Wanted: The Media That We Need

Is The Media That We Want The Same As The Media That We Need?

I don’t believe the media we want is the same as the media we need. My parents always told me that what I wanted and what I needed were two different things. A need is something that helps a person to survive and to live like water, food, shelter and clothing. A want is something a person would but isn’t required for survival. When we look at food there is difference between want and need in there. We need food from the four food groups and we would want chocolate bars because they are not needed.  So the same goes with the media, there is some media out there that society definitely needs to access.

                

The media we need is consistent of things that would affect the way we live our lives, whether it be for the day, week, month or life. A good example of this is traffic as many people drive to work. This means they would need to know what is happening on the route to work and if they would need to take another way to work.  “The relationship between the media and the audience is like a fisherman and fish.”  (http://shelbylafreniere.wordpress.com/2013/10/25/blog-entry-2-the-media-we-want/) I chose this quote because when fishing there are certain lures that one needs to use to catch fish, not all fish go for the same bait. So the media works in the same way. There are certain stories /things that need to let the audiences know and that the audiences need to survive.

               

“As an important industry in the world today, the media tries its best to supply content that will satisfy consumer demands.” (http://nk13ps.wordpress.com/) This true in all aspects of media, where these companies need to both put out the things people want and the things people need but they are not the same things. I love watching shows on TV like Criminal Minds or NCIS: Los Angeles but they are not needs to survive, whereas for me knowing the prices of gas and listening to sports are needs for me because of the way my life style is.  What I want and what I need are different than what other people want and need in the media industry. Some people may want Facebook notifications because it is personal for them but others may need Facebook because it is for an organization for them.

               

“We simply do not want whatever the media shows us, but we actually have some choice about the type of media we consume.” (http://bb11tl.wordpress.com/2013/10/20/blog-assignment-2-do-we-get-the-media-we-want-or-want-the-media-we-get/)  Having the ability of choice is what determines which media is a want and which is a need. Meaning that we choose what we consider to be a need and what we consider being a want or maybe a better word, a piece of entertainment. The ultimate thing that we have as humans is the ability of choice in almost every aspect of our life.

               

So in conclusion I believe that the media we want is not the media we need because the media we want does not help up to survive in the life we live today.

Do we get the media we want?

Do we get the media we want, or do we want the media we get? The way I look at this, it is the same thing just worded differently. The reason I believe this is because when we get media coming to us we have a choice whether or not to allow the media to engage us, the choice to allow or brain to think about the media presented to us. Like when one watches TV, no one watches shows that they do not find interesting and if there are boring ads people change the channel. This is because they chose not to allow that aspect of media to affect them. Of course everybody has their preferences, so what one person watches somebody else might not.

If I had to choose one or the other I believe we more get the media we want. The reason for this is because we get to filter out all the media that we don’t want so we can keep and enjoy the media that satisfies us.  “The media are things that come in the middle of or mediate communication. They are means through which message senders can communicate to message receivers, or audiences” (O’Shaughnessy, Stadler, 78). I take the words here very literally to help back up my decision about why we get the media we want. In the quote it is said the message senders “can” send messages to the receivers or audiences, but it is up to these audiences to accept said messages. It is like trying to call someone on the phone, you send the call and then they can choose to either pick up the phone or to ignore it. Depending on the decision made will depend if the message gets through or not. Related to TVs or other social media platforms, if the message is put out some people will get it no doubt. Others though that do not go on the platforms or turn on the television have chosen not to get those messages that are being relayed.

As we know, many companies and businesses that control media products get to choose what they send to their audiences, but what one company doesn't send another will. TV seems to be the easiest thing to get an example from. There are millions of television channels and each channel is a little bit different than the next. If we were to look at TSN and then look at The Score, it is known and showed that TSN is Canada’s #1 sports network. So they show more and go into depth more on sports events that are related more to Canada. I find that The Score is a lot more just the highlights without an in depth look into players, games or events. So the people who just like highlights, The Score is perfect, but for those who like the highlights and the analysis, TSN is the better suggestion.  The sentences:

                “It focuses on how industrial mechanisms and imperatives surrounding production, distribution, and exhibition affect the kinds of texts created, the kinds of audiences they reach, and the messages they send. It is often used to show mass media products embody capitalist ideologies that are then consumed by the mass audience”.

