This lecture combines media discourse and “panopticon.” The concept of the “Panopticon” was developed by Foucault and emerged as a manifestation of power in modern society, symbolizing how power operates. This power will take the “watch tower” as a signal point, forming a network of social relations.
However, with the popularity of the Internet, this kind of power relations is gradually being integrated into the Internet. Capital has become the monitor, and network users have become the surveillance object held at the bottom of the prison; the background technical personnel who control the analysis of data information are equivalent to the monitor at the top of the central watch tower. The user’s web click browsing, network consumption behavior, keyword research, and other individual behavior will be born into data information so that it is undoubtedly exposed.
The class also emphasized the right of the mainstream media to speak out, but I think that right is not absolute. Today’s media are mainly divided into mainstream media and mass media. Classic agenda-setting theory tells us that mass media cannot decide what people think, but they can decide what people think.
In China, a netizen flaunted her wealth online, saying that her family had a nine-figure deposit. Her words were full of arrogance, complete with the gaze of the upper class, and she also said that her grandfather had a problem with justice and corruption. The matter ended with “no official results of the investigation” but with the fermentation of public opinion and the spread of mass media. The investigation team was forced to reopen the case. After 15 working days, announced that the netizen’s grandfather had been expelled from the Party and all his illegal income had been confiscated.
In this case, the grandfather was originally at the center of power but was also influenced by the mass media. In today’s media environment, we should let the right and public opinion run parallel. The mainstream media can use constructive reporting by setting a problem-solving-oriented agenda to guide public opinion in a direction favorable to the resolution of the crisis opinion to develop unchecked and disrupt the regular social order
Reference list
Foucault, Michel. Surveiller et Punir : Naissance de La Prison. Paris, Gallimard, 1975.
J Bentham, et al. Jeremy Bentham : The Panopticon Writings. New York, Verso, 1995.
Wikipedia. “Wikipedia.” Wikipedia.org, 2012, zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/.
It is a very interesting blog, the content of this topic is closely related to our lives. In earlier times, because social media was not very advanced at that time, the mainstream media was absolutely dominant. But now, social media is everywhere and the voice of mass media is gradually increasing, which is a good development. I agree with you that right and public opinion should go hand in hand in order to make our society better.