Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Convergence: How are we getting our news?


http://www.latimes.com/

The LA Times website can be found on the link above. The website covers news that specialize in the greater Los Angeles area. There are various links to the different sections of the newspaper as well as videos that viewers can watch.

The website is free for everyone and can be viewed in the comfort of their own homes. You wouldn't even have to get out of bed for news. The only drawback to the website is that if the server crashes, those who are reliant solely on internet for news will be left in the dark.

Forms of mass media that entertain us would fall under the category of talk shows in my opinion. The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and The Colbert Report have changed the way our generation watches the news. I remembered a time when youth dreaded watching the news, and treated them as if they were worse than commercials. Now we watch the witty Stephen Colbert inform us about politics and current events. For fun.

Even traditional news channels are getting more light. The morning talk shows on public channels are incorporating comedy into their news. The most well known one to me would be the Good Day LA a news show on the FOX network. The three hosts of Steve, Jillian, and Dorothy are quite raunchy but they get the job of bringing the people news in the morning done.

ETHICS
1) Show good taste. Avoid pandering to lurid curiosity.
  • With news blogs like Perez Hilton and the tv show TMZ, news has gotten much more sleazier than it has ever been. And it shows that people enjoy it much more this way with the success with these institutions.
2) Balance a criminal suspect’s fair trial rights with the public’s right to be informed.
  • Sometimes news can be biased and blame be placed quickly on a suspect. With all the crime in the world today, it's hard not to point fingers.
3) Recognize that sponsorship of the news will not be used in any way to determine, restrict, or manipulate content.
  • With a media giant like Rupert Murdoch, it is hard (if not impossible) to get something published without his permission. The problem with all the news outlets merging together is that one day it will all be run under one thumb. This will leave free news to the generation of bloggers.

Advertising ads and entertainment can sometimes go hand in hand. Product placements are used constantly by sponsers throughout television shows.

Entertainment and news can be the same. Look at how successful the Comedy Central news shows have become in the last few years. It has helped gain more viewers and made the public aware of what is going on in the world while entertaining them. As previously stated, The Daily Show and The Colbert Report are examples of this. The only downside is that they can sometimes be a bit biased.

Without advertisements, most people would not know what to do when they need their products. They wouldn't know there is a new Terminator movie coming out, or that the new contact lenses on TV will feel like nothing is in your eye at all. It keeps people updated on what the world has to offer.

I think that if magazines are sponsered by ads then it is ok if they mention it here or there in their stories if it doesn't happen too often. Since the magazines are dying out along with the newspapers, it is understandable for them to do everything in their power to make sure they stay standing. Ads not being labled as ads is a different thing. It works as a subliminal message to the readers if they are engaged in a magazine story and see a product carefully placed in one of the pictures. It's misleading.

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