1) This take charge assignment seems both intriguing and unbearable at the same time, resembling closely to a girlfriend. I do like the freedom to choose the topic that we want to learn. I must admit that the news to me is incredibly boring and the way it is presented almost brings me to frequent trips to the bathroom. Its amazing how people want to hear about the disasters and all the bad things in the world and when happiness arises it doesn't receive even half the attention that it should.
2)The idea that people feed off disaster in media relates to the idea of reality t.v. and its difference from actual reality;people love to watch others in high stress and high tension situations. They say that the cast of reality shows are randomly picked to be placed into a random living situation and it is aired on national television. They forget to mention the screening process that sets apart the vast emotional contradictions that make a reality show everything but reality. I can recall flipping channels on late night television and passing by a reality show. While watching the different confrontations on shows such as the real world or Flavor Flav's Flavor of Love, I think about how the media is destroying television with ridiculous shows that are supposed to represent reality. Reality t.v. is the news, reality t.v. is CNN, true reality t.v. is what people should watch.
Thursday, September 13, 2007
Thursday, September 6, 2007
Trust In the Age of Diversity and Spin
Part I
After reading Hedges' stand on how the trust in media is falling, it is obvious that people look towards television as a source of entertainment rather than information. Many people do not dedicate an hour to watch he news everyday partly because news anymore is meant to bring attention on what captivates a citizens interest, not their personal well being. I don't believe his statement that television will be obsolete in a decade and the only media outlet that we will have is the internet and a cell phone. Look at a normal American working class citizen and you will see someone who needs to multi task to complete a days work successfully. The televison allows us to still complete a task that we need to while not devoting our whole attention. A media outlet such as the internet or a phone requires constant attention, therefore television will not become obsolete. Overall, his arguements are sound and he makes good points and references.
Part II
Michael Hedges claims that the publics' trust in the media and in television is dwindling at a consistent pace. He first claims that budget cuts are the cause of the lower quality of television and thus causes viewers to loss trust in the system. He also claims that mass medias such as google are represented by such mottoes as "don't be evil" which causes users to trust more internet based media. Hedges states that, generally, media diversity lowers the publics trust in media. He backs this claim up, using informal citing, saying in countries such as Scandinavia, for example, where there is less diversity than countries such as America, have more trust in the media. Furthermore stating that more diverse countries such as the UK have much less trust in their media. Hedges makes many interesting points towards the depletion on television. His references are good but the documentation of his references could be more evidence but there is an evident validity in his argument. Although I agree with the fundamental stands Hedges takes, his arguement saying that we hear television will be dead in a decade is something that I can honestly say that I have never heard that television will be completely obsolete in a decade. This is a fallacy because hedges then goes on to explain the same fate to newspapers then finally concluding with his opinion mobile phones will be the only outlet for media that we will need.
After reading Hedges' stand on how the trust in media is falling, it is obvious that people look towards television as a source of entertainment rather than information. Many people do not dedicate an hour to watch he news everyday partly because news anymore is meant to bring attention on what captivates a citizens interest, not their personal well being. I don't believe his statement that television will be obsolete in a decade and the only media outlet that we will have is the internet and a cell phone. Look at a normal American working class citizen and you will see someone who needs to multi task to complete a days work successfully. The televison allows us to still complete a task that we need to while not devoting our whole attention. A media outlet such as the internet or a phone requires constant attention, therefore television will not become obsolete. Overall, his arguements are sound and he makes good points and references.
Part II
Michael Hedges claims that the publics' trust in the media and in television is dwindling at a consistent pace. He first claims that budget cuts are the cause of the lower quality of television and thus causes viewers to loss trust in the system. He also claims that mass medias such as google are represented by such mottoes as "don't be evil" which causes users to trust more internet based media. Hedges states that, generally, media diversity lowers the publics trust in media. He backs this claim up, using informal citing, saying in countries such as Scandinavia, for example, where there is less diversity than countries such as America, have more trust in the media. Furthermore stating that more diverse countries such as the UK have much less trust in their media. Hedges makes many interesting points towards the depletion on television. His references are good but the documentation of his references could be more evidence but there is an evident validity in his argument. Although I agree with the fundamental stands Hedges takes, his arguement saying that we hear television will be dead in a decade is something that I can honestly say that I have never heard that television will be completely obsolete in a decade. This is a fallacy because hedges then goes on to explain the same fate to newspapers then finally concluding with his opinion mobile phones will be the only outlet for media that we will need.
Wednesday, September 5, 2007
"To laugh often and love much, to win the respect of intelligent persons and the affection of children; to earn the approbation of honest critics; to appreciate beauty; to give of one's self; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived that is to have succeeded."-- Ralph Waldo Emerson
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