.com) says it perfectly.

"how can I not believe that we get the media we want? Without our approval there is no platform for the media. Therefore, we get what we want from the media, not the other way around."

We get exactly what we want! it just doesn't happen to be anything really compelling. we have to actively search it out, our programs are rarely interrupted with a breaking news story. We DO get what we want, just not what we need.

Christina Clark (http://cclark865.wordpress.com/2013/10/24/the-media-we-want/) agrees.

"When we look at an image, we believe it is a snapshot of reality; however, pictures are often edited to portray a certain idea."

We get our thirty seconds of news before someone puts on a squirrel on water skis. We need to have a villain in every aspect of life and a very clear hero or we will flip the channel or page or whatever. Veronica Field tends to agree (http://veronicatmeow.blogspot.ca)

" If the 9 o’clock news reports stuff I don’t care about, stuff that most people don’t care about, their ratings will drop and they will no longer be receiving the money they require to continue reporting on these issues."

We as a mob want to be led to conclusions, we want to grab our pitchforks but I'll be damned if I'm the one to decide who to burn. We need to have things dumbed down to the point of step by step.
 "Why do witches burn?"
"Because they are made of wood."
"How do we tell if shes made of wood?"
"see if she floats"
"What also floats?"
"A duck"
"So if she weighs as much as a duck, then the is made of wood."
"And therefore...."
"SHE'S A WITCH"

Ya.

Week 2 bonanza

Week 2: Do we get the media we want, or want the media we get?

Ok so here we are in the second week of bloggage. and the question is a rather good one. 
Personally, I am a staunch believer that we get the media we want. I want media that makes my brain wrinkle, or viral marketing that sells me something without even knowing it. But for the rest of the world, it seems the masses want reality in its grittiest, its most dramatic, and lets face it, most unreal. and lo and behond, that is what we get. 

We are addicted to the soundbite, to the cat fights and the unbiased (but really incredibly biased) sequence cut together by using "camera angles, music, editing, slow motion and so on... [to] manipulate events in perticular ways." (O'Shaughnessy, & Stadler, 2012). 

I will be the first to say that video games are awesome. Violent video games are pretty awesome as well. There's nothing funner than sniping someone and knowing that you didn't just make a widow. It's the rush of coming out the victor in a mock life or death situation that empowers us as people in a life where we may not be the victor at all. That is what is so alluring and intoxicating, and that is why there is tons of Call of Dutys and Battlefields. And then there are the Helter Skelter people who's gaming bleeds into the real world. But it isn't video games that pointed the real guns or built the real bombs, it is the violence that resided in these individuals that makes them violent. "If violent feelings are really there, cencorship won't make them go away." (O'Shaughnessy, & Stadler, 2012) 

For the tens of people that read this, either by accident or because of the assignment,  I will now stop my video game rant, I feel like it is an argument that any gamer or lover of the medium will say over and over again. So, for you I will say again, this kind of media, whether it be television gold like Duck Dynasty or Jersey Shore, or graphic masterpieces like Gears of War or Call of Duty, they wouldn't get multiple seasons or spinoffs or sequel upon sequel if this wasn't the opiate of our modern day masses.





Work Cited:
O’Shaughnessy, M., & Stadler, J.. (2012). Media and Society. 5^th Ed. South Melbourne, Oxford University Press.