When people hear the words "mass media", most of them think of it as.
medium of communication that is designed to reach the mass of the people.
(Webster's). What happens when this communication reaches the masses? .
This is were many of us recieve the information we live our everyday lives by. .
Many of us our often influenced by these soures and this can be related to.
Michel Foucault's ideas he displays in his essay Panopticism. .
The mass media has a strong power over our society. Power is one.
thing that Foucault mentions time and time again in his essay. At one point.
when Foucault is discussing the idea of power he mentions the Panopticon. .
The Panopticon was a prison in which the inmates were always being watched,.
but never knew when or who was watching them. Due to this the prisoner.
becomes his own supervisor. He now pays more attention in everything he.
does for the fear of what may happen if his actual supervisor sees him. This.
idea of Foucaults Panopticon can be almost directly related to the mass.
media. Think about some forms of mass media (such as Tabloids, for.
example) they have become a form of Panopticon because that it is.
constantly watching society for sign a of deviance. With the threat of.
punishment by annoucing people's wrong doings to the masses can be.
particularly threatening to those in public life. Just like what happened.
between our President and Monica Lewinsky. One result of knowing this, is.
the concentration on our own behavior when we are out in the public. .
Media can be many things we see/hear everyday, such as billboards,.
radio, movies, clothing, newspapers, magazines, and the Internet. One of the.
most influental forms of media today is televsion. Many facts about.
television and our everyday lives have been released by TV-Free America:.
The average American watches 4 hours of TV each day. .
99% of all homes in the U.S. have television sets .
The average U.S. household has 2.24 TV sets .
