April 24, 2018 / C H Thompson

Postmodernism and the Media

Postmodernists recognise media pluralism. They argue globalisation has provided the global population with more choices about life-style choices bringing with it opportunities for fulfil new identities
Baudrillard argues we live in such a media saturated society that media images dominate and distort our perception of the world around us to the extent it’s become difficult to distinguish between media images and reality
Baudrillard termed this hyperreality – a world defined by media images to the extent media images are seen as reality

For example Baudrillard argues the images in computer games look as real as images on newsreels, to the extent it’s hard to identify which is the reality
He went on to say this ‘pretend’ images or reproductions are so perfect that computer games appear to represent what’s real when in fact they have no basis in reality – he termed this simulacra
Another example of simulacra is Disneyland where a world, full of cartoon characters, has been manufactured as if it’s real when it has no basis in reality
Another example would be adverts which have cartoon characters interacting with real people as if the even is real – think of Halifax Scooby Doo advert

For Baudrillard our media saturated society continues to form the basis of our reality
To the extent the media creates wishes, desires and desire to consume as means of constructing our identity – links to Uses and Gratifications model
To the extent we’re more concerned about the whether products conform to media-induced labels (representations) than the quality of the product. So people by iPhones because of what they represent rather than the quality of the product
This causes us to live lives which are media led virtual lives rather than real ones

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