postmodernist theories on media ownership

• 3 characteristics of postmodern society impacting ownership and control debates

  media saturated society - media is defining intimate aspect of postmodern society

  underpinned by globalisation - media used technological developments to remove global and local barriers

  truth is both unattainable and irrelevant due to people having little / no faith in absolute truths
• postmodern theories on media - BAUDRILLARD

  postmodern revolution in communications media mean audiences are immersed in so much information they struggle to differentiate between real life and media versions

  = hyper-reality

  multiple hyper realities exist undermining the power of truth and objectivity = media subject to multiple different meanings
• postmodern theories on media - TROWLER


  media messages in a post modern world are polysemic - each message is now interpreted in a variety of ways, making it difficult for one message to be more powerful than the other
• postmodern theories on media

  distinction between media producers and consumers less clear cut

  shift in media production away from global corporations to individuals who are increasingly engaged in production of new media

  individual consumers are also re-inventing and subverting existing media products of global corporations in imaginative and playful ways - lego based on star wars
• postmodern theories on media

  if there are multiple interpretations of media content, then power to disseminate knowledge circulates in fluid way rather than being concentrated in hands of a few
• postmodern theories of media - LEVENE


  members of society have greater choice in access to a greater diversity of media, making rejecting or challenged meta narratives easier
• evaluation of postmodern theories of media

  arguments are vague and anecdote based over research based

  exaggerate impact of 'information explosion' on ordinary people capacity to bring about change

  evidence suggest media saturation has produced passive participation in a mass culture

  fail to acknowledge overwhelming evidence for existence of structural inequalities in wealth and power relations, making it difficult for powerless groups to bring about meaningful change in their lives