Audience Commodity Theory

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3. Why do we have to care about culture when we study media? Or How is media related to culture? Discuss your thoughts.

Culture and media are interconnected where understanding various cultures influence media contents whereas media platforms and contents impact cultural and day-to-day practices. Culture encompasses norms, beliefs, behaviours, values, traditions, languages, myths and ways of life. Through the media, groups can create and represent cultural identities. In addition, media narratives and discourses are created within different forms of texts and images that are complexly related to the cultural perceptions and practices of both those who produce and consume them. With media as the channel of communication, specific cultures and values can be reinforced through showcasing different social activities with repetition and consistent delivery of a set of codes and conventions. To understand the relationship between culture and media, we must examine how culture shapes media and in turn, how media shapes culture.

Culture shapes mass media messages when producers of media content have vested interests in certain social goals. The producers offer media content that promotes or refutes particular viewpoints. Many organisations including governments, corporations, nonprofits as well as universities try to shape media content to promote themselves and their values. At the level of government, this type of media influence may become propaganda which intentionally attempts to persuade its audience for ideological, political, or commercial purposes. During World War I, the U.S. government created the Creel Commission which used radio, movies, posters and in-person speakers to present a positive slant on the American war effort and demonize the opposing Germans.

Besides furthering social goals, culture has also shaped how media is portrayed. In countries like China and North Korea, censorship of mass media is commonplace where negative depictions against the ruling parties are prohibited and nudity as well as extreme violence is frowned upon. This has led to foreign films having to cut certain scenes in order to enter the market which may have resulted in a loss of film identity and a shutdown of media expression.

Media also plays an influential role in the day-to-day cultural practices of individuals. Mass media like magazines and television promoting healthy living and the benefits of regular exercise has spurred the trend for health foods and popular exercise routines like Yoga and Pilates. They have also been utilised to promote certain beauty standards like fair skin and large eyes and its direct correlation to being successful and well-liked. The rise of social media networks like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram have brought about a new culture of sharing and the need for external validation by encouraging its users to post about their daily lives in the hopes of achieving those coveted likes.

During times of national crises, media has galvanised countries by providing real-time coverage of major events. When terrorists crashed planes into the World Trade Center towers in 2001, 24-hour television news crews provided stunned viewers around the world with continuous updates about the attack and its aftermath. This has also led to worldwide support and formed a united front against terrorism. Not only does media have the power to mold a country’s culture, it also has the power to push for social change. Films and television programmes that portray homosexual couples and successful careerwomen have influenced the audience into thinking that this is the new social norm and that it should be accepted by the masses.

As media and culture are so closely related, it is difficult to tell which has more influence over the other. However, there is no doubt that the availability of user-generated content produced via the new media has reinforced audience activism and other media cultures, thus contributing to the ever evolving new media landscape.

References

Tung, M. (2013). The chicken or the egg? The cyclical relationship between media and cultures. Retrieved October 24, 2017, from https://www.academia.edu/4541150/The_chicken_or_the_egg_The_cyclical_relationship_between_media_and_cultures?auto=download

Lule, J. (n.d.). Understanding Media and Culture: An Introduction to Mass Communication, v. 1.0. Retrieved October 24, 2017, from https://catalog.flatworldknowledge.com/bookhub/reader/3833?e=lulemedia_1.0-ch09_s02#lulemedia_1.0-ch01_s05

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