Radio: A Creation for the Audience

The high, growing audience demand for a new mass medium for receiving news, entertainment, and education heavily popularized the use of the radio in the 1920's.

The factor of audience demand works in a fairly, easy-to-understand matter. It's just like the concept of supply and demand. Whatever the audience wants, and is willing to consume, that's what the media will supply in return. The more and more the audience would tune into soap operas and other talk show varieties, the radio industry would supply more shows to the audience. As radio popularized more, companies would advertise more heavily via radio because they knew that the audience would be tuned in. The functions of radio responded to many needs that America needed in the 1920's.

The population has a never-ending, growing need for immediacy, entertainment, educational information, and current news. The radio provided all of these bases, and in fact, joined together all ages, classes, races, and generations into one common culture. They all shared very similar feelings and emotions that were produced as a result from what they heard on the radio. The radio didn't have geographical boundaries that would limit the spread of information, so everybody had such easy access to it! The audience demanded more and more of the radio; People wanted to tune into their favorite talk shows, soap opera dramas, music, and advice shows. Other industries and departments began to turn to the radio to advertise their own products and businesses. The high audience demand for more radio only further popularized it, and helped make the radio the most common form of media.



In Woody Allen's Radio Days, we see that as radio became an outlet for the obtaining of mass media in American society in the 1920's. The film showed us that people of all classes, ages, and generations listened to the radio collectively (such as when the young girl fell down the well.) Similar feelings arose all through out the nation. The news was immediate, and joined a nation together. The country wanted to be further be joined together as one, and the radio fulfilled that demand.


http://alsolikelife.com/shooting/2009/01/949-91-radio-days-1987-woody-allen/
http://www.thepunch.com.au/tags/radio/

The Impact of Social Learning

The social learning theory prevails in media surrounding us everyday. The concepts and applications of social learning have helped me to understand that many behaviors and attitudes that, were once, customarily believed to be unacceptable or inappropriate, are now modeled and imitated by society.

People use the method of natural observation to learn, and will then go on to model behaviors learned. With that said, the media will exhibit many figures or characters that other members of society will want to familiarize themselves with, or imitate their own behaviors and beliefs after them. People naturally want to have role models in their lives, or have some striking figure that they will strive to be like. Many people can then justify to others that they think a certain way or act a certain way because they saw it on T.V., or their favorite singer believes this, etc.

Take the example used in the lecture, for instance. In our society today, the media has made appear that being a single, teenage mother is perfectly acceptable! There are so many television reality shows on it today, such as Teen Mom and 16 and Pregnant. The movie Juno also created the illusion that teen pregnancy was normal. Some public figures, such as Bristol Palin (Senator Sarah Palin's daughter) have also glamorized teen pregnancy. All these different forms of media today have allowed society to observe, model, and accept this behavior. Viewers tune in and believe that what they see, read, and hear is acceptable because the media justifies it. It is the act of social learning.



MTV's 16 and Pregnant makes it seem that it is perfectly acceptable to have a child at such a young age.

Framing in the Media Today

The art of framing is heavily illuminated in every aspect of media. Any one subject can be framed in a countless array of possibilities; it all depends on how the creator of the message wants you to comprehend the material. They want to tell you how to think about a given subject or topic. The concept of framing has helped me better grasp an understanding of the popular reality television shows that our generation has become so fond of.
Reality shows (such as those on MTV, VH1, and E!) typically try to convince the audience to accept their formulated take on different stereotypes in society. Let's take the television show MADE, for example. In 2005, MTV came to my hometown of Killeen, TX and did an episode on a "fortunate" girl at one of the four high schools in the area. MTV scripted the entire episode, and made their starlet to appear as a social outcast that longed to be a member of the dance team, which was thought to be comprised of the "popular" girls of the school. As it turned out, the girl that was featured in the episode actually had plenty of friends, and I have had plenty of different sources say that they scripted the entire thing, and only showed a selected part of the student body, so that they could showcase their own views on what American high schools should be like.
So, to cut to the chase, the company went in with their own agenda to set, and aired an episode that would tell their audience how to think about American youth, and what is associated among American teenagers. Reality television shows are fabricated and scripted, and consequently, give false impressions. Everything is faked because they believe that mainstream society will better be able to identify. Reporters have the power to make you believe what they want and how to believe it, regardless of the truths or lies behind it.



Here is a MADE episode (a fraction.) I couldn't find a link to the one that was made in my town!

Why I'm Taking RTF 305

Oh, Hello There <3

Hello all! (<- This is what I look like, in case you were wondering!) I am very excited to be taking RTF 305, otherwise known as Intro to Media Studies! I am currently a freshman at the University this year, and I am pursing a Radio Television Film major. I am considering a double major in either Journalism, Sociology, or perhaps even Advertising! As such, this is a prerequisite for the upper level RTF classes that I am going to have to take further down the line, so I hope to do very well on this course!
I cannot wait to learn more about the effects and influences of all the different types of media that surround us everyday, and how we all will use it to make an impact on the rest of the world. I hope to get a chance to work with as many of you as I possibly can! Hook 'Em!

I'm a huge fan of abstract and conceptual art! This is a piece done by SomaVenus. What do you think this could try to imply?