13,15,&16

1. Are you exposed to popular culture from other countries?  Why or why not?  Give some examples.
I am not really exposed to other countries popular culture.  I could not name a singer or a song that is popular in other countries but not over here.  I hardly know the popular music over here anyways.  On T.V. I usually watch ESPN.  Because I watch that I know that baseball is big over in Japan and that basketball is growing worldwide.  Also I know that soccer is a huge deal in just about every country but the USA.  Other than that I know almost nothing about other countries popular culture, but I also know little about ours.

4. How does the concentration of media ownership limit the number of voices in the marketplace?  Do we need rules limiting media ownership?
When a few companies own all the different types of media then all you are going to get is what they want you to get.  They are able to spin the information to their viewpoint.  Less and less people will have an actual voice.  I think we do need rules limiting media ownership.  There are some pretty stupid people out there that are going to believe whatever they hear.  They hear only one side a lot so they automatically jump on that bandwagon without hearing the other sides argument.  To have a better run country, we need to have people properly informed.

2. One charge that has been leveled against a lot of media research-both the effects and the cultural models-is that it has very little impact on changing our media institutions.  Do you agree or disagree, and why?
I disagree because the media is finding out what we want to see and then getting it to us.  We now can go online and get our news, which is a lot quicker then waiting for the 6 o'clock news to come around.  The media knows that we want our information quick so that's how they get it to us.  I feel like the media is changing to give us what we want.  They focus on things that will bring people in and they get the stuff to them quickly.

3. Can you think of an issue that media industry and academic researchers could study together?  Explain.
I think there are plenty of issues.  They could get together on anything that deals with the media and it's effects.  Things like the different effects that it could have on children, both positive and negative.  They could talk about the effect that violent shows have on people.  There was a very big deal after Columbine about violent video games.  Well, violent shows, movies, and news stories probably could have the same effect.  i personally think that violent games do not make people violent.  There are more people who play violent games and don't shoot up a school then people who do.  I feel like it was people trying to find a scapegoat but it would still be an interesting thing to find out because i could be wrong.

2. If you owned a community newspaper and had to formulate a policy for your editors about which letters from readers could appear in a limited space on your editorial page, what kind of letters would you eliminate and why?  Would you be acting as a censor in this situation?  Why or why not?
I would first have a word limit in which I would let the readers know of.  I would also allow no profanity, racial slurs, or anything else that could be deemed as offensive.  I would tell them to try and show both point of views to something.  I am acting as a censor because I do not want anything offensive in my paper and won't allow any deragatory comments.  But I would not allow my editors to not show a letter just because it doesn't show their side or it hurts their side.  I would want my newspaper to show both sides and let people form their own opinions on issues, not just being spoon-fed one side.

5. What do you think of the current movie rating system?  Should it be changed?  Why or why not?
I think it is ok.  I think there are some changes needed to be made.  I feel like there is a BIG difference between 13&16 and a lot of the stuff that I feel like a 16 year old could see and handle is a lot different then a 13 year old.  I feel like another rating between R and PG13 should be added.  There are a lot of PG13 movies that just miss out on an R rating and a lot of parents wouldn't want them seeing a lot of things in those movies.

Chapter 10

3. If you were opening an independent bookstore in a town with a chain store, such as a Barnes & Noble, how would you compete?
I would make it a used bookstore so that way the prices would be cheaper.  People could also bring in there books and I would get cheap books off of Amazon.com and other websites like that.  I would also try to have coffee and homemade good for people.  I would also hold a book club.  I would sell the Kindle.  I would also try to have better service.  I would meet people once they came in and asked if they needed any help and try to point them towards the book they are looking for or give them  couple of books that are good.
5. Why do you think the availability of television and cable hasn't substantially decreased the number of new book titles available each year?  What do books offer that television doesn't?
I think it is because some people just enjoy reading.  Plus there is so much more stuff that books can talk about that TV is not able to.  Also, the shows that involve cooking or home improvement might not have what you want to do on them for a while.  Yet you could just go and get a book on what you want to do.  Also there are self help books, religious books, etc.  The material in those books are not going to be found on TV.  Finally, authors have so much more freedom in their novels.  People on TV have to worry about the FCC and the amount of time they have.  Books do not have to worry about that

