Chapter 8 Knowledge Claims

1.) “By the late 1820s, the average newspaper cost six cents a copy and was sold not through street sales but through yearly subscriptions priced at ten to twelve dollars.”

In these times the cost of a newspaper subscription was too much for the average American to afford, and nearly all subscribers were affluent. As technology allowed for cheaper production costs, more and more people were able to afford a daily paper. Paper sales also became a common practice in the street. It seems that, just like newspapers, many different forms of media and communication began as being only available to the wealthy. A more modern example of this might be the MP3 player. Originally very expensive, today many different companies offer inexpensive versions of the music players.

2.) “Labeled the era of yellow journalism, this late 1800s development emphasized profitable papers that emphasized human-interest stories, crime news, large headlines and more readable copy.”

The idea of yellow journalism is said to be similar to sensationalism. Sensationalism is what today’s tabloids stem from. These types of stories may be about celebrities, crime, disasters and scandals – things that are likely to pique the reader’s interest but may not have very much educational value or merit. Even in looking at today’s newspapers and magazines you can see that American readers are still interested in these same sorts of articles.

3.) “With the rise of radio in the 1930s, the newspaper industry became increasingly annoyed by broadcasters who took their news directly from papers and wire services.”

This conflict caused a major battle between radio and print journalism. Newspapers tried to protect their work with copyrights and lawsuits. As newspapers pressed for rules that would restrict radio broadcasters to commenting on their stories only, the path was paved for today’s talk radio shows. It’s interesting to see how, in this and other chapters of the book, we can see how the different forms of media and their offspring grew out of conflicts.

Chapter 6 Knowledge Claims

1.) “Unlike recording, radio and broadcast television, cable television’s earliest technical breakthroughs came from a fairly anonymous and practical group of people.”

The advent of cable stemmed from a problem facing appliance store owners whose customers lived in either remote or hard-to-reach via broadcast signal areas. In order to increase their sales they began to build antenna towers that would enable their customers to pick up the signals from their television sets. They then strung cables from those towers into the customers’ homes. This created a new market.

2.) “By the early 1970s, particularly with the advent of communication satellites, it was clear that cable’s growth could no longer be limited to small, isolated communities. With cable’s capacity for more channels and better reception, the FCC began to seriously examine industry issues.”

The first measure taken by the FCC, as discussed in the textbook, was to reaffirm must-carry rules. This meant that all cable operators were required to assign channels to carry local broadcasts. The point of this was to make sure that smaller, local channels had the chance to benefit from cable. The FCC also took steps to make sure that cable channels carried programs dedicated to education, government and other public issues.

3.) “The second basic cable service to dramatically change the world’s cultural landscape was MTV.”

MTV was started by Warner Communications in 1981 and purchased by Viacom four years later. Today MTV has stations around the world and boasts hundreds of millions of viewers. Just as our culture and values have changed throughout the years, so has MTV. One of the ways that the book demonstrates this idea is by discussing the fact that MTV, in its early years, provided little airtime for black musicians. Today MTV’s music lineups feature musicians of all ethnicities.

Chapter 5 Knowledge Claims

1.) “Like radio in the 1930s and 1940s, early television programs were often conceived, produced and supported by a single sponsor.”

Some of television’s earliest shows were sponsored by a single company (Goodyear TV Playhouse, Buick Circus Hour, etc). As time progressed, stations grew frustrated with the amount of control that these sponsors held. Out of this frustration stemmed the structure that we are familiar with today – multiple sponsors paying to air commercials embedded within television programs.

2.) “Syndication, selling TV stations the exclusive rights to air TV shows, is a critical component of the distribution process.”

Each years thousands of executives from TV stations to buy and bid over television show rights. These rights are usually bought in two or three years increments. These syndicated programs are most often used to fill the time chunks outside of primetime. The use of these shows is often a cost-efficient way to keep viewers happy and watching.

3.) “In addition to problems faced by our public broadcasting system, the original ideal of “universal” television programming serving as our cultural yardstick has also been undercut.”

With the invention of cable, the VCR, DVRs and others of the like, it is easy for individuals to tune in to programs covering their own unique interests. As inventions like this continue to become available, television watchers are less likely to tune into the same programs as their peers. The idea that television can unite people by drawing them to similar programming will likely become an idea of the past.

Chapter 4 Knowledge Claims

1.) “As a medium for mass communication, radio broadcasts offered the possibility of sending voice and music to thousands of people.”

