Examine the view that media industries view audiences as commodities Essay

Examine the view that media industries view audiences as commodities. Discuss with reference to at least two theorists - Essay Example Notwithstanding the varied nature of broadcasting in each of these systems, the fundamental purposes remain more or less the same - advocating for social and business issues, including marketing, advertising, public relations, propaganda and political communication. When it comes to entertainment, mass media plays a key role in the production and distribution of music, acting and sports (Croteau and Hoynes, 2003; Pg 15). Another crucial function of mass media is to make public service announcements in region-specific manner. Our article is going to focus exclusively on the interrelation between media industries and audiences - whether media industries view audiences as mere commodities or not. To address the concern of the main question we need to look at the socio-cultural impact of media on its audiences. It can be said without an iota of doubt that media and culture in today's world play a leading role in sustaining and reproducing contemporary societies, regardless of geographic barriers. Any society needs to replicate itself to survive, and culture inculcates ethics and behavioral patterns that make people susceptible to abide by institutionalized ways of intellection and conduct. Now while any form of media should ideally strive to promote harmony and ethical standards among the mass, it's often been observed that the 'narratives of media culture' present blueprints of both acceptable and unacceptable behavior, candying important social and political issues and thereby, distorting them. The audience tends to relate themselves, often paradoxically, to what is being fed to them rather than what needs to fed more often (Durham and Kellner, 2006; pg 9). Gradually the so ciety runs the risk of getting detached with the root of indigenous culture and moral standards. This is especially applicable to media and entertainment where subaltern imageries are often promoted. The subaltern classes are largely disintegrated in any society, and they are prone to impressionism to a great extent. The economic development and production of a state also interferes with their ideologies. In addition to this, the subaltern classes generally give active or passive consent to the existent hegemony (Media Studies, 2008). Now the question we have raised here has direct connections to exertion of political authority over media. According to Antonio Gramsci, the Italian Marxist theorist, the Italian fascism wielded its stifling authority over the media and other social, cultural and political establishments (Durham and Kellner, 2006 Pg 3). When similar situations occur, media starts acting as the mouthpiece of the hegemony, and it begins exploiting the audience as commodi ties by producing and distributing provocative materials that lack depth. The role of television can be held as a relevant topic of discussion in this regard. Charlotte Brunsdon raises a valid question pertaining to the ideologies of television programs from a nonacademic perspective. She also makes a liberalist evaluation of television audiences in the United Kingdom since the 1970s. She argues that while already tried and tested art forms such as theater, music and literature have principled values tagged with them; television is something more 'real', or in other words, has potential to be a medium of airing productions that can be comprehended by the mass in general, and that have extensive