"The media are nothing else than a marvellous instrument for disabling the real and the truth". (Baudrillard 1974) Discuss.

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Gemma Griffiths                                                                        SO506

“The media are nothing else than a marvellous instrument for disabling the real and the truth”. (Baudrillard 1974)  Discuss

The media play a massive role in our Western society and in deed in many areas of the world. We take for granted the notion that the news will be told to us at regular times through means of our television or through the choice of news papers available for us to purchase. Even to the point that we can choose what type of news paper we read. Whether it be a respected paper such as The Times or a tabloid such as The Sun. So have we always had this excess of media in our lives? For in today’s society it is hard to get away from. The first mass audience was reached through means of our televisions which first became available in the 30’s, however throughout world war two the development was put on hold. The television made it possible for people to become entertained and informed in their own home. It also allowed the broadcasters to reach a mass audience with little effort. This idea held huge possibilities and the power of television was realised. The masses could be reached easily and this would enable us as consumers to be informed about world events and start the nation’s ‘love’ of the news. Living in today’s society years on, it would be impossible to imagine not having accessibility to the news whether it be local or world events. But the question now posed is if this is a negative desire? In an ideal situation the news would be available to everyone and would give a real and true interpretation of the event in question, but it is very debateable to whether this happens any of the time; This is the argument of Baudrillard and others such as Thomas and Marx and it leads them to believe that the media as it stands now within society has too many negative aspects to be considered a positive thing. As highlighted in the title question it is the idea of what is real and what truth is that poses the problem. In today’s culture we are not often offered the original. By this I mean that a lot of things which we experience are not first hand, with all that the media and our consumer orientated society offers us it is hard to find the true experience. Something that happens on the other side of the world can be made to feel more real than a local issue in the local news paper because of our constant exposure to the world’s events through television and newspapers.  In this essay I will look into Baudrillard’s reasons for his accusations regarding the media, using his theories relating to the media in past and current events.

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In the title question Baudrillard highlights the two objectives that he feels the media should portray, the real and the truth. In order to comment on whether the real and the truth are portrayed in the media it is important to establish is what meant by these two words. The idea that something is real would give the impression that, it happened, in some sense and the event which happened influenced people and caused a reaction. The media do not report on events that do not happen, so does this make them all real? It is suggested by Cubitt that our ...

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