The affect of mass media and mass communication on today's modern era is changing society's around the world from the way art is experienced and interpreted, to how humans view the world and each other, giving a whole new birth place for empathy and communication to flourish. Is all this change in our society's bringing humans closer, or is it tearing humans apart is still up for debate. As a whole though, mass media and communication is making the world smaller and bringing people together in way that was not possible before now.
Mass media and mass communication began during the time of the Industrial revolution when the six day irk week turned into five, and people began to have free time to spend. From this developed some the modern ways in which today mass communication is spread and how humans of the modern era spend their leisure time. It began with mass printer invented by Johannes Gutenberg to spread written works, then it was mass produced art by Albretch Durer, the novel came into production, then the creating of the ballpark changing America forever and eventually leading to the radio, phone, and television which are still big parts of modern days leisure time and mass communication. In these years we see the first beginning's of Popular Culture, a term used that "can be defined as the culture of everyone in a society...In other words, it is to us what water is to fish: It is the world we live in." (, Chapter One, Culture and Mass Communication; How They Interact). Popular culture is what humans live by in this modern era. What is "in" and where an individual fits in the popular culture is something humans live with everyday. Where does mass communication and mass media fits into this? Mass media and mass communication is popular culture. Popular culture and Mass culture, a term created in the industrial revolution for folk culture, often gets intertwined with popular culture, because in this modern era they are the same. "...mass culture, has evolved. This refers to the things in our popular culture that are mass-produced or shared through the mass media. In America today, that represents almost everything in our popular culture." (Chapter One, Culture and Mass Communication; How They Interact) Although not so highly influenced in other countries, in America, popular culture is created by what society's see through mass media, from commerical's, news channels , and the ad's that show up on social media websites. Mass media has created the popular culture of the modern era. Many feel that mass media and communication is ruining the arts and the feeling that media once used to have. Part of this is true in that everything in modern society in advertised and Americans especially, are spoon fed what they want to hear by mass communication. But this is that way the world will continue to be. Mass media will continue to change popular culture. It is now the job as a mass culture to find ways to use mass media and communication to the best of humans abilities and help humans grow. In an lecture by Sir Ken Robison, he speaks of the the problems with education around the globe and how humans are Anaesthetising children with drugs and methods of teaching. What he says though, also can be seen by the eyes of the whole world. " Our children are living in the most intensely stimulating period in the history of the earth. They are being besieged with information and parse their attention from every platform...collaboration is the stuff of growth."(Robison, Changing Paradigms) Mass media is creating popular culture and it will continue too. Looking back on earlier humans, one can see how the growth in mass media will continue to change the world of popular culture. The sooner humans can begin to create their own ideas and spread communication around the globe the sooner humans can make mass media and communication work effectively.
Many feel though that mass media is slowly begging to destroy our world of communication, especially in the form of the arts. With the production of mass media and endless advances in technology, what an artist is capable of in today's modern world is endless, and due to mass media it can reach an endless amount of people. In the documentary PressPausePlay, some of the biggest people in today's modern art world where interviewed on their feelings about the spread of art in today's mass culture. A movie director Lena Dunham who was interviewed at the begging of the film says this. "There's a million different platforms, so that's all really good for people want to express themselves but also makes it a lot harder to kind of break through all the noise." (Dunham, PressPausePlay) Dunham has several a good points here. With the help of technology and mass media, artist's have millions of ways to express themselves and to have other people be influenced by their art. Dunham also had a good point though and that is, it is much harder for and artist to be discovered. Within the film, several people who are part of the elite culture of art is interviewed. Elite culture is defined as this, "fine art, literature, and classical music."(Chapter One, Culture and Communication: How They Interact) Before the industrial revolution this was a culture of people of higher means, but now in this modern era, folk culture, or mass culture has over taken and many wish for the elite culture to stay set. In the film the author Andrew Keen in interviewed. He does not agree with the amount of art begin spread by the means of mass media and art begin created by technology. "Its global masturbation." ( Keen, PressPausePlay) What Keen means by this is that everyone across the global is trying to get on the "band wagon" of mass media art, letting those with talent be harder to be found, and only helping to blur the line between the artist and the viewer which, leaving it harder for and artist to make an impact. Keen feels that art should still be a special thing that can only be created by the few who are extraordinary and only be seen/listened to by those who truly care about the art. Even though its highly debated, mass media and technology are not ruining art, but helping to let those who would never had the chance to experience or create art, get the chance to do so. "I think this is an incredibly fertile time for artists. There is no cap on creativity, the technology advances have given the artist an open door..." (Brenda Walker, Music Journalist, PressPausePlay) Art is meant to show the artist emotions and is meant to be shared, that what artist's live for, the chance to influence people. With the help of mass media and technology, art can begin to grow and go in direction no one thought is could and then it can be shared to anyone. Art is something that can free the human soul and with the help of mass media and technology more people then ever get the chance to try and experience art, who would have never been possible without the new forms of mass media and technology.
