1F25 post 7: Is the fake news the real news?

                Cultural jamming, as defined by the text “media and society”, is “simply the viral introduction of radical ideas. It is viral in that it uses the enemy’s own resources to replicate itself” (213). And I believe that, in most contexts, it is a form of mainstream media.

                Cultural jamming is used as a tool to serve many purposes such as raising awareness, subverting mainstream culture through parodies and spoofs etc. Its most popular form is that of spoofs and parodies which generally serve to entertain and provide a certain level of comical relief. The parody can be used as another means of relaying the news and changing the way we view a certain event or it can be used only for comedic reasons or to quote, “culture jamming techniques can simply be used to be clever or funny, without a political or critical motive” (214). The parodies and/or spoofs subvert mainstream culture by shining light on the actual implications of such products or ads and giving the public a different perspective from which they can view any form of mainstream media and I believe that the change of perspective serves to enlighten and educate the public, to some extent. For example, a McDonald’s ad with the ‘golden arches (M)’ turned upside down (W) can signify weight gain and the relationship between fast food restaurants and obesity in our society. Of course there are probably more meanings to be found in such an ad but a change in perspective has clearly been made and “this form of communication uses existing media texts (which normally enforce the dominant ideology) to make an Ideological critique”.

                This topic on cultural jamming is a very interesting one for me as it helped me to realise how relevant these cultural ‘jammers’ are to mainstream society and although I majorly focused on parodies and spoofs (because they are easily relatable and relatively and often times hilarious), the other forms of cultural jamming are very common in society and they help us to better understand the truth that the real mainstream media would prefer that we do not know and I believe It is a useful addition to the public sphere.