Flow Theory and the Power of Metaphors

Introduction
In communications, media is the storage and transmission channel or tool used to store and deliver information or data. There are many types of media, and arguably media has been around ever since the historical times and has been passed down and evolved through the ages to what it is today. Media includes print media and electronic media, are they playing an important role in our daily life? According to the researcher, Hermes, she assumes that media text is meaningful to audience whereas in everyday life, media is just a routines and insignificant and yet, she argues that media is meaningless in daily life. However, media is meaningful when it comes to “Parts of people’s daily rhythms and domestic routines”
According to researcher, cultural media studies, she focuses on media texts that we are using now. She argues that this is not the right way to study. So media and audiences should be study in parallel. Everyday life flow means the routinized nature of action and affairs, and that is also contains the possibility of change. Everyday life change is because of self evidence like activity we do in everyday life, the experience we had gone through. Media are meaningless according to researcher, media have their own role to play and media is representation and reception. So, we should not avoid it or reflected, even we do not conscious the meaning in media texts.

Argument
‘Everyday life as flow’ is one endows it with natural-like properties. As part from nature, it hides dangerous undercurrents and whirlpools beneath its orderly surface which are uncontrolled by our self. Beside, flow creates the impression of people concretely. Human experience and activity with these characteristic of flow strengthens the impression that everyday life is determined by natural force. The flow like nature of everyday life is a given in ethnographically are include theoretical and epistemological implications.
Two step flow theory is focused on change in voting decision. Mass communication can reach and affect people in two step process. When the media influence opinion leader, then the opinion leader will influence others with whom they have direct contact in group’s opinion follower. For example in Malaysia, the Lynas case happened in Bukit Merah, the opinion leader will be the parents and the opinion follower will be the children. Parents read the new from newspaper, and they transmitted the message to their children what they had read in order to protect their children from the harm might caused by Lynas.
According to the researcher, she said media are meaningless. However, media are playing an importance rule in our daily life. Media are considered as an effective ways to gain knowledge and information. For instance, the construction of pyramid in Egypt was shoot by the production of National Geographic. In additions, the truth of the ship wreckage, Titanic, is being revealed by the archaeologist and it is being proved. The progress of finding the truth of the ship wreckage is shown by the National Geography. This is the power of a media. It shows what happened, how did it happen and when did it happen and directs these information to the audience.
Besides, media also can transmit moral value to their audience through advertisement. For instance, PETRONAS advertisements such as Chinese New Year and Hari Raya Aidifitri advertisements are caring out intimacy to the audience. In these advertisements, they are taught on the importance of a family and show many moral values. The Drama on “No Regret” staring by Wayne was bringing out moral value such as patriotisms, courage that can use in their life.
Television plays a role as a part of domestic, medium for the family and household as a daily routine. It has been a part of the people's lives as it has penetrated the soul of the everyday. Television itself can be seen in the living room of almost every family household everywhere around the world. Television integrated with the people life, people get a break to relax through seeing the television program. The program is interesting and attractive. People think the television can bring the entertainment to them. Moreover, see the television program became a part of activity for a whole family. Through see a television program together to create a moment to stay together and communicate. Human live cannot separate with the television because living room with a television is the core of a family. The status of television is almost unquestioned, and if it were to be compared with women's magazines, which is the most taken for granted among all as it can be seen almost everywhere being the most visible medium. Women's flavour in woman magazine and they consider that is a need for them because they can get many newest fashion trend from it. If they have missed out that information of that trend, they will be considered as outdated. As a result, they read women's fashion magazine is to catch up with the latest trend of the world so that they can be grouped with others. This is one of the way to get other's attention. Television totally can afford delivery same kinds of information even with more interesting pattern to present. Hence television became the culture of people with familiar domesticity. See television program became the taken for granted since the innovation of television. Television not only provides entertainment to audiences, it is also delivery many kinds of useful and latest information to the audiences. For example, news, forum, learning and teaching program, sport information, and others. Television can be seen at public or private area and the program established depends from the normality of everyday life. The public area such as some shopping mall or the restaurant, people also can get the media even outside from home. For example, mamak shop at Malaysia. Malaysian likes to gather at the Malay or Indian shop and drink a cup of tea to enjoy the football match or other sport event or even just chatting with each other. These restaurants also provide television for the customers to watch the drama or other entertainment programs, in order to provide their customers with a relax environment during their meal. At some shopping mall, they are attached with several mega television everywhere in the mall to provide valuable news and information to the consumers. Therefore, another valid proof that people are hard to separate with the television and accept the message delivered by the television. At the private area such as home, people can comfortably sit at home and easily obtain the latest information from the outside world. After a hard day