20110208184558-رادیو و زندگی روزمره

http://tvn.sagepub.
com/
Television & New Media

http://tvn.sagepub.com/content/6/3/319
The online version of this article can be found at:
DOI: 10.1177/1527476405276472
2005 6: 319 Television New Media
Rosala Winocur
Radio and Everyday Life : Uses and Meanings in the Domestic Sphere
Published by:
http://www.sagepublications.com
can be found at: Television & New Media Additional services and information for
http://tvn.sagepub.com/cgi/alerts Email Alerts:
http://tvn.sagepub.com/subscriptions Subscriptions:
http://www.sagepub.com/journalsReprints.nav Reprints:
http://www.sagepub.com/journalsPermissions.nav Permissions:
http://tvn.sagepub.com/content/6/3/319.refs.html Citations:
at Tehran University on July 25, 2010 tvn.sagepub.com Downloaded from

10.1177/1527476405276472 Television & NewMedia / August 2005 Winocur / Radio and Everyday Life
Radi o and Ever yday Li fe
Uses and Meani ngs i n the Domesti c Sphere
Rosal a Wi nocur
Uni versi dad Autnoma Metropol i tana
This article shows the place that radio occupies in everyday life through the systematic obser-
vation of a set of practices and discourses that structure the relationship with this means of
communication in families of different sociocultural backgrounds in Mexico City. Within this
framework, the author analyzes different scenarios, consumption times and styles, listening
practices, and ways in which the discourse is appropriated.
Keywords: radio; everyday life; consumption styles; listening practices and discourse appropria-
tion modes
Most studies on public opinion and citizenship tend to eschew the fact
that under the newconditions of the media public space, individuals build
their opinions and participate in this public space from their own homes.
Withdrawal of traditional public spaces, together withthe omnipresence of
the media in households, notably affected the process of opinion building,
the ways in which people participate and create a sense of belonging, and
the strategies of inclusion in the public sphere. It is not necessary to go
downtown to publicly show discontent with or support for a movement
anymore, and neither are people required to go out to form new relation-
ships or ask for emotional support. The domestic sphere has become the
center from where individuals bridge the distance with the world. From
319
This article is based on socio-anthropological research on the daily uses of the radio
that I carriedout inMexico Citywiththe sponsorshipof the National Council of Sci-
ence and Technology for my doctoral dissertation during the years 19961998.
Within the framework of the theoretical-methodological approach, I designed two
research strategies: an ethnographic record of eighteen families from different
sociocultural backgrounds and qualitative interviews to members of the families
selected to complete and extend the meaning of the ethnographic observations.
TELEVISION & NEW MEDIA
Vol. 6 No. 3, August 2005 319332
DOI: 10.1177/1527476405276472
2005 Sage Publications
home, you can call the radio to express an opinion, send a fax to report a
crime, use e-mail to answer a survey, create a virtual community, intervene
insolidarity chains, or participate ina discussion group. Also, the symbolic
material with which public opinion is built comes largely from the media,
and the latter are mainly consumed at home. Watching television or listen-
ing to the radio are activities deeply rooted in domestic routines and orga-
nization. Thus, if we want to understand the factors that intervene in the
formation of public opinion and the new meanings of citizenship in mass
media societies, we cannot isolate them from the context in which they
emerge and develop: everyday life. Listening, the same as building public
opinion, constitutes active processes of appropriation, differentiated and
located in distinct sociocultural and family contexts: in the listening pro-
cess, individuals use symbolic elements for their own purposes in very
diverse, although relatively concealed practices, because these are not lim-
ited to any particular place (Thompson 1998, 61). Although actors cannot
intervene in the messages production conditions, they can use them, omit
them, or resignify them in ways and circumstances not foreseen by their
producers (de Certeau 1996). From this perspective, my work reconstructs
several routines, emotional states, and power relations in the domestic
sphere linked to the consumption of the media that interact symbolically
with media messages.
