000ooo000ooo 4/11

The idea that caught my attention the most in class today came in the second quote that Dr. Casey put on the board. In the following quote it was the notion of "freedom" which most drew my attention: "Increasing awareness of the mechanisms at work, for example, can help by offering a measure of freedom to those manipulated by these mechanisms, whether they are journalists or viewers" (335).
As an American, any time the word freedom is used I am forced to read its usage twice. We love the word "freedom" in America and tmesis acts heavily upon us anytime the word comes up. We claim that our country was built upon principles of freedom and that it is our duty to spread freedom throughout the world. As such, I find this example of the word freedom to be particularly interesting.
Bordieu is claiming that the media actually acts against freedom. This is a novel idea because one of the principle freedoms Americans site on a daily basis is "freedom of speech". The mass media often claim that they epitomize "freedom of speech". However, Bordieu suggests that these media actually detract from our intellectual freedoms, and when we lose our intellect we effectively lose our freedom of speech and rational action. This is a bold suggestion and to use the word freedom gives his statement even more weight.
Being CMC majors, we all know all about how the media can detract from the freedom of viewers. However, Bordieu also says that journalists and broadcasters are just as subject to this loss of freedom as everybody else and this is a more interesting claim. He explains how "the mechanisms at work" are so effective that newscasters can sit in front of people and lie or talk about irrelevant, frivolous things and not feel guilty because they are just as caught up as everyone else. I'm sure that nearly every journalist or TV broadcaster dreams of being the person to report on that once in a lifetime story or supply the world with information that will really make a difference. However, they lose this freedom because the mechanisms at work in the media industry - especially regarding the dissemination of information - are so powerful. Something like a missing child or a severe traffic accident is obviously a huge deal to those involved and are by no means "unimportant". However, to 99% of us they make no difference and we have no means of making a difference. Given this, and the fact that there are countless other issues that we are capable of making a difference in, these issues should not be reported on over more relevant stories. But, because they produce good ratings and are shown on other stations, journalists feel that they should report on them and fall into the same pattern as other journalists before them.