Mass media and communication are not only helping to spread art, but it is also helping to spread human empathy. In recent years, massive amounts of research has been done about human empathy and what it is exactly. Durning the 20th century, ideals developed that humans are nothing but greedy people who only do what it best for themselves. In this modern era though of the 21st with its new forms in technology and communication, the thought process is changing. Jeremy Rifikin, a modern thinker of the modern, mass culture time, says this in his speech, The Empathic Civilization. "We are actually soft wired to actually experience an other's plight as if we are experiencing it ourselves."( Rifkin, The Empathic Civilization) With the research that has been done, it has been determined that in humans DNA, their is natural need for empathy. As mass media and mass communication begin to grow, humans are seeing empathy grow as well. With the help of mass media, ones need can be heard and cared quicker then ever. An excellent example is in the documentary called Craigslist Joe. Joseph Garner, decides to live and entire month just off of the kindness and empathy of people on Craigslist. Garner goes out into the world with no money or place to stay, all he has is iPhone, a computer and the cloths on his back. In much amazement, he survives entire month and travels across the entire country back with only Craigslist as his guide. Empathy is more alive then ever. In his speech on Empathy, The Power of Outrospection, Roman Krznaric says this. "I think that empathy is the way to revolutionize our own philosophy's of life, become more outrospective, to create the revolution of relationship that I think we so desperately need." ( Krznaric, The Power of Outrospection) Empathy will begin to help heal each other and the globe with mass media there helping to close the gap, and to let that empathy reach father. There is a down side though to how empathy as grown due to mass media and technology. The famous philosopher, Slavoj Zizek, speaks about this in his speech, First Tragedy and Then Farce. "The real aim is to try and reconstruct society on such a basis that poverty will be impossible, and the altruistic virtues have prevented the carrying out of this aim." ( Zizek, First Tragedy and Then Farce) What Zizek talks about through out the speech is how the need for empathy is begin met my consuming. Humans are not going out to give empathy with boost in mass media. Instead "buying" empathy with goods has taken its place. In America especially, people will buy special products that supposedly help someone across the globe, whether this is a new pair shoes for a African child, like the shoe brand Toms, or just buying organic fruit, its is a round about way of empathy . With mass media and communication empathy is begin spread from county to country, from person to person around the globe, but is it only making the empathy less true and is in the end not helping. To Zizek this is fact, but it does not have to stay that way. In PressPausePlay, the self made musician Olafur Arnalds, who is interviewed through out the film says this. "...I hope that people realize that's its not about the elitism and rules...but about doing something nice."(Olafur Arnalds, PressPausePlay) With the help of mass media not only the art which Arnalds creates, but empathy can be spread and understood. Humans live in a consumer kind of empathy for now, but with some of the world most modern thinkers and with the realization of empathy, mass media will someday help to spread empathy and change the world for the better.
All that could not be achieved before the 21st century when it come to art, empathy and communication, is now all possible by the modern world which humans live in today. Many would say that mass media and mass communication is destroying humans virtues and is giving birth to a whole new evil between humans. This is not true however. With the help of mass media and mass communication, humans have begun to open their eyes to see themselves as a global unit, not just and individual. Art and inspiration is begin shared more then ever, and empathy has become something that can be shared across the globe in a bigger better way. Mass media and commutation along with new technology is helping to create a more tightly bound globe then was never possible before now.
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