tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1731492395426208086.post4920207360563332021..comments2024-03-18T08:37:58.740-04:00Comments on TEA TO POUR: The MediumAaron C. Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02696459385623802961noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1731492395426208086.post-86211621514030637682011-05-09T12:11:48.757-04:002011-05-09T12:11:48.757-04:00Indeed. I guess I'm just wondering whether we&...Indeed. I guess I'm just wondering whether we're at a moment when "the media" becomes (like "the theatre" or "the cinema") a patently inadequate but nonetheless ubiquitous umbrella descriptor for a mode of cultural production/reception. (I am reminded a recurring rant by a theatre prof from back in the day who argued that there was no such thing as "the theatre" - that the practice was too diverse and situated to be containable by "the"...)StinkyLuluhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11765533714740641857noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1731492395426208086.post-25726322178256596872011-05-09T09:59:44.743-04:002011-05-09T09:59:44.743-04:00Yes, yes, yes, Brian. I think you must be correct,...Yes, yes, yes, Brian. I think you must be correct, about Ms. Palin and, of course, the enormous shift that has occurred in the last ten years.<br /><br />But a blanket term like "the media" (which I try to resist at all times) can only efface what I see as the more important places for exploration. I think we need to analyze <i>what these enormous shifts are</i> in the problematics of "media" and "the media." In other words, "the media" covers over the proliferation of cable news, the consolidation and corporatization of our news networks, shifts in the way we access newsmedia, etc. (You could, I'm sure, name many more.)<br /><br />What I am suggesting, then, is that this macro understanding of media is important, I think, but that the only way to get at such a critique will still be to move away from thinking of "the media" as a behemoth and to explore their shifts, operations, and genealogies.Aaron C. Thomashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02696459385623802961noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1731492395426208086.post-83326505479191075862011-05-09T09:35:07.439-04:002011-05-09T09:35:07.439-04:00I wonder, though, if the contradictions (grammatic...I wonder, though, if the contradictions (grammatical and otherwise) you name might not signal the historical shift of the last decade or so. "Media" (as well as "The Media") were fairly unproblematic constructs up until quite recently. Now, someone like Sarah Palin can snark about the "lamestream media" and, in so doing, tacitly hail the fact the multiplicity and decentralization of popular/public discourses (while still implicitly noting the operation of power). Micro discussions of mediation are essential, but I'm wondering if a "macro" understanding is also increasingly necessary.StinkyLuluhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11765533714740641857noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1731492395426208086.post-62523983953161095852011-05-09T06:31:27.727-04:002011-05-09T06:31:27.727-04:00I did as well, wahima. I did as well.I did as well, wahima. I did as well.Michael Stablein, Jr.http://americanlaboratory.tumblr.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1731492395426208086.post-74559059857248652262011-05-08T00:49:34.443-04:002011-05-08T00:49:34.443-04:00I really enjoyed this. You're so intelligent (...I really enjoyed this. You're so intelligent (that's why I keep you around).Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com