code name: falu - university of british columbia name: falu the media creates, rather than reflects,...

Code Name: Falu The media creates, rather than reflects, a society’s values. Stance: Disagree Word Count: 430 Media as we will understand it within this essay are all the forms of communications that 1 are exchanged and consumed by individuals in society. For this paper, we will define that if 2 media is creating society’s values then the values originate and are disseminated meaningfully 3 from the media sources into the value systems of individuals in society. I hold the view that 4 media is not responsible for creating society’s values but that it instead merely reflects these 5 values. 6 Firstly, media today has transformed from film, print, and radio to include internet- 7 sourced media, such as social media platforms, and websites etc. now includes social media 8 platforms like Twitter, Instagram etc.. The ways that consumers find information and consume 9 the media is affected by the accounts they follow, since the reader only receives information that 10 they has already chosen to follow. This is likely because of how much the media aligns with their 11 values. The social media accounts and platforms that garner the most attention will have a larger 12 audience and therefore a larger voice on the platform. This mode of looking at media 13 consumption is defined as the audience approach and it assumes that the individuals in society 14 are actively contributing to what media is significant. (Chandler 1997). In this way, the media is 15 reflecting to the audience what it already values. 16 Secondly, media’s role as a marketing tool for product consumption by society requires 17 the media to reflect what society at the time values and desires. For example, the media and 18 advertising in the 1950’s and 60’s started investing more money into campaigns for new 19 products and technologies, which led to profits greatly increasing (“History: 1960s” 2003). The 20 post-war era values were shaped by having a larger affluent middle class that were able to return 21 to optimism and family values that came with the economic boom and the technologies 22 developed from war-time inventions. 23 Thirdly, based on research conducted by sociologist David Morley, it has been shown 24 that a form of media is more likely to be successful at disseminating meaningful ideas to the 25 audiences receiving it in society if those audiences have ideologies that already work with or 26 parallel those exhibited in the media (Chandler 1997). Additionally, The study showcased 27 different groups of individuals based on their class, race or sex and how their interpretation of 28 the same television program Nationwide were significantly different. 29 30 This shows how the information and ideas offered to society in the media is only able to 31 distribute values or ideas as the audience interprets them and even still the values that are 32 accepted are only those that align with the audience, and does not therefore create society’s 33 values as we have defined them. 34 35 References: 36 Chandler, D. (1997, January). David Morleys Study of the Nationwide Audience 37 (1980). Retrieved January 17, 2018, from http://visual 38 memory.co.uk/daniel/Documents/short/morleynw.html 39

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Code Name: Falu

The media creates, rather than reflects, a society’s values.

Stance: Disagree Word Count: 430

Media as we will understand it within this essay are all the forms of communications that 1 are exchanged and consumed by individuals in society. For this paper, we will define that if 2 media is creating society’s values then the values originate and are disseminated meaningfully 3 from the media sources into the value systems of individuals in society. I hold the view that 4 media is not responsible for creating society’s values but that it instead merely reflects these 5 values. 6

Firstly, media today has transformed from film, print, and radio to include internet-7 sourced media, such as social media platforms, and websites etc. now includes social media 8 platforms like Twitter, Instagram etc.. The ways that consumers find information and consume 9 the media is affected by the accounts they follow, since the reader only receives information that 10 they has already chosen to follow. This is likely because of how much the media aligns with their 11 values. The social media accounts and platforms that garner the most attention will have a larger 12 audience and therefore a larger voice on the platform. This mode of looking at media 13 consumption is defined as the audience approach and it assumes that the individuals in society 14 are actively contributing to what media is significant. (Chandler 1997). In this way, the media is 15 reflecting to the audience what it already values. 16

Secondly, media’s role as a marketing tool for product consumption by society requires 17 the media to reflect what society at the time values and desires. For example, the media and 18 advertising in the 1950’s and 60’s started investing more money into campaigns for new 19 products and technologies, which led to profits greatly increasing (“History: 1960s” 2003). The 20 post-war era values were shaped by having a larger affluent middle class that were able to return 21 to optimism and family values that came with the economic boom and the technologies 22 developed from war-time inventions. 23

Thirdly, based on research conducted by sociologist David Morley, it has been shown 24 that a form of media is more likely to be successful at disseminating meaningful ideas to the 25 audiences receiving it in society if those audiences have ideologies that already work with or 26 parallel those exhibited in the media (Chandler 1997). Additionally, The study showcased 27 different groups of individuals based on their class, race or sex and how their interpretation of 28 the same television program Nationwide were significantly different. 29

30 This shows how the information and ideas offered to society in the media is only able to 31

distribute values or ideas as the audience interprets them and even still the values that are 32 accepted are only those that align with the audience, and does not therefore create society’s 33 values as we have defined them. 34

35 References: 36

Chandler, D. (1997, January). David Morley�s Study of the Nationwide Audience 37 (1980). Retrieved January 17, 2018, from http://visual 38 memory.co.uk/daniel/Documents/short/morleynw.html 39