Consumpti on Scenari os, Ti mes, and Styl es
The use and location of the means of communication are related to
cohabitationpatterns andsociability codes that vary fromone family to the
next. There are differences in the ways in which different social groups
organize consumption in relation to the distribution and use of the domes-
tic space. Inthe homes of middle andhigh sectors, the interior design of the
household reflects the tendency to segment the space according to the
needs of each family member and the domestic help.
With the exception of the radio and the telephone, consumption of other
mass media (television, video, and computer) is associated with a logic of
time and space segmentation that suggests a moment and a place for each
activity of the domestic routine. The study, TVroom, living room, kitchen/
dinning room, and bedrooms are conceived to fulfill different functions.
During the day, specific moments are allocated for work and/or study,
while others are devoted to leisure time or rest, and these vary for each
family member.
Among middle andhighsectors, TVandvideo consumptionare consid-
ered part of their spare time, and thus, they organize consumption accord-
ing to weekly and weekend routines. This implies that selection of pro-
grams and genres is associated with certain situations and family members
320 Tel evi si on & New Medi a / August 2005
in particular moments of the day, week, or weekend. There may be more
than one television, but there is always the main TV set located in the mas-
ter bedroom or the TV room.
This is not the case with the radio, which is considered as a basic,
nonintrusive, informative company, and thus, it may be on at different
hours and domestic routines, during work or leisure times. Radio con-
sumption is largely individual, taking place inside bedrooms, workplace,
or even the car, but at certain hours, such as breakfast, family members
share a collective listening.
In families of a lower-middle sociocultural background, the logic of
space distribution and use does not follow the parameters described for
middle andhighsectors. The same space may fulfill different simultaneous
functions, where family members may eat, do their homework, prepare
food, make clothes, listen to the radio, or watch TV. In general, this space is
the kitchen, where everybody meets to have breakfast or lunch. The radio
andTVmay be onall day, sometimes evenat the same time, andthis is not a
problem for either family members or friends. With the exception of the
videotape, media consumption is not included as part of spare time or lei-
sure time, but neither is it outside. The massive and constant presence of
these means of communication turns them invisible; they are always there,
at all times, andineveryactivity. Moreover, consumptiontends tobe collec-
tive, and on occasion, the audience is enlarged by visiting neighbors and
relatives. Listening to the radio is also a shared activity, especially at break-
fast, but in contrast to what happens with the television or video, it is com-
mon for each family member to have his or her own portable radio and lis-
ten to favorite programs individually in other moments of the day. This
situation is emphasized by the possibility of having equipment that can be
easily transported and that people can listen to in a variety of places
without having to share it with others.
There are few activities of the family routine that expressly suspend
radio consumption at customary times. In middle and high sectors, it may
be interrupted to watch television, go to the movies, go shopping, listen to
music tapes or CDs, meet withfriends outside the house, gotothe doctor, or
have dinner withrelatives or guests. Inthe popular sectors, radioconsump-
tion has less competitors; people turn off the radio only to go to the market,
go to church, go to the doctor, or attend community meetings outside their
homes.
Many of the situations described above regarding the use of radio also
correspondtothe use of television, thus integratinga communicationchain
in the domestic use that becomes evident when, for example, family mem-
bers go from one to the other or when both are turned on at the same time.
This sequence is characterized by happening almost without interruption,
and at specific times, both the radio and TV are turned on at the same
Wi nocur / Radi o and Ever yday Li fe 321
timealbeit not in the same roomsproducing an odd overlapping of
media noises, times, and images that mingles with the noises, voices, and
times of everyday life.
Another example of mimesis is when people manifest similar behaviors
in front of both appliances. It is difficult to distinguish if people behave
with the TV in the same way as with the radio or if it is the other way
around. But if we give credit to the fact that radio is older than television,
we might say that since the twenty-four-hour programming on TV, more
and more people watch less of and listen more to TV. This is evident in
the growing tendency to carry out all type of activities with the TV on, as
they used to do with the radio. However, the radio does not promote any-
thing like television zapping. Even the autoscan mechanism included in
many car radios allow a very reduced dial longitude, and in general, it is
programmed to jump from one favorite station to another.
