Technological Advancements and the Evolution of the Radio

Radio

Television

Modern Radio

Internet

Over time, the advancements in technology have caused many changes in the evolution of the radio industry.

After the introduction of the radio, it quickly became a key role in the daily life for most people.  I was not only a link to the outside world and a way to receive news about important event, but was also a way for people to discover different types of music.  However, with the advancement in new modern technologies, communication with the general public has progressed to new types of media.  A big change came with the invention of television, which put a face with a voice.  This allowed the media to have more power on what people viewed, which has caused controversy.  Also, MTV had a big impact on what types of music people listened too.  Then with the popularized use of the Internet an even bigger change occurred.  Now anyone can put basically what ever they want on the Internet for everyone to see.  Also, because the Internet can now be accessed so easily, people tend to use it for news, information, music, movies, and other entertainment purposes.  Now radio is rarely seen as a main source of media, only being listen too when driving in a car. 

            In the book Media Now, it talks about how the Internet has made it a lot easier to use copyrighted property as your own.  Illegal downloading of movies, music, and other programs has become a problem.  It causes the owners of such material to be cheated of their own creation.  The Internet does bring many good uses and important ways or receiving information, however it has also caused many negative uses by people who abuse its originally intended use.  If the radio continued to be a primary media source, one has to consider if there would be as many problems with criminal acts and other negative issues.  

Images found at Google Images:

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http://www.techdigest.tv/pure_avanti_flow_dab_fm_internet_radio_ipod_dock-thumb-400x311.jpg

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Examples of Priming in "Killing Us Softly"

Based on lecture and the information in Ch. 13 of Media Now, the concept of priming is explained and an example is shown in “Killing Us Softly.”

The idea of priming relates images that people see in the media and then stimulates their thoughts, causing them to adopt similar views and apply them to their own lives.  An example of this would be a teenage female seeing a commercial of women in bathing suits that have the “perfect” body and are seen as happy and having fulfilled lives.  This may cause the girl to think that in order to be happy and liked she needs to change how her body looks.  This can cause unhealthy eating habits and potentially be damaging to the girl. 

The documentary “Killing Us Softly” discussed many points about how the media has negatively exploited the roles of women and how females of various ages have adopted the views of the media and apply them to their own lives.  This is an example of priming; because the women who pay attention to what the media shows and says think that they should believe it.   They feels as though they need to try harder to achieve the “perfect” body, wear clothes that reveal a “loose” and more sexual attitude, and take part in sex roles that leads towards women being house-wives that stay home and care for the family.  Because some women take on these roles and follow what the media says, it causes men to adopt these beliefs as well and view women as less important, inadequate, and as “objects,” rather than people.

Watch Part 1 of of Killing Us Softly

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The Use of Framing in Commercials

When I watched the new 2010 commercial for Grey Goose Vodka, I noticed that the producers show and example of how they use framing to persuade viewers how to think about the product.

When media producers make commercials that focus on selling a product they know that in order for the product to sell they must show the product as something that is positive and enhances one’s life.  This can sometimes lead to framing, which fails to explain the whole side of the story and only focuses on the part that persuades the viewer to want to buy the product.  After watching the Grey Goose Vodka commercial, I saw how this concept was used.

In this commercial, a group of young adults are at a club/bar and are enjoying their drink, which happens to be Grey Goose Vodka.  Everyone is smiling and having a great time, along with a drink in their hands.  The commercial hints that in order to enjoy the night; one has to be drinking Grey Goose.  It also points out that the men can “get with” the women they are with and that the drink gives them confidence to do so, as well as enhancing their social and flirty side.  This is considered framing, because the commercial fails to show any negative or dangerous effects of drinking, only positive reactions.   Alcohol commercials like this one have affects on teenager and especially college students who may see this commercial and think that in order to be “cool” and socially accepted then need to drink.  Commercials like this one could possibly be linked to the alcohol problems seen in today’s society. 

Watch the Grey Goose Vodka Commercial and see what you think.


picture above found in google images