work, when we reach home, television is the easiest relaxation way for us to take a break out from tired. Television programs today are gradually excellent and interesting since it is providing what the audiences need and want. Moreover, there are more channels to choose, audiences can freely “zapping” between the channels. Many people prefer to stay at home after a hard day work outside. Initially, television belongs to the monopoly system, means that the government controls the program flow of a television channel and thus, there are very limited programmes to be released to the audiences. For example, in Malaysia, the broadcast of television program is controlled by the government, some truth is being hidden, thus, the newsworthiness can't be fully trusted. Later on, multi-channel universe is launched. The amount of channels selection that available for people has been increased and audiences can select the channel they want to watch based on their needs and wants, and the amount of zapping between channels are growing especially among the young generation. This situation is based on the used and gratification theory. Competitive between channels has caused the positive impact to the television programs and let it to become more attractive and outstanding. Notorious instability of television text causes the blurring of flow. A poor television program flow or an unclear program can cause the audiences to lose their interest in watching that particular program and hence, it causes the zapping between the channels. Another advantage of television is the specific program units can be over ridden by the flow in return to accommodate with the needs and wants of the audience. This means some of the television program can be broadcasted over and over again. There are different kinds of audience with different needs and thus, as a television programmer, he or she must know which time slot can provide the best satisfaction for their audience. To push the right program to the right audiences at the right time that is very important in order to grab more audience’s attention and to send out the message correctly. The flow of television is segmentation, and the segments are coherent but have no particular connection with each other, hence, it can be either through the logic of cumulate, like news broadcast items and advertisements, or through some repetitive or sequential connection, like the serial or series.
The power of metaphor Metaphor means we have to think out of the box in a creative way, or they take a story related to what we are telling them and draw it in a parallel between actions in it and their lives. In general meaning, we always dream in metaphor and we use metaphor in communicating with others even though we do not realize that we are using metaphor in our sentence. To produce great metaphor, a great mind should have holistic, creative, spontaneous and nonverbal metaphorical selves. According to Angela Leung of Singapore Management University and her coauthors from the University of Michigan, Cornell University (Article “The Power of Metaphor in Creativity” in http”//www.newsucanuse.org), she studies the relations between the creativity and metaphor and how does it help people to think out of the box. This is because language is the major variable that enables people to communicate with others and thus, people can understand or enjoy the message better when writer uses metaphor in explaining a complex idea to normal people. As you know, media is usually being used as a medium to reach mass audience. According to Hermes (page 560), claims that making the meaningless routines of daily life as the starting point for audience research and advocated “epistemology of the everyday”. It is a self-reflection within cultural media studies on how audience uses media in their daily life. Eventually, metaphor plays a role in here. For example, watching television is like drinking evening coffee every day. It has been a living habit for certain people and thus, it cannot be changed. I agree with Seilja Ridell (Journal “European Journal of Communication” page 564) that as metaphor goes, the characteristics shown in everyday activities and experiences as the media routine does leave ample room for individual and idiosyncratic association. Without realization, every one of us is affecting by metaphor through this routine. Metaphor is a powerful tool in sending out an idea or message, especially when the metaphor used on the right person or it fits the interest of the person we are talking to, and it argues that the metaphor of everyday life is like a flow which is based on a view of human existence. It never been denied that the metaphor of flow charges life with fatalistic tones called melodramatic (page 565). In other words, how metaphor is used can influence the flow of information or message that would like to send to the target audience and how it drives the target’s attention, meaning-making and memory drives.

Conclusion It is similarly dubious whether treating people at their most commonsensical is actually a way of respecting them (cf. Brunt, 1992). In relation to the mass media and its power, it is always a must to question the effect of the media's power in people's lives or to talk about the ways people participate in the processes of power. In the thesis of the meaninglessness of media use, the question of power is resolved a priori by assuming that the accommodation of media to people's lives somehow automatically denudes the media of their power. Such a resistance through routines would give accounts of how people live their lives. In question, why do people continually perform the meaningless act of watching the television news and why do they continue watching the news even if the government is controlling it and how did they initially get into the habit of watching it in the first place? Is it necessary or appropriate to fashion themselves in the image of the media? The answer is that not only there is an aspect of meaning or meaningfulness or significance at play both in terms of individuality and cultural reproduction in the routines of media use itself but also an aspect of symbolic power. The media, in relations to culture, produces and maintains cultural images and thus contributing to the construction of a common cultural reality. Controlled by the rich and powerful, they participate in the decisions made by the mass communications industry and politicians on their political agendas. These are powerful mediums in knowing that the viewers does not have any means of resisting what information that is been given, and also unable to pursue their viewpoints and interests in public.