The media model

For my final Masters (Commerce/Sustainable Practice) Essay, I'm looking at the media and what influence it has on driving sustainable consumption behaviour.As an industry, the media is driven my the sale of advertising, which in turn relies on the sale of products (or services).

For the purposes of this essay, I'm positing that the simplest of sustainable consumption behaviour is buying less.

• How then, can an industry that is dependent on people buying more, support or encourage the reverse? 
• How does the current business model for the media industry limit our shift to more sustainable levels of consumption?
• What impact will the shift to online or independent media have?
• How does the social responsibility of the media play a role here?
• Does social responsibility exist in the media?
• What does this look like in Australia/elsewhere?

More to come.

Aspirational / Practical

A conversation with my boyfriend today sparked some thoughts about how differently we process situations and surroundings.I am what I would consider to be aspirational. I have an idea of what I want, where I want to get to and plan well in advance to reach my goals. I try and line up the necessary steps to get to where I want to go.

Marcus is much more practical. He considers the scenario and works to achieve the best outcome with the circumstances he's been dealt. He is much less goals oriented, only plans short term and doesn't often consider how he might achieve an ideal scenario.

Now, as challenging as this is for both of us in our relationship, it is also quite fortunate - as we're both great at counterbalancing the other. He commented that my way of thinking can cause me to become anxious or disappointed when my plans don't all fall into place - at least until I think of a different way to attack it or shift my goals - he finds this frustrating. I was equally frustrated at the possibility of accidentally arriving in a situation without aspiring to be there.

Happily, I think Marcus is in an ideal job for someone who thinks this way. He is often required to problem solve short term issues and is great at avoiding difficult situations in these cases. I wonder then, if my way of processing things is linked to my tendency to think outside the box, and how this might be best utilised in a business sense? Much more investigation and reading needed I think.