The cyber media industry represents the very broad online industry that brings all forms of media onto the internet. Although the internet is much like any other form of the media, such as the news press, television, and radio, it is vastly different in that viewers have much more of a choice as to what they can watch, and more importantly, where and when they can access this media.
It is important to know, however, that the cyber media industry follows the paradigms and value that the culture industry follows. Some of these values include the mass production of certain funded medias, the display of what they think viewers want to watch, or displaying anything that will bring in revenue. Often this may lead to the "production processes which inevitably lead to the use of standard products to meet the same needs at countless locations, win which a cycle of manipulation and retroactive need is unifying the system ever more tightly" [1]. This means that the media industry attempts to tell us what we want and need through the advertisements it airs, through the playlists it recirculates, and the products that they place in shows.
Although the cyber media industry allows access to events and works of arts from miles away or years ago, it offers only a reproducible form of the art that is without its original aura. Because the "uniqueness of a work of art is inseparable from its being imbedded in the fabric of tradition" [2], a lesser quality of the work is being offered.
The cyber media industry is unique in that viewers can expose themselves to the media at their leisure. And anyone, from professional journalists to amateur video uploaders can make news. This is when credibility must be inspected because many uploaders and internet sites make videos for amusement, which "always means putting things out of mind, forgetting suffering, even when it is on display. It is indeed escape, but not, as it claims, escape from bad reality but from the last thought of resisting that reality" [3]. The cyber media industry therefore constantly produces less and less quality of media that makes the world forget instead of making the world knowledgeable.
Because the cyber media industry has become more of a business, this is a very difficult problem to change. Even greater at stake is the influence that the cyber media industry has over the masses, because the "whole world is passed through the filter of the culture industry" [4].
[1] Adorno, Theodor. Dialect of Enlightenment:The Culture Industry:Enlightenment of Mass Deception". California: Stanford University Press. p. 95.
[2]Walter, Benjamin. "Illuminations:The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction". New York:Shocken Books. p. 223.
[3] Adorno, Theodor. Dialect of Enlightenment:The Culture Industry:Enlightenment of Mass Deception". California: Stanford University Press. p. 116.
[4] Adorno, Theodor. Dialect of Enlightenment:The Culture Industry:Enlightenment of Mass Deception". California: Stanford University Press. p. 99.
There are times when the media industry cannot infiltrate a topic. For example, when journalists are prevented from exploring events in a country facing political turmoil as occurred in Iran. Here the common people are the only voices going out, and sometimes it may escape the filter of the industry as there are no scripts no guidelines nothing just raw information. A more common time though is when the common people are the ones to choose which articles are upfront and easy to access. Forums throughout the internet allow users to “bump” posts by commenting on them, thereby bringing the article to the front page where it can get attention. It is nice to know that with access to the internet, if one knows what to search, they will find it. Not just the big name’s opinion but everyone. Blogs started by common people, prevent completely monopolization of information.
ReplyDelete