This week’s reading was based around what media is and about taking a theoretical stance on the topic.

David Gauntlett, author of Making Media Studies: The Creativity Turn in Media and Cultural Studies (2015) discuss the two ends of the media spectrum: media for the purpose of expressing creativity and media for the purpose of surveillance and exploitation.

He poses the discussion that two evidently do not interconnect harmoniously.

I think that media for the sake of self expression or entertainment is a beautiful thing. It’s extraordinary when people such as the filmmakers, photographers, writers, editors and cinematographers of the world are able to put forth their expertise, knowledge and ideologies to produce something palpable that can connect with varieties of people. It’s integral that the makers of the world can use media as a platform, and perhaps I’m biased as a young media producer, but creative expression is such a key aspect of our identities.

Media has been given a bad name by the use of propaganda through the centuries, capitalism, and misrepresentation of particular groups in advertising.

Media is so much more than ads for beer during the breaks of footy matches, media is more than the magazines in waiting rooms.

Media is a means of communication, expression, and a way of life.