Thursday, March 3, 2011

chapter 8

1. What kind of stories, topics, or issues are not being covered well by mainstream papers?
When a newspaper writes a story i believe most of the time they get to choose their topic which makes them bias as to which topic they want to write about. Some examples of stories they don't write about much in the newspapers are stories on steroids in baseball, also certain situations dealing with the environment and the U.S. government. Although they do put some information about U.S. government they do not elaborate on it at all, they just put the jest of situation. I believe that the newspaper is very bias as to who writes it. If they do not want to write about a topic most of the time they do not have too. The local papers will write more on what is going on in the town and the big city newspapers like the Charlotte Observer write more on what is going around in the United States.

2. Why do you think people aren't reading U.S. daily newspapers as frequently as they once did? Why is newspaper readership going up in other countries? I think that people are not reading the newspapers such as the U.S. daily because it is more convent to look on the internet and read the news. Pretty much everyone's home page such as Yahoo has news on the homepage. Also you have to pay to get the newspaper and since everyone already has the internet it is free to for people to look the news up on the internet. Another reason i believe the space issue, there is not space limit like there is in the newspaper.The readership is going up in other countries simply because the internet is not as popular in other countries as it is in America.

5. Will Blogs and other internet news services eventually replace newspapers? I think they eventually blogs and the internet news services will eventually replace newspapers. In today's newspapers they only have a certain amount of space to write about a certain subject and all subjects do not get mentioned in the newspaper, but with the internet there is no space limit and they can write how ever much they want. Also with the internet and blogs will also let people write what they have to say and allow them to view other viewpoints of different people on certain situations. With the way everything else is going electronically dependent the internet will also go that way as well.

Thursday, February 24, 2011

chapter 7

1. Describe your earliest memory of going to a movie. Do some research and compare this with a parent's or grandparent's earliest memory. Compare the different experiences. The earliest memory that i have of going to the movies are when i was in middle school when my parents would drop me and my friends off a the mall. We used to go to the movies every weekend with a bunch of friends. I asked my parents what their experience was like and most of their movie theaters were drive in movies. They also would go to a gym which is now like the hickory theater but would only play one movie. Also before that movie there would be two cartoons that would play then the main movie picture would show after.

2. Do you remember seeing a movie you were not allowed to see? Discuss the experience. The movie that stands out to me the most that i was not supposed to see would be Predator. I was at my friends house when i was in 6th grade and it had come on HBO one night and me and my friend watched even though we knew that we weren't suppose to. My parents ended up finding out, they didn't get to mad just reminded me what we should say and what we shouldn't say as far as language. So my experience with this situation in all was not a bad experience just got reinforced what was the right thing to do and what they wrong thing to do is.

3. How often do you go to movie theaters today? How often do you play DVD's on at television at home, or watch movies on a computer? Which experience do you prefer and why?
Today i do not go to the movies very often any more. One because of the price and two because now it is just easier to stay home or go rent it with all of the new technology they have today. I play DVD's every night to go to sleep to. I watch movies all the time and have a stack of DVD's in my room.I although do both i put DVD's in my computer and i also go on websites that play movies that i do not have at home. The experience that i prefer is to watch DVD's on television. I find it to be easier to watch it on T.V, plus you can be more relaxed than you are in movie theaters.

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

chapter 6

1. How many cable channels do you watch regularly? What programs do you watch? What attracts you to a certain channel?- I really do not watch T.V. that much i usually only watch it the most two hours a day. When i do watch it though the normal amount of cable channels are i watch regularly are about 4 to 5. The programs that i watch regularly ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, A&E,TV Land, CBS and TBS. I usually like to watch ESPN and CBS channels is because i love sports and that is all that is on that channel. The shows that i watch on A&E are Criminal minds and First 48. I pretty much like everything on TV Land from Andy Griffith to I Love Lucy. I usually only watch TBS when the braves game is on so therefore it relates back to sports. What attracts me to these channels again is i love sports and anything to do with mystery or crime, and as for TV Land i just like the old shows.

