Manufacturing Consent (Apr. 27th)

    There were innumerable shocking facts I heard in this class. Media literacy is a skill that we have been drilled into our heads from the beginning of MYP. So, judging whether certain sources are plausible was always a priority of mine. However, after this class, I felt devastated and hopeless by the media. I was aware that for every media platform, no matter how neutral journalists try to make it, the moment a journalist decides to write a certain article, there will be biases. Notwithstanding, the inconvenient truths I learned, that the entire system was in a way designed to be fake. Yet this topic is unknown and not enough people talk about it, regardless of its significance. Long story short, what I've taken away from this class is there's no getting around the fact that the loyalty of media belongs in the hands of government agencies or people who rank high in the hierarchy. After class, I researched Japanese media and how it functions. Turns out a lot of the major newspaper companies own more than just the one newspaper that we are all familiar with. Thinking about it, companies like Yomiuri even own an amusement park and a baseball team. At my current state, I do not think one company owning a plethora of platforms is necessarily bad, but I feel the need for further research and comprehension. Typing about this topic on this blog made me conscious of why everyone is not talking about this topic. Forming an opinion and promulgating it into the world is petrifying especially if you have a large platform, and your opinion may be detected by political people. 

    Towards the beginning of class, we were also taught about "Manufacturing consent" which contained 5 filters. They were all very new concepts to me, and out of them all ownership and flak were the most appalling. I was absolutely unaware of how strongly the top leaders of a company can negatively affect the information the world receives, rather than endeavoring for a better world. Moreover, I was surprised by how much knowledge Rab obtains of Japanese media and how the system functions. As a Japanese citizen, I had not heard of the Kisha club and how strange it is structured. I strongly am against the weird restrictions they have and was genuinely shocked by how filtered Japanese media is. Of course, the Kisha Club only allowing major Japanese companies with Japanese reporters to join may be beneficial for some (privileged) people in some ways. Regardless, such substantial information should not be kept so confidential and undoubtedly there are ample people who still do not know this reality, which is catastrophic. Now that I have acquired this information, I would like to pay attention to the sponsors that are shown on television shows and on the news. This way, I can at least start to develop a critical mindset towards media contemplating the five components. 

Notes: 

1. National newspaper, nikkei, Yomiuri, Mainichi

2. The region, Okinawa, Tokyo

3. WEekly, Saturday and Sunday

4. Monthly newspapers that are like a magazine

Manufacturing Consent: 

(five filters )

ownership

advertising 

access

flak

ideology

digging around of how many of each. who owns them.