Radio listening is a private act, one that may be individual or collective
but one that almost always takes place within the family and domestic
sphere. The ethnographic observation and the interviews carried out with
public transport users, where the radio is generally on, showed that radio
consumption presumes a microprivate sphere in the car, office, workshop,
as well as with the use of a walkman in taxis and public buses. Under these
circumstances, listening to the radio constitutes a private and individual
practice imposed on public spaces to define a sphere to which listeners
claim to belong and where they are different vis--vis the others. When the
bus driver pumps upthe volume, his intentions are not toentertainthe pas-
senger but to demarcate his own territory and to listen to the radio in spite
of the noises andmassive presence of the others. On the other hand, passen-
gers do not get on the bus expecting or willing to enjoy the drivers radio,
even if they might share his or her musical preferences. Almost none of
those interviewed were paying attention, and they were surprised when
we askedwhat stationthe driver hadon. Notwithstanding, theyhadnodif-
ficultyrememberingwhat theyusuallylistentoat home, at work, or intheir
cars. Inthis sense, the car couldbe interpretedas anextensionof the private
sphere, the same as the office, the place in the assembly line, or the news-
stand. The radio, together with other marks such as family photos or house
decorations, helps to define an intimate place of ones ownwithinother peo-
ples or anonymous spaces. Defining ones own space points to the actors
need to build, inside and outside their homes, individual spheres of inti-
macy associated with different activities and moods. These individual
spheres exist alongside other collective spaces of consumption and socia-
bility, such as whenthe radio is turnedonearly in the morning to share and
comment on the news during breakfast.
The research also verified that in every home, there is a negotiation
process in the family group regarding consumption, where the decision-
making power is unequally distributed. Even though there may be several
television sets, there is always a main one in the kitchen, the living room, or
the TVroom, where the dispute over programmingbecomes evident. Inthe
case of the radio, its personalized use and the fact that it is easily transport-
able from one place to another fosters a process of consumption privatiza-
tion that avoids negotiation: each person shows his or her preferences with
his or her own radio. In the car, monopoly is exercised by the driver,
although sometimes he or she is willing to make concessions to the other
people in the car.
Regarding the main TV or radio appliance, women show a greater con-
trol over radio programming than that of TV. This would be the obvious
case for homemakers, where differences should be interpreted in the con-
text of the unique relationshiptheyestablishbetweentheir programprefer-
ences, their own status as homemakers, the physical space, the organiza-
tion of time, their domestic activities, and their relationship with the rest of
the family members.
Last, in spite of sociocultural differences, in both groups we observe, on
one hand, the preeminence of private spheres, or at most community
spheres, albeit with very localized interests. On the other, we observe how
the media have absorbed some public sphere practices and progressively
replaced spare time activities.
Li steni ng Practi ces and
Di scourse Appropri ati on Modes
If there is something that characterizes the everyday relationship with
the radio it is that nobody sits down to listen to it, and many times, people
do not pay attention to the broadcast. Systematic observation of domestic
practices shows that attention is selective and floating amid domestic tasks,
family conversations, appliances noises, sounds of television, and daily
gossip:
[The radio] is frequently on as a landscape inside the home, a burning light, a
flame in the hearth, a voice offering a melodic companion to daily work,
where the meaning of the sung words do not have to be listened to or un-
derstood, involving sounds from which one raises the tone of voice to suffo-
cate the neighbors noises, to erase untimely messages, and to reestablish, on
the contrary, the equivalent to inner silence. (de Certeau 1996, 168)
The distracted way of relating to the radio, manifested in the attitude of
listening without listening or keeping the radio on as background mu-
sic, constitutes a cyclic mechanismof withdrawal-connection that charac-
terizes communication practices in the domestic sphere. It is
a complex andsubtle game of exchanges andwithdrawals, openings andclo-
