(firstly, apologies for the essay but it’s something I’m pretty passionate about)
There is an interesting undertone that is being suggested here.
Something that I’ve been thinking about, and that has really been amplified with all the latest dramas with the Sharks, is the relationship of the community to “The Media” and its involvement in our daily lives.
Obvious questions arise:
“Who is The Media?”
“What is The Media’s role?”
“How does The Media work?”
“What is my relationship with The Media?”
“How can I get The Media to work for me?”
I do not have the answers to all of these but it seems to me that there is a fundamental community distrust of the structure of how information is delivered to them and whether that information is actually true or not. I believe that the community as a whole has an expectation that their news sources should be un-biased, ethical and factual. However, there seems to be little engagement or understanding of the community into their own role in the process. I think most people want to believe that “the truth” is important and that is why they go to multiple sources of information to try to establish what exactly is true.
The reality of the situation is that there is no “The Media” building where a bunch of seedy, smart-arsed bullies gather together to establish whose life that they can destroy today. Commercial media is very much driven by advertising and as such, everything that they do has a financial motivation – the ethics of that situation are hideous. Sadly, the community has remained naïve and still has the antiquated expectation that “news” is some sort of holy and incorruptible truth. In actual fact, News is just the distraction that is used to expose the community to as much advertising as possible.
Newspapers, television, radio and online media outlets are all commercial businesses that are driven by a motivation for profit and power. There is no holy truth ideal there. As an industry, it is no different to any other... It is in competition for your money. It is there to pursue profit and greed.
The basic position is that these businesses want your money… and you want their information.
With the huge increase of people getting their information online, traditional media outlets are getting more and more aggressive in how they can expose people to advertising. That is why it is the highly charged emotional issues getting fuelled. Scandals, tragedies, disasters, sexual abuse, racial vilification… they all sell because the consumers of “The Media” that is “You” buy it.
Now, the way I see it is that online forums like this are the best way to take the power of those businesses away. That is because everything that we say and do in these forums is part of the public record and by definition, as publishers of that information, we are part of the media. Let us not be deluded that everything that is written here is being viewed by friend and foe alike. Don’t give your enemy ammunition but do bolster and encourage your allies.
Admittedly, we need our club to become more Media savvy and understand that they are not in an adversarial “us & them” type situation and more of a symbiotic relationship – after all, without each other, neither would exist. The current administration of the club is so far behind the times when it comes to understanding this that they’re left to look like a bunch of floundering buffoons. Change is needed and needed fast. Arguing legalities and semantics isn’t going to change a damn thing – if our product is tarnished any further, it isn’t going to be worth anything – and then watch the vultures swoop!
So when I hear people saying “The Media is out to get us” I can’t help but think … well get off your arse and do something about it… stop buying it.
You’ve got the power... start using it… get involved.
