Media InfluencesCommercialisation

‘Consumer Society

• We are a society of ‘consumers’.

• The logic works like this:

• We have an ‘economy’. In economy, we have people who make things.

• Other people buy, or ‘consume’ these things.

• We all need money to buy the things.

• So, we all need jobs, to get money to buy the things.

• So, we go and work for the people who make the things, so we can have money to but other things.

• The more things you have, the more successful you are, and the happier you are!

• “I want to eat a meal”• What would you do?

• “I want to go on a trip”• What would you do?

Key Point

• As a society, we imagine things as being ‘commercial’ – things you can but and sell.

• Increasingly, the outdoors, and outdoor experiences, are things that we can buy and sell.

• This leads to use viewing outdoor areas and outdoor experiences as commodities – things we can but and sell.

• This means that they are useful only for the services they can provide us.

• Compare this perception to the way Indigenous Cultures viewed the land in Australia.

Media Influences

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Key point

• The way we imagine the natural world is dependant on:

• The personal experiences we have

• The perceptions presented to us by others.

• We ‘consume’ a lot of media, so it has a big influence on our perceptions.

• Different people present different ideas about nature.

• The ‘mix’ of media we have consumed has a big influence on what we think nature is ‘for’.