For Monday, March 30th: Television (Read and blog on Chapter 9 and Chapter 20)

Chapter 9:

In reading chapter 9 it was interesting to learn about the paradigm shift we are currently experiencing with regards to television viewing. People are not revolving their schedules around television programming but rather they are watching television when it is convenient for them. With the onset of mobile devices network television has created short episodes for viewing on portable devices which are about one minute in length called mobisodes. From what I understand since people are no longer necessarily watching television from their living room televisions and are on the move some are opting to watch from their mobile devices in between checking e-mails and surfing the Internet. These mobisodes could be seen as a marketing scheme by television producers to get viewers to watch the full length episodes at a later time.

In this chapter we also learned about webisodes which are “four minute mini-movies on the Web which are usually sponsored by major brands and sometimes the advertisers are part of the story line.” My question is are webisodes just a phase in advertising or will they gain popularity as marketing on the Internet evolves?

One “fact” I learned from this chapter is that the Fox network didn’t arrive on the scene until 1986.

Chapter 20:

In chapter 20 towards the end after all of the discussion on ethics I was really struck by the fact that plagiarism is somewhat of an accepted practice in journalism. This idea that story swapping through the Associated Press is quite common and neither the AP or other journalists give credit to the sources seems a bit bizarre. The text attributes this “borrowing tolerance” to the fact that everyone is under pressure to collect information quickly and get it out to the public that it has become a common practice.

A question I have is I wonder how often high profile members of society like celebrities call press conferences to divulge information about themselves that if left unsaid would surface in the media due to the unethical practices which journalists often engage in inorder to break a newsworthy story. It’s as if celebrity figures are under extreme pressure to make statements about their personal situations when in fact the information might not be that important but because they live such high profile lives they feel as though they don’t have any other choice. And it would be better for them to set the record straight. I was disturbed to read about how Arthur Ashe for somewhat forced to announce that he had AIDS nearly twenty years ago.
A “fact” from this chapter is that in all the media ethics codes which exist today gifts and bribes are not condoned yet it seems as though it’s a common practice by many.

Television Experience:

Until enrolling in this class I had watched my share of television over the years. I’ve often viewed my time in front of the tube as a way to unwind and relax after the kids have been put to bed. One could argue that I could pick up a book and read which is much more stimulating and engaging for the mind but sometimes when you’ve had a long day and you find yourself laying on the couch with the television on it doesn’t really matter what you’re watching because you’re not paying that much attention to it. It’s a mindless distraction that allows you to relax. I haven’t found that I’ve missed watching television too much over these last few months and I guess if it was that important I could record the shows for viewing at another time. I must admit that I haven’t discovered watching television episodes on the Internet yet. As an aside, since moving to Vermont 10 years ago the road we live on doesn’t get cable and I have refused to get a dish because we get all the major networks with rabbit ear antennas.