Blog Post #3: Radio in the 1920s

Radio in the 1920s is what internet and television are to us today. Its everywhere and a main source of how people get their information. However, I believe the driving force behind radio's take over in the 1920s is the industries or institutions who used the radio to get their name out to the public.

When radio started gaining more and more recognition along with its technological innovations advertisers began to shift their focus into using radio as a way to advertise products. Industries helped shape radio to what it was then in a way that it brought the advertisers straight into the homes of the listeners. Advertisers frequently payed to have their commercials play during entertainment shows because they knew it would reach more people. Even though (as mentioned in the book) many people who controlled the radio stations thought too many advertisements would ultimately drive listeners away, however, "people were so enthusiastic about the new medium that they accepted the ads without much objection".

This new use of technology sky rocketed the industries way of being able to reach out to the masses. Advertisements during the twenties, in my opinion, were now shifting from putting up posters that seemed impersonal to now directly talking to possible consumers. For example WEAF was the first radio station to broadcast the first commercial and soon after advertisers immediately "responded to the opportunity, and commercial broadcasting grew quickly".

Agenda Setting

The concept of agenda setting helps me make sense of what exactly the media wants us to pay attention to, such as the popular website perezhiltion.com which is constantly spitting out "news" about everyones favorite celebrity's ups and downs.

Agenda setting is a process in which news and public figures are the ones who ultimately shape the current media. However,  how the media chooses to spend most of their time on one particular story or individual is based on the audience. So in other words the audience is one of the factors as to why many of these news pieces continue to circulate for long periods of time.

For example, Perez Hilton has made an entire career on reporting celebrity mishaps and the drama that follows it on his website perezhilton.com. His readers, however, are the ones who keep certain stories going as they frequently provide feedback on his comments section. In turn Perez continues to dig for new dirt on subjects his viewers find particularly interesting as well as bring up new topics he believes his viewers would appreciate.

Hegemony: Jersey Shore

Now a days we live in a society that is driven by multiple media outlets such television, Internet, and etc. Moreover, I have noticed that my generation is constantly connected to these outlets, but the real concern is whether we are the reason behind the concepts of the shows we watch and the websites we visit or rather are they influencing us (from our attitudes to our choice of dress)?

As in Wednesday's lecture there is a never ending debate of who is influencing who? Does media change society or is media a direct reflection of it? Technology is constantly changing and irreversible just as we are, but if we don't change as much as technology does we will get left behind. Which brings me to another point of how my generation is influenced by the latest "trends" brought on by big media companies. In terms of hegemony,(which is the way a dominant group influences various groups such as politics, economics, and media) these big media companies are the ones who choose what they feel will grab the attention of the audience who in turn believe what is being watched is some how the right or cool thing to do. These ideologies ,that are purposely altered to attract a certain age group, are seen on a day to day basis and can have a negative and positive effect on society.  On the other hand, society plays a big role in what is popular right now for we can be somewhat of a muse and promoters to big media companies' products and/or shows.

For example, Jersey Shore is THE show to watch for my generation at the moment and it has caused an immense change in the way young adults dress and act. Before the show came out I had heard the term "Guido" before, but never quite understood what it meant, however, once the first season was over I assumed that's what a "Guido" was. Now everywhere I go I see a direct influence on how people dress and the slang they use such as "GTL" and "fist pumping" (even I catch myself saying them). Hegemony is applied here in terms of how a simple show of a group of people, who love to party,  is altering how we view our lifestyles and selves. So in turn we change the way we think or act because we assume that this is the "in" thing to do at the moment.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RaRcVT604_0