sures, silences and explicitations, that are presented as a (multiple variables)
combination of qualitatively heterogeneous communications, diversely
stratified and mutually compensatory. (de Certeau 1996, 140)
More thananact of resistance or autonomyvis--vis the media, it maybe
conceivedas a strategy to reduce complexity. This strategy operates almost
subconsciously to regulate the anxiety caused by the outer world and to
somehow control the erratic flow of meanings:
In a more radical sense, consumption is related to the dissatisfaction gener-
ated by the erratic flow of meanings. Buying objects, hanging them on ones
bodyor distributingthemaroundthe house, assigningthema place withinan
order, attributing a function to these objects in the communication with oth-
ers, are resources to think about ones own body, the unstable social order,
and the uncertain interactions with other people. (Garca Canclini 1995, 47)
Ineverydaylife, the radio represents one of those loyal objects that, prior
to their purchase, are disloyal, but once incorporated to the household
system loyally stammers in its owners syntagma (Verd 1985, 85). In all
the families interviewed, we observed acts of humanization of the radio, in
the sense of attributing to it almost human behaviors or virtues. In one
home, it fulfilled anexorcist functionwhenit contributedto drive away the
ghost of an uncle who had recently died:
My mother is telling mybrother since yesterday that whenhe goes to his bed-
room he should turn on the radio and the light so as not to be frightened. A
month ago my uncle died and since then my mother has been afraid to be
alone during the night. (Taken from ethnographic family record of a lower-
middle SCL [lower-middle-class condition] family)
In another home, a family left early in the morning and left the radio on
to ease the dogs loneliness: She went to the bathroom and the radio was
still on, she went downstairs to have breakfast and never turned it off. I
askedher whyshe hadnot turnedit off, andshe saidshe thought that it was
good to leave it on because the dog would not be alone (family record,
higher-middle SCL). The radio also has the ability to talk aloud whenno-
body seems to be paying attention: Sundays are very hectic in the living
room. . . . The radio almost talks aloud; nobody listens to the songs be-
cause they are all doing other things (family record, lower-middle SCL). It
deserves qualifying adjectives when it is used to invade other peoples
spaces: my mother, as she does almost every day, wakes me up with the
volume of the damned radio turned up (family record, lower-middle
SCL). It mayalsoserve as a lullaby at night, or it maybe the alarmclockto
wake up in the morning.
Each day, the radio contributes to the organization of domestic routines,
the regular information of the exact time, the weather and news report, all
central elements to explain the impact of certain programs in households
because they mark key moments during the day. The newss broadcasting
management of inner time establishes a dynamic of accompaniment that
reinforces the bondwiththe home. It starts withthe classic goodmorning
when the alarm goes off and then stays with the family throughout its inti-
mate and domestic routines while members shower, get dressed, and have
breakfast.
The radio, together with the water heater and the stove, is the first thing
that is turned on in the morning; that is why its routines are altered only
when family life is shattered by an unexpected or extraordinary event. In
one of the families interviewed, the youngest child had to be hospitalized,
andduringthe first day, while the diagnosis remaineduncertain, the family
did not turn on the radio and the TV. When the emergency was over, both
were turned on again, indicating with their habitual noises that things had
gone back to normal again:
This is a special week because my brother was in the hospital fromSunday to
Friday. . . . Neither the radio nor the TV are on, so that the only noise that can
be heard is the blender; the rest of the time there is silence. . . . We spent that
day without knowing what would happen, we were out most part of the day,
and we never turned on the TV or the radio, (we did so) only when we came
back that night from the hospital and we were a bit more relaxed. (family re-
cord, lower-middle SCL)
The weather forecast also produces the same effect as the traffic report,
an illusion of control and foresight over the uncertain outer world. The im-
portance of these references does not lie so much in the knowledge or inter-
est they produce but in the ability to order andadminister the maelstromof
urban time, to situate the present and classify the sequence of past events.
