Media Ethnographers

Media Ethnography is a fairly new concept and has especially taken off in this media-drive environment. According to Beacher, media ethnographers study “how audiences assume the active role of constructing the meaning of media texts” (Beach 55). Audiences have many ways in which they can participate in media interactions. There are various ways in which people participate in media such as, blogging, virtual social networks, computer/video games, and chatrooms. Even sitting in the living room watching E! News is a form of media interaction.
Audience consumerism is another aspect of the media realm that media ethnographers study. The commercials on television and radio are prim examples of how audiences listen and observe such things and then go into the real world and actually purchase the items. I conducted my observations on the social network Facebook. Facebook has developed immensely over the years and it is adding more and more different types of interactions among people using it. One of the components on facebook is that a member can become a “fan” of celebrities, athletes, or other public figures. I am a fan of Nicholas D. Kristof who is a columnist for the New York Times. On these web pages there is room for a description of what the person does and how they are known. Also, there is a spot to upload videos, notes, discussion board, and a wall for comments.
On the discussion board, people are able to post topics that are open for discussion. There are many discussions open on Kristof’s articles, the usual articles and topics are triggered with political and social issues affecting the world. I have posted the article along with some of the people’s comments, however I have changed the names. These are some of the people’s reactions and comments.



Samantha Johnson*:

http://www.independent.ie/opinion/columnists/kevin-myers/africa-is-giving nothing-to-anyone--apart-from-aids-1430428.html

A friend sent this article around today. It was shocking, depressing, and hard to argue against except for one thing: if we give up hope for Africa, then Africa will truly be lost.


Jacob Anderson*

I couldn’t agree with you more. On the world stage Africa brings up the rear. It’s more of an after thought, and makes the headlines for all the wrong reasons. There is a lot more happening there than political strife and bloodshed. I should know having lived there.


Francis Arold*

Such a sad article and yes from the world’s viewpoint, it’s on target. But if we decide that we will only do the right thing when it is expedient, then we have lost a part of our humanity. Sometimes we have to keep on doing the right thing even in the face of insurmountable odds. And every once in awhile we are given a glimpse of hope that keeps us going (e.g. the fall of Romania’s Nicolae Ceausescu in the 1980’s) Never let utility trump compassion.


Kristof is well known as a humanist and quite liberal. The audience that reads Kristof’s editorials are usually very liberal and very into world cultures and help in a global sense. The young woman who posted this article was addressing the problem of Africa as a whole. I believe that one of the shared agendas was that of showing the type of ignorance and lack of compassion that some people show towards the issues within Africa but also just what kind of media that can be published. Although the author may have actually believed what he was writing and publishing but it could also have the shock value. It could be that some of what the author wrote was just for shock value in the media, to get a reaction.
The responses of this posting were all generally the same, that is author and article are ridiculous, but on the website he does have people who did agree with him but not on the facebook discussion board. The shared discourse of this article is that one of disbelief that someone could write something so negative about millions of people but also that of hope that the United States and other world leaders. It is humanistic discourse and world issues agenda that is being addressed.
Media participation in this situation has a few different circles. The young woman who posted the discussion board article had been participating in another media interaction by browsing other websites and what not. She then found information that interested her and posted it, thus participating in another media interaction. Audience participation is very interactive and one source can be turned into another source of participation. There are no boundaries with media participation.