                                                                                                                                (O’Shaughnessy, Stadler, 22)

I find this to be true for the most part. The people behind creating the products and sending messages “control” the mass media produced, but ultimately the audience controls, again, if they accept it or not. If we take a look at the television again (just because I'm going to talk about little kids) there are many, many channels that little kids should not be watching, that they have access to. I believe that 99% of kids when they are three to 12 years old want to watch cartoons, but with all the channels, they have a hard time finding them. So the parents of these children help to control what the kids watch and allow them to watch what they want without having worrying about other channels and their featured programs.  My parents did this for me as a kid. Some shows were just too graphic or had subjects that weren't appropriate like CSI, or Criminal Minds. Therefore, they locked those channels because parents mostly know what their kids want to watch and because they weren't appropriate. I would then tell them the shows that I wanted to watch and they would set up the auto-tune reminders so I wouldn't miss my favourite shows. Just to sum that all up, it is me and my parents getting the media we want.

                In conclusion, the way I see it, the people putting this media out control the media that is presented to us, but we have the final choice if we accept these messages or not. So we get the media that we want… 

Blog 1 Response: Mass Media Impact on Others

Re-reading my previous blog post it dawns on me that is was somewhat a negative approach to the way mass media has impacted me, but it hasn’t changed the way I like at media. It has however, added some different approaches that I did not think about.  Of course there are tons of positives to go along with mass media and after reading a few of the other students blogs I realize that there was a common theme with a positive about communicating, but negatives with the way media portrays body image. I definitely agree with the posts about how the media displays characters and models on TV or over the internet are wrong.

“No one wants to watch a television series about a chubby 14 year old girl who goes to a crumby high school in an even crumbier town.” (Veronica Field, http://veronicatmeow.blogspot.ca/2013/09/1f25-post-1-media-impact.html). This was probably the sentence that got my attention the most and really made me think about the way that both men and women are portrayed on TV. Many of the guy characters are tall, muscular and play sports. Moreover, the more intelligent characters are shown to be smaller in stature, wear glasses, and appear to be intimidated easily. As seen in the real world, none of these appearances are seen to be exactly true. I consider myself to be pretty intelligent, I do play a lot of sports and I am in good condition. There are some guys that fit the descriptions that are shown on TV, but that is just who they are and they seem, for the most part, to be pretty happy with themselves.

The positive part of mass media, as shown to me by another student’s blog is that mass media has created the biggest set of connections to people around the world. From Facebook to Twitter or YouTube to Instagram, it just seems that the world is connected in some way and for the most part it is a good thing. Being able to contact people in a different country via text message or an instant message over Facebook makes it really easy to stay in touch with old friends and family members.  This way we don’t forget where we come from and who is part of our life. “ The ability to communicate with people across the globe in seconds via Facebook, the power to receive breaking news faster than ever before on Twitter, and the capability to upload a video in minutes on YouTube has sparked a new era of media that provides the instant results many of us have become accustomed to over the last few year”, (Zachengel98, http://zachengel98.wordpress.com/2013/09/17/1f25-post-one-media-impact/). What he mentions in that line has so much truth to it. I spend a lot of time on my phone and send close to 100 texts a day, and talk on Skype for four hours a night. It has come to the point where if I were to lose the technology and ways of communication I have now I would have no idea what to do with myself because I would not be typing this blog right now, all my notes would be hand written and I wouldn’t be able to communicate with those who are away from me while I’m at school.

I can’t wait to see what the future has in store for mass media and technology in general. It is going to be a great couple of years.