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CNN EVENING NEWS ANALYSIS Television is at the heart of American culture: its power and influence are unparalleled. Approximately two-thirds of Americans report that they get most of their information about the world from TV. Though influential, this phenomenon is relatively new. In 1956, only 4. 6 million homes in the United States had television sets and no programming was available during many hours every day.
By 1990, there were 92. 1 million homes with TVs and the average viewer could select from approximately 30 channels. The number of homes with TVs keeps rising. Majority of these homes have television sets on for more than seven hours each day. The impact of television has been an issue discussed and debated by psychologists, sociologists, media networks and the viewing public in general. As some maintain that exposure to television violence results in violent actions in real life, others believe that the opposite is true.
Questions and doubts still pervade the validity of the studies and findings that have been conducted on the effects of television violence, although all seems to agree that television plays a major role in shaping the cultural and mental state of its viewers. Several researchers have agreed that television and media are self-evidently a central aspect of contemporary life. (Multimedia Childhoods, Chapter 5, 184). Television is undoubtedly one of the most common forms of media, and viewers and policymakers need to know the extent of the effects of this medium. However, researches should stay close to reality and consider other factors that can influence the actions of people. Whether they actually are more media literate, and what we might mean by that, is a rather more complex question, however. Thus, it is frequently claimed that there is now much greater choice for consumers, while others argue that such choice is merely spurious.
Television news stories are typically covered in the order that the news producers deem most important to least important. The producers feel that some stories need to be highlighted more than the others. The CNN (Cable News Network) news last July 5, 2008 at 3 pm dwelt mostly on trivial news that registered high priority for the producers. The CNN is a major news cable television network and was the first station to provide 24 -hour television news coverage. According to Nielsen Ratings, CNN rates as Americas number one cable news network and rates as number two in total audience. CNN Newsroom airs 7 days a week, Monday through Friday from 10 a.
m. to 11 p. m. and weekends between 10 a. m. and 11 p.
m. E. T. The news headlines are always aired in the order of importance and as a matter of fact at the beginning of each edition there is a short summary listing the big titles. I was able to watch the CNN evening news last July 25, 2008 and the first story that occupied top news was that of Pope Benedict XVI who arrived in Sydney during the World Youth Day. The World Youth Day was hosted by Sydney from July 15 - 20 and is considered one of the biggest celebrations of the Catholic faith attracting more than two million pilgrims.
I heard the speech of the Pope where he apologized to the Australian victims of the sexual abuse of the Catholic clergy. He states, I, too, share in their sufferings. I am deeply sorry for the victims. The CNN News wanted to get the other side of the picture and one would just marvel at home they were able to spot several people who were actual victims of these Catholic clergy. They mentioned their disappointment about the speech because they felt that it was easy to say sorry and since they were not even inside the cathedral when the Pope said that, they thought that the apologizing was not enough at all. They felt shut out because they had to stay outside the church.
It is laudable that CNN could be so balanced on its news reporting by taking footage's of their interviews with actual victims. Some said that sorry is just a word. After news on sexual abuses of the Catholic clergy, there was a news interview of a gay Mexican man in Mexico. CNN reported that he is among the 180, 000 people in Mexico who are living with HIV/Aids. The news suggested that many affected with the disease have to deal with deeply ingrained social prejudices. The story featured a 24 year old gay who had been with the disease for four years now.
He laments the fact that he does not know what to do because he is dealing with two dilemmas living as a gay person and living with AIDS. Then, as if to shed a positive light on the issue, CNN parallels the story with a group of young students under the group Dance for Life. It is a group of youth in Mexico funded by the UN Population Fund that engages people to talk about HIV and AIDS. The seminar is also a workshop where the youth are trained to be aware of the disease so that they are not caught off guard. That was a good news story that was followed up by an even encouraging one about the elderly. The contrast was relevant and refreshing and provided an excellent positive news follow up.
The anchorman of CNN even smiled and said, From the youth news, we now go into the Adult news. It then introduces how the senior citizens of New Zealand are hot commodity. The news is very encouraging especially for the senior citizens featured because of the way they are cashing in on their know-how. That was how the news depicted these New Zealanders.
This World News story was quite intriguing because featured there were men and women in their 80 s and 90 s who are still productive and working. For instance, a certain Pat Dawson, an 82 year old woman, has not taken any sick leave and still working in an office. Older people, according to those interviewed, are more reliable in work and make the most of their time. The CNN World Report also reports Chine se women living to a ripe old age of 91 and still free from any diseases. I actually was quite engrossed with the news features that night.
It proved that people are resilient and worth featuring in news stories on television. Since not all events outside US can get or do not deserve equal coverage, I think that the descending order in which the news were presented was quite right, from the most important to the least important. Indeed, virtually everything in life is a choice. Even if people have learned to blame others or the programs they watch for their problems, they are still making choices. If they do not admit it, that still does not change the fact they have chosen to be exactly where they are in their young inner lives. A giant task is helping viewers, especially the young children to understand this business of making choices: reinforcing the knowledge that they have a free will as their birthright, and reminding them that they must maintain the ability to choose how they will think in life, to decipher whether the news being portrayed is still within bounds of moral behavior.
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Research essay sample on Television Violence Senior Citizens
