Ethics in the News

I think the news industry should hold the highest code of ethics. If people hear about something on the news, they automatically assume it to be true. News networks rely on society's trust and I think they should ethically earn our trust. Although there are time deadlines and limited finances, journalists should always try their best to present the truth to the public. Journalists should also never stage the news. In Salt Lake City, a news reporter was accused of asking a group of high school students to come to the school parking lot and chew tobacco in front of the camera. Even though he was asking them to do what they did on their own on a regular basis, he was still charged with contributing to the delinquency of a minor. I agree with the fact that he should have been charged. Although the students chewed tobacco anyway, he should not have asked them to do it then just to make his story look better and more believable to the public. The news industry has to realize in a scandalous world full of celebrity divorces and CEO's who are fired for embezzlement, the news is where the public turns to for truth and accuracy. The industry should do its best to accommodate us while keeping ethics in mind rather than what would make the best story.

News Gathering Rights

News gathering rights help the news industry to report on such things as government officials and school district meetings. Sunshine laws, or open meeting laws, allow the press to report on public meetings because they are required to have open sessions. The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) is a law that requires federal agencies to list all of their documents and provide them for news agencies on request. However, "top secret documents" or documents that would violate private laws are off limits to the public. Shield laws are designed to ensure confidentiality of news sources. The aspect of news gathering rights that most concerns me is the Freedom of Information Act. This is a very significant law, as it has uncovered such things as unsafe conditions at nuclear power plants and the presence of poisonous wastes in drinking water. The FOIA will allow me to gain access to important pen documents that society deserves to know about, such as where our tax dollars are really going. I intend to be a reporter someday and I obviously want to provide the most accurate news to the public about things that affect their lives, which will often involve the government's cooperation. Several government agencies have resisted FOIA actions, making it difficult for journalists and citizens to get the information they request. I will have to prepare myself for dealing with such agencies if I want to be a confident reporter someday.

Agenda-Setting Theory

I agree most with the agenda-setting theory. The agenda-setting theory is the belief that mass media influence what you think about and your perception of what is important. I agree with this statement because after watching even one news segment, people begin to think about things they never would have thought about on their own. People sometimes will continue to think about these new ideas for days simply because they feel like they should since the news said it was important. For example, the OJ Simpson trial (again) has been the topic of many family dinners over the past few months. Why? It seems that an average Joe would never care about such a thing because it does not affect the every day person at all. But because we could not turn on the TV for about a week without seeing something about OJ Simpson, it became a topic that stuck in our minds and we were forced to think and talk about. Another example is the way the war in Iraq is presented on a lot of news networks. Even if someone had never watched the news and was extremely opposed to the war, it would be very hard them to continue to oppose the war if they saw pictures of Iraqi woman and children being killed by Iraqi troops who were controlled by Saddam Hussein. The way that the troubles in Iraq have been presented over the years in the media leaves little room for anyone to protest the war or consider it insignificant. The agenda-setting theory definitely makes sense when you consider issues like the ones I mentioned.

ABC News Joins With Facebook

ABC News has noticed that Facebook is a huge social networking site that attracts millions of people from the younger generation. Therefore, ABC News has elected to establish a partnership with Facebook that allows its members to electronically follow ABC reporters, view reports and video and participate in polls and debates. The two organizations plan to sponsor both the Democratic and Republican presidential debates in New Hampshire on January 5th. The announcement is a sign that news organizations are beginning to notice and attempting to capitalize on the power of Facebook and other social networking sites. Media companies like The New York Times and The Washington Post have produced pages to put on Facebook and some newspapers, magazines and television stations have invited users to join special pages that are also set up to follow political coverage. David Westin, president of ABC News, has noticed that debates are going on Facebook all the time. This new collaboration allows ABC News to follow and participate in these debates by providing information and gathering information as well. Facebook members used to only be able to send an email to a generic ABC News email address if they wanted to make a comment. Now, they can send private messages or post directly on an ABC News reporter's wall and reporters can engage in conversations with members. This seems to be an intelligent investment; Eloise Harper, an off-air reporter, used a digital camera to record a 50-second clip of flags falling down behind Hillary Rodham Clinton at a campaign appearance in Iowa. The clip has been viewed over 350,000 times on ABCNews.com and Facebook.

