Put an end to an overly massive mass media

Whether we like it or not, the mass media—namely, TV, cinema, newspaper, the Internet, as well as the billboards on the street etc.—are part of our being, an integral part of the modern psyche. We grow up consuming the media and in return allowing it to consume us. Just think about how much information, both factual and fictional, both consciously and unconsciously, is conveyed to us daily via the mass media.

Mass media itself is not evil. After all, we do need to rely on others to inform us with the happenings that are beyond our scope of sensory. When positioned in the right place, granted the deserved attention and power, the mass media can be an indispensable tool for the well-being of both the individual and the society. It can, for example, promote health as well as democracy, to any corner on this planet.

What is problematic with it is the kind of messages we are bombarded with, often times against our will, as well as the power the media had appropriated—the power to define what is truth and what is important. Worse still is the “corporatization” of the media. The nested interest of profit is often mixed in with the dissemination of information, and of “truth”. The average person probably recognizes more corporate logos than national flags, remembers more celebrities than their own teachers, and spends more time watching TV than nurturing familial relationships. By the principle of “mere exposure”—that a positive attitude toward a previously neutral object will gradually form when one has been exposed to it for an enough number of times—our values can be quite easily manipulated. This is a scary thought.

The media one way or another informs us how other people are living their lives. For instance, with the domination of Hollywood, we probably know more about the United States (and particularly California) than any other country, say Mexico. To be more accurate, we are exposed to the life of the US as depicted on the silver screen. In addition, because of its vast marketing power, we very likely are more familiar with the Hollywood than Bollywood, even though the latter produces more film per year than the former.

What probably concerns me the most is this: the media helps fueling the social unrest created by economic and political disparities. The value system (often traditional) that keeps a society intact—in our case, arguably, Confucism—is now in competition with the value system offered by what we see on TV and the Web. We learn how wonderful life is (or at least seem to be) of those who are rich and famous, and we quite inevitably compare that with our own miserable, mundane life. And we are often fooled to believe that the former is attainable and we are tempted do so by all means, immediately. Disparity is nothing new; recall the aristocrats existed (and some still existing) in almost every civilization. What is new is the mobility of information: Now a farmer can readily observe the glamour of the city and the materialistic life of his urbanite counterparts. It is no wonder that we hear about so many different doggy businesses going on in the developing world. It is also not a misery why crime—both commercial and violent—are occurring at an increasingly rate and magnitude. Why should someone adhere to the virtue of perseverance, of diligence, of community, of self-sacrifice, of respecting the elders, of preserving the environment, of frugality, of fidelity, when one can exploit others and the environment in exchange for all the material goods the media tells us we ought to have? With the sneer population and purchasing power of China, and its market connectivity with the world, crooks only need to commit one crime and earn enough. Hence the fake eggs, fake fish, faulty toys, and, yes, fake hopes and dreams—Macau.

The choice is ours
We live in a time of abundant temptations. And it is becoming harder and harder to fend them off. But the beauty of it is we also have abundant choices. With all the miracles of the Web, we now can get our needed dose of entertainment and information and news of our own choice. Previously, in our parents’ generation, for example, we could only subscribe to a limited selection of media. These information providers, in order to survive, must cater to a large proportion of the local population and hence is constrained by their demands, interest etc. Now, however, even a niche market can have a large enough clientele to sustain a form of media, especially when it is online. And, as a result, we see the proliferation of alternative voices that may have previously been subdued by mainstream media enterprises. In this sense, the Internet provides a relatively democratic form of mass media: anyone can be a reporter, commentator, and star. The bottom line is this: the choice is out there and it is ours. It is most often just a matter of seeking them out or having the time to create our own.

The media, mass or otherwise, must be democratized or at least made accountable to the public. In the past, we’ve seen the atrocities made possible by a government controlled mass media (i.e., propaganda); in today’s world the power of defining what is fact is still by large in the hands of a few corporations. We, the consumers of the media, must then uphold a sense of discernment and fight for a fair, as bias-free as possible news source. And one way to do it, quite ironically, is through consuming. Consuming wisely, that is.

Christian Chan
Sept 2, 2007
Cambridge, MA, USA