The end of the 20th century brought changes in the way Americans consume media. In the 1960's, 90% of American household had a television. In 1980, the first 24-hour television news network, CNN, was created. As Americans were consuming media in different ways, the way they perceived it changed too. There became increased criticism on the images media portrayed and the affect they would have on Americans. Some viewed these mass cultural images as a false image of a perfect society. As the internet was created, Americans had to question whether or not this new creation would last and what it would change in society.
Richard Prince
Richard Prince worked at Time-Life clipping articles from magazines for staff writers. What was left was the ads that featured impossibly perfect models. Prince felt a mix of disgust and envy. In 1977, he began rephotographing the advertisements in order to "turn the lie back on itself." His goal was to reveal the "social science fiction" of his "seemingly natural source material." |
In this work, Richard Prince shows the inevitability of the generic mass cultural image and reveals it to be a "fiction of what society desires." He describes our media as gathering of stereotypical images as well as an internal infection that shapes identity and defines an individual's relationship to society.
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CNN - "Chicken Noodle Network"
CNN's First Broadcast: June 1, 1980. YouTube. YouTube, 1 June 2011. Web. 15 Jan. 2017.
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In 1980, CNN became the first 24-hour television news network and changed the idea that the news was only to be reported at fixed times in the day. At first Americans did not support the network and mockingly called it "Chicken Noodle Network," however CNN eventually became known for covering live events as they happened. |
"THE INTERNET? BAH!" (1995)
"The truth in no online database will replace your daily newspaper, no CD-ROM can take the place of a competent teacher and no computer network will change the way government works."
This quote was written by Clifford Stoll in an article called "The Internet? Bah!" for Newsweek in 1995. This was the beginning days of the internet, just three years after it was introduced to the public. His article details the expectations that he, and many other Americans, had at that time for the internet. Stoll believed that the internet would never be able to meet the needs of Americans in terms of online commerce, news, and information databases.
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