Radio Never Shuts Up

Of course, radio isn’t dead. The medium of radio has been around a long time, and when television became the new choice of media for many people, radio adapted by narrowing its audience. Then, Internet swept people up, which presented problems for every type of media. Still, radio adapted. Narrowing audiences with specialized formats seems to be part of the solution for them to stay in business; also, like local newspaper, people like to hear from their area. 

Addressing specialized formats, Pandora Radio, for instance, the create-your-own-radio-station website, has changed radio on the web. Also, there are things like Dylan Radio where fans can tune in to Bob’s playlist and his own radio show where he hosts. Radio is finding new ways to use new technologies like the Internet to complement it and enhance its medium, making it available to listeners in new ways. Many radio stations, in fact, have their own website.

Satellite radio is another example of radio finding its audience by narrowing listenership. It’s popular largely because listeners have choices for every genre of entertainment, such as music, talk, sports, comedy, documentary, etc.

When you turn the radio on and hit seek, a station will come on. No dead air is a sign of radio’s continuing existence. It’s no mystery that people, Americans in particular, have shorter attention spans when it comes to media than in the past. We like to keep busy. During morning drive, most people are listening to something.

For about a year, I had no radio in my car, no sound at all except wind and my motor. Let me say, I nearly lost my mind on long commutes. During this time, I was working in a flower shop at which the only clear station was an oldies AM one: 1410. The power of locals shined through on this station. Advertisements were on for places I drove by on delivery daily. People called in to sell their crap and leave a number to call for those interested in buying it. FM radio is my main choice in the car; my formats are usually classic rock and plain old classical. Like the Internet, many stations interact with listeners by taking call-ins for games, Q&As, and just to hear what song you want to hear – maybe one which isn’t on your IPod.

Marketplace of Ideas

            What we have in United States media, because it’s a democratic society, is a melting pot of ideas – the marketplace of ideas. Typically, when people think of media, many only consider two sides: left (being liberal) and right (being conservative). Even boiled down to these general two, the marketplace of ideas has checks and balances from opposing viewpoints. By comparison, left and right are closer to the middle than others; it’s where the majority stands. Yet, no one has all the power. This is true in politics and in media. 

People label television news stations, for example, as leaning more one way than the other, but there are many more viewpoints. Because opposing viewpoints exist, different variations of them turn out on both sides. The Tea Party movement, for instance, has a lot of similarities to Republican views just like Socialism has similarities to Democratic views, but still, they are not the same, not completely anyway. For every political standpoint, there is media supporting it.

The impact of media fragmentation and audience segmentation has on how we approach issues is the media outlets we can do so through. However, no matter how many views are presented in media, only a few will dominate in politics. Actions are truly limited in that respect. Plus, the people reading, watching, and listening to media presenting less prominent viewpoints are mostly the few supporters of that specific viewpoint. Everyone else is busy in the middle. The nice thing about democracy, though, is that we have the freedom to express different views, which is possible because of different media. Someone can try pushing something onto another person, but he or she has the opportunity for rebuttal.       

O, The Oprah Magazine Says, "You Can, Too."

On Oprah’s website in the O, The Oprah Magazine section, there’s a preview and a picture of the current issue, which reads, “The make-your-dreams-real issue! Yes, you can have your ideal body, a better job, extra energy, more love, less stress, a fresh outlook... The new you begins here.” Another version is this is also the coverline for the hardcopy issue. Its articles, such as “20 Questions That Can Change Your Life” and “Make Over My Mornings,” are mostly about making a better you, and by you, I mean women over the age of 35 who have jobs, families, educations, and, well, a craving to be “I am woman: hear me roar!” 

Nearly 70 ads, out of a 200 page issue, are in O magazine. By the ads’ content, signaling told me – as a young man – that I’m not the demographic for this magazine. The inside cover and first page has an ad for Tiffany & Co, the “Tiffany Filigree Heart” necklace. 

On the back cover is a cosmetic product to give women visibly younger skin. There were a lot of cosmetics ads: 30 or so. These, however, aren’t the same ads you’d see in Cosmopolitan magazine; these are aimed right at women age 35 or older. The models are not 20 years old. Although still strikingly beautiful, which may be to give the impression that you, too, can look like this if you buy our product, the models are nearer to the age of Oprah’s demographic. 

Also, it’s important to not only keep in mind the age group of the targeted women, but class, too. These products aren’t cheap. Costly cars, expensive jewelry, designer clothes, and Starbucks account for a number of the magazine’s advertisements.     

Something I find misleading is the high number of cross-media synergy ads going on: much of the time, I’d have to examine the pages carefully because it was hard to tell whether I was looking at an ad or an editorial – usually it was an ad. The health ads are often misleading, too, because it’s like their saying, “Yeah, Oprah lost weight using Jenny Graig, Weight Watchers, and Nutrisystem.” Then, you flip a page and see delicious looking chocolates all over the page. Make up your mind, O. Or is that the strategy? Make them fat, lose weight, get fat again, and lose it again. You can do it; you are woman! Roar! Oh, but before you drive your nice car home and take off your jewelry, stop by the store and pick up some Febreze and toilet paper. The ads’ aim couldn’t me more on target. The articles’ content is in sync with ads’ content, but the disadvantage of this, if it is one at all, is that not everybody has the money for most of these products.            

We as Consumers

It’s questionable whether or not mass media has made us (consumers) slavering mad about money and the saying “the love of money is the root of all evil,” to be true, but certainly they are a driving force behind advertising and its effect on us. Many of us may or may not realize that we are the commodity being bought and sold, tightly sealed in a protective plastic package shielding us from others in the same competitive market. Advertisements are nearly impossible to avoid: even fortune cookies nowadays sometimes have advertisements in them. They’re in the usual places, too, of course, like magazines, television, and more recently the Internet. It has become the lives we are supposed to live. Brand name or generic: are there any other choices? Aristotle is alive, and media industries prey on people through the development of pathos, logos, and ethos. As consumers, we have to be able to understand all dimensions of media literacy (cognitive, emotional, aesthetic, and moral). That’s not to say that if we are hopelessly media illiterate that we’ll consume everything in sight, but we should know enough to not be duped every time an advertisement flashes in our face. We should understand what Joe Turow says the media is – the industrialized production and multiple distributions of messages through technological devices – because it could help us understand that, even if intentions are good, they are still money-making industries. Media literacy (illiteracy) is the problem.

I hate that enough money guarantees access and not enough prevents it: trends, schools, social interaction, popular culture, etc; I hate seeing an advertisement for a product perfect for me, narrowcasting allowing products to be tailored to specific audiences; I hate the illusion of completeness they create. Insurance companies found their niche in tricking us to believe that we are safe drivers, which in being a safe driver comes with the perks of discounts. Progressive is among the worst: the spokeswoman screaming out, “Discount!” every time the customer qualifies for one. Hardly anyone qualifies for that many discounts. 

The way we want to be, want to look, want to live, and what we need is often misled by false pretenses, and it’s because we let them. It’s hard to resist, which many never thought of even trying. I’m talking about people not being media literate enough to understand how media industries operate, deciphering any underlying messages which may be present, or the misconceptions which also come with being media illiterate.

I could, of course, be totally wrong. Maybe advertising is a good thing. Maybe it does make it easier to shop and find the products we want and need. I just don’t like the idea of being a slave to them, having them tell me what I’m going to buy. We have the power to say “yes” or “no,” but too often, we opt for yes.