I thought it was interesting to learn that the term broadcasting was originally used to describe the process in which farmers cast seeds over a large area of land. With radio the idea is still similar, but instead refers to the transmission of radio signals. Prior to this invention, wireless referred to person-to-person contact (i.e., telegraph, telephone, etc).

2.) “In the 1920s, as radio moved from narrowcasting to broadcasting, the battle for more frequency space and less channel interference intensified.”

The popularity of radio called for regulation. In 1924 Commerce Secretary Herbert Hoover ordered that radio stations share time and schedule time brackets for things such as news reports and weather. It was later ruled that Hoover did not have the right to keep stations from operating. As problems persisted, the Radio Act of 1927 was enacted and was shortly followed by the Federal Communications Act of 1934.

3.) “A key development in the radio’s adaptation occurred with the invention of the transistor by Bell Laboratories in 1947.”

The first transistors were sold by Texas Instruments in 1957 for around $40. Sony followed shortly with the pocket radio. In the 1960s these tiny radios were produced and sold for a low enough price the average American could own one. Unlike the television, these radios could go anywhere. It was around this time that radios begun to be installed into new cars.

Chapter 3 Knowledge Claims

1.) “In 2001 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of the music industry and against Napster, declaring free music file-swapping illegal an in violation of music copyrights held by recording labels and artists.”

It wasn’t long ago that I remember flipping on the nightly news to see that the Napster battle was the top story of the day. At fourteen I remembered hating the ruling, not because I really had any understanding of the legalities behind the issue, but because I could no longer download my favorite music for free. I dreaded being forced back to spending a large chunk of my weekly allowance on $19.99 CDs. Fortunately for me, the demise of Napster only led to the birth of many other file sharing programs, and I now download my music for free from Limewire.

2.) “Another reason for the growth of rock and roll can be found in the repressive and uneasy atmosphere of the 1950s.”

The political agenda of the 1950s encompassed a number of things, among them the Cold War, the Red Scare and the atomic bomb. The book explains that young people were desperately searching for some means of escape. First came the Waltz, then the cakewalk, the Charleston, the jitterbug and so on. With the 1950s came the advent of rock’n’roll.

3.) “In the 1950s, legal integration accompanied a cultural shift, and the rock and roll industry’s race and pop charts blurred.”

The book explains a number of ways in which rock and roll was a part of the times. The music was able to find success in both high and low culture, from both men and women, and in both white and black social circles in the north and the south. Until then, and until rock and roll, it was not common for a single style of music to find such widespread success from such varying audiences.

Chapter 12 Knowledge Claims

1.) “Daniel Boorstin coined the term pseudo-event to refer to one of the key contributions of PR and advertising in the twentieth century.”

The book used the examples of pre-game shows, interviews, and press conferences to demonstrate the idea of a pseudo-event. While I was familiar with these types of happenings, I never really gave much thought to their purpose. The basic idea is that they will draw public attention to the main event. The book discusses how many of these events are planned around the schedules of local news outlets to ensure that they will be on the scene to report when they begin.

2.) “In many firms government relations has developed into lobbying: the process of attempting to influence to voting of lawmakers to support an industry’s or organization’s best interests.”

In Washington D.C. there are more than 34,000 lobbyists registered. The book breaks this down for us and explains that this equals an incredible sixty-three lobbyists for each member of Congress. Some of the most common techniques used by these lobbyists in their attempts to draw up support include phone banks and emails. These practices are commonly used in what is referred to as Astroturf lobbying. In this form of lobbying, activists lead people to believe that their ideas are supported by many (even millions) of citizens.

3.) “The relationship between journalism and public relations is complex.”

In this section of the book the author talks about some friction that exists between these fields. It is mentioned that while many journalists make the leap from writing to public relations, it seldom happens the other way. Aside from the friction though, it is explained that journalism and public relations remain reliant on each other.

Chapter 11 Knowledge Claims

1.) “Critics found that some agencies used subliminal advertising. This term, coined in the 1950s, refers to hidden or disguised print and visual messages…”

I thought that this section was interesting because I had heard of subliminal advertising/messages, but really knew little about it. I was most curious about its effectiveness. According to the text, research has found that ads using this technique are really no more effective than the regular advertisements we usually see.

2.) “Breaking away from these bigger agencies, many of these creative individuals formed small boutique agencies…”

I enjoyed reading this section as I think most people can appreciate those who are successful in venturing away from some of the overpowering larger industries in the business world. The book demonstrates how lucrative many of these smaller, more personalized advertising agencies are. One example mentioned