4. CNN and MTV have changed our society as well as the global culture. Have these changes been positive or negative? Explain.

I believe that they have both changed the society in good and bad ways. Although i think that CNN has influenced the society in more of a good way than MTV has. CNN allows the U.S. to view what not only is going on in our country but a lot of other countries as well. They are able to see live broadcast of governmental issues being discussed and what is going to be done about certain problems get government has. With MTV i believe that it has been more of a negative change than a positive change. On MTV they show a lot more reality shows than any other station. By saying that they reality shows they show promote a lot of drinking and other provocative situations not suitable for kids. Again then again it does promote some shows like Teen Mom which shows how hard it is to have a kid when you are a teenager. Maybe shows like that will actually help out teens in scaring them into not wanting to have sex until they are married or at least able to financially take care of their kids.


6. Some Critics argue that citizens no longer participate in traditional neighborhood activities and that cable has played a role in fragmenting society keeping us in our homes. Do you agree or disagree? What has cable done well, and in what ways has it adversely affected society? I do not agree with the statement that citizens no longer participate in traditional neighborhood activities. Just because cable has came out it doesn't force anyone to stay in there homes. It is still the person choice whether they want to go out or stay in and watch T.V. I probably only watch one to two hours of T.V. a day so i believe that cable has nothing to do with it. If your parents let you watch a lot of T.V. when you were a kid and didn't make you do any physical activity's then i think that has a bigger part in citizens staying in their homes and not going out. Cable has done well in created all sorts of shows for all sorts of people in the United states. Then again cable has adversely affect the society by some of the shows that they allow to come on their channels.






Thursday, February 10, 2011

chapter 5

2. How much T.V. do you watch today? Which programs do you try to watch regularly? What attracts you to your favorite programs? - When i watch T.V it is most of the time in the mornings or the afternoons. I probably watch about five or six hours of T.V. a day. The shows that i watch regularly are ESPN, Criminal Minds, and different movies at night. Mostly every-night i like to fall asleep with my T.V. on, and it is usually Andy Griffith that is playing. What attracts me to ESPN is just sports i love to watch sports and if i missed a game there is no other show to watch better than ESPN. I love mystery movies and shows and that is what attracts me to watch Criminal Minds. Andy Griffith is a classic and i have grown up watching it my whole life.

3. If you were a network television executive, what changes would you try to make in the programs that America watches?- If i was an executive at a television network i would first take a lot of the reality shows and soaps off the air. I feel that some women that watch the shows get so wrapped up in these shows that they do not know what it real and what isn't. I would also take shows like Jersey shore and Bad Girls Club off the air. All these shows are is girls going out partying and drinking every night, and they are making it look like it is so cool. They are not showing some of the consequences if something where to go wrong. I believe that it is giving the teenage girls the wrong impression on drinking and hanging out with friends. Most of the time when they are drinking they are not drinking responsible and that sets bad examples for teens today.

5. How could T.V. be used to improve social and political life in the United States?- There are many different ways that T.V. can improve social and political life. Since almost every American home has a T.V. in their house i think the best way to reach people about political and social issues would be through T.V. You can let people what is exactly going on with the political world in America. I know if it wasn't for a T.V. i would have no clue what is going on in the world, especially when presidents talk or have their State Of the Union Address. It would also help to let people know if something is true and not just a rumor in dealing with laws and when they are passed, or what is going on with the new health care plans. Social improvement can be useful in letting the citizens of the United States what exactly is going on with certain American issues such as our involvement in the Egypt crisis.

Thursday, January 27, 2011

Chapter 4

1. The earliest i can remember listening to the radio is when my mom would take me to elementary school in the mornings. As soon as i got into the car in the mornings the first thing i would do is turn on the radio. Which fifteen years later that is still the first thing i mess with when i get in my car. Once again my favorite song when i was little was achy breaky heart. I was about seven when i was listening to achy breaky heart. The station calls letters i believe were WKKT. The reason why i listened to this station was it was always on when i got into the car. I never really knew any other station when i was little besides country stations.