The radio news has more impact as a routine regulator than as information
purveyor. Almost none of those interviewed could remember spontane-
ously what news has been delivered by the media the previous day. Con-
tents are dissociated from forms, and the routines of the news program
(greetings, broadcasters voice, commercials, permanent sections, music
curtains, and weather report) at some points are more important than the
information delivered. All kinds of programs are tuned in at any time, but
attention comes and goes because it competes with, and occasionally is
integrated into, family conversations and activities. In the following exam-
ple, we can see how the incorporation of radio discourse takes place in the
context of a conversation between a mother and her daughter, where the
former establishes her authority over the latter when commenting on ad-
vice she gave to a goddaughter. At the same time, somethingsimilar is hap-
pening on the radio, where the host of a well-known program that offers
psychological assistance tells a female presenter about the case of a drug-
addicted young man he has just scolded:
My mother told me she has advised Chelo to be patient and tell her aunt that
she shouldnt interfere inher life . . . onthe radiotheywere discussingthe case
of a young addict who spoke with Lamoglia, the doctor was really mad at
him, we just saidthat the kidwas dumbandthat everythingthat Dr. Lamoglia
had said was right, because if not the kid would not understand. (Family Re-
cord, lower-middle SCL)
One conversation is naturally chained with the other both at the syntac-
tic (the way in which the discourse is structured), semantic (the discourses
meanings), and pragmatic (the uses of discourse) levels (Kautz 1996). The
use of colloquial language, of the same expressive resources (tone of family
scolding), of the qualification of the probleminmoral terms, andof the pos-
sibility of establishing comparisons or parallelisms with situations that are
familiar or prescribed by the codes of family behaviors connects one dis-
course with the other at the common-sense level. Acommon social use of
the media is to use its imagery in the routine construction of interpersonal
discourses of any type (Lull 1997, 86).
Another mode of articulation betweenbothdiscourses is throughthe in-
corporation of broadcasters and hosts of favorite daily programs to the cir-
cuits of conversations andreferences toacquaintances, neighbors, andrela-
tives who are part of the family circle. In one of the homes observed, the
host of a program that combines music with show business news, called
Fabin, commented on the air,
YesterdayI blewthe endof the soapopera! The lady who was listening (to the
radio) while performingher morningtasks answeredhimangrily, callinghim
by his name: You blew what?, what word is that Fabin? (Family Record,
lower-middle SCL)
In the same house, the mother tells the radio news to one of her daugh-
ters at midday, quoting the hostess of the programas if she were a neighbor
whom she has just seen in the store:
Mother: Who do you think died?
Daughter: I dont know.
Mother: Oh, I dont remember his name, a blondkidwitha straight nose,
furry brows.
Daughter: What did he die of?
Mother: Maxin (the radio hostess) said he was very ill. (family record,
lower-middle SCL)
In another home, the family was worried about the news hosts domestic
routines: well, at what time do you think Viv wakes up? (family record,
lower-middle SCL). Often, a song, a commercial, or a comment made by
presenters act as triggers of past experiences. That which triggered the
memory loses its original meaning andis incorporatedwith another mean-
ing attached to what is recalled:
In the news they say that Mike Tyson apologized for his performance on Sat-
urday and begged not to be suspended from boxing. . . . Mother says that is
why she liked it so much when daddy quit boxing, because she would have
suffered a lot if he had devoted himself to it. (family record, lower-middle
SCL)
Inother cases, the connectionis not as evident or it is not producedat the
level of the discourses explicit content. In the example below, a grammar
digression from the radio host induces the need to define a metaphysical
meaning within the religious discourse of a woman who participates in the
evangelist cult in her neighborhood:
After a while in which the host is discussing if one should say a glass of water
or a glass with water, mother starts humming a church hymn and later com-
ments, When you say I reached salvation, I think that this is limited. . . . It
seems as if the opportunity has been lost. (family record, middle SCL)
Another very typical mechanism of self-referent assimilation, particu-
larly in the popular sectors, is to comment on the news, talk shows, or psy-
chological programs, comparing what happenedwith personal experience
or others experiences or proposing exemplary situations with a strong
moral indictment:
