Summary Of Amusing Ourselves To Death

Twenty-first century reporters fill the airwaves with “news” pertaining to facets of life entirely opposite of awareness and activism. When news regarding anything aside from the lives of celebrities or current pop culture does make the headlines, the story seems presented in a watered-down, somehow censored, fashion; leaving the reader asking more questions than they received answered. As the major methods of mass media become increasingly consumer driven, the great majority are presented with less mentally stimulating material called “news”. As a result, Americans are often less informed, and thus less willing to become involved in, political, social, and economic issues, nation and worldwide. Through the application of relevant and straightforward journalism, like that practiced by Ida B. Wells, the people of this country may be armed with the knowledge needed to have an effect on the events unfolding today that will affect tomorrow.

Now I realise it seems a bit hypocritical of me to attack the media’s representation of a news event when I myself am a part of the hype-generating circus we call mass media. However, the voice of my wise, high-school English teacher echoes in my subconscious that we should always be critical of the texts we consume and conscious of the

Within Joyce Nelson’s essay, “TV News: A Structure of Reassurance”, Nelson criticizes the TV news structure that perpetually disconnects current events from their historical background through comforting anchorpeople partnered with advanced technology to create a TV program that minimizes the important implications of current events. Though lacking the amount of information that a print news publication can maintain, the TV news can convey immediate information through technological advances of modern TV equipment to allow the medium to remain competitive. The façade of in-the-moment international information broadcasted directly to viewers enables anchorpeople to maintain the feeling of immediateness, keeping the viewers believing the program

The final video, “Breaking News: Some Bullshit Happening”, was the most entertaining and provided the best demonstration of the use of rhetorical strategies in our daily news. We see commonplace activities being put in the news, and the use of certain words, objects or people to elicit a response or persuade the viewer to see the situation in a particular light. This final video showcases

Even though corruption has always occurred amongst the human race, it was not as bearing on a person's everyday life until media made it possible for them to be communicated at a faster pace. In this chapter Postman explains how we have turned from the "Age of Typography" to the "Age of Television" and how the young require all communication to be in the form of entertainment (p.8). He implies that our form of speaking works through "media-metaphors" which do not tell us what the world is like, but instead tells us what it is like without telling us anything. They limit and regulate what the world must be (p.10).

Postman says that, as a result, "all public understanding of these subjects is shaped by the biases of television" (78) and that in the absence of rational discourse, cultural decay is sure to follow.

In the article “On Message”, Samuel talks about how the media focuses in competing with each other. He went on to talk about how they fail to research into details but, publish any news that comes up. “Chris Plante is shooting down a rumor that originated on debka.com” (60), this quote tells us how Plante is about to give out this rumor out to the world, without even knowing if it is true or not. The media focuses on certain parts of stories and ignore others and as quoted “As long as Bin Laden is there, he is the story”(59), tells that certain parts of stories are left out and others are reported to favor or make us look like the good

In, “The Boston Photographs” by Nora Ephron she states photojournalism has a bigger impact than written journalism. It provides real images of events that have occurred and often times can create an outrage upon consumers. She goes on to further her claim by stating that when incidents do happen tragically it is not the occurrence that happen, but knowing death took place and that people were involved. Having imagery of death is something most people would not want to see as it can anger them especially if it involves people they know, but it captures the attention and that is what news articles are trying to get which is the significance of how to involve consumers into the loop, regardless if it is subjective.

Boom, boom, just a couple hours ago, there was an shooting in downtown Chicago. Everyone screaming at the top of lungs, wondering what just happen. The blood splattered everywhere on people in cars. The world is just becoming a war between a person to a person. Edward Murrow reported in this truly sad story. Edward Murrow fulfills the responsibility of the new caster because he reports about events, speaks honestly about them, and performs meticulous research.

Additionally, the setting also contributes to a better understanding as to why America is not the greatest country in the world. Given the title of the series that this episode belongs to is “The Newsroom”, one can assume that its purpose is to inform the audience on a topic. The

According to him “First, ‘news’ is generally considered to be something especially unusual…. Second, news outlets are influenced by their consumers. Human beings are especially interested in events that might affect them personally.” ( Phillips, 2015) If we take this explanation to define news, then indeed the media is just to pay more attention to the Paris shooting than those in Beirut. However, does this mean that matters that is not unusual, and perhaps not as personal, not important or newsworthy? There certainly is some truth to the argument, for example, people love to be entertained and, therefore, most might be more prone to read about Kylie Jenner’s new hairstyle then a “boring” bill being passed. I do not think, however, that makes it more newsworthy then the new policy taking

Postman (1987) claims that television is an evil that destroys the purpose and complexities of public discourse. He argues that important issues are oversimplified and drowned in a sea of irrelevance. Chaffee and Metzger (2001) confirm this assumption by remarking the evolution of print and radio into television and television into new media. Establishing the similarities between Postman’s chief complaints about the television medium and the new media then rearing its ugly head. Chaffee and Metzger indicate the shift in the denotations of mass, media, and communication. With technological advancements, it is impossible to ignore the new media and its impact on modern culture.

The purpose of news is to translate what is happening in the world in terms that make it comprehendable – that is, understandable according to listener expectations and experience. This tends to

The research for this article was conducted within a framework of Framing theory. The theory was first put forward by a Canadian-American sociologist Erving Goffman. Media framing, to put it bluntly, is a term that points to a presence of a certain bias in any media outlets’ output. All choices made in a newsroom collectively form the frame through which media decides to show the world to the audiences. Everything matters: Covering one event and ignoring another, covering one event more than the other, deciding what words to use to cover an event, what photographs or video clips to include, whom to give a voice, etc. At the same time, framing theory goes far beyond newsroom policies. Framing is not necessarily a delibirate choice. Journalists themselves look at the world through frames: their education, upbringing, gender, ethnical background, knowledge of the issue, and so on. Audience members apply their own frames as well, not just to media content, but to everything they hear and see.

What was astonishing was not the rapidity of the news- that is, after all, the beauty of modern broadcasting technology- but the effect that the news had on the public. In the following weeks and months, story after story demonstrated the