Media Conglomerates

The largest media conglomerate is News Corp. There are dangers, I think, to having these companies that own many different areas of media. This is mainly because there is a great chance that all of the things that people follow are based on the ideas of one conglomerate. It is scary to think that all we may know is based from the opinions of one boss or company because that would mean we are completely biased to one side. Since these conglomerates spread from film to TV to even magazines, there is a clear chance that each is promoting the activities of the other. Some people may not think about this occurrence at all and that is why this class is good for people to take. It puts things into perspective that you may never even think about, especially dealing with where the media comes from.

Now that we have this in perspective, we need to watch out for these types of companies and be aware that one company owns many and therefore many opinions, including our own, are extremely biased.

Violence and Social Learning Theory

Today i passed by my parents room and my dad just happened to be watching some violent western. I watched a few minutes of it and realized that it related to this assignment and the social learning theory in chapter 13. Part of the theory states that viewers imitate what they see on tv through a process known as observational learning. In this case, which may seem a little off, robbing a bank can clearly be taken into consideration as relating to social learning. In a western, robbing banks is what the characters do. Someone watching this type of act and the violence that comes along with it can learn that maybe they too can have success with this crime.

I know that this may seem extreme, but it important to realize that what you watch on tv effects how you act, whether you believe it or not. TV either makes you have possible violent acts or it can even help you to solve a problem. Even if it's an episode of Law and Order, there are key things that you take from a program that can either better or life or worsen it and it is all due to observational learning from the social learning theory.

NY Times Article/Extra Credit

I read an article on the front page of the New York Times for today (Friday) and found it very interesting. It was called "In McCain's Uphill Battle, Winning is an Option" and I found it by using the internet and pulling up the front page on the NY Times website. The main reason I found it interesting is because this specific media is typically more Democratic and this article seemed to provide John McCain with a little more hope than they would typically write about. It talked about how certain mistakes Obama have made may help McCain even though Obama seems to be winning in the polls prior to the election.

The writer, Adam Nagourney, spoke with both democrats and republicans when writing the article and I think that this is a more fair way to write an article. He even stated that aides for both McCain and Obama agree on the fact that McCain is very much still in the game in Florida, a key state that would help him to win the election. He also said that "while most national polls give Mr. Obama a relatively comfortable lead, in many statewide polls, Mr. Obama and Mr. McCain are much more closely matched." These statements are important for a writer in the NY Times because, as I said earlier, the NY Times is typically more to the left.

It also is very interesting and helpful to me that I could find this article online because it is not always easy to get your hands on an actual paper. This article was innovative for the paper, and was definitely easy to access online which brings into perspective two important forms of media that we have learned about in class.

O'Reilly vs. Olbermann

I viewed The O'Reilly Factor and Countdown with Keith Olbermann and there were quite a few key differences. One was the fact that Olbermann is so completely biased that I almost did not want to keep watching. At the beginning of O'Reilly, I was not sure I was going to like the show because he kept interrupting the people he was speaking with and it was frustrating me. As the show went on however, I caught on to his humor and realized that his points made a lot of sense. I liked the fact that he did try to get the truth out about both candidates and that he did being up bad points about each. While he may favor one over the other, he did not make it seem overly apparent as Keith Olbermann did.

It is clear that MSNBC is democratic and liberal and everything that Olbermann talked about related to how McCain did something wrong or stupid and I feel that one should only watch this program if they are a democrat because it gave absolutely no justice to John McCain at all. Fox News, on the other hand, is more conservative republican. O'Reilly, however, did try to give justice to facts about both candidates and I think this is much more fair. He had certain segments, for example, when he spoke about ACORN and the problems with that in Obama's campaign, but he also had a segment on a supposed racist remark that McCain made at the second presidential debate. Olbermann on the other hand, was completely anti-McCain and it is hard to watch his show if you do not agree with his viewpoint because this is what the whole show is about.

It is obvious that for their own party reasons and personal beliefs or those of the news station, that O'Reilly and Olbermann choose to use and to not even mention certain topics. This definitely must be taken into consideration when deciding which presidential candidate to support because you need to hear unbiased views in order to make your own decision. I found this was easiest through watching The O'Reilly Factor.

Presidential Debate 2008

I would like to state that I am in support of John McCain so this may be reflected in my assignment. Personally, I learned very much from the debate. I saw that McCain has much more experience and much more evidence to back his claims, while I saw that Obama is a very good speaker. This may be to Obama's advantage because he speaks with more of a flow and acts a little less tense, but I have to say that i hope people do not vote for him for those reasons. If you listen to John McCain, he proves to be more ready to answer questions and has more ideas that back his claims. McCain's big idea is to control big spenders and this is very important in our economic crisis. He is aware of who is doing the bad things and vowed to veto bills that are unneccessary to the United States. Obama talked about lowering spending but then about giving everyone health care and producing more types of energy that will cost billions of dollars to become successful.

In what I heard from news station 1130 WISN, they basically said that the whole time McCain was putting Obama on the defense. McCain had hard evidence, like of bills he had signed that now he is going against, and Obama was trying to defend himself. They also said that it was clear that on the foreign policy issue, McCain has much more experience and that the issue on the economy seemed to be a draw, even though people who were polled shortly after said that Obama won the debate overall. This was a good radio station because it was in the middle and did not have much of a biased opinion.

New York Times 9/11 Article

Today i read an article in the New York Times that was titled "A 9/11 Loss Some Can See From Their Window, Still." This article was interesting because it focused on people living in or around the area where the twin towers once stood. Some people have moved because the sight of ground zero was too much for them. Michelle Lord stated that "I always kept my blinds down," and told reporters that she has since moved into another apartment away from the scene where she can keep her blinds open.

Obviously, 9/11 has effected many people in many different ways. Some do not stop to think about how the scene of ground zero is hurtful to look at because it brings back a memory of something that will never return. Especially the elderly are still upset about the situation, such as Theresa Cianciotta who stated, "I will always feel very sad and angry that something like this could happen in this country." I think it is important to note not only the effects of 9/11 on people whose families were affected either by death or injury, but to also look at the point of view in this article.

This media form is good to look at because it is giving a different view. It is taking into consideration others who are mourning over this tragedy not only those who lost a loved one. Of course it is more than appropriate to write about the people who were lost and to pay respects to those families, but it is interesting that this newspaper took the time and consideration to see how others were still in shock and have made major life changes due to the terror of 9/11.

The view is something that will never return, but the memory of the towers will never be forgotten.

How Media Changed my Life

There are many ways in which media shapes the lives of people, some good and some bad. One medium has changed my life personally is the internet. Since I have grown up with it, it may seem odd that it has changed my life but there are certain things that the internet does that other forms of media do not. The internet helps me to stay in touch with the things that are going on in the world and that helps me to grow as a person. If I was to get my news from TV, I woul dhave to sit down at a certain time and listen to everything that they are talking about. On the internet, I can filter through what I want to read and what I do not care about as much.

Because of the internet, I can still keep up with society and its happenings, while I am still going on with my everyday, busy life. The internet is extremely helpful and I am grateful that it is there to make my life easier. Without it, I would be completely out of the loop. When I open up my comcast.net homepage everyday, it allows me to gain knowledge about my surroundings and if I did not have this, I would not watch the news because I have no interest in that, therefore i would not be up to date on any happenings in the country.