Myfather andI listenedtothe case of a youngwomanwhois pregnant. Myfa-
ther comments, Those young kids are the product of a bad education, cause
their parents did not know how to educate them, how can you believe the
mother should let her do whatever she wants? No, no, that is very bad! My
father uses this case to remind me that it is for this reason that they look after
me and are worried when I arrive late like yesterday. (Family Record, lower-
middle SCL)
The condition to domesticate a radio program, in terms of what is significant
for a family, rests on the fact that the universe of topics and problems dis-
cussed refers to a bevy of shared, imaginary (not necessarily real) experi-
ences of radio listeners. These topics, recurrent and clichdalthough no
less successfulare foundin soapoperas, news programs, the market, and
social and community meetings. Repetition has its advantages: everybody
feels entitled to have an opinion because they know what they are talking
about and the symbolic codes involved:
On the radio they mentionthe case of a womanwho has sexual relations with
a married man. It seems he asks for the proof of love. Mother comments,
So grown-upandso stupid, believing in marriedmen. If just having a single
one that turns out to be an irresponsible jerk is already a burden. Come on,
what of a married one! (family record, lower-middle SCL)
Discourses may come together and circulate in a sociability chain that
extends its limits outside the home. On one hand, it contributes novel
topics, and on the other, it becomes a referent to illustrate, support, or vali-
date conversations or discussions with friends, neighbors, or work mates.
In the example below, a woman hears in her favorite program something
that makes her laugh, to the point of writing down on a piece of paper the
radio hosts jokes, and then takes it to the office to share it. The appropria-
tionandsocialization of the message has deliveredanunexpectedpublic
success in the office:
Mother starts payingattention. I realize this because I hear she is laughing. . . .
Rulo, the radio host, is giving a list of foreign observers for the elections; the
list is a joke: FromGermany, Herr Dr. Otto VonFraud, Mother says thats a
goodone. FromIran, Ayatollah Withefinger; momandI laugh. . . . Mother
comes closer and sits down to hear better, and she writes down those she
thinks are the funniest on a telephone book page. . . . The following day, she
tells me that she told (the jokes) to a work mate called Vero. (family record,
lower-middle SCL)
The incorporation of the radio to domestic routines reinforces a timeless
sense of the passage of time. All days are similar; news loses its historical
transcendence and becomes a daily signal to organize the routine. The fact
that some dramatic or extraordinary events promote more attention does
not change the meaning of the relationship described. Paradoxically, be-
cause the media turn everything that falls their way into a show, they have
deactivated the events dramatic quality (Mons 1994).
The first period of my field research coincided with the murder of Ruiz
Massieus, the brother of the MexicanDeputyAttorneyGeneral. The media
broadcast and repeated the details of the murder several times during the
day. Although it generated greater expectation and attention, which was
evident because manyradios were onat the same time andthe news hadan
important impact onfamily conversations, it didnot alter the domestic rou-
tines of the families observed.
In one home, an elderly lady, impressed by the images of the crime, at
some point went tothe bathroomtothrowupandthenreturnedtothe table
to continue with the ritual of eating in front of the television with the rest of
the family. The same attitude may be observed regarding the broadcast of
wars and natural disasters, on the condition that these events do not affect
the households daily organization, the access to basic services, or the fam-
ily assets, amongwhichwe obviouslyfindelectronic media. Inthe example
below, we can see how the intense activity of the volcano Popocatpetl, lo-
catedtwo hours away fromMexico City, causeda deepconcerninthe citys
inhabitants fromthe moment the ash rain coveredthe federal districtthat
is, whenit became evident that the televisionevent hadits equivalent inthe
house courtyard or on the cars windshield:
Onthe radioandonTVtheyare sayingthat we shouldtrytocleanthe ashes of
the Popo because when they get wet, it turns into some kind of sand. My
mother listens carefully and says, Im fed up of these ashes (she says while
she walks to the kitchen door to look at the parrot); Imfed up with cleaning
and I keep stepping on it. Your aunt says she doesnt know either what to do
with all that ash. (family record, middle SCL)
We should point out that the ash rain occurred a couple of days before
one of the most relevant political events of the past sixty years took place in
Mexico City: the first popular elections to vote for the head of government.
