Just Looking ...

Hi everyone,

The inspiration for this topic comes from a recent e-mail exchange with a friend. I sent her a link to an article from the Toronto Sun which I had found interesting but as it turns out, on that same day one of her professors happened to speak of the Sun with great disapproval. The class requires students to keep informed with the news via print media but apparently, the Sun fell short of her professor's standards and was excluded from the pool of potential readings. The reason - its reputation for having bikini-clad women on its pages. I must say this came as no shock to me as I have heard similar comments in previous courses of my own.

It was upon reading Fiske's chapter entitled "Understanding Popular Culture" (see pg. 7 in particular) that I began to reflect on this issue of what should be considered real news given the occassional snubbing of certain media by those who consider themselves to be part of the intellectual community. I enjoy reading the Sun's Comment section for the diverse, humorous, and often controversial opinions represented in its columns. So what if the paper chooses to display some risque images? Does that undermine journalistic integrity; are the two things even related? Most importantly, couldn't the use of these images by the Sun and other such publications be seen as a way of resolving and satisfying the contradictory needs that Fiske refers to, that is, of "being socially responsible in content, but popular in form and presentation"? If, as Fiske suggests, the criterion for success lies in the ability to harmonize these "competing relevancies", then the Toronto Sun should be considered very successful indeed or shouldn't it? I'll leave that open for debate!