Television

Track your television viewing for one week. (If you don’t watch television, WATCH SOME!!) What did you learn about yourself? What did you learn about television? What does television provide you (fulfillment of a need -- See Chapter 15)?

TV provides me with fulfillment. I look to TV as an escape when I get everything done during the day. I normally watch TV late at night or while I am eating dinner. I like to have noise in the apartment so I am not sitting in the quiet. TV definitely caters to its audiences at different times during the day. If I turned on the TV in the morning it was always morning news. The only other programs offered in the morning are cartoons. In the afternoon there are a lot of soap operas for the women that are home during the day. Of course Prime time TV has the most followed programs. Each station runs commercials that would appeal to their audiences. For example on MTV or VH1 the commercials are for new CD releases,and new technology. Soap net has commercials for medication for osteoporosis and menopause,and vitamin supplements, while ESPN has beer and sporting event commercials.

Critiques argue that in trying to “offend no one,” the networks tend to offer TV programs that appeal to the “lowest common-denominator.” Do you agree? Can you name programs that are definitely for the LCD? Can you think of any network (NBC, CBS, ABC, FOX, CW) programs that defy the LCD label? Explain.

I believe that NBC, ABC and CBS are definitely for the LCD. These networks show programs that are made for the entire family. These shows always have a moral lesson at the end of the show. On the other hand FOX and the CW appeal to a younger crowd. The programs shown on these channels stretch the limits of what can be shown on TV. For example Prison break showing inmates escaping from prison and getting away with it.

Many people would say that television has had a greater impact on society than any other form of media. Do you agree? Why or why not?

I agree that Television has had a greater impact on society than any other form of media. Not only are the majority of individuals exposed to it daily but they have been exposed to TV since a young age. It is a form of media that does not require literacy. Television is in the home, schools, daycare centers, gyms, and the workplace. It has the greatest influence on the greatest number of people. Even when I was in the poorest of the poor places families would have a TV, whether it was in their home or it was a community TV.

Movies

Why is the amount of sex and violence increasing in motion pictures? Is this a case of Hollywood giving society what they want or is it simply society’s acceptance of what we are given?

I believe that the amount of sex and violence in movies is the fault of both the society and Hollywood. There has always been individuals that have tried to stretch the limits and get a reaction from their viewers. Producers are trying to find a new way to portray a character and their story. Controversy brings publicity whether it is bad or good it gets the name of the film out there. Some of the most controversial films include The Birth of a Nation, The Da Vinci Code, and The Passion. These films are a few of the highest grossing films made in their times.

Slowly our society is becoming immune to seeing violence and sex in movies. The majority of audiences are asking for more and more of these things. We tell the movie industry what we want to see by what we pay to see. The most seen films are usually R rated or the PG-13 movies that are very close to R. A lot of the films show what life is really like but others are an extreme exaggeration.

If you were a movie producer, what would you do to make a box office hit in 2008?

The movies that have been the biggest box office hits have been hit books that have been made into films. If I were to make a box office hit now I would produce the Twilight series movies. Twilight already has a large following that you know you will have a hit no matter what.

Chapter 7- Radio

KSL NEWS 1160 AM- News Radio-
This radio station is one of the biggest providers of Salt Lake's news radio. This station covers major sporting events and it also covers the LDS Church's General conference. The target audience is generally middle aged working adults, and sports fans. A lot of the advertising is directed towards the working community, mainly commuters.

U92- 92.5 Hip-Hop
This station is directed towards the high school to college age individuals in the salt lake valley. The target population is a lower income group of people. The morning show is directed towards a younger more liberal crowd. They mostly play hip-hop and R&B Music, there is not a lot of talk personalities. Many of the commercials are advertising clubs, parties, luxury items. It also has a lot of advertisements for check city and other money loan centers.

Oldies 103.5-
This radio station plays older Rock songs i.e. the cars, the carpenters, rush and many more artists. Advertisements are for things such as laser eye care, fitness, financial help, and health care. The Target audience are adults that grew up in the 60s and 70s. They play music from those decades mostly.

The cowboy 104.3 FM-
The Cowboy plays a mix of new and older country songs. This station has a lot of advertisements for colleges around the valley. It also has advertisements for upcoming concerts and rodeos. Their target audience is both young and old country fans. This station is know for the good mix of old and new music.

kbull 93.3
Another country station that has a very well know morning show ,Johnson and Johnson in the morning, that attracts a lot of commuters. Like the Cowboy their target audience is both young and old country fans. Advertisements include SUVs, computers and universities. The advertisement seems to be directed towards their younger listeners.