This article reminded me of Chapter 10 when we talked about how news must have an impact on its target audience. We also talked about how people over 30 follow the news more than people under 30 and young people are most likely to get their news online. In recent years, news organizations have had a difficult time attracting the attention of adolescents and young adults, especially in political matters. But news organizations have figured out that one of the most widely used mediums in the younger generation's world is friendship databases like Facebook. I am certain that presidential candidates such as Barack Obama and John Edwards agree with this collaboration because it brings their name to young adult's attention more than it would have been if just mentioned on the 5 o'clock news. If news organizations want to hear the input of younger people in political matters or even bring important issues to our attention, there is no better way to do so then bringing it to our attention when we log into Facebook. From reading this article, I learned that news organizations take into account the opinion's of the younger generation more than I thought they would have. I am happy to see that organizations like ABC News are starting to realize that people my age don't commonly sit down and watch the evening news, and putting political issues somewhere that we are actually going to see it (the home page on Facebook) is a much more logical way to present information to us.

The Article

The Zune

INFORMATION:
Product: The Zune
Parent Company: Microsoft Corporation

Year of the Ad: 2007
Agency that Helped Produce the Ad: McCann-Erickson
Where I Found This Information: Research on Google
Program That Ad Ran On: I'm sure this ad has run on many programs but I saw it while watching "A Shot at Love with Tila Tequila" on MTV.


Q&A:

I enjoyed this ad because I am a big fan of music and I always love commercials about products that allow us to listen to great tunes. This particular commercial had a very surreal and psychedelic aura to it and some of the places the man in the commercial traveled to just because he listened to the Zune were very complex and entertaining. This ad gets your attention because experiences like jumping from a lively mountain of human beings onto a trampoline that shatters into a million pixels of an ice cream cone are not obtainable for the common man but sound like a lot of fun. The ad is effective because most people enjoy relaxing on their couch with a pair of headphones blasting their favorite song but would definitely enjoy being swept into a dreamlike world with their favorite song playing in the background. Entertainment is definitely used in this ad because reality does not give you the same kind of unique pleasures to the eye. For example, Microsoft is telling us that a person who does not own the Zune would never be able to climb into the ear of a giant statue only to be greeted by flying musical notes. Puffery is also utilized because most people realize that simply listening to a Zune will not literally suck you through the screen into a fantasy-like world. The ad is selling an experience unlike any other because Microsoft is trying to say that with the Zune, you will be taken to places that your imagination wouldn't have been able to take you without this amazing product. The placement of the ad was extremely strategic because the age group that watches reality shows on MTV is the most likely age group to buy an MP3 player. I did not buy the product after seeing the ad because I already have an Ipod and I do not need another MP3 player.

Gossip Girl

INFORMATION:

Show Title: Gossip Girl

Network: The CW Television Network

Local Channel: KPLR, or Channel 11.

Time/Day of the Week: Every Wednesday at 8pm.

Cable or Broadcast Channel: Cable.

Syndication: This program is not in syndication.

Production Company: Split between CBS and Warner Bros.

Year of Beginning and End: 2007-present.