Chapter 9

6. Discuss whether you think your favorite magazines define you primarily as a consumer or as a citizen.  Do you think magazines have a responsibility to do both?  What can they do promote responsible citizenship?  My favorite magazine is ESPN the Magazine.  I think it defines me primarily as a citizen.  I feel like it does not have too many ads in it.  It also can get after some very big issues in sports.  It educates you in the whole world of sports.  I think magazines have a responsibility to define you as a citizen and  make sure you are properly educated in whatever the magazine is about.  Now they will have to think of us as consumers as well because they have to make money but that shouldn’t be what they define us as.  I think they can promote responsible citizenship by giving unbiased reports and just give all the facts.  They need to let the people decide for themselves

7.  Do you think the Internet will eventually displace magazines?  Why or why not?  I think they might but I think it will be a while before it happens.  Magazines are nice because they are very portable.  You can bring them anywhere.  People bring them on planes and you can’t be online while on a plane.  Doctor’s offices always have a bunch of magazines out for you to read also.  I doubt that they will put up a bunch of computers with the magazines up for you to read.  Plus, a lot of guys like to bring a magazine to the bathroom to read while the handle their business.  I doubt they will bring a laptop in there.  That might look like they are about to do something else.

Chapter 8

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 feel it is because the U.S. is so obsessed with getting everything right now.  People go on the internet and go to websites like Yahoo and others and get the news from there rather than getting the newspaper.  Also people can just watch the news on TV.  The news comes on at a lot of different times throughout the day so people see less of a need to get the paper.  It is an expense that they really don't see that they need.  It's not like they are going to not get the news or a certain side of a story if they don't.

5. Will blogs and other Internet news services eventually replace newspapers?  Explain your response.  I think they will.  They already have started to.  When I need to get some news i always go online to get it.  I will go to places like Yahoo, USA Today, and others.  Why pay to get a paper when you can go and get the same thing for free online?  Also it is convenient.  I do not need to go out and grab a paper.  I do not have to stop what im doing when I want to go see something.  I can multitask as I bring up the website.  Also it is more up to date than the paper.  I can read about something that happened hours ago.  I do not have to wait until the morning to read about something.  I feel that most people are the same.

Chapter 6

1.       How many cable channels do you watch regularly?  What programs do you watch?  What attracts you to a certain program?  I do not watch much TV.  I will usually watch channels like ESPN, TBS, Spike, and a few more.  On those channels I usually watch shows like Sports Center, Around the Horn, Family Guy, Seinfeld, 1,000 Ways to Die, and more.  Usually if it has to do with sports that I am interested in or if the program is funny or just interesting to me, I will watch it.  What attracts me to a certain channel is if they show things that I like.  I like sports so I like ESPN because they are about sports.       

      

4.       CNN and MTV have changed our society as well as the global culture.  Have these changes been positive or negative? Explain.  I feel like MTV has been a negative influence on our culture.  With shows like Skins, Jackass, Viva la Bam, and others just are awful.  Skins glorify sex, drug, and alcohol abuse.  Every time I see Jackass or Viva la Bam I think of the movie Idiocracy.  It is a movie in which a guy gets frozen and wakes up many years later and the whole world is stupid, very stupid.  The favorite TV show is “OW My Balls” in which a guy just gets hit in the testicles in different ways.  Those shows make kids want to go out and do stuff like them.  I know, my friends and I did.  Thankfully no one was ever seriously hurt.  CNN has changed it more for the positive because it allows for the news throughout the day.  The only problem I know of it is that people say it is a liberal point of view they put across.  I do not watch it so I wouldn’t know.

