The Conversation..

The audience is now able to manipulate the media and make up their own mind, as Halloran said the audience can "conform, accomodate or reject" ideologies filtered to them.

Adorno explained how the media is dumbed down so even as individuals who can make up their own minds we become passive and collude in own opression. This helps to maintain the hegemony ideology in the media.

Even if the media is "dumbed down", media as a fourth estate still informs the pubic - as no one group has power. As the media questions decisions that have been made for the benefit of the general public.

Hoe can the position of the media be seen as "dumbing down" when infact its position of importance is rising? There is a clear contradiction in saying the media has "dumbed down" to then call it the fourth estate. The conflict in ideas here shows that the media is controlled by an elite group of society because...

The media simply presents ideas to its audience it tells no one to believe anything. Audience have several options to what they watch and read. The audience are active enough to make their own decisions.

Whilst this is true it has been proven in the past what kind of impact the media can have on a person. Rap music, a lot of criminals have admitted influence from music and in some cases video games.

I agree with the comment above. There is a heavy influence of the media especially if it became a fourth estate- it has a very high status.

The audience has the ultimate choice, so no matter what ideologies being fed by media moguls like Murdoch, we wont believe, its upto us. My choice, we are active and media literate.