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American Mass Media and Popular Culture: How Does It Influence Us? Mass media is endangering our way of life and our lack of the ability to listen is only making it worse. The first selection is by Cynthia Crossen and she discusses the nations lack of listening ability. In her article, she explains possible problems with our society today.
She writes about our ability to comprehend 500 words a minute, and the average speaker only talks 120 to 150 words a minute. She feels this difference allows time for mental fidgeting. I agree. She also feels that we are to worried with getting our point across and not listening to the other person in the process. This is where she says television talk shows play a role.
If you tune in to any show you can see 4 or 5 people talking at the same time, this makes the show more interesting executives feel. In closing, she wants people to become better listeners, so that each side gives something and each side gets something. I agree completely with Crossen in her entire article. We have lost the ability to listen. The ability to listen is often thought of as automatic, but it is not.
Just because a person can hear doesnt mean they are listening. In everyday life listening is the most important aspect. As Crossen suggests, we need to get back to the days of old and listen first. We were blessed with two ears and one mouth for a reason. The second selection is by Jill Nelson who makes an assault on television talk shows.
Nelson speaks out against television talk shows and discusses moral obligations that they are neglecting. She feels that the success of these shows is based on external economic, social, and political factors. She assumes the people on these shows are craving their fifteen minutes of fame, which is an illusion of success and importance. Nelson states that the current crop of talk shows exist solely as entertainment based on the humiliation, or potential humiliation, of their guests. I agree. Television talk shows are a despicable form of mass media and should be taken off the air.
They throw gasoline on a fire and sit back and watch it burn. In her article, Nelson gives a perfect example of this when she discusses the Jenny Jones Show where a secret crush was exposed, and the man could not handle the fact it was a guy who had a crush on him. In the end, he murders the man because of the humiliation that he suffers when he goes back home. The talk shows are worried about one thing, ratings. Yet, I do not agree with Nelsons belief that talk show guests are mostly black and Latino. I feel all ethnic backgrounds are equally portrayed on these shows.
They all have one thing in common, they are all white trash. Finally, the third selection by Patricia J. Williams makes an assault on radio talk shows and the people that support them. The title of Williams article is Hate Radio, this title expresses her feelings toward radio shows. She feels that the radio has the power to change the course of history. She states that the unifying theme on radio shows is the general contempt for the world, and a verbal stoning of anything different.
She ends her article with the question, what future are we designing with the devotion of such tremendous resources to the disgraceful propaganda of bigotry. In the article written by Williams, I do agree with the fact that radio talk shows can be rather shocking. Yet, it seems that the basis for her article is not radio talk shows being shocking, but it seems to be problems with white America. Williams calls herself a militant black woman, and cranky femina. I think she has labeled herself properly. The cabbies stopped for all the white businessman she states in the article.
I think her article spends more time expressing the problems of her life. I do not think radio talk shows are damaging to the public in the same manner television talk shows do. The majority of radio talk shows do not attempt to destroy the public image. I enjoy the radio because I feel it is more objective than other forms of mass media. I feel that her article was more damaging than any radio show I have heard. Bibliography:
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Research essay sample on Talk Shows Mass Media
