The media and the marketplace have had the best of times and the worst of times to be cliche. I agree with the idea that consumers are buying the ideas and products that the marketplace produces. However, I wonder if the viewer was well educated on what they needed if they would still buy all the crap that is advertised.
In the US the media structure is set up in such a way that media is dependent on the market place and pretty much vice verse. The Media would have trouble surviving with out the money from advertisers and I doubt many products would be as successful with out the advertising they receive. It seems to be a vicious circle that continues to cycle.

Marketplace and the public

I feel like there is a love/hate relationship between the marketplace and the public. We continually criticize the marketplace about what they present to the public, but isn't it the public that just eats this stuff up? The marketplace continues to function and work the way it does because "they" profit off of our viewership, readership, etc. We will always hope that our marketplace of information will present truthful, unbiased content, but unless the consumers/public stop participating in it they're still working hand in hand with the marketplace they claim to disapprove of. The public disapproves of the fact that everything is biased and censored, but at the same time the public continues to read, watch and listen to that very same censorship that is given to them by the marketplace. It's frustrating that this issue can go on forever because it seems like the relationship between the two will never go away or be solved.

Media Literacy

For myself, I never thought my media literacy education was anything unusual. Ever since about 7th grade I was in some sort of class, or one of my classes spent a whole few weeks every semester talking about the media and how to consume it. Throughout High School I had different types of classes such as Contemporary Issues or World of Ideas, or an entire Media Class in which we just studied the different types of media out there. However, discussions in this Capstone class have let me realize that not everyone in this country have the same opportunity. For me, it is nothing special to think, "What is this commercial after?" or "What is this story really trying to say?" I do not know really who should be responsible for this type of education. IF schools were capable of doing it I would put it on them, but budgets and whatnot do not realistically allow for every school to include these special kinds of electives. I think society in general should try to educate itself when it can about Media Literacy.

Conflict between the marketplace and the public

I think there has always been conflict between the marketplace and the needs of the public. First of all there are the stereotypes of each marketplace, like Fox is the conservative network and CNN is the more liberal network. With these images I think the marketplace is always trying to please the public, but yet the public is never pleased. Either way they think a network is too liberal or conservative. The marketplace is always trying to make things better according to what the public wants and needs. I honestly think no matter what the marketplace does, the public will never be happy with it and that the two will never really meet a happy medium. Like Graham said, I don't have much knowledge in either subject.

the marketplace and the public

I think that the marketplace and the needs of the public has always had a very akward relationship, due to the fact both sides have different beliefs of what they actually need and want. the public is always wanting something for the best price, deal, or other contractional obligation while the market place needs to make the most profit that it can for the service that it has to offer. I feel it is very hard for both the market place and the needs of the public to reach a resolution in most of the affairs that they encounter together. Sometimes the needs of the public cause a greater strain of problems with the marketplace in general. I feel that i don't have a great amount of knowledge on how these two groups interact, but through their interaction and using the media to show that interaction it will help me understand how the public needs and the pressures of the marketplace will always share a common ground.

Media Literacy

My media literacy began at a very early age. My parents have always been aware of what is going on in the news and with the media. They have always told me to be leery of what I was seeing on television because it may be an exaggeration of the truth, and I have seen that all the more as I have grown older and found these things on my own. My parents are definitely conservative so we were mainly watching Fox News instead of CNN, and that has carried into my life. That is what I watch because I think it is what I was taught and that is what I learned.
I did not have anything in school to teach me about the media. It was all in the home.

Media Literacy

Like most everyone else in my group, my media literacy experience started in college. I watched news sometimes but never with any regularity. The only time I picked up a newspaper was to do the crossword. In my Film Studies degree, I learned to pick apart the visual media - form and content. One class that made me look at a lot of things I had never thought about was Race, Gender, and Media. For instance, I never really looked at ethnic representation in television.
I had never thought about why who sends us what messages was important. I started getting skeptical about what information was being left out of stories in my newscast. I still don't watch much news but I read plenty of news online from a variety of sources. I feel better about how and what I watch now, that's for sure.