WHAS 10/16, 10/19, 10/21

  My data from these three nights reflects great differences. The WHAS website was modeled differently, and contained an average of 58 stories each day. This is about 3 times as many stories as the following week. My group did not know the cause of this drastic change, but we still analyzed the types of stories given. There was an average of 14 fluff stories online per night, which is equal to yhe average number of crime stories per night. 

  To cover the television portion of WHAS, all three headlines were local. Two were crime and one was politics. There were no international stories reported on TV. Unlike the website, crime was not a main focus for other regular block stories. My group decided that WHAS reports more on crime stories as headlines because they are easy to follow. They require a voice over played with some B-roll, and not much else. The fluff stories are shareable, and they bring viewers to the website. What we also found was the perpetuation of tosses, or when an anchor or reporter introduces another one with a new story. WHAS reporters typically stall with cheap conversation that literally regards the weather. Because of tosses, the weather and sports segments, and the long breaks, WHAS hardly fits news into a 30 minute show. 

WHAS 10/23, 10/27, 10/29

  For these nights on the 6 o'clock WHAS show, 2 out of 3 nights featured crime stories as the headlines. The other night used a traffic situation. Louisville's crime is also highlighted in my data count for the other stories during the typical blocks. The average number of crime stories on a typical show is 5, while the number of stories in all other categories combined averages to 6 every night. This is overwhelming, but it is pleasant that the other stories have not been categorized as "fluff," but rather more newsworthy topics.

  WHAS usually has 18-20 stories online, which seems reasonable. On average, there are 2 fluff stories online. This is understandable because these stories are shared most often. One online headline was national and one was international, while all of the TV headlines were local. I think that WHAS could cover national and international stories more heavily on the TV show. Perhaps this could replace the prolonged sports and weather blocks. But, this does have me wondering why exactly WHAS focuses on weather and sports so much at 6. Is it because that's when most people are coming home from work, and recounting the day (or planning ahead for the next day) is most important?

Radio

  This lecture highlighted the rise and fall of radio, which we can notice today. Tesla made the first radio in 1892, though it was upgraded by Marconi's 1895 wireless radio. This led to the transatlantic spread of radio. By 1924, following World War I, there were 1500 stations to play on 3 million radios! This popularity only grew with the golden age of radio (1930-1939). Radio was important because it was the first truly live medium to give breaking news. This gave radio its own special brand of emotional impact that was truly raw.

  No medium can dominate forever, as we have seen. Radio was challenged by the invention of affordable televisions. As the American economy strengthened, a middle class was able to afford TVs, making it less common for people to listen to the radio for news. This demassification happened rapidly, and I can still see the effects of it today. When my friends, family, or I want straight news or entertainment, we use the TV. Also, there are fewer radio stations available today. What is available is often niche-based. What keeps radio on is its live quality. You can't watch TV while driving a car, either. I found this lecture particularly important because it explained why our older relatives tend to cling to radio in general. They remember it as a truly live medium.

Movies

  Our class discussion on movies was perhaps the most interesting because it did engage the whole class. All of us could relate to what Mr. Miller talked about, such as the overwhelming experience of a movie theater. You know, when you wait in line on premiere night of the latest blockbuster and get a front row seat in a leather movie theater chair. The high quality sound and social outing with friends  make for a great time. These reasons (and more) are why movies are still a multibillion-dollar industry.

  It was riveting to realize the impact of movies on our every day culture. How do your favorite movies or movie franchises impact your daily life? It's more than an obsession. Our reception of everything from vulgarity to homosexuals has been broadened by cinematic works. Although the movie industry may be challenged by Netflix, it will continue to prevail due to the flexibility of itself. Conglomeration affects companies by bonding them into mass movie producers. Oftentimes, a production may be too taboo for a television company to pick up, but movie companies are ecstatic to take risks and make money. This is why it was so interesting to me to learn about the business behind something so important in our everyday lives.

