Critical pessimists, such as media critics Mark Crispin Miller, Noam Chomsky, and Robert McChesney, focus primarily on the obstacles to achieving a more democratic society. In the process, they often exaggerate the power of big media in order to frighten readers into taking action. I don't disagree with their concern about media concentration, but the way they frame the debate is self-defeating insofar as it disempowers consumers even as it seeks to mobilize them. Far too much media reform rhetoric rests on melodramatic discourse about victimization and vulnerability, seduction and manipulation, "propaganda machines" and "weapons of mass deception". Again and again, this version of the media reform movement has ignored the complexity of the public's relationship to popular culture and sided with those opposed to a more diverse and participatory culture. The politics of critical utopianism is founded on a notion of empowerment; the politics of critical pessimism on a politics of victimization. One focuses on what we are doing with media, and the other on what media is doing to us. As with previous revolutions, the media reform movement is gaining momentum at a time when people are starting to feel more empowered, not when they are at their weakest. Henry Jenkins
Promise YourselfTo be so strong that nothingcan disturb your peace of mind. To talk health, happiness, and prosperityto every person you meet. To make all your friends feelthat there is something in them To look at the sunny side of everythingand make your optimism come...
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Christian D. Larson
More smiling, less worrying. More compassion, less judgment. More blessed, less stressed. More love, less hate.
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Roy T. Bennett
I was blind and heart broken and didn't want to do anything and Gus burst into my room and shouted, "I have wonderful news! " And I was like, "I don't really want to hear wonderful news right now, " and Gus said, "This is...
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John Green
Be the reason someone smiles. Be the reason someone feels loved and believes in the goodness in people.
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Roy T. Bennett
Do what you love, love what you do, and with all your heart give yourself to it.
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Roy T. Bennett
More Quotes By Henry Jenkins
...Fan fiction is a way of the culture repairing the damage done in a system where contemporary myths are owned by corporations instead of owned by the folk.
The worst thing a kid can say about homework is that it is too hard. The worst thing a kid can say about a game is it's too easy.
Our focus should not be on emerging technologies, but on emerging cultural practices.
Critical pessimists, such as media critics Mark Crispin Miller, Noam Chomsky, and Robert McChesney, focus primarily on the obstacles to achieving a more democratic society. In the process, they often exaggerate the power of big media in order to frighten readers into taking action. I...
