As the landscape of the media arena constantly changes, it seems quite difficult to develop concrete ideas about how media functions. The foundations of media have grown and evolved, and have shaped society, just as society has shaped media. From what has been explored in the videos, especially by Michel Bauwens and Saskia Sassen, technology has become a tool for modern entrepreneurs. However, as a tool, media and technology has been exploited by large corporations in an attempt to mould society around speed and consumption. Society is now dictated by technology and media. Media tells you what to wear, where to eat and what to throw your money at. The future of media is not one of free speech and accessibility. Rather, it would seem that media is becoming more narrow in it's approach to society as it has grown. The foundations of media have shifted greatly as the spheres of finance and consumerism have begun taking larger and larger portions of media interest. In the recent feminist seminar, The F Word: A Day of Global Feminist Debate, Naomi Wolf argued that the government's hold on the media was going to undermine the original foundations of media - those of integrity, objectivity and accuracy. Whilst there may be concern about the government interference with the media, I think the greater threat to the ideas and foundations of media comes from financially powerful third parties, like Gina Rineheart. With someone from the business sector with ulterior motives in charge of the media, the traditional foundations of media will be shattered. The media will become an agent with an agenda, a puppet of the elite that will lose it's ability to stand against it's master.
Whilst the implications of media can at times appear to have inherent political bias, the flow of media and the flow of media technologies is always changing. Grassroots organisations such as Adbusters are using media as a tool for social reform and as a medium between the people, rather than a medium between third party institutions. This article, from the Adbusters website, about Horizontalism captures the way in society can be drawn together through a cultural medium.
References
Bauwens, Michel (2009) ‘The Internet as Playground and Factory’ <http://vimeo.com/7919113>
Sassen, Saskia (2009) ‘The Internet as Playground and Factory’ <http://vimeo.com/6789940>
Sitrin, Marina (2012) 'Horizontalism', Adbusters, February 21, <http://www.adbusters.org/magazine/100/horizontalism.html>
Wolf, Naomi (2012) 'The F Word: A Day of Global Feminist Debate'
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