HOMO ECRANIS AND REFLECTION IN THE MIRROR

Written by: Danijela Lasica

HOW MEDIA SHAPES OUR ATTITUDES, VALUES AND IDENTITY

Photo: Canva Pro

„Ideally, the media is an interlocutor that helps you discern all the world’s wonders… And that is not a negligible matter. As any other interlocutor, this one is valued by your attention and trust as well”. This is how Balša Brković, the writer, starts the story about the influence of the media on our viewpoints. The story is about who we are, what we are, what we aspire to, what we hold up, who we deprecate, and who we don’t love.

Whether the media itself is good or bad – is a question to which our interlocutors respond in a somewhat similar manner: nothing is black or white, good or bad. Altogether. Is Homo ecranis that is, a modern man fully dependent on the media  capable to put up with the challenges of technology and culture produced by the novel mass media?

„That is precisely the so-called mirror problem – when you get exasperated at the mirror because you don’t like who you see there. Still, what we like or do not like is not a matter of the media, but of reality. Media can assist a society through informing truthfully, no matter how unpleasant the truth is. It happens everywhere, not just in Montenegro. In times of global superficiality and corporate obscurantism the media can help, not by creating a positive image at any cost, but by maintaining a degree of seriousness and knowledge,” elaborates Brković.

 Miloš Vukanović, a historian, asserts that he would by no means characterize the media as good or bad, but above all as a necessity.

„The media, as a complex and powerful social phenomenon, has its positive and negative elements. The media had and still have a crucial role in an open-minded society, and an individual, and are one of the basic protection systems against single-mindedness, absolutism, and tyranny. Unfortunately, since its outset, the media, like any other form of the written word, has been used for propaganda, and lately, we have seen the mutation of the media into an instrument for division and the creation of more ubiquitous relativization and apathy. However, both society and the media have always known to adjust and outlive all abuses, and will manage with this one, too,” Vukanović is optimistic.

Lidija Vujačić, the anthropologist, believes that technology progresses more rapidly than we can manage to go along with it, so in a simplified interpretation, it is often said the media have both a positive and a negative role.

“The first refers to its vital position in society to inform, educate, and entertain the audience, as well as to integrate society, since media provide access to the mainstream of culture for every individual, which undeniably democratizes the social environment. Also, the media are spoken of strictly critically, because they are linked to various forms of manipulation (political, ideological, even economic through marketing) and the so-called “spinning the public, placing fake news, such as the increasingly intensive “production” of trivial content, scandals and providing media space to actors from the margins of social life, and in this way, their controversial behavior is construed into socially acceptable trends,” explains Vujačić.

„Present-day media in all its technological, but also cultural, i.e. ideological, value, economic, and political power create our relationship with the world around us and accordingly (re)interpret social relations“ states further our interlocutor.

“Each individual, nearly, is interested in media products and especially its role in the process of production, distribution and, of course, reception and becomes a “media” himself, although his role in the public sphere depends on a multitude of broader, sociocultural, economic factors and, above all the individual capacity in which his activism is realized. But Homo ecranis ie. modern man dependent on the media, fails to fully cope with the challenges of technology and culture produced by the novel mass media”, says Vujačić.

One of the most important questions, which is often forgotten, is the extent to which the media form and impact the opinion of individuals, groups, communities,  society, and influence our judgment and evaluation.

“The problem in Montenegro is that people put on their fan jerseys before any reasoning. They become supporters. Consequently – there is no reasoning. Then you are only interested in the media that favors their image and communicates their truth. This senseless persuasion of like-minded people turns the media into propaganda bulletins,” Brković is clear.

Vukanović remarks that the Internet and social networks at one point threatened to jeopardize the primacy of the media in the formation of public opinion, but that nevertheless, it took less than a decade for the non-objectivity and instability of that format of information to erode public trust.

“To be clear, the past three decades decreased trust in the media, but did not suppress their importance. The media still has the power to form public opinion and, above all to enshrine some information or attitude by mass, but the pluralism of the media and the general increase in critical thinking among the population up to the present time limits the possibility of that information being accepted simultaneously. Although the media is weakened, it remains to be a strong tool for fabricating attitudes and values, as well as reasoning capacity. Unfortunately, the values ​​that are promoted do not always have to be in favor of the community, and reasoning, as we are witnessing  in our country and the region, can be strangled by constant skepticism even towards desirable authorities, such as doctors and educators, by accepting conspiracy theories or superstitions,” states Vukanović.

 Vujačić shares the same opinion that mass media (re)shapes the nature of human communication, as well as our reality in general, more than any other technological artifact and content that are being produced through various formats.

