Audience Demand

Audience demand helped shape the radio industry by indirectly deciding would be played and focused on.

Audience demand is a phenomenon that always has, is, and always will be a huge factor in society and societal changes.  This is especially true when it comes to entertainment because entertainment's whole purpose is to appeal to an audience.  Even today, we see what gets on the radio or television as a direct response to what the masses demand.  What the masses demand is what makes money.  In the early shaping of radio, audience demand played a very similar role as it does in radio and television today.  However, because the technology was so fledgling at the time, it had a major impact on the shaping of the whole industry.

From the time the Titanic used a Marconi radio to call in a distress signal, people have been fascinated by the radio and attention was swiftly drawn to the technology.  This also drew the attention of the U.S. government and many cooperate executives who saw the potential in radio as an important means of communication and a good way to make a buck.  It was in this way that radio's general audience was able to "choose" what was on the radio.  Those putting on shows and deciding how the radio would be used wanted to pander to an the audience and play what they wanted to hear in order to make money.  This can be seen when looking at how advertisers put their ads on the entertainment stations because that had more listeners than either news or education as seen in the text.

Cultivation Theory

Cultivation theory is a concept in which people's views of the world are dependent upon the way the media  portrays it.

The media portrays a world.  Many times those creating this mediated world try to pass it off as reality, but in truth, it is more a caricature of reality. The difference lies in the fact that media needs to be enticing and exciting in order to get the good ratings, thus highlighting certain aspects of society.  One such aspect often times exploited by the media for more viewers is violence.  As said in the book, people who watch a lot of television are more likely to think they are in danger of a violent crime than those who don't. Cultivation theory says that frequent viewing or intake of media will cause a person to adopt the mediated view of reality.

As an avid viewer of television, many times thriller shows or cop drama, I can honestly say that I am a product of cultivation theory.  As someone who often times finds herself walking home from a club meeting after dark, I can honestly say that I think I will be attacked and then found by Benson and Stabler. My doors are always locked, I'm in the market for mace, and I'm always watching the route the cabby takes in case he decides to hijack the car and I need to barrel roll out of there.  The question is whether this paranoia stems from reality or the fact that my mother watches nothing but Law and Order, Criminal Minds, and Cold Case Files.  Those that believe Cultivation Theory would attribute it to the latter.  The following example may have me agree with them.

Ever since I saw this scene, I have assumed that this happens at all rest stops.

Rest Stop Scene from Criminal Minds

...obviously this is the end of rest stops for me.

Framing

Framing is a technique used by the media to tell us how we should think about a certain topic through the use of specific tones, words, and facts.  

Framing is all about the interpretation of given information.  For any given topic or story, there are many different perspectives one can take to look at it.  Framing is the media's way of using certain facts and the way they state certain facts to steer a person's interpretation of said facts.  Since the media decides what to put in a story and what to leave out, the viewer or reader will see the story from that point of view.  The media can also sway a person's view through the use of persuasive language or imagery concerning the topic.   

In order to show how influential framing can be, one can look to what is often times thought to be completely factual, the news.  This morning, two different articles were posted on the websites of two different news vendors, CNN and Fox News, about what one would think is the same story: tax cuts. Both articles cite the same plan in the works for tax cuts and many of the same people are quoted.  However, upon further speculation, one would see that the story is told from two very different angles.  CNN gives the story a more liberal spin by stating how the plan for tax cuts is "gaining traction"while Fox News takes the conservative approach by focusing on the fact that these tax cuts would leave out those earning $250,000 a year and more.  Same story, different facts highlighted, different interpretations taken away by the readers. 

A few specific examples from the articles:


The titles of the two articles alone immediately tell the reader how they're supposed to feel about the tax cuts.
CNN: Obama's plan to extend some tax cuts may be gaining traction
Fox News: Obama Economic Adviser: U.S. Can't Afford Tax Cuts for High-End Earners


From CNN news: "If the only option I have is to vote for those at $250,000 and below, of course I'm going to do that," Boehner said. "But I'm going to do everything I can to fight to make sure that we extend the current tax rates for all Americans."


and his quote left off there. However, look at how the same quote was used in Fox News.


From Fox News: "If the only option I have is to vote for those at 250 and below, of course I'm going to do that. But I'm going to do everything I can to fight to make sure that we extend the current tax rates for all Americans," Boehner told CBS' "Face the Nation." But Boehner called that bad policy, and that the people who would be denied a tax cut make up about half of small business income.