Week 6: Cynicism and Communication

In our class discussion, we had quite a lengthy debate on McChesney, and his opinion that there is a tight integration whereby politics have become dependent on the media. I would ask if there has ever been a time when politics wasn’t driven by the media, even looking back pre-Gutenberg. The “media” in that time was mainly oratory, and played just as important a role in shaping public opinion. So yes, media frames discourse—and thus it is used by politics and politicians to disseminate information. McChesney’s main argument, however, basically states that we belong to a de-politicized citizenry marked by apathy and cynicism.

McChesney’s own cynicism, while perhaps justified, can be easily refuted on a few counts. He’s one of those who look back at the “good ole days,” when movies cost a quarter and their neighborhood streets were safe for kids to play. Those who look back on “easier times,” when people were more involved in politics and when community was more important than the individual. In forty years, I’m sure my generation will be saying the same thing.

What McChesney isn’t saying is that people are generally the same as they have always been—the scale is the only thing that has changed. The realm of communication, particularly international communication, is a perfect example of this.

People are connected more now than they ever have been. The scope of communication provides greater capability than any other time in history—both technologically and socially, I would say. People are generally more interested and willing to communicate on a global scale because they can. Yes, there are apathetic people in the world. But you can’t deny that there are active participants in the world, in the political and communicative processes, and that they are far from the minority.

In most respects, communication systems have enabled people to become more active, more politicized, albeit different from the way that McChesney wishes to examine it. Political movements both within and outside of the United States via Twitter and SMS are socially initiated. People are finding new ways to protest, new ways to get their voices heard, with new technologies that transcend borders, nationalities and languages.

As we said in class, in some ways people have become more politicized with the advent of these communication systems, with the number of outlets they have available. This has both positive and negative associations, as it enables more people to communicate, but at times serves as a way to justify marginalized messages—people sometimes watch certain news outlets, for example, as a way to reaffirm their own ideas and opinions. But it doesn’t refute the claim that people are still active, still members of their community. Their community has just grown.