Audience

Media and Audience:

There are many questions which get circulated about the whole of the media industry. Some of these questions get published and answered and many are down to the opinion of the beholder.

One question which is specifically answered by opinion (therefore does not have a clear YES or NO answer) is who creates the content of the media, the media or the audience?
This question is one of the most dubious of questions as the answer could be both. The audience creates media every day through their own posts on social media. Social media is now, in some lights, a great platform for people sharing their personal thoughts and opinions which could be shared and used to make a positive impact on this Earth,
Despite this, sadly most of the media which we see is created by not every day people, but superficial companies who want the audience to have the same mindset and think in the same way as they do. Examples of this media: advertisements on televisions, radios, internet, social media, billboards. Also the content which is aired on television, the news, the songs played on the radio.

Another question commonly asked is can the media exist/function without an audience? Can an audience (public) exist/function without media? Media could not exist without an audience because the whole reason that media is created is to affect an audience.
On the other hand, an audience could exist without media, of course, but to an extent. The audience could exist but not at all how the we has morphed into being today. People suffer without media because of the way it has come to control and influence our lives so much - therefore removing it from our lives would make us function in an entirely different way.

Thirdly, yet another question which media has aroused from the audience is: who is more powerful: the media or the audience why/how?
This question is one more tricky one due to how both options could apply. The media holds more power in a way because we are surrounded by the media creator's creations. Additionally because the media can so easily influence and alter the way in which we think, act and perceive things. Much of the media has subliminal messages within which alter the way we are, this proves just how powerful the media is over the audience.
On the contrary, the audience holds a considerable amount of power as well. This is because no matter what the media shows us, we are ultimately the one and only consumers of it all. WE are the ones who decide how powerful the media is because we are the ones who judge it and decide whether we are going to let it control us and alter the way we think. We have the decision and we decide just how successful the media is and becomes.

One final question which we as an audience and consumers ask is: Can the media control an audience?
The answer to this question is almost a 100% clear yes. Of course the media can control an audience. It happens every day without us even realizing - such as in film adverts where they show the best parts of the film and then show at the end of the advert in big, bold letters WATCH NOW. The audience then goes onto do what the advert told us to do, and we go to watch the film. If a fashion magazine tells the consumer that a new style of jacket is the next big thing, we will do as they tell us and go to purchase and wear that style of jacket. We are almost completely being controlled in everything we do.
But again, we control just how much the media controls us. Consequently, the audience cannot entirely be controlled by the media.