From: Bill Spight (bspight@pacbell.net)
Date: Sun 10 Apr 2005 - 16:13:10 GMT
Dear Vincent,
Long time. How's it, bro? :-)
> Tim:
> <Feedback loop.
>
>
>>> The producer's job is to get and maintain market share (i.e.: audience).
>>> Whatever tends to get more audience will tend to be selected for by the
>>> producers. Whatever tends to push more buttons will tend to be selected
>>> for by the audience. The result: a vicous circle of evolutionary
>>> selection pressures that is only limited by the (ever changing) boundies
>>> of that niche.>
>>>
>>>
Vincent:
>
> Quite possibly, although that's rarely what journalists would
> acknowledge, instead appealling to higher principles of informing society
> and window on the world etc. etc. I do get the feeling, stemming from
> memetics, that perhaps there is an underlying process that is quite
> simplistic in media production/consumption. I'm not sure that colleagues in
> my discipline would necessarily find a reductive approach that appealing,
> and more pragmatically, I'm not sure yet how to test this empirically- the
> process that is, not the outcome, particularly since context is so important
> in both production and consumption.
This brought to mind something from Bill Maher's show on HBO some weeks
ago. Bill was complaining about news programs, in particular cable news
programs, focusing on and repeating the same trivial story all day long,
such as Michael Jackson's appearing in court in his pajamas. One member
of his panel responded that that was dictated by the 24/7 format.
That response seemed particularly inane to me. I'd be interested in your
comments.
Best regards,
Bill
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