Producers: Stephanie Savage, Josh Schwartz, Bob Levy, Leslie Morgenstein

Director: Mark Piznarski

Writers: Cecily von Ziegesar, Stephanie Savage, Josh Schwartz

Stars: Blake Lively, Chace Crawford, Leighton Meester, Kristen Bell, Taylor Momsen, Penn Badgley, Ed Westwick

Q&A:

Based on the book of the same name by Cecily von Ziegesar, this drama gives viewers a peek into the crazy world of a group of upper-class teenagers who attend elite private schools in New York City. Serena (played by Blake Lively) is a popular girl who is sent away to boarding school, leaving her best friend Blair (played by Leighton Meester) behind. One year, Serena returns and quickly finds out that everything has changed. Rumors are flying about why she was sent to boarding school, but no one knows the real reason. Serena has found herself friendless, as Blair has moved on and now only seems to care about her boyfriend Nate, played by Chace Crawford. Serena soon realizes that she does not need her "cool" friends to be happy and moves onto new friends, such as Dan (played by Penn Badgley). During all of the madness, there is an anonymous character that simply goes by "Gossip Girl" who provides a classic narration during the show. The show features numerous cat fights and relationship issues, and there is never a boring moment with Blair fighting to keep her title of "Most Talked About" now that Serena has returned. I first heard about this show in a commercical promoting the season premiere. It looked very interesting, so I watched the season premiere and was immediately hooked. I absolutely love all the one-liners that Gossip Girl (played by Kristen Bell) has to offer about the hilarious situations that the priviledged clique find themselves in. The show is constantly throwing viewers through loops that are never expected and leaving viewers with cliffhanger endings that make the following Wednesday come extremely slowly. There is nothing I really dislike about this show. I would definitely recommend this show to anyone who enjoys programs like "The OC" or "One Tree Hill" because it is the same type of concept. What makes it original is how the writers are not afraid to put the characters in scandalous situations that most shows would not be brave enough to do, and this is what makes the show memorable.

Remembering Radio's Golden Age

My Grandma Terri..I love her!

INFORMATION:

I chose to interview my grandma Terri. She is 66 years old and she still one of the coolest people I know. I look up to her a lot.

CONTENT:

My grandma listened to the radio as far back as she can remember, but she is going to guess that she started when she was about 5 years old. She grew up living with her grandparents and a friend of her grandfather named Luke loved to listen to the radio, especially the news reports. All through her early childhood years, Luke and her would stay up and listen to the news reports and do crossword puzzles. From 7-10pm, my grandma would listen to the radio either with Luke or alone. Her grandparents did not listen to the radio, and her friends weren't allowed to listen to the radio. She grew up in a very small town where most parents considered the radio to be "something that would corrupt young minds." As she got a little older, she began to listen to more entertainment shows rather than news reports. Some of her favorite shows were The Shadow, Amos and Andy, The Green Lantern and Fibber McGee and Molly. Some of her favorite artists to listen to were Jack Benny, Red Skeleton, Chuck Berry, Peggy Lee and Elvis Presley. One of her favorite memories during the golden age of radio was the rebellious nature of listening to the radio that existed in her town. Every weekend, my grandma and her friend Barbara Jean would spend the night at either's house and listen to KUDL in Kansas City, which was a station that played all the music that they would have gotten in trouble for listening to. Another one of her favorite memories was the decoder rings that some entertainment shows used. She loved rushing home from school every day to see what message would be delivered to only those lucky ones who owned such a ring. She said the radio is much different today than it was back then. During the golden age, radio had mainly programs that were solely for entertainment, such as Little Orphan Annie and Stella Dallas, two of her favorites. Music was hardly ever played until the later years of the golden age, and music is the most commonly heard aspect of current radio stations. Not many recurring entertainment series, if any, can be found on today's radio stations. She said the number one thing that younger generations tend to forget is how different entertainment is today than it was when she was growing up. Radio was all they had during those years, but TV now serves as a huge competition for radio. My grandma thinks that younger people do not realize how cool it is to see a TV in every home because this was not at all the case when she was younger. To this day, my grandma is still a huge fan of the radio and misses all of the shows that added so much to her childhood. From this interview, I learned how much of an impact radio had on people who are much older than I am. Most people would not consider radio to be more entertaining than television nowadays, but it was really interesting to hear about days when TV wasn't an option. But even though TV wasn't an option, people like my grandma still feel that their childhood was definitely entertaining thanks to the golden age of radio.