I'll have to admit, at the start of this lecture, I could not have told you the difference between commercial or public media (nor did I care). ALAS! Now I most certainly can tell you, and feel strongly about the real motives of commercial media, which can be described as:
'Profit driven, not government or license funded, it survives or fails on business success and its business is generating audiences'
Do these companies really believe
they are producing quality, integral programs that completely inform us of national
and worldly events? Furthermore, are we, the viewers, blindly being sucked into
this façade? Fair enough, these programs do give us a 2 minute, shallow report
of some news-worthy stories and some weather patterns. However, this is often
followed by a ten minute ad campaign about the latest mop or hair-styler.
Even when the stories are not so blatantly
‘advertising’, when we look deeper, we can see their true motives. An interview
with a singer or actor can be perceived as an advertisement for their upcoming
show, film or new CD. Furthermore, the absolutely pathetic ‘investigative’ journalism
pieces featured on Today Tonight are often nothing more than ad campaigns: “Which
Shampoo is actually damaging your locks and what brands should you be looking
for?”, followed by “What foods are secretly harming your children and what is the
positive alternative?”. I mean, isn’t it obvious?
The whole idea behind these
programs is enough to make one feel rather nauseous.
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