Week #4: Chapter 3 (Books) and Chapter 16 (Mass Media Effects)

Chapter 3:

O> I am amazed by the information you can find on Wikipedia. The fact that it was created based on software in which people contribute writings and editing anonymously on almost any topic. I can remember as a child our family’s set of encyclopedias that were kept in my sister’s room. When I was young and I had to do a research project otherwise known as a diorama, we would pull out the encyclopedias as a starting point for researching a topic. Today all of that information can be accessed through Wikipedia on the Internet. When I read the statistics that it “carries 1 million articles, compared to 120,000 in Encyclopedia Britannica”, I was astonished since I thought as a child that our set of encyclopedias were all encompassing for the time period.

Q> I am not surprised by the findings of the study conducted by the National Endowment for the Arts which said that young people are choosing not to read even though they are alliterate. My question is as a parent who chooses to read to my children at bedtime, how can we otherwise reverse the current trends and encourage our children to be engaged in reading and other activities which excite a child’s wonder and curiosity in the world we live in?

Chapter 16:

O> I am intrigued by Herbert Schiller’s concept of cultural imperialism, the idea that one culture can dominate another culture in particular U.S. media companies dominating abroad. As an Anthropology major, I relished in learning about indigenous cultures that were so removed from the Western world. However, as technology spreads and becomes more accessible across cultures it is inevitable that cultures which were once untouched by the Western world would remain that way through out time. Another phenomenon which is happening today is that many cultures are becoming major influencers of their own media productions by incorporating Western ideas that are even infiltrating the U.S. I hope this trend in media continues as I think Americans have a lot to learn from other cultures.

Q> There is one primetime show which I find to be grueling in its murder scenes, Criminal Minds. My question is why so many Americans find violence appealing in television programming and should more programming be required to display a warning at the beginning which says something similar to “due to the graphic contents this show may not be appropriate for young audiences”?

Book:

A few years ago a friend recommended a great children’s book titled Happy Birthday Moon by Vermont author Frank Asch. In this book a bear wants to give the moon a birthday present but he must first find out what the moon wants. The bear journeys across a river, through the woods and climbs a mountain where he speaks to the moon not realizing that he is hearing his own voice echoing off the mountains. The book speaks of friendship and the act of giving to others which I feel are important concepts to instill in a young child. Since then I have collected many more of Frank Asch’s books and I often give them as gifts to friends with small children.