Audience

Who creates the content, the media or the audience?

While this question may have been more easily answered in the past, before websites such as YouTube or tumblr existed, currently it is almost equally both the audience and the media who create content.
YouTube enables people to create and share their own content without being professionally involved in the media - nowadays, short films are extremely popular, often following a very indie route in terms of subjects and plot, which appeals to young adults.
Additionally, websites such as tumblr, Archive Of Our Own and Wattpad enable people to create and share their own writing, and have millions of full novel-length stories that anyone can read for free.

Can the media exist/function without an audience? Can an audience (public) exist/function without media?

Without an audience, there would be no point to the media at all. The media is a corporation based around sharing information in the form of writing, films, music or social networking - the media without an audience is the cyber equivalent of shouting into the void.

While the public would technically be able to survive without media, the lack of being able to know what is happening in the world could lead to potentially dangerous situations. Therefore, society would not be able to function in a stable manner.

Who is more powerful: the media or the audience why/how?

I believe though the media is more powerful - although this power has been abused many times before (for an extreme example, the media was fully taken over by Nazi propaganda in 1940s Germany including radio broadcasts, censorship, posters and films), the media can make drastic changes in the way people think. For example, releasing films showing the horror certain diverse groups have faced (12 Years A Slave, Boys Don't Cry) have lead to negative opinions being changed and more positive activism.

Can the media control an audience?

The media can definitely control an audience and how they think or feel, by putting out content that is aimed at certain groups/ages and manipulating them with content that appeals to that specific group of people.