Reading Response: October 11

The Advantages and Limitations of a Focus on Audience in Media Studies:

"...audiences are vital in communication. It is for the audience that the media are constructing and conveying information, and, if it were not for the audiences, the media would not exist."

I found that this quotation, taken from the second paragraph of the article, epitomized what this article was all about. This is why 'data mining' exists. Data mining is a term used to describe the method of tracking demographics through the internet, by what websites they buy from and what they buy. Data mining can also be used to track phone calls (i.e. if someone phones a particular branch of pizza parlours, they might not be surprised to see a coupon book from that particular branch in the mail).
I find in fascinating how much effort goes into marketing and what audiences are targeted by certain advertisements. This article was good because there did not seem to be any bias is the way that it was written, which made it easier to take in the information and form my own opinion. Although I find that some forms of data mining (i.e. the phone) are an invasion of privacy, I have to give credit to companies who market their products well by targeting the right audience.