chapters 3&4

1.       My first favorite singer was James Taylor.  He was someone my family and I used to listen to all the time when I was younger.  We had a cd that was him playing live that we would listen to.  I do not quite remember how old I was at the time I first started liking him, but it was around the age of seven or so.  I just loved his voice.  It was just amazing.  He just had a very beautiful and calming voice.  His songs were just so calming.  Now whenever I hear James Taylor; it always brings be back to when I was younger

2.       If I ran a noncommercial radio station on campus, I would play just about everything.  I would play both newer and older music.  I would play rock, R&B, rap, alternative, country, folk, etc.  One song might be T.I. and then the next could be James Taylor.  Then you might hear Garth Brooks and then Marvin Gay.  Then after that it could be Frank Sinatra.  I just enjoy a lot of different types of music.  I love the differences in all the different kinds of music.  Each kind of music is beautiful in its own way.  I would like for everybody to hear songs that they like on my station.

Chapter 4

3.       If I could own and manage a commercial radio station, I would choose the format of stations like 97.3 or a station that we get back home like 98.5, which plays everything.  I always enjoy different types of music.  I grew up listening to oldies and country music.  Then my older brother started listening to other kinds of music and since younger brothers have to do everything the older brother does, I started listening to them too.  It was bands like AC/DC, Rage Against the Machine, and Red Hot Chili Peppers.  From there it grew even more.  Eventually I started listening to rap and other kinds of music.  I just enjoy all kinds of music and I know that I am not the only one.  This also allows me to not play certain songs over and over again.  It keeps things fresh.

5.   It can help social and political discussions in the United States because they can voice the problems.  They can help educate people on certain problems going on.  It can help raise awareness of certain things going on.  Radio can be a way for people to say what they think about certain issues.  This can also help people form their issues.  Some of the things that they could do differently are have it being less bias.  Lots of times you get that persons opinion on the problem or whatever and that’s it.  Lots of the time people just take up their opinion without even hearing the other side’s argument and also without a lot of the facts.  When you control the information, you can bend it to fit your argument.

Chapters 1&2

Chapter 1

1. A program I used to like when I was younger but now I really do not like is the Power Rangers.  I used to love that show.  I would stop whatever I was doing when that show came on.  Well, as the show went on; lots of the original characters left and were replaced by others who I did not like.  I finally gave up the show when the original blue ranger left.  I was so upset because he was the last one and was my favorite.  I guess it has helped shape who I am.  I have always kind of liked being the hero, the guy with the pressure on him.  I have usually tried to be the leader in things.  Lots of the shows and stuff that I watched were action shows and I usually liked the “leader” of the group.

5. Some of the ways it has hurt people in traditional or native cultures is that they are not as educated.  They do not know about what is going on the world as someone who has access to those things.  They cannot go watch CNN or get online and look up the news.  They fall away from what is popular at the time.  They fall further and further behind the rest of the world technologically and could also fall behind even further economically.  You could take the Amish as an example.  Since they do not use electronics, they could not know about the things going on in the world.  If a nuclear missile was coming towards the United States, they probably will not know about it until after it hits.  While everyone else would be able to hear about it through television.

Chapter 2

2. I guess the most exciting thing about the internet’s future for me is the ability to connect with people.  With more things available to allow you to stay in contact with people, the more amazing it gets.  Things like Facebook and Skype are awesome.  I have been able to stay in contact with so many people that I would not have had been able to without them.  Also it will allow me to stay in contact with people who I would not be able to usually after college.  It is exciting to see what the possibilities will be with technology getting better and better.

5. I think moving from a print-oriented Industrial Age to a digitally based Information Age could drastically impact individuals, communities, and nations.  I think it could both raise and lower the education of individuals.  People who do not have the money will not be able to pay for these things and can fall behind.  By doing that, less high-tech companies may not want to move into their areas due to the fact that they are not as educated as other areas.  That will affect communities and nations because it could create jobs but it could also make less jobs in some areas.