The media industry at first glance seems as though it is attempting to inform us, but in reality it is just a business like everything else, and like a business it often lies and manipulates. One of the worst examples is Fox News. Here you have a news channel preaching they are fair and balanced while it is commonly known that they have a clearly republican agenda [5]. This is easily seen as any Google search of "Fox News bias" will get you many articles detailing their slant. However, the evils of the media extend further than just biased news stations and are often much more subtle.
One area that effects anyone who enjoys media entertainment is the fact that the media industry seems to be in support of repetition over innovation[1]. As Adorno has stated: "In a film, the outcome can invariably be predicted at the start- who will be rewarded, punished, forgotten- and in light music the prepared ear can always guess the continuation after the first bars of a hit song..."[4]. This makes sense, why risk a big budget in production on something new that may not be popular, but it doesn't make it any better. It is unfortunately and accurately likened to mass production in other industries by Adorno [2]. However, media is not like manufacturing industries where consistency is a staple and even quite necessary in order to have replaceable parts. There are no parts to replace in entertainment, and so when we are barraged with the same show, the same plots, over and it seems deserving that the media gets less profit. However, this can worsen the situation when a company sees less profits it goes, just like an animal, into a panic mode and often just utilizes old methods that worked before, creating a positive feedback loop into repetition and sameness.
A worse part though is that the media is something that is part of us at all times, even when we are not watching. "Even during their leisure time, consumers must orient themselves according to the unity of production" [3]. The media controls the information you get, the ideals explored in entertainment, and the morals that one's children learn, "The whole world is passed through the filter of the culture industry" [4].
[1]: Horkheimer, Max, Theodor W. Adorno, and Noerr Gunzelin. Schmid. Dialectic of Enlightenment: Philosophical Fragments.
[2]: Horkheimer, Max, Theodor W. Adorno, and Noerr Gunzelin. Schmid. Dialectic of Enlightenment: Philosophical Fragments.
[3]: Horkheimer, Max, Theodor W. Adorno, and Noerr Gunzelin. Schmid. Dialectic of Enlightenment: Philosophical Fragments.
[4]: Horkheimer, Max, Theodor W. Adorno, and Noerr Gunzelin. Schmid. Dialectic of Enlightenment: Philosophical Fragments.
[5]: Ackerman, Seth. "The Most Biased Name in News." Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting (FAIR). July-Aug. 2001. Web.
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