However, in the midst of a preelectoral atmosphere, the volcano succeeded
inshiftingpeoples concernover the political future of the citytothe disqui-
eting ashes and, consequently, in diverting the priorities of the media
agenda.
Information on political, social, and economic events acquires meaning
when these events can be assimilated to previous experiences within the
cognitive and cultural schema of each family. For example, a comment on
the economic situation in Brazil acquires its local dimension in a family
from a low SCL, when it relates it to the daily use of credit cards:
On the radio (in the morning news) they say that in Brazil, credit cards inter-
ests have increased dramatically. My mother says, That is why I dont have
bank credit cards, you see? The Sears [card is the] one we only use it when
there is anoffer topayinfour or six months without interests. (FamilyRecord,
lower-middle SCL)
The process of localizing the global, particularly in the popular sectors,
does not depend so much on how close or distant the event is from a real
point of view but on how translatable it is in terms of the immediate reality
andfamily referents: distant events may become as familiar as close influ-
ences, and even more so than them, and they may become integrated to the
structures of personal experience (Giddens 1995, 93). This explains why
people feel that personal tragedies of important figures, such as the death
of Princess Diana, feel so close to themand why the war in Kosovo is so
far away, except if it embodies the personal drama of those affected:
The death of the princess, I cared very much. . . . I came back fromschool and
listened to the radio, and if they said something, well, I paid attention. (17-
year-old high school student, lower-middle SCL)
The radio also marks its daily presence by meddling in the domestic dy-
namic, reproducing, accompanying, or generating rituals whose character-
istics vary according to the type of program and the broadcast hour. This
turns hosts and presenters in to almost family members; it makes them
trustworthy and puts themin a place of authority that practically validates
any statement, comment, or suggestion they make:
Aman was telling me, You are part of my life ritual; if I dont listen to you,
thenI cant sleep, so whenyoufinish, I feel relaxed, I feel calm, I forget what is
happening to me. (Dr. Ortega, hostess of Ask Emi, Radio Frmula).
Recreation of these rituals also contributes significantly to generating
certainties and to lowering anxiety levels caused by the daily experience of
living in a big city. Thus, presenters become great domesticators of uncer-
tainty, particularly in the popular sectors. Information credibility is linked
directly to the ability they have to generate certainties.
Concl udi ng Remarks
The radio is essentially a domestic media, and its consumption is per-
sonalizednot onlybecause of the place it occupies inside the householdbut
because it has been incorporated into the complexity of symbolic and cul-
tural frameworks that structure domestic life. Its programming and modes
of address reinforce and feed the models of family relationships and
domestic life to the point that we are not able to conceive our domesticity
without seeingboththe radio itself andits programmingas a manifestation
of domestic life (Silverstone 1996, 51).
The ethnographic study carried out in family households that are radio
listeners emphasized that the order established by media discourses and
images to regulate times, eras, genres, and spaces is dictated only by audi-
ence preferences. The temporal and spatial chaos introduced by these
media discourses andimages takes place ina dislocatedsuccessionthat can
achieve an order only whenit is assimilateddaily into the biographical and
domestic disorder of each family and/or individual. Any appropriation of
media content implies not only a process of resignification and localization
of meanings but also an active structuring selection process. What is cho-
sen, given a priority, or omitted is related to each groups symbolic capital
and to the modes of communication established at the family core. These
modes, expressedindaily practices, are part of the repertoire that eachfam-
ily possesses. It is understood as the set of representations, practices, and
experiences from which each family signifies its relationship with the
media. This implies that media events are translated via a particular cul-
tural interpretation that is self-referential and located in the objective and
subjective conditions of each social group.
