BLOG 4 (Week 3: Darrin Martin

According to the author, entertainment media serves the interests of corporations, not the public. Entertainment media only hurts the public so that corporations can economically sustain themselves, which is their main goal.

While this article was written decades ago, the same ideas can be applied to entertainment media today. Cybernetics, the study of feedback, can be applied to this argument. Mass media then and now has a very skewed power structure when it comes to who owns and who influences the media. Essentially corporations own most media outlets today, and they control almost everything we see. As stated in the article, there is little room for the public to give feedback to mass media outlets. Most entertainment media receives feedback only from corporations and elite figures, not the public whatsoever. Entertainment media does not help the public develop intellectually, unlike art. Entertainment media gives us what we want and what we expect. Whereas art challenges us, and does not necessarily cater to our wants and expectations that easily support elite figures who control the status quo of society through media.

Although new forms of media such as Facebook, Twitter, and Youtube give users some sense of freedom, that new media is ultimately owned by major corporations that subliminally shape consumers’ perspectives on what they think they want and need. This can easily be seen in the numerous advertisements alone on these websites. Although consumers today believe they are in control of what they choose because of technological advancements, the truth is that the entertainment media industry is still the same as it was when the article was written decades ago. The public itself has become the end product of mass media. Entertainment media is propaganda for the masses that enforces a status quo created by powerful elites. Those powerful elites continue to control and influence mass media; feedback is almost impossible from the mass public.