Classmate review: Skyler

 I really enjoyed reading Skyler's blog for many reasons. Her posts went into great detail and depth explaining her ideas from the lectures. Also, she didn't forget to clarify topics that may be confusing to a reader who hasn't heard the lecture. She keeps the summary of the lecture brief, and focuses primarily on the impact of the medium. This is a great writing technique because she emphasizes what is most important. I also like her word choice in her descriptions.

  All of these advanced skills were present in her post about our class lecture on movies. I liked her personal flair added to the explanation of how movies killed magazines. The personal connection she made to her movie experience was also appealing. This makes the piece better to read. In addition to the great post on movies, Skyler wrote a meaningful post about records. I liked the way she described the emotional impact of radio. This emphasized how unique the medium is. She did exactly what was required of her, and even stretched beyond the basic criteria. I am impressed.

http://markwell0819.blogspot.com/2014/11/class-lecture-movies.html?m=1

Classmate Review: Alice

   Alice's blog was fantastic. I could certainly see the true dedication of a talented J&C student on her page. What stood out to me the most was how she thoroughly analyzed her news station's data. She organized her data in columns, which made it clear to the reader what she was referring to. I especially admired the way she used a critical, non-biased tone in her writing. I like how one of her posts showed a more negative opinion, and the other was more positive. This showed her attention the show's progress. She did praise WLKY, but only for impartial reasons. Her understanding and usage of the principles and yardsticks became evident here.

  In addition to the excellent reviews of WLKY, Alice's analyzations of class discussions were outstanding. Her post on recordings, my favorite, began with a sentence introducing how her knowledge of recordings had been impacted by the lecture. I liked the way she went through the historical timeline of the recording while adding her extra thoughts and opinions on each stage. I even spent some time reading through the reviews she wrote on her classmates. These were impressive as well, as they offered deeper comments than "great writing." Alice's effort is apparent throughout her entire blog in all types of posts.


http://aliced726.blogspot.com/

Media Critique

Fox News Media Critique 

        I was searching through many news sites to find an article to critique, and this one particularly caught my eye just from the title. "Blood stains, broken crystal bowls reported after brawl at New York wedding reception," just does not sound promising to begin with. After reading just the first paragraph, I noted that the article was lacking a few things to make it a considerably journalistic piece. 

       Initially, it lacks the yardstick of newsworthiness. Why would a national news platform report on a minor happening in New York State? How does a private wedding affect the audience as a whole? The topic of a minor incident would categorize as peripheral, rather than the core that media is supposed to bring us. Also, the article is not necessarily important. Instead of following the journalistic principle of making the important interesting, they seemed to have done the opposite. Why should they focus on something that is a small issue rather than the millions of other relevant events occurring today? 

      In addition to these problems, the article also seems to lack proper verification. The author did verify the truth with the local police, but the firsthand sources were given with very limited detail. They referred to a source as "one person who worked the event," which seems unacceptable. How do we, as audience members, know that this is true? 

      Ultimately, my biggest grievance with this article is the last sentence. The author states that, "No arrests have been reported." If no arrests have been reported, let alone any potential suspects, the story is simply unimportant. If a possible suspect had been identified, then the journalist may have been able to get the person's perspective. However, this yardstick of fairness seemed to be left out. Additionally, the article does not follow the yardstick of explanation. The report seems to be very episodic, considering that they did not follow up on the outcome of the crime. 

Classmate Review: Savanna

   Your blog is absolutely outstanding! Not only were each of your lecture responses very long and detailed, but they also covered a lot of ground. My favorite post of yours was the mass communication analysis. I read through several blogs before coming across this one. Your word choice and flow made it much better to read. I particularly liked the connection you made to our every day lives involving social media. It takes an extraordinary student to not only retain what is discussed in class, but to also extend the meaning of it to other important aspects of our lives. What also made your blog stand out was your usage of historical connections. The way you briefly mentioned facts and explained their relevance to a higher dimension really shaped the effect of your posts. I can't wait to read more!


