The Mass Media and the Public Sphere

Chapter 5 was more interesting and familiar to me than some of the previous chapters. As a Communication major on the New Media track, I have studied many of these ideas before. The chapter was a good refresher on some of these things, but it also introduced some new points that I had not seen before. The example discussed involving the television character, Murphy Brown, and the response by Vice President Dan Quayle to an episode of the show was not necessarily shocking because television culture is plastered on the news now, but in 1992 this was not as prevalent. Despite the fact that we are more attuned to such things now, it is still somewhat hard to fathom the Vice President of the United States commenting on the actions of a fictional television character. Today the media abounds with comments on Britney and Jamie Lynn Spears, but at least they are real people whose actions are leading to actual consequences.

Another television related story told in the chapter related to the scandal surrounding quiz shows. Again, it is somewhat hard to imagine what this was like, because I can't remember a time when advertisers played such an overt and prominant role in television. Clearly advertising remains an important part of the mass meda today, but advertising is seen as a separate entity from programming. The interesting this is that it is just as important as it was back in 1959 when the quiz show scandal took place, it is just not near as overt. Products are still placed within television shows and movies (to advertise), certain progams are underwritten or sponsored by certain companies, and of course advertisers fund radio, television, etc. We don't pay to listen to the radio, so why would it exist if the DJs and others involved couldn't make any money?