Guest Post: Patrick

If you were a gambler by nature, where would you say most Americans get their political and current events information? America is the haven for media outlets. Americans constantly have access to many different types of media such as: newspaper, radio, TV, magazines, internet, and pamphlets, to just name a few. Steven Chaffee, chairman of the Department of Communications at Stanford focused his studies primarily on the role of politics in mass communication and Stacey Franks wrote How Americans Get Political Information: Print Versus Broadcast News. In their research, they question the effectiveness of broadcast news to thoroughly inform the viewer in current events and politics. They argued, “Print media is consulted more often than television by people who are actively seeking information.” This statistic implies that individuals who really want to know the truth and want to get to the bottom of what’s going on and already have a good basis of information are reading their political and current events information via print media. While, “Television reaches groups that tend to lack political information, such as young people, immigrants, and less interested citizens” (Chaffee 48). This means that those who are just mildly interested are turning to the television as their main source of information. 

 I would argue we see this casual turn to the television to learn about politics, because everything is so much easier if you’re watching it on television. A commentator can tell you what you need to know and you don’t have to read it, which we can all agree would take more effort. So it comes down to how bad you want to stay informed to decide where you get your information.

Am I Beautiful Yet

This is a link to a project a former student did this spring. It doesn't necessarily have much to do with media change, but it's an interesting example of making an argument through various visual elements.
Am I Beautiful Yet?

Guest Post: Emily

Have you ever played an aggressive video and then felt a little aggressive afterwards? According to some researchers, this is normal. Violent and aggressive video games tend to make a person more aggressive and more reckless. Some people even go as far as to take dangerous risks that do not lead to useful results. These are the games that people will automatically relate to shootings or aggressive behaviors in school though these video games are not the only reason for this. The way the person is treated can lead to aggressiveness also. Video games are more of just a scapegoat for this. Henry Jenkins talks about this when he has to give a testimony for the Columbine shootings. He talks about how people will relate violent video games to aggressive behavior automatically because they do not understand the game; they just know the game encourages the player to kill people and be aggressive to other players. Taking the time to learn about the different violent video games will show that these games do not just encourage violent behavior but also help the player develop skills like problem solving and rational choice; some video games rely on your choice to determine what the rest of the video game will be like.

 Link to Professor Jenkins Goes to Washington: http://stuff.mit.edu/people/cshiley/Content/NotMine/jenkins.html 

Guest Post: Ryan

future of media
In my procrastination of final studying, I stumbled upon this image from futureofmediaevents.com. When I look at this map, it alarms me for a few reasons. Firstly, I had always dreamed of working at a newspaper when I grew up. I currently work at The Oklahoma Daily and I get a rush when I see my name in print once or twice a week. Now, I just hope that there will be print by the time I start my professional career.

In this course we have discussed how media have changed throughout centuries. In the first unit we discussed Plato and his critique of writing. While Plato was critical of writing, I don’t think that many people have been very critical of new media as a whole. New media have been embraced so quickly and thoroughly that we are completely abandoning the way we previously conducted ourselves. I am as guilty, if not more than, anyone. I used to rush outside to get my local paper each morning. Now, I sluggishly move to my laptop and check my RSS feed.

The main thing that alarms me when I look at this map is the speed at which new media have been taking over. Writing took centuries to catch on. Some people today still can’t read or write. New media, however, have only taken a few decades to make their mark. If newspapers will be gone by around 2040, what else may we lose in such a short time?