To see more of Savanna's blog: http://savannavest.blogspot.com/

Classmate Review: Jennifer

    I found your blog to be very entertaining! Each post was written with high quality and evident thought. I found many of your reactions to be agreeable with great explanations. My favorite post of yours was "The Impact of the Press," because it provided an in-depth analysis connecting nearly everything we have learned to one topic. I also appreciated some of your foreshadowing into the future about the direction media is taking. Even though your writing covered many aspects, it was still short and direct. I found this good because it kept from getting off topic. This style of writing mirrors that published by professional journalists, who are paid to make the important interesting. This was very unique to find on a classmate's blog. Keep on writing.

Jennifer Snelling's Blog

Binary Models

     We recently learned about binary models, or models in mass communication that have two categories they fall in. The one I find to be the most relevant in all mass media is information/entertainment. I think this because it also can be associated with the elitist/populist model, in the fact that many companies that intend to be elitist information will sway to populist entertainment for the purpose of ratings and money. This can happen through the process of conglomeration, where smaller companies are meshed with larger ones. An example of conglomeration is certainly evident with Disney and its several denominations that we may not even associate with Disney in our minds. I think conglomeration can ruin the intent for essential elitist information companies.

Books

    Recently, we learned about the beginnings of books. Books were the first form of mass communication, originating as early as the Mesopotamian days. By the eleventh century, methods of book production had evolved to the moveable wooden type press. However, this was costly and inefficient as wood broke easily. Pieces would have to be replaced frequently. Then came Gutenburg, the man who invented the revolutionary metal moveable type press. This made book production smooth and quick, and books were being published by the hundreds all across Europe.

    The biggest impact of books were the increase of literacy, which was obviously needed to read books. Literate common people could do much more than before. They spoke out as Protestants against the Church. Education in general boomed. I find it intriguing how much of our society today can be traced back to Gutenburg's impacts (literacy, education, government, economic classes, religion, etc). Books also led to the production of other mass mediums that we still use heavily today.

Magazines

        The other day, we discussed magazines in class. We learned that the first magazine was made in 1741 by no other than Benjamin Franklin. I did not find this surprising as he can be considered the creator of many 18th century inventions. It interested me how magazines became popular nationwide just prior to the beginnings of the Civil War. That makes me wonder if collective, in-depth analyzations of war happenings were published in the magazines. Magazines also helped create a national identity for the U.S. through art and literature. This publication was so important because it was the first to truly become national with a vast audience. It became this way with the passing of the Postal Act of 1879, where magazines could be sold for a penny per pound. Magazines led to the innovation of photojournalism, which is something we could not picture media without today. Eventually, radio killed the magazine business and forced magazine companies into demassification.

Newspaper

    Today, we learned about the beginnings of newspapers. This was a fascinating lecture, because I have to say I'd never thought about something as common as a newspaper. The 500-year tradition of newspaper happens to be one of its advantages. Older generations are the ones sustaining the print industry now. Also, as Mr. Miller discussed, newspapers are portable, low-tech news sources. It does not require a battery or wifi to catch the daily headlines. Newspapers are nonlinear, meaning that you do not have to read them start to finish. The wider range of content and low prices also are appealing to a large audience. As long as we are literate (thanks to the mass production of books), we will be able to use newspapers. 

     However, newspapers did not always exist. In 59 B.C.E., the first known newspaper was published. It was Roman, and best summarized as published propaganda. These broadsheets posted on church walls advanced to printed sheets passed out in the masses, thanks to the invention of the metal moveable type press. I found it particularly interesting how the freedoms of speech and press really evolved from the court case of John Peter Zenger. Just imagine a nation that didn't value the truth over everything else. Newspapers provided a public platform for political groups to express their ideas on social issues. Eventually, during the Yellow Journalism era, populist newspapers were cheap and widespread. This revolutionized news and journalism in a way that is still evident today.