One of my all-time favorite people visited my class this past Thursday. Mark Williamson is the communications director for the city of Akron. Mark was my boss/news director at the old WAKC on Copley Road in Akron back in the 1990s. He was there when I was an intern while I was getting my education at Bowling Green State University. He was a big reason why I got my job as a sports (sometimes news) producer after I graduated from BGSU.
Mark spoke to my first period class as well as my Excel TECC juniors. Mark talked about how news has radically changed to be more entertainment. He also talked about the role of government and how it interacts with the media. Most importantly, the biggest reason why I like Mark is because he is an upstanding guy. He's all about doing things the right way.
9 comments:
All folks interested in doing news the right way are now doing something else it seems.
WIXY...great point. I think it says a lot about the industry. There are still some folks who are old school enough to "report the facts" but too much entertainment has crept up into the news.
This very well may indicate a general "dumbing down" of the potential audience. We have discussed this enough on the message boards. Most of us would like to have hard facts, but the majority wants "News McNuggets." Feel free to use that one. I can't wait to read Amais' comments on this.
WIXY...it's funny you mention the "dumbing down" issue. That's exactly what Mark talked about with my second period. The news has this tendency to treat the audience like grade school kids. The silly banter between anchors, the senseless stories about things like American Idol and other non-news related things. The Buzz Report.
Edward R. Murrow would be disgusted.
I don't know Cliff; I am not a fan of the News Media. They discriminate, but not in a good way.
In my humble opinion, the News or those governing the News, has always used it as a tool to program the audience thinking. When the facts are given and the media doesn't discriminate base on nationality, creed, religion, or color -- this is good. However, this is very seldom the case. Indeed there are exceptions to this rule, some Struke might be able to cite, such as his friend.
Under the Bush administration we have seen the Media used at it worst. It's almost like America has become a "third world" country in more ways than one.
Our government should have no part in the operations or reporting of the News, sort of how they shouldn't be involved in one's religion. But this is only a dream --- the government uses the News Media for propaganda purposes.
On the other hand, the owners of these Media outlets use the power of the News Media to become rich. They cater to human primitive instincts. They compete for rating, and in doing so they used all types of over exaggerations to get the audience attentions. They stoop very low, and no matter how folks get pissed of about it, they do nothing to bring the Media giant in check.
I don’t have to go into a lot of wrongs the Media does, it’s obvious. They, like the Movie Industries, sell that “blond hair blue eyes” concepts, and if you don’t fall under that mode, you are left out in the cold. They milk violence for all it worth, and most of us, like a herd of sheep, follow them blindly. I have heard many of my associate say, "if it's on the news it must be true." How stupid!
When I worked in my community, I used to be in the public eye, and I saw first hand how the Media can work for you are against you. I was once on a show with a couple of KKK and the host of the show showed his true colors. He allowed the KKK man to talk about how Jesus taught separation, and the man went on to use Jesus to justify the cause of the KKK, for hating Blacks and Jews. I told the man that what he was saying was not only a lie, but that Jesus was a Black Jew, and if he hated Black and Jews so much, how could he love Jesus. We argued back and forth about the "wholly hair" and "bronze feet" until the man lost his temper and called me a "dumb nigger". I, in turn laughed in his face, and I boldly told these “white men” that they were the "dumb niggers". When the show was aired, my comments had been edited out. The reason given was that they didn't want the world to hear white men calling me a "dumb nigger" --- but I knew better. However, they kept everything else the KKK man said. I can't repeat what I told the show host, as this is a family blog.
You see, the News Media has great power, and they do not use it for the good of humanity, they used it to control humanity. It’s always the Haves verses the Have Nots! The Media is a big HAVE!
Hmmmmmmm.....
"News McNuggets"
Now THAT is funny!
And yes, I agree that the news is filterd. Heck, just change the channel and you'll get a different view point coming from some other Miss America reject. But never will you get the hard facts.
I don't know Cliff; I am not a fan of the News Media. They discriminate, but not in a good way.
In my humble opinion, the News or those governing the News, has always used it as a tool to program the audience thinking. When the facts are given and the media doesn't discriminate base on nationality, creed, religion, or color -- this is good. However, this is very seldom the case. Indeed there are exceptions to this rule, some Struke might be able to cite, such as his friend.
Under the Bush administration we have seen the Media used at it worst. It's almost like America has become a "third world" country in more ways than one.
Our government should have no part in the operations or reporting of the News, sort of how they shouldn't be involved in one's religion. But this is only a dream --- the government uses the News Media for propaganda purposes.
On the other hand, the owners of these Media outlets use the power of the News Media to become rich. They cater to human primitive instincts. They compete for rating, and in doing so they used all types of over exaggerations to get the audience attentions. They stoop very low, and no matter how folks get pissed of about it, they do nothing to bring the Media giant in check.
I don't have to go into a lot of wrongs the Media does, it's obvious. They, like the Movie Industries, sell that blond hair blue eyes concepts, and if you don't fall under that mode, you are left out in the cold. They milk violence for all it worth, and most of us, like a herd of sheep, follow them blindly. I have heard many of my associate say, "if it's on the news it must be true." How stupid!
When I worked in my community, I used to be in the public eye, and I saw first hand how the Media can work for you are against you. I was once on a show with a couple of KKK and the host of the show showed his true colors. He allowed the KKK man to talk about how Jesus taught separation, and the man went on to use Jesus to justify the cause of the KKK, for hating Blacks and Jews. I told the man that what he was saying was not only a lie, but that Jesus was a Black Jew, and if he hated Black and Jews so much, how could he love Jesus. We argued back and forth about the "wholly hair" and "bronze feet" until the man lost his temper and called me a "dumb n****r". I, in turn laughed in his face, and I boldly told these âre white men that they were the "dumb n****rs". When the show was aired, my comments had been edited out. The reason given was that they didn't want the world to hear white men calling me a "dumb n****r" --- but I knew better. However, they kept everything else the KKK man said. I can't repeat what I told the show host, as this is a family blog.
You see, the News Media has great power, and they do not use it for the good of humanity, they used it to control humanity. It's always the Haves verses the Have Nots! The Media is a big HAVE!
I was thinking about how the media seems to be so biased now.The journalists point of view comes across pretty strongly.I think all journalists should take an oath to be be fair to point out both sides to a story!What do you think?
This is one of my favorite places to hang out, so Cliff, I don't want you to think I didn't leave a comment, I don't know where it is .. sometimes they get lost .. in comment moderation --- I found this to happen at several blogs that I read. I will get me some coffee and try again ...
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