The emergence of media: Humanity's endgame – a précis (Part Two)
By Mark Wegierski
web posted February 18, 2013
The author continues with his analysis, which is in point-form in tune with the abbreviated styles of communication now frequently seen in the media.
The Discourse Of The News Media:
- Personas
- Short Terms - the one word equals a world - the 30 second sound bite reduced to "one word" - e.g., Tiananmen; Soweto; El Salvador; Nicaragua; Chiapas; Cannes
- Emotional Strategies
- The Feeding Frenzy
- The Wave Effect
- news is a commodity
Types of Personas:
News Anchors/TV Reporters –
"Newsers", i.e., "underclass" of writers, producers, etc. - "meta-television" (TV programs about making TV programs) - cf. Murphy Brown - "the behind the scenes news-shapers" cf. Network, The Paper, The Mary Tyler Moore Show
Talk Show Hosts –
Serious: e.g., David Frost, Charlie Rose, Larry King;
More Populist: e.g., Oprah Winfrey, Phil Donahue, Geraldo Rivera;
Late Night, e.g., David Letterman
Types of Personas:
Sports Figures
Movie/TV Stars
Rock Stars
Fashion Models
Media Intellectuals
Big Business Figures
Financial Analysts }
Political Analysts } "Spinners" - Spin Doctors - "the CNN experts"
Politicians
"Ordinary People" (Extras) (one extra called himself "an animated prop")
Example of Political (or Magazine) Journalism: National Review - note how William F. Buckley, Jr., squeezed out and marginalized all those who disagreed with him on the Right - the ongoing attempt in all media is "to reduce a plurality of current social phenomena to a single person, journal, magazine, newspaper, movie, or TV show" - Buckley has carried out a right-wing version of "political correctness" - he excised all ideas critical of corporations/big business/laissez-faire and out-of-control technological growth
Three Major Lifestyle/Lifeworld Realms Of Media:
- Rockworld/Planet-Teen/Fashionland
- The Sports-Industries Megaplex - all sports-franchises make their big money on network-coverage, not on stadium ticket sales - the major professional team sports: football, baseball, basketball, hockey, soccer - new "city-identities" largely tied to professional sports franchises
- Pornoland/Pornucopia/Sex-Industries (so-called "mainstream hardcore" videos were a huge business, some have estimated that the number of sex-related videos sold was almost the equivalent of non-porn videos sold; similarly, it has been suggested that a huge portion of the Internet is porn-related)
The Media And The Public-Political Sphere: Assault On The Public Sphere
- "Telescopic Philanthropy" - "love humanity and hate your neighbor"
- Fear-Mongering -
Consumption Aspect: typically, ecological, environmental, product-safety, and new disease scares - people get into tizzies - lowers self-esteem - requires commodity purchases to raise self-esteem - "paranoid spending" - "consumption fed by fear" - keeping up with the Joneses raised to the nth degree;
Political Aspect: fear about "extreme right" movements, "religious right", budget cuts/welfare cuts
- Cynicism
- Triviality
- the coming triumph of "gangsterism", or of "crony capitalism"?
To be continued. 
Mark Wegierski is a Canadian writer and historical researcher.