Can Media Regain Public Trust

I dont think that the media can regain the publics trust unless they make some drastic changes in how media is put out there. I feel like the media today drifted away from the foundation it was built upon and is more about putting out a story for high ratings. I also believe that the media will take someone's situation and throw their own twist to it for publicity and ratings.  Every week I feel like I see a celebrity on tv dealing with a scandal that probably wouldnt of even been a big issue had the media not hyped it up. Then you also hear from that celebrity how they claim that the media got a hold of the situation and twisted it around. Although the media has proven to be correct on issues they were reporting on many of times, they have also been proven wrong many a times and proven to throw their own twists in other peoples situations for their own benefit. Unfortunately that unbalance causes people to question if they can trust the media or not. Its not completly impossible to for the media to regain the publics trust but in order to do so the media would have to change how they get the media out to the public and become much more creditable.

Election

So for the upcoming 2010 election I was only familiar with one of the two canidates.  The one I was familiar with was Jerry Brown who was the mayor of my city(Oakland) while I was a kid. The other canidate is Meg Whitman, a former CEO of Ebay and one of the wealthiest women in California.  Jerry Brown has already served two terms as the governor of California in 1970-1980's. Brown is known to be tough on crime and has strong support from many unions. Brown has not stated yet how he plans to fix the states 20 billion budget defecit but vows that progam cuts will need to be made and that taxes will not be raised. 

Meg Whitman through her years as CEO of Ebay definietly knows how to run things and get the job done.  If elected she vows to cut business taxes, reduce “waste and fraud”, and eliminate about 40,000 state workers as a solution for the state’s fiscal crisis. Also she says she would like to spend more money on education. While it appears both canidates are qualified it will be very interesting to see how the citizens of California vote.

Journalism

While evolving forms of journalism can be an improvement, it can also be a disadvantage.  The internet plays a key role in this.  While the internet is a great way of getting news and information to the public, it is also open to the public and can be used by anyone that can say whatever they want.  "The internet is a marvelous tool and clearly it is the informational delivery system of our future, but thus far it does not delivery much fist-generation reporting.  Instead, it leeches that reporting from mainstream news publications, where-upon aggregating websites and bloggers contribute little more than repetition, commentary, and froth."- David Simon.  Journalism is a profession and should be done properly by trained committed individuals. While the internet is a way in which journalism can evolve it can also be a set back because the information being given might not be from a reliable journalistic source.

Issue 2

I do not feel that Harry Potter books are harmful for the moral development children.  The books were written to entertain children and to explore their imagination.  The author's intention was not for children to promote witchcraft or a belief in an occult. Their is a very long history with witches and mythical creatures in childrens literature. The majority of  kids who do read the Harry Potter books are most likely old enough to understand the context in which it was written and are able to tell the difference between fiction and reality. The moral development of a child should come through that childs family and community.  If a child is not fully able to understand the context of the Harry Potter books, it is the responisibilty for the parent to help him or her understand.

entry #2

Today, I watched an episode of the Glenn Beck show.  Glenn Beck is on vacation this week so several guest hosts are sitting in his chair and showing clips of his past shows.  Today, the guest host was Judge Andrew Napolitano.

The clip that was showing today was one of Glenn Beck talking about ways to restore our economy through education and history. I agree with Glenn Beck on this point.  However the problem with the show was that Glenn Beck never talked about how education and history could help the American people restore the economy.  As I continued to watch, the show turned into a tirade against President Barack Obama.  Beck compared him to two previous presidents, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson.  FDR served as president during the Great Depression and World War II.  He got the economy going again with government spending, bank reforms, and Wall Street reforms.  Everything Obama is trying to do to stimulate our economy and get it going again.  Beck never talked about how education would help solve our economic crisis.  He only tried to educate his viewers on everything Obama is doing wrong.  If everything Obama is doing is so wrong, I did not hear Beck offer up any suggestions of his own to get things going again.  If everything Obama is doing is so wrong then what is the right thing to do?  It is unAmerican of Glenn Beck to let our economy continue to suffer if he has all the answers.

unit 1 issue 1

Yes, American values are shaped by the mass media.  How could it not? The media today is non stop 24/7.  One only has to turn on their cell phone, computer, or televison and its easy to find some sort of news.  The unfortunate thing is that with a few exceptions like PBS, news stations are businesses and like any other business they are looking to make a profit.  Each major news station like ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, and Fox all compete to deliever news to the people.  Their objective is to be the first one broadcast the news, keep you entertained, and not change the channel to another station.  This urge to be first unfortunately causes some news stations to "jump the gun" sometimes before verifying all of the facts. Each news stations chooses the stories and messages it wants to put out there.  In todays society where electronics rule, people have become dependent on information being handed to them.  The information being handed out has already been slanted to reflect the views of the media thats handing it out.   People today are using this as a way to form their beliefs and values.  In earlier times most beliefs and values were driven from personal experience.  Now that people have become less hands on and more dependent upon others for information the media is taking advantage of the situation by broadcasting to the public its ideals and beliefs

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