The Republic of Mass Culture by James L. Baughman Essay

The Republic of Mass Culture by James L. Baughman - Essay Example Proceeding with an outline of the extent to which television impacted the operational parameters of both radio and print journalism, Baughman explains how and why this led to cooperation, rather than competition. As radio, film and print journalism found themselves confronted by television, a communications and entertainment medium which was drawing audiences away from them, they realized their inherent limitations for successful and effective competition. Quite simply stated, they could not compete with television. They, therefore, relied on a survival strategy which they had used in the past when faced with similar challenges: cooperation and imitation as opposed to competition. In brief, when newspapers were confronted with the challenged posed by radio, not only did they proceed to make significant changes to their content but they gave greater space to entertainment and pictures. Certainly, the gap between radio and newspaper remained but it gradually narrowed down in such a way as to allow the survival of the latter in face of the competition posed by the former. As Baughman explains through an in-depth historical analysis, this strategy was used vis--vis each new mass medium. The television, however, proved... As a survival strategy, however, this was simply not sufficient. Print journalism and radio could hardly compete with television but what they did do was define the mass media market itself and proceed to identify the different segments and sub-segments wherein, following which the engaged in the identification of their target audience and the design of content to meet the tastes of the target segments. The mass media evolved into an industry which relied on market studies and marketing in order, not just to survive but, to prosper and grow. The mass media industry began to borrow and implement the tools and strategies traditionally associated with other industries. Hence, marketing and PR departments evolved. Even as regards newspapers whose primary purpose is to report the news, irrespective of whether the public will find it enjoyable' and interesting, or not, content was influenced by marketing research. As Baughman argues, "market forces, or, more accurately, a perception of the market"1 shaped the content of mass media and influenced the evolution of novel trends therein. As he explains the extent to which the mass media made the transition from an information communications medium, whose content was primarily determined by developing news and events, to an almost wholly entertainment based channel of popular communication, whose content is determined by market studies, Baughman presents a controversial thesis. We are not, as seems to be the popular opinion, living in the Information Age but in an age where, despite the abundance of media channels and types, information is superficial and geared towards entertainment. The public, the market, is dictating the information to be conveyed and, within the context of the