This week we'll be looking at media control and for a pre-task, I ask you to read this summary of Adorno and Horkheimer's Culture Industry: Enlightenment as Mass Deception.
It's quite short, but please read it some time before the class as it might cause your brain to itch. And consider the following questions:
What is the key worry about the "culture industry"?
What do you consider to be mass produced media?
Consider the films, TV shows, music and news you consume. Who ultimately owns and distributes these things? How does that affect the messages contained within them?You don't have to post anything on your blog about this, only read the summary and think about the questions. If you want to do more background reading, feel free.
As a reminder, your post-task from last week's session on fan culture was as below:
Choose a "famous" person you are interested in and follow them on social media, for example Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube etc.Don't forget your media observation post and your elevator pitch for your final task!
Follow them for a few days and also look back at their posting history to get a sense of what they produce and how they work.
Write a blog post about how they use social media, how they interact with their fans, what kind of image they project... and how that influences and gives meaning to what they produce.
