I wanted to briefly comment on what Katz said on pg. S39 that the three ideas separate from the limited effects model, institutional critical, and technological, are all connected in some way. I believe this is also the case and found what Katz said quite interesting. The institutional model brought together the ideas, what to think about and the knowledge gap, both important terms we covered in class. This ties into the technological model because TV has changed politics. It has not only contributed what to think about, but also how it is brought to us. Take for instance how may different news outlets covered the presidential debates tonight. Both of these definitely tie into the critical model.
Under the critical model, which is also in political realm, tells people what not to think. In this Katz brings up the comparision of Pepsi vs. Coke. The idea that we think we have a choice, when we really don't echos Adorno. It also got me to thinking, yea if we look at it from that angle it seems discouraging to think our choices are made for us. Yet sometimes we don't always have to chose one or the other. We can choose juice or milk or water, but then aren't out choices again narrowed down to a few different selections? One might think so, except I see the idea of political influence different. What if you chose to make the juice yourself (interpt politics through live speechs, political campaign, self assessment) rather than choose a bottled version of what might be going on (news clips, out of context statements). Would we still be told what not to think?
Will, thanks for pointing us to the institutional, critical, and technological challenges to the "limited effects" tradition, as described by Katz in the first piece in the reader. I don't know how much you all are able to range around the disciplines represented at Berkeley, but you can find these models alive and well here: institutional analysis can be found in anthropology, science and technology studies, political economy, etc.; critical analysis in many theory-oriented humanities departments like Rhetoric, Film and Media, and Gender and Women's Studies; and technological perspectives in the Berkeley Center for New Media, Architecture, Computer Science, and so forth.
ReplyDeleteAs for making the juice yourself, i.e. trying to form your opinions as much as possible based on direct experience or involvement, it's an admirable though not always feasible goal. Sometimes our best option is to make our own balanced mix, picking and choosing from the representations out there after evaluating them.