This selection process operates through different mechanisms to reduce
complexity, the main purpose of which is to enact an order principle to
process diversity and classify the erratic flow of meanings (Garca
Canclini 1995, 47) that circulates through the media. The function of this
selection process is not only ideological in the sense of integrating images
and discourses within a coherent body to interpret the world; it also regu-
lates the process of domestic and personal communication. In listening,
there are procedures of connection and withdrawal, appropriation, or dis-
possession in consumption that depend on the domestic situation and the
type of household and on the interaction that takes place at different times
during the day between family dynamics and media presence. Habits in
media consumption are stereotyped and incorporated into certain family
routines and rituals where they acquire meaning: the impact of some early
morning programs can be explained only in relation to the rituals pertain-
ing to family breakfast and preparations to go out. On the contrary, the
success of other programs canbe understoodonly byassociating it withsit-
uations of intimacy, either of individuals or couples, in some places of the
house such as bedrooms or the bathroom.
By taking the family as an observational and analytical unit, logics of
public segmentation other than class, socioeconomic level, age, or sex are
present. These logics intervene in consumption based on the relationships
established between radio programming, actors, the physical environ-
ment, the actors activity, and time distribution. This would be the obvious
case of homemakers in the house, where the differences in terms of sym-
bolic capital and sociocultural background should be interpreted in the
context of the unique relationship they establish between their program
preferences, their status as homemakers, the physical space, the organiza-
tionof time, the domestic activities, andtheir relationshipwithother family
members. It is here that we can truly understand the role that ideology
plays in Thompsons notion (1998), which explains that its function is
related to how symbolic forms serve in certain circumstances to establish
and maintain relations of domination. According to this author, the media
multiplies the ability to broadcast messages that have ideological potential
through time and space and to reincorporate these messages into a diver-
sity of material places. In sum, They create the conditions for the media
invasion of ideological messages within the regular contexts of everyday
life (p. 276). However, he adds that it is fundamental to mark the contex-
tual character of ideology: the ideological character of media messages
will depend on the way in which individuals accept the messages they
receive and thoughtfully incorporate them to their lives (p. 277). In this
context, rather thana homogeneous bodyof ideas about the order of things,
ideology is a strategy to organize our daily reality. From this perspective,
ideology will dependin each case on the needs establishedby the habitus in
different social groups.
References
de Certeau, M. 1996. La invencinde lo cotidiano: 1 Artes de Hacer. MxicoCity, Mxico:
Universidad Iberoamericana.
Garca Canclini, N. 1995. Consumidores yciudadanos. MxicoCity, Mxico: Grijalbo.
Giddens, A. 1995. La constitucin de la sociedad: Bases para la teora de la estructuracin.
Buenos Aires, Argentina: Amorrortu.
Kautz, W. 1996. Entrevista: La radioyla publicidad, hoyymaana.InLa Radio, vol.
1, edited by Asociaci de Radioifusores del Valle de Mxico. Mxico City,
Mxico: Asociacin de Radiodifusores del Valle de Mxico.
Lull, J. 1997. Medios, comunicacin, cultura. Buenos Aires, Argentina: Amorrortu.
Mons, A. 1994. La metfora social: Imagen, territorio, comunicacin. Buenos Aires,
Argentina: Nueva Visin.
Thompson, J. 1998. Los medios y la modernidad. Barcelona, Spain: Paids.
Silverstone, R. 1996. Televisinyvida cotidiana. Buenos Aires, Argentina: Amorrortu.
Verd, V. 1985. Sentimientos de la vida cotidiana. Madrid, Spain: Ediciones Libertarias.
Winocur, R. 1998. Radio y ciudadanos: Usos privados de una voz pblica. In
Cultura y comunicacin en la ciudad de Mxico, edited by N. Garca Canclini.
Mxico City, Mxico: Grijalbo.
Rosala Winocur, anthropologist, Ph.D., is a professor and researcher in the Depart-
ment of Education and Communication at the Universidad Autnoma Metro-
politana in Mxico City.

20110208184558-رادیو و زندگی روزمره

Uploaded by

Document Information

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

20110208184558-رادیو و زندگی روزمره

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

http://tvn.sagepub.

Television & New Media

http://tvn.sagepub.com/cgi/alerts Email Alerts:

at Tehran University on July 25, 2010 tvn.sagepub.com Downloaded from

You might also like