The Mediapolis And Everyday Life Analysis

Roger Silverstone examines the interconnection between the mediated platform and our ordinary everyday lives by analysing different dynamics of the ‘mediapolis’ in the chapter ‘The Mediapolis and Everyday Life’ from his book ‘Media and Morality’ (Silverstone, 2007). Silverstone’s analysis rests as a strong basis for developing arguments relating to the study of participants’ consumption and production of circulated media. This is clearly seen in Myria Georgiou’s article ‘Watching soap opera in the diaspora: cultural proximity or critical proximity?’ where she studies Arab women’s soap opera consumption in the Arab diaspora (Georgiou, 2012). This critical review will examine the relationship between the two texts by analysing their similarities …show more content…
A direct link between Silverstone’s and Georgiou’s findings appears when examining the concept of morality. On one hand, Georgiou refers to morality in the sense of ‘family values, decency, solidarity, and bravery’ as participants attempt to construct a feeling of homeliness when watching soap operas in the diaspora (Georgiou, 2012, p.878). On the other, Silverstone uses proximity in the sense of morality to reflect on participants’ expectations of ‘truthfulness and disinterest’ in the reporting on the world. The controversy behind news reporting rests on how it primarily seeks ‘to engage, to please, to shock’ in order to tell stories and this is where the questioning of credibility and morality arises. Moreover, Silverstone discusses trust and trustworthiness in abridging the distance between individuals in the mediated platform. Whereas, when reading Georgiou’s article, readers may assume the element of trust already exists in the relationship Arab participants have with the soap operas they are engaging with. This assumption may be based on the reliance on the existence of a sense of community supported by moral values throughout the cultures and the integration of soap operas in familial