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Media and American Culture

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Week Nine Assignment: Final Michael McIntyre HUM/176

Week Nine Assignment Part 1 Final If I were a news director of a local television station I would decide to make the story about the city parks being closed three days a week my lead story over the celebrity’s death. The reason behind why I would choose this one instead of the death of a celebrity. The city parks being closed three days each week will impact the locals that live near those parks. A celebrity’s death will be in the news for days to come and could become tomorrow’s lead story, but today a local story that is important to its community does not need to be over looked because of a continuing story that will be there for days to come. Local news stations have obligations to the communities that they reach. These communities look to them for what is going on and more importantly, what is happening locally. With all of the different ways to deliver local news to people, it is possible to make the lead story the celebrity’s death on the news’ website. Then possibly later in the day change it to follow the television’s schedule of delivering the news, such as changing the lead story to the city parks being closed three days a week. With technology, and the several ways of delivering the news, it is very possible to have more than one leading story across the board. In the past we, as in human beings, did not have this advantage. Newspapers from the printing presses were the main source for receiving the news, local and abroad. This has changed very much over the last century. With television, people could do more than just read about what happened, they can slightly experience the situation as they watch it. People could see the news and what had happened rather than read about it and try to visualize it. After delivery by television, the Internet became the new system of delivery, this set new heights for media corporations worldwide. People able to see news from other countries, whether or not they lived there. Even if they were just interested in what was going on in that certain place. Delivery of the news has come a long way and has improved in many different ways. There are new rules that come with these new methods of delivery though. The most obvious one is for online, and television, corporations protecting what they produce and say in their articles to keep others from stealing it. This method of protection is called copywriting and can be a legal hazard for those who are found guilty of it. Although concerning the news on the local television station, I would place local events first in line. The local area looks to their news station for what is going on around them, then what is going on in the rest of the world. It could slightly bring down the ratings but not enough to make a major impact, especially with the celebrity’s death as a following story after the city parks being closed for three days a week.

Part 2: Television, movies, and electronic games alike have all had their share in effecting today’s culture with differences and similarities in many ways. They all have had their impact on how people live their lives on a daily basis. They have all changed peoples beliefs, values, and more importantly their behaviors. People also view the world differently, with possibly more of a better picture of what type of life they could have because of how each has impacted them. Culture its self has been reflected in many movies and television shows being produced in today’s world. Although this is not a bad idea because most of the time people can relate to these movies or shows and actually get something useful out of it. Shows like “Two and a half men” reflect culture as it is nowadays. This show shows the father raising and caring for the son at his brother house rather than the mother doing it because of his divorce. More fathers nowadays are stepping up and taking care of their children when divorces happen. In the past, no more than 20 to 30 years ago, the mother would care for the children, whether or not because of a divorce. The woman of the relationship was almost expected to care for the house and the children, even if she were to decide to work. Now, after reading several articles during this class, electronic games have had the biggest effect on our culture. Electronic games, just like television and movies, can teach us the good things about life, but they can also teach the more realistic and awful things in life. Violent games are at the top of the list that has the most influential impact on our society and culture. It is also the most controversial issue with electronic games today. One of the more popular games that is part of this controversial issue is “Grand Theft Auto” series released by the company “Rockstar Games.” This game involves shootings, thefts, and all round violence geared to the adult audience, although parents are still buying these games for their children today. “Grand Theft Auto” is one of the several games that seem to be targeted by organizations that are trying to tone down the violence on the television and in games. It is claimed that violence in movies and games influence our kids to believe that it is O.K. to be violent, and that it is normal for people to die and come back to life, which, of course is not the case in the real world. As anyone can tell, there are plenty of ways our culture is affected by the sorts of entertainment; television, movies, and games alike. All that can be done is try to change what is happening or deny it to our children until we believe that they are old enough to understand that it is not normal to be violent all of the time. Violence will lead to nowhere but a mental health institute or jail.

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