The public sphere is what "Pop culture" makes of it. Pop culture has the most influence on the world, and it is starting to show. Its influence is most noticable in the younger teens that are about to be adults in the world. I think the public sphere is controlled by people of power that own mass media. If I own a TV channel or a magazine, I'm going to talk about what people are interested in, not really what is important because that is what is going to keep the viewers watching, and the consumer buying my product. In class discussion today, I talked about how we watch Nancy Grace and how she is treating this "Tiger Woods thing" with "these girls", but there is no mention of Tiger donating $3 million for Haiti's victims. But to be honest, what Tiger has done is nothing new. There are lots of guys like that in America, but they are not news. Public sphere matters because its a representation of us as Americans. Example; Obama is such a celebrity that we watch him when this man has a beer, when this man calls another celebrity an "asshole," and also when he kills a fly. We are so proud to have Obama as our president, that we watch his every move, and sometimes we get lost in what is really important.
There is definitely a contradiction here. On one hand you say that mass media is controlled by people of power, then you say they put on whatever is interesting to the people to sell ads and products. It seems to me, that people are in control. If the people resist. There is nothing. Can a powerful man, who believes that the world should be full of slinkies, put it in the media and have it come to reality? No. He is merely a tool for the people. His job is to give them what they want. It might be given to us with his own twist, but we are the ones who make it up. People amongst people. Everyone does their part.
ReplyDeleteOne thing we should ask ourselves is Tiger donating $3 million to the victims of Haiti for the good of the people or is it a gimmick to leave him alone and polish that tarnished image? Is public opinion worth 3 million dollars?
ReplyDeleteI just think that he would actually give the money if his situation with these women didnt come up. I think he has many ties to come out and say something to the media and his fans. Also by giving money his name is back out there again and to be honest if he was really worried about his public imagie he would not try to draw attention to his name.
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