One of the problematic issues related to media is the AUDIENCE… many debates has been set whether who shapes who…
Is it the media who reshape the audience or is it the audience that determines what is on the media.
What I personally think is that media might start by imposing and creating patterns of change in the audience but at the same time audience is feeding back to the media in creating stories and narratives that form the foundation of what is called “MediaSpeak”.
TV has been since it was invented the most spread media entering the house of the wealthy and the poor just the same.
By looking at the most common TV channels that are watched in the Arab world, they have a variety of shows that are mainly non-Arabic. Starting with Oprah Winfrey show, Dr. Phil, Rachel Ray, America’s Got Talent, House Swap, Tyra, So You Think You Can Dance, Simple Life, The View, Martha, The Late Night Show,… and the list goes on and on… all of which are shows that talks about or highlights the day-to-day western life style.
What triggered my attention is seeing one of the presenters showing up in a jingle saying to watch her on Dubai One; a channel though in English addresses the Arab audience. So do the producers and presenters of these shows know that their audience doesn’t stop in the West but extends to different cultures and in our case the Arab/Muslim culture? And if the answer is yes, then shouldn’t they who cry out for globalization and making the world a small village take more into consideration who their audience is?
Can it happen one day that Oprah will have a show that deals with the other part of the world; showing things that interest us?
For me it has been very informative to know more and learn about the West through this media; keeping in mind all the prejudices and fantasies that are swamping around.
But does the other part of the world want to learn about us as well? Can shows as popular as Oprah reach out for their [other] audience and create a bridge between people and in a way implement globalization on more fair terms?
The basic question is; can the [larger] audience make a change in the media this time?
2 comments:
i think the main question is: what arab world can offer to the western world?
It's a two way channel... I agree... we as well should think... but the main problem I had with my post... is that it is a fact that all these TV shows are taking the larger portion of our channels... and maybe we should consider in a larger scale... TV shows that are really global... not Arabic or Western only...
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