Assignment 5: Interpreting Mass Media

Media (or medium) literally means "through," "between," or "middle."  It refers to the instruments and tools that we use to convey information to each other.  For this reason, a media studies approach may the way that we approach culture.  It forces us to think not only about the content of cultural information, but also the form that this content takes.  When we look at media, we look specifically at the way cultural information is produced, packaged, distributed and consumed. This approach assumes that this process will change the content of the messages that media systems produce.  Technological changes, economic pressures, aesthetic preferences and other factors influence the development of media systems, and in turn, the meaning or content of contemporary ideas. 

Over the past two weeks, we have taken a closer look at the problem of the function of mass media in contemporary society, and used texts from Louis Althusser, Frederic Jameson, and David Foster Wallace to develop approaches to mass media and associated cultural phenomena.  The assignment for this week asks you to use one of these texts to theorize mass media systems and develop a critical approach to the way these systems function in our social world.

1.  Choose a moment from one these texts that you find particularly charged: this can be because you agree or disagree with the author's perspective, or because it puts things into a new perspective, or even because you have difficulty understanding this particular moment.  This can be as short as a phrase, as long as a paragraph.

2.  Explain the relevance of this point to our contemporary culture.  What sort of cultural phenomenon is the author describing?  What kinds of cultural texts does the essay make reference to? Where and how can you see this in your life?

3.  Step back and theorize this.  How does the author understand mass media systems?  Do you agree with this assessment?  What are the stakes?  Why should we care?