Ordinary People and the Media
The Demotic Turn
- Graeme Turner - University of Queensland, Australia
Communication and Media Studies (General) | Cultural Studies (General) | Sociology of Culture
In this dynamic and insightful book he explores the 'whys' and 'hows' of the 'everyday' individual's willingness to turn themselves into media content through:
· Celebrity culture,
· Reality TV,
· DIY websites,
· Talk radio,
· User-generated materials online.
Initially proposed in order to analyse the pervasiveness of celebrity culture, this book further develops the idea of the demotic turn as a means of examining the common elements in a range of 'hot spots' in debates within media and cultural studies today.
Refuting the proposition that the demotic turn necessarily carries with it a democratising politics, this book examines the political and cultural function of the demotic turn in media production and consumption across the fields of reality TV, print and electronic news and current affairs journalism, citizen and online journalism, talk radio, and user-generated content online.
It examines these fields in order to outline a structural shift in what the western media has been doing lately, and to suggest that these media activities represent something much more fundamental than contemporary media fashion.
Turner explores celebrity and tabloid culture; reality TV; blogs and blogging; talk radio; and user-generated content online. He points out that the anticipated democratic nature of media is actually becoming demonic in a sense that media users/producers are positioned to participate in a culture of entertainment rather than establishing democratic news.
Excellent author on this subject, currently re-defining the nature of the discipline. Very specific and relevant case studies
Excellent
The book's chapter on talk radio in America and Australia are interesting, although its focus is mainly political, and therefore not suited for adaption in this particular class, where the focus is more on the phenomenological dailiness of radio. But as a supplement to for instance Paddy Scannell's analyses of talk radio in Broadcast Talk and Television, Radio and Modern Life, it's a recommended read.
A very interesting looking at the role of the citizen in the media and its implications for democracy,
Very thought provoking and excellent for teaching, students may see it a little Aus/US focused as there are few examples from the UK
Extremely useful contemporary view - required reading.
