Media Effects on My Life

Did you ever stop to think just how much you are affected by the media in your life? I took some time recently to think about just how much I am affected by the media and what it exposes me to. I’m not even talking necessarily about TV shows or movies. Take commercials for example. I know there have been many times I have been influenced to buy something I wouldn’t normally buy because I saw it in a commercial. Going along with that, I have noticed that when I am in a store even if it’s a grocery store I have a tendency to buy the “name brand” product instead of the store brand because it gives me this false sense of quality.

As far as movies are concerned, I think there might be some correlation between prolonged exposure to violent movies and violent actions. Take for example the tragedy at Columbine. Those boys had repeated exposure to violent movies and video games. Grant it there are other things that made these boys so violent; the way they were raised and the kinds of experiences they had when they were growing up are just a few examples.

The way the media affects your life depends on a variety of factors. In W. James Potter’s book Media Literacy he lists 13 different factors. Of the 13 different factors listed the one that affects me the most is lifestyle. I come in contact with people from all different walks of life in a typical day. This helps to broaden my awareness of the media and its messages and the way they affect people. I am made aware of the way other people translate media messages which can broaden my awareness of these media messages sometimes even exposing me to messages I wouldn’t normally see.

Of the 13 factors in Potter’s book I’m not sure which one I would consider the least affective in my life. All of these factors really depend on each individual person and they are all important in their own ways. So the next time you watch TV, even if it’s just a commercial, really take the time to think about how much whatever it is you’re watching is affecting your life. You will be surprised at how much the media controls your life without your even knowing it.

I don't typically watch network shows, but when I do one of the ones I enjoy is Two and a Half Men. This week the show placed 7th behind American Idol, Dancing with the Stars and NCAA basketball. Typically this show does fairly well, but American Idol and NCAA basketball are going to dominate at this time of the year. This past week Two and a Half Men received a Neilsen rating of 8.5 with a share of 13. This show runs Monday night at 8:30. Shows on the other 4 prime time networks running at the same time are: Dancing with the Stars (ABC), My Dad is Better than Your Dad (NBC), House (FOX), and Gossip Girl (CW). In last week's ratings the only show out of these that beat Two and a Half Men was Dancing with the Stars.

I think if this show were to change days, it would fair the best on Friday night. The only competition it would face would be Grey’s Anatomy, but I think that’s a completely different fan base so it wouldn’t make much difference. I don’t know if this move would help their ratings at all; it might boost them by a small bit but not enough to really make a difference. There are the same types of shows on Friday night as on Monday night on the networks so the ratings would be relatively similar. The fan bases for each of the shows would be similar and therefore the ratings would remain close.

A time switch might be the better choice for Two and a Half Men. Since this is only a half hour show they have to be careful where they are placed because they are in competition with the hour long shows such as Dancing with the Stars and House. After looking at the TV schedule for this upcoming week in comparison with the other networks, I think if Two and a Half Men were to switch times the best time would be 9:00 instead of 8:30 Monday night. Dancing with the Stars would be over and the other shows don’t provide any sort of competition. If they made this switch I think the executives would see their ratings jump a little bit because there are no other shows worth watching.

I really think that the network executives in charge of picking times for the shows on CBS has done a pretty good job at least with this show. There really aren’t any other times or days that would make the ratings for this show any higher than they are. So they have done their research and picked the time slots well.

Postman Review

Overall, I believe Neil Postman’s book Amusing Ourselves to Death provides a relevant message to today’s society despite having been written over twenty years ago. Postman stresses that “the medium is the message” and today’s medium is the television, thus creating a visual society. No longer is the norm to read the Sunday paper over coffee. Now people are getting their news and entertainment from the television and the steadily increasing internet.

Today’s society is so concerned with the way people look they aren’t really listening to the message that is being broadcast. This is especially relevant in our Hollywood celebrities and TV newscasters. Basically, anyone that’s on the air is “beautiful” unless they are purposefully made to be ugly. Postman touches on this when he says “Most (television newscasters) spend more time with their hair dryers than with their scripts, with the result that they comprise the most glamorous group of people this side of Las Vegas.” Most local newscasters aren’t over the age of 50, especially the women! The public gives men a little more leeway, but in general one must look like they belong on TV.

Postman also writes about education systems attempting to integrate more multi-media into its curriculum. He uses studies done to provide evidence that “television viewing does not significantly increase learning, is inferior to and less likely than print to cultivate higher-order, inferential thinking. This relates well to W. James Potter’s book Media Literacy. He writes about our society becoming passive learners through the television media. In other words, there’s no thinking involved when we watch the television. We may watch news programs and other informational programs, but we aren’t really learning anything because we’re not really paying attention. Potter says news has become more about entertaining people than informing them. “This news perspective shifts the goal of news workers from informing the public to entertaining as many people as possible, thereby generating the maximum revenue for the news organization. This has led to a focus on the sensational and the superficial.”

While some of the examples Neil Postman uses in his book are a little outdated, he still has a relevant and important message to send to today’s society. That is we have become a society obsessed with looks instead of what’s really important. The television medium has created a somewhat totalitarian attitude among its viewers. The television and those on it know all.

Citizen "Journalism"

For class this week we had to choose a citizen journalism website, find an article and critique it. I decided to look at the Toledo Talk site since my hometown is relatively close to Toledo. The article I chose to critique was called A reality show I'd like to see. I found this article interesting because I've often wondered some of the same questions. The article discusses the recent Mega Millions Lotto win of a Georgia couple who claim the money won't change them. This particular writer says watching what life is like after the big win would be interesting; I agree. I've often wondered what people are really like after they win such a thing. Most people say they won't change but they all do. I would just like to see what the process is like, where the downward spiral starts. What causes it to start?

My problem with this article is I'm not sure this is really considered journalism despite the fact that it's posted on a citizen journalism site. Because it is citizen journalism should one hold it to the same standards as professional journalism? Of course not, but there should be some standards. This article has potential, but it just doesn't go anywhere. It seems like the author brings up a great topic but just leaves it making it more of an opinion than a report. Maybe that’s what citizen journalism is; people’s opinions on what’s going on in the world around them. That doesn’t really seem like journalism though; people are not presenting facts. They’re merely stating opinions; I think it’s fantastic that people are getting more involved with what’s going on around them, but I’m not sure that what this has become should be called journalism.