Media and Culture Analysis - Essay Example

Section/# Media and Culture: An Analysis One of the most interesting facets of our modern lifestyle is the degree of integration the level of symbiosis that exists between the media and our present culture. A host of studies have sought to capture the level of this effect with varying results. Accordingly, this brief essay will seek to answer key questions regarding the level of interaction that these two share. Rather than seeking to quantify the actual level of integration that these two experience, this brief essay will seek to draw inference on the degree to which one aspect seeks to define and influence the other and vice versa. Moreover, the analysis will consider the two pertinent arguments that seek to define the ways in which the media and culture interact with society. For such a purpose, it is necessary to view “the media” as a solitary entity rather than a conglomerate of multi-dimensional pieces. Although such a definition is somewhat simplistic, it is one of the only ways that such a broad topic can be attempted to be researched and answered in such a brief piece. Firstly, many scholars have sought to portray the way in which the media interacts with and defines culture as a mechanism by which one is forcefully shaping the other in a way that exhibits the strength and power of one over the other. This approach has been used by many to draw a level of inference with respect to the ways in which the media has a direct or indirect effect in attempting to mold and direct the shape of a given culture (Salomon 1997, p. 379). As such, this interpretation necessarily takes the view that the media is somehow operating in a type of vacuum and has the strength to both mold and shape the beliefs, attitudes, and norms/mores of society in which it interacts. Although this can to a large extent be realized to be partially true, the fact of the matter is that the media is itself integrally tied to the concept and understanding of culture. In this way, it cannot be fully understood to be a foreign force that is acting upon culture as a means to influence it. However, to the credit of those that espouse such a view of the media, it should be understood that recent changes and direction in the media actually helps to add a degree of credence to such a worldview. Years past, the media itself was a massive conglomeration of different firms and interests that could be divided amongst radio, television, movie industry, newspaper, magazine, entertainers, production entities etc. However, there has been a definite and pronounced trend within the past 30-40 years to have what can only be defined as a more integrated representation of the media within our world. This is not the result of some sinister plot to control the minds and culture of our current society; rather, it is merely the fact that the media industries are like any other business and seek to continually differentiate themselves and seek out new opportunities, reduce competition, and open themselves to new markets and new consumers of their products. As a means to earn more profits and generate a higher degree of market share, mergers have been a trend within the media industries for the better part of the past several decades. As such, the aforementioned groups that make up the media industry within the world have become more and more related; thereby creating a situation in which but a handful of dominant media firms seemingly dictate multiple sectors of the media. This has caused many people to assume that due to the non-penetration of free market players into the industry it necessarily means that the media as such has a powerful and monopolistic effect on interacting with and defining culture (Mallia 2011, p. 33). However, as will be analyzed in the proceeding section, such an approach is somewhat narrow-minded. Due to the fact that each of these media sectors ultimately seeks to operate in the same way that any firm would (i.e. to generate profits), the behavior of the entity is not unpredictable or sinister. The alternate view to this is that culture itself is what defines what the media seeks to sell to the populace. This view believes strongly that the media is merely a representation of current culture. As has been noted in the previous example, the main concern of the media industry is to seek to sell products and services to its viewership/readership and/or listeners. As such, it would be somewhat of a counter-intuitive approach for the media to seek to fundamentally change the manner in which people think. As the media’s main concern is to generate a larger market share and to sell the products and advertising that it generates, it would make little to no sense for such an industry to engage in a relationship with the given culture that was against the ideals that it fundamentally espoused (Drottner 2005, p. 55). Such a simplistic approach necessarily focuses upon the end product that the media attempts to generate and therefore traces a firm but definitive line back to the ultimate profit focused desires that define the industry. In this way, the reader can readily see that although the industry itself may seek to espouse views that would necessarily not integrate with the views of a given culture, this would most likely only be effected as a means to generate a higher market share or profit margin for the firm in question. Such a point of view is rather simplistic; however, due to the fact that both sides of this debate agree on the fact that profit margins drive decisions within the media, it is not illogical to assume that the behavior of the media is predicated on the belief that no matter what path is chosen, it will be chosen based upon what mechanism will most directly affect the profitability of the firm. In this way, what can be positively determined is that culture and the media are directed related; however this does not mean that one is necessarily forcing the other to behave in a certain manner (Griffin 2005, p. 3). If anything, the most logical approach would dictate that the media is merely representing culture in the most profitable way so as to engage in a way that maximizes profitability of advertising and other such profit driven motives. Regardless of the inference that the reader is able to draw from these two disparate conclusions, it should be strongly noted that media and culture have interplay. To ignore this fact is to ignore the integral role that media plays on culture and vice versa. Rather than ignoring and or denying that such a link exists, the purpose of this brief analysis has been to weigh and consider the effect to which culture dictates to media or vice versa. As such, the profit driven motives of the media industry are clearly indicative of the fact that the media is merely representative of culture. However, this representation in and of itself is in fact evidence of an exchange between the media and the culture. Likewise, it would be foolish to assume that the media has little if any influence on culture. This is at least partly due to the fact that culture is so differentiated and segmented that media is able to perform a unifying effect and bring otherwise non-integrated views of the general populace into a more centralized/assimilated understanding of the norms/mores of a given society/system. References Drotner, K 2005, 'Media on the move:personalized media and the transformation of publicness', Journal Of Media Practice, 6, 1, pp. 53-64, Communication & Mass Media Complete, EBSCOhost, viewed 22 November 2012. Griffin, E 2005, 'Living within the Media', Yearbook Of The National Society For The Study Of Education, 104, 1, pp. 1-4, ERIC, EBSCOhost, viewed 22 November 2012. Mallia, K, & Windels, K 2011, 'WILL CHANGING MEDIA CHANGE THE WORLD? AN EXPLORATORY INVESTIGATION OF THE IMPACT OF DIGITAL ADVERTISING ON OPPORTUNITIES FOR CREATIVE WOMEN', Journal Of Interactive Advertising, 11, 2, pp. 30-44, Business Source Premier, EBSCOhost, viewed 22 November 2012. Salomon, G 1997, 'Of Mind and Media', Phi Delta Kappan, 78, 5, pp. 375-80, ERIC, EBSCOhost, viewed 22 November 2012. Read More