3. If i could own and manage a commercial radio station i would choose to pile up the commercials in the middle of the day. I would not want to play a lot of commercials in the morning because when people are riding to work the last thing they want to hear is a bunch of commercials. Also when they are coming home from work they would not want to hear commercials. By me playing the commercials during the day i would still have enough sponsorship money to run the station. Since a lot of people normally don't listen to radio during the day that is the best time to play the commercials. Also by me playing music instead of commercials when most people listen to the radio it will keep them listening to the station more often therefore ratings go up.

5. The radio can be used to improve social and political discussions in the U.S in many ways. First it can help get out information on national radios such as NPR. When elections are going on they can use the NPR to let the citizens know what certain politicians plan on doing. It improve with social discussions by also getting out different information such as amber alerts. It can help with catching criminals whether it is saying what kind of car they are driving or where they have been last seen. Lastly it can help with social discussions by giving citizens warnings if bad weather is coming. It would also be helpful to know if you were near a tornado if your in a car that you wouldn't know otherwise. Radio is a very helpful way to get information from place to place when your not near a T.V or a computer.

Chapter 3

1. When i was little my favorite singer was Billy Ray Cyrus.I first started listening to his music because of my parents and family. My family are big country fans so that is a big reason I'm a big fan also. When i started listening to Billy Ray Cyrus i was about seven or so. My favorite song that he sang was Achy Breaky Heart. Because i was so little when i listened to him i don't think there was anything important about the music i just listened to it because the rest of my family and the people i was around listened to it.

2. If i ran a noncommercial campus radio station the music that i would play would be the music that was most popular at that point in time. I would ask the students before i got it up and running what exactly they like to listen to, and for them to give me feed back on what they thought of the station. The music i would play would be Temporary Christan, Country, Rap, Alternative and a little bit of oldies. Since it is a noncommercial radio station i would probably try to do some fund raising event to get money to get caught up on the modern technology.


6. I believe that most of the global popularity of rock music depends on exactly what kind of rock music we are talking about. It depends on if its the beetles rock or Marylin Manson rock. Although most rock i believe is a negative cultural influence. The rock music talks a lot about drugs and depending on who you see sometimes they do drugs while putting on the concert. For example Mostly Crue talks about smoking in the boy's room as one of their songs. Kids might get the wrong impression which is smoking is the cool thing to do. The only pros i can see in rock is being free. They teach you to do your own thing and not follow what everyone else. Another con is that a lot of rock is dated back as earlier as the beetles and it is still being played today. The cons are they sing about drugs and cuss a lot.

Thursday, January 20, 2011

Chapter 2

1. My first encounter with the internet was very helpful in many ways. It was in middle school when i had to do a research project. I know longer had to go to the downtown library and read out of books. My mom was there to help me look up the information on the internet. It was a lot easier to find information by typing information in a search engine than flipping pages through a book. It was a lot faster and i believe a lot easier than me trying to find the information from a book or magazine.

2. The possibilities of the futures Internet that i am most excited about are, how easy they will make information on subjects to find, what you will be able to watch such as certain sporting events and movies. You can already watch some sporting events for free but not all of them. Some sites want you to fill out a survey or buy a package so you can watch it. Also like the sporting events you can watch some movies but most movie sites want you to buy packages as well. The possibilities that are most troubling is what will people be able to find out on other people. There are already some programs that are on the Internet that if you buy you can find out where people live and how old they are and even their job salary's. Also if there will be a way in the future for them to get into your computer where they can actually see what you are doing at the point in time. Like anything else where there are good uses for the Internet there will be bad uses that comes along with it.


4.I do believe that virtual communities are genuine communities. Virtual communities are informational systems in how people communicate with each other in the virtual world. With genuine and virtual communities meaning they both share the same interests, it help people meet new people on the internet or even help bring people together. It is also a way for people to talk about there problems. If someone is shy in person it will help them talk to people because they will be behind a computer instead of talking them face to face. In today's world the most common virtual community is Facebook. It helps people keep in touch with old friends or meet new friends with the same interest, even if they are on the other side of the world.