COMS101-26S1 Media and Society Essay Assessment | University of Canterbury

COMS101 Media and Society

Short essay #1

Audiences, Broadcast, Media technology: 500 words

Conduct an interview with two family members and/or flatmates of different ages about how their use of TV and/or radio content has changed since they were kids:

How do they watch programmes and/or listen to spoken and music content now? And how did they watch and listen to things when they were kids?

Write a summary of the interviews and a brief comparison.

Note: don't write this in an 'interview' format, it needs to be a summary of the things you think are most interesting or relevant. Make an argument about changes or differences in media use based on the comparison.
Note 2: You don't need to do additional research here, as the focus is on the experiences of your interview participants. Do make sure you include specific examples and details from these interviews.

Write it in this format:

• Paragraph about 1 person
• Paragraph about the other person
• Paragraph comparing them: include an argument about the comparison.

Media is a part of society which is constantly evolving. In this essay I will be exploring such changes based on the responses of two interviewees, who by being a part of very different demographics, have had very different experiences with media. My first interviewee, Vivienne, is a 58 year old female, who grew up in a rural lifestyle in the North of New Zealand. My second interviewee, Jack, is an 18 year old male, originally from Auckland city. Both Jack & Vivienne were asked via email "how they watch programmes/ and or listen to spoken and music content now?" As well as "how did they watch and listen to programmes/ and or listen to spoken and music content as kids?” From these responses I am able to understand how ones experience with the media is largely influenced by their demographic and background.

Due to the modernity of media I have found that the time period in which you grow up has large impact over how and what media you are exposed to and ingesting. Vivienne growing up as a child in the 1960's, had access to little variety in regards to media forms. Watching programmes as a child "was only available on a TV, which had limited channels". As for current events, she also relied on TV as a primary form of media, when tuning into "news/documentaries". Alongside the Television, Vivienne also said the radio was a "main way" she tuned into spoken content. Other spoken content such as music Vivienne says "she listened to on a cassette deck, record player, or the radio". Whilst the current media forms that Vivienne chooses to interact with remain similar, the ways in which she does so varies. Mobile devices such as iPhones/iPads act as a versatile media source, where Vivienne "listens to almost all her spoken content" such as music, news, documentaries etc. Vivienne still watches programs on TV for entertainment, however this is "hardly ever through satellite channels, and almost always through a subscription. Vivienne also mentioned that at current she also enjoys the cinema for entertainment.

My second interview also displayed the idea that there is large societal influence over individuals and their experience with the media. Being a part of Gen Z, Jack grew up during the time where the media was evolving at arguably its most rapid and drastic point. As a child Jack said his experience with the media "was mostly for entertainment purposes", and majority of his entertainment was Television on channels such as Nickelodeon and Disney channel. Jack also said the TV acted as a common source of family entertainment. "The channel 1 news was on every night, as well as rugby games and other sports". As for music, Jack often listened through his iPod or on the radio in the car. At current Jack still tunes into the media for entertainment purposes, however he said that his media usage for informative purposes has significantly decreased. Nowadays Jack hardly ever listens to the radio, and uses Spotify on his iPhone to listen and stay up to date with music. Without access to a personal TV, jack watches 'television shows' on his laptop, mostly through pre-paid streaming services such as Netflix or Neon.

There is significant differences and variation in regards to the sources of media/how it is accessed due to medias constant innovation/evolution. However, the content itself which is being consumed I believe, is as a result of societal evolution just as much as technological. Growing up in a rural background, during the late 60's, Vivienne grew up in an isolated area where the news kept both her and her community connected. Till this day Vivienne's algorithm includes what she assumes is an "equal balance of both informative and entertainment focused media". The habits people create as a child, are often carried on into their adult life. This is reinforced by Vivienne's value of staying in touch with current events. Jack however predominantly accessed the media in search of entertainment. These habits still remain. For Jack, he was constantly surrounded by the news and current events, (unlike Vivienne) providing him with no real need to go searching for it. As well as this Jack being under 35 is a part of the lowest trusting age group. This also may act as a potential reason to his lack of engagement with the news. Going hand in hand with societal evolution, ease of access as a result of technological evolution I also believe has significant impact. For Vivienne, as a child, it was significantly more difficult to access the media, as well as the media itself being less evolved. For example she had less personalisation and variety over what media she could access compared to that of current. This impacts the overall experience and the enjoyment factor we receive from exposure to the media. The ease of access mobile devices create for us, prompts us to become and stay involved. In the earlier days, there was little utility between media forms. For example Vivienne listened to the music on a record player or cassette and TV on a physical television. Nowadays we can experience almost all media sources through one device. In summary, it is clear that demographics have large impact over our media usage. In particular societal and technological evolution from our younger years can impact how we use technology as adults.