„To a certain extent, sociability is also in crisis, since especially digital communication increasingly replaces the ‘face-to-face ‘one. Therefore, we can also talk about the phenomenon of severance, which becomes a social problem and goes beyond the online and offline spheres. And that is why the ‘power of the media is enormous?! Yes, the media sphere is turning into an arena where ‘battles’ are fought for economic, political, cultural, national, ethical, aesthetic or other supremacy, both locally, nationally, regionally and globally,“ remarks Vujačić.

But, where is the stance of media literacy in all of this today? A word which is oftentimes heard especially lately.

„It appears to me that neither our, nor societies in general, are up to those challenges in a broader, value-based, and ethical sense. Undoubtedly, information literacy is a necessity for a functional life in modern society, but an ethical approach to the marketing and „consumption“ of information is fairly important. Additionally, existing innovation as a principle always stems from the branched media and commercial sphere, not from visionary politics and economics. Only such digital „inclusion“would connect the usage and way of understanding the technology, more socially conscious thinking, and initiating the process of social and personal changes“, claims Vujačić.

She believes that insufficient media literacy confronts the individual with numerous challenges and manipulations such as political, ideological, and economic propaganda, false information, etc. as a misleading strategy by which a certain interest structure interprets events, processes, etc. In a suitable manner.“There are logical and ethical controversies entwined there. Among other things, interestingly conceived media ‘puts consumers to sleep’ by offering them instant information, which ‘saves’ time, but ‘kills’ research independence, creativity, and critical thinking”, explains Vujačić.

 When asked about the level of media literacy in our country nowadays, Brković answers ‘a bit stingy’ or just realistically.

“Undoubtedly, it is on the low side. Media literacy implies a certain integrity, and knowledge as well, but how much of that is around us? I wouldn’t say that we have an abundance of it” concludes Brković.

 Vukanović says that it may seem easy to answer that question with the assessment that it is low, but these matters are not that simple.

“Yes, our citizens do not have a high degree of media literacy in the knowledgeable sense. The information that is delivered to them is not analyzed in detail and they do not have the skills to evaluate the elements of propaganda. However, after three decades of constant manipulation, I believe that as a society we have developed a resistance to, above all, political propaganda, and we are longing for steady and professional authority in many spheres. On the other hand, where we lack literacy is media manipulation that misuses the identity and value attitudes that we nevertheless developed in times of crisis and stagnation. We do not see the misuse of those views, and we strongly oppose criticism”, concludes Vukanović.

When asked if he can cite examples that he noticed as an indicator of the influence of the media, Vukanović answers that there are everyday examples and that individual citations do not make sense because they are of short duration and of useless value.

“As our media space is burdened by political events, let every citizen try to remember how many small and big scandals there were just in the past year and how they were represented in the media. I think that at the end of the day, there will be an assessment that the only thing that remains worth remembering are the cases when the media approached them critically, trying to suppress all background manipulations”, explains Vukanović.

He highlights one indirect influence of the media, which, in his opinion, plays a significant role in the construction of society – establishing  a subculture. Musical and cultural scene, but only in societies where the government does not want progress and wants to maintain control through stagnation, the cultural and musical scene is based on the most mundane urges of society. The support of the state and the media to the cultural scene of cheap tones, vulgarity, and aggression is not without intention. To that should be added the aggressiveness of reality shows that have entered the largest number of homes, as well as the dulling of an allegedly extremely religious society with various prophets, horoscopes, and other superstitions. It should not be surprising that there is such a similarity between the representation of those elements during the crisis of the 90s and nowadays. The goal is to stifle social development so that there is no accidental formation of resistance to one type of governance.” says Vukanović.

Vukanović is clear- if we want progress, we must all comment more loudly on media phenomena that degrade society in the long run.

“We cannot refuse to acknowledge the aggressiveness and vulgarity of music, reality shows, and public performances. We cannot ignore the effect that all these phenomena have on the social environment, in general. We can no longer glorify and promote the actors of these degraded social phenomena. Finally, we can no longer absolve them of responsibility for problems in society,” says Vukanović.

Vujačić believes that critical thinking, intellectual engagement, the moral principle of “consumers” of information, and, above all, high standards in journalism can reverse and engage individuals and societies in the direction of creating new cultures, i.e. valuable capital.

“That means improving media literacy to a much greater degree of interest and familiarity with the wider aspect of the delivered message among those for whom it is intended, i.e. reading between the lines, comparing multiple sources, etc., to distinct the essential from the irrelevant, accurate from inaccurate content. And socially responsible media can generate a subversive and constructive, and not a “manipulated” public”, concludes Vujačić.

This text was produced with the financial support of the National Endowment for Democracy. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and publishers of the Media Institute of Montenegro and does not necessarily reflect the views of the donors.