Bourdieu pre-class

I think Bourdieu’s piece “On Television” is extremely reminiscent of an argument we have suggested time and time again in our media critique discourse, that being, the fact that often what is offered up by media is merely a reflection of what the powerful deems “significant” and “worthy of our time and attention” as it is these stories that support the status quo and promote our unconscious acceptance of hegemonically-supported beliefs and ideals. Instead of the media, specifically here, that of journalistic forms, being a channel for a public discourse that puts individual thought and argument into circulation, the media simply circulates what has previously been generally accepted as fact and “suits everybody because it confirms what they already know and, above all, leaves their mental structures intact” (329). Bourdieu illustrates the fact that the media does not exist to broadcast a variety of views that allow the audience to choose from a range of perspectives, on the other hand, it merely functions as a tool to serve the establishment, and give more power to the powerful rather than giving more power to the people.

I think he is extremely insightful on his take of “systems,” as well, and the relation of television to the system for he suggests you cannot take into account an “individual” (journalist’s) opinion, as heard/seen on television, without first understanding this individual’s connections to the larger system, and the fact that what he has to say is not simply his thought but has much to do with who is writing his paycheck. As a result, “you can’t understand anything if you don’t understand the field that produces him and gives him his parcel of power” (334). And, unfortunately, often times this pressure to please the man in power overshadows the individual’s absolute freedom to express his opinion, which merely results mainstream, generalized thought being supported and promulgated in a sort of cyclical direction that does not offer room for progressive thought and thus the ability to create change ceases. In the end, we are being shown what is thought to be what we want to see.