Media topic 1

Cultural products liked and enjoyed by the majority of ordinary people

Undemmanding and easy to unsterstand, with little critical thought and dont challenge r/c

Low- derogatory term and suggests inferior to high culture, and not set apart and special

Mass- for profit

- commercialized, mass produced, standardized, short lived, trivial products with no lasting artistic value

Cultural products of lasting literary value enhoyed by elites

Found in special places

Postmodernists

distinction is weakening due to globalization allowing people more access and can pick n' mix as huge variety of products available to everyone

- anyone can access it from anywhere

Strinarti

High culture in low culture

Giddings

Video games

Limitations

Drives down cultural standards and diverts away from useful activities

Marxists and critical theorists of the Frankfurt school- mass produced products impossed on masses by conglomerates for profit. A form of social control giving the illusion of choice to maintain r/c power

-lulled into uncritical thinking so dont challenge r/c

Marcuse- Popular culture emphasises relaxation and fun, so undermines ability to think critically and promotes conformity (Social repression)

Strengths

Strinarti- Have a choice of a variety of products

Livingstone- Soap orperas are useful

Flew- Evolution of new media technologies plays an important role in development of global culture

Kellner- Media globally produces images of lifetsyles that become part of everyday life in which people form their identities and ideas of the world. Global culture is mainly American

*Undermines national cultures as same cultural products sold accross the world so cultures become more alike which is called Cultural homogenisation

*Breaks down distinction between high/low culture and breaks down cultural differences between countries

Sklair- media spreads news/popular culture etc. in global market and blurs differences between entertainment and information and sells accross the world idealized happy consumerist Western lifestyles. Encourages acceptance of dominant ideology

*Shared popular culture were everyone consumes the same kind of things

Ritzer- brands now operate globally 'Mcondalization'

*Globalization allows media owners to gain a lots of profit

Thussu- Globalization if TV and competition between conglomerates for audiences/advertising means TV/news is more tabloidized and like infotainment focusing on celebrities and crimes etc.

*Promotes 'feelgood factor' which is Western so diverts attention away from serious issues

Fenton- Global rarely means universal but western and involves cultrual and media imperialism

Bagdikian- 'Lords of the Global village' output is controlled by these are are standardized and dumbed down with dramatized documentarys and celebrity gossip not actual informative documentarys

*No popular or mass culture, as new technology means theirs a huge range of media products so consumers around the world have a wide diverisity of choice

Compaine- global competition is expanding sources of infomration, not restricting and dumbing down

Tomlinson- globalization doesent have a direct cultural impsoition but a hybridization and can pick n' mix and draw on global and western cultures to combine and create a hybrid culture e.g. Slumdog millionare

*New media technologies allow consumers to creatre and distribute own media products and create own popular culture, not passive victims of western congomerates

Diversity of globalized media give people more choice in forming their identity and can pick n' mix

Baudrillard- media saturated society were media imaged dominate and distort views of the world

- Hyperreallity

- Simulcara

Strinarti- popular culture bombards us daily and dominate the way we define ourselves. Creates desires/pressures to consume and some of us define our identities in terms of media imagery for example it is not the qualoty of the product but if it conforms to presented media imagery

-identify more with media images than daily experiences and live in media led virual worlds not real ones Cornonation street 1998 Deirdre Barlow (Hyperreality)

McLuhan 'global village'

*Assumes people approach media without priory experiences and that they dont interpret disccuss and that they cannot ignore or reject imagery

*Media images and representations just reinforce stereotypes

*Marxist's say that choice is a myth and that conglomerates control media