Media & Culture (Chapter 1 and 2)

I find the first chapter of Media and Culture very informative about the history of the news.  More importantly to the topic of media criticism, it discusses the various partisanship with the media and politics.  I like how it brings up the issue of what is popularly considered as high culture versus low culture.  It’s funny how all the high culture related examples are all old classic works.  Makes you wonder if after enough time has passed, the examples that are in the in-between levels, would then be promoted to high culture.  I also find the issue of the sleeper curve very interesting especially to the people who’s careers involve making motion pictures.  There are definitely works that require slow pacing and low amounts of information to achieve its impact.  This brings the question of whether the general majority will continue to prefer fast pacing or if eventually there will be a development in tolerance for slower pieces sometime in the future.       

I find that the second chapter feels more like an encyclopedia entry about the invention and evolution of communication technologies.  It spends a lot of content explaining the components of devices and the internet.  I feel like the writer may have gone a step into writing a technical book during this chapter.  Other than covering modern technologies it also goes into the business history of big names in the internet service providing industry.  I think the topics of net neutrality, advertisement, and censorship are the most relevant topics in this chapter.  

Week 01 - Media Unlimited

I find that Media Unlimited is somewhat strangely non-linear.  The author, Todd Gitlin, definitely has his own voice in explaining his points with a series of stories and examples.  I feel like it becomes confusing, on several occasions, when reading Gitlin’s style of flooding the reader with examples in both literal and synonymic ways.  He starts out by labeling in bold what his next few pages will be about.  Eventually after the first few paragraphs, though I still understand what he’s trying to say, I begin to loose track of what the main subject of any given section is about.  I find that a few times his writing drifts into what would almost be a real person drifting off into a tangent with their discussions.  On top of that he often quotes from several unfamiliar names.  There’s nothing wrong with that but the way he has them inserted makes me think half way through his paragraphs about why Gitlin always has to refer back to those names.  In other words, I never remember or know the significance of most of the people he wants to mention and quote from. 

            I do find the book entertaining to read regardless of the occasional confusions brought about by his style of writing and quirks.  The book contains more than just information about the evolution of modern media.  A lot of the examples he brings are also interesting history trivia you don’t usually read about elsewhere.  After reading most of the book, the one part that really stands out for me the most is still the section titled Trucks.  True or not, I find that story very fun, though I still wonder how exactly he intended for it to be relevant to the topic of the book.