With radio listeners get a chance to call in and respond to the personalities. It is normally local station that shares the same community values. Community events are announced and it makes people feel a part of the community. Radio is with us in our most intimate rooms and in our cars with us. We have radio on a lot in the background of our lives. It makes noise in the background of our lives. Personally it makes me feel like I am not alone. It is a great source of information, news, and entertainment. We call also call in an request a song that we want to hear.

Chapter 6- Newpapers

Many of the Metropolitan papers have moved to the internet and most of the readers subscribe online. There is no longer a need for the physical paper to be distributed to homes.
Readers to not feel a loyaty to these papers because they have no real connections to the newspaper. People that live in the smaller communities have a loyalty to the newspapers and there is local and nation news in community newspapers. Smaller papers have announcements about people in the community.
These smaller papers have not yet converted over to the Internet, therefore the physical paper is the only way that the community can get the local news.

Chapter 5- Magazines

Better Homes and Gardens is a magazine directed to stay at home or part time mothers. It is written for women that enjoy creating things from scratch doing crafts that are easy and that complement their tastes. It is directed towards middle class women that have disposable income to spare. The typical reader is constantly looking for change in their surroundings and trying to make their homes a better and nicer place to live.

My mom is a typical reader on Better Homes and Garden. She works part-time as an interior decorator. She is a working mother and she usually looks through the magazine to find ideas to decorate her home and to use in her work. Many of the advertisements are directed towards women with children.

I do not think that the Internet has had a huge impact so far on the magazine industry. I think the physical magazine is still in demand. In the future I think the physical magazine will not be as popular but I don't think it will disappear completely.

Chapter 1- Living in the Media World

In a newspaper articles the sender is the newspaper staff. The messages are the content of the articles being printed. They encode the message by forming their ideas into a message and then create the article using those ideas. The receivers are the subscribers of the newspaper and targeted readers. They decode the message and try to interpret what the sender is trying to relay to them. In return the readers give feedback to the newspaper company through continuing subscriptions and letters to the editor. Noise could be other newspapers, other forms of media, and public opinion.



Magazines are very similar to newspapers. Like newspapers the sender is the magazine company. They use their ideas to form a message and encode it using pictures, words, and familiar concepts. The reader and/or subscriber is the receiver of the messages and decodes what they believe the magazine company is trying to tell them. The reader gives the magazine company feedback by buying the product they are selling, continuing to subscribe and letters to the editor. Noise could again be other media, advertisements within the magazines, and reputation of the magazine.



The senders in radio are the radio stations. They determine what messages will be sent on their stations. They encode their messages using words, sounds and music. By creating a picture in the listeners head. The receivers are the listeners and they use the words and songs to determine the meaning that is trying to be shared. The listeners give feedback by calling into the stations and voicing their opinions to the station hosts. Noise could be external noise or cars and static, commercials and other people talking.



I would say that the television network is the sender but you could also add that the advertisers on the networks are also sending different messages as is each program on the network. Within a single program the director is the sender. He encodes his message with images, words, music and sounds. The receiver uses those images to depict the message, although some are easier then others. Some messages are deeper then others. Feedback is received through ratings, letters and web response.

I think that the model fits some media better then others. I feel that it fits the best for radio, then newspapers and magazines, and the least like television. I also think it can be broken down into smaller sections within each media.

PART 2
Newspapers are the best at informing. All of the news for the day is in front of you and you can pick what issues interest you the most. I think TV is the next best giving you a quick summary of everything that is happening.

For Entertainment I would say that TV or magazines are the best media. TV is a medium that a lot of individuals turn to, to distract themselves from the world.

I think that newspapers are the best persuasive medium. News papers are suppose to be unbiased. The opinions shared in newspapers have a large influence on readers.

Chapter 4- Books

Poll:
Most of the people I polled have not read a lot of books over the last 6 months. Most have not read a book for fun since late August because of school. Most of society does not read unless they have to. Of the people that I polled most have read church books because several have just returned home from their missions. Some of the other books that were read include: A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, The Chronicles of Narnia series, Harry Potter series, The Twilight series, Middle March, C.S. Lewis books, and Deception Point. This shows that people enjoy reading good books but many of the people our age are too busy to read from fun.


For both college classes and leisure reading I prefer regular textbooks and paper books over electronic books. For college classes I prefer textbooks because after reading for several hours my eyes and head hurt from starring at a computer screen for so long. Also electronic textbooks make it hard to highlight and take notes to go back an look at in the text book. Also if textbooks are online, you cannot always have computers with you. For example, I take my textbooks to work to read while work is slow. If I had eTextboks I would not be able to read because I have restricted Internet access. For leisure I enjoy holding the book in my hands. Paper books are more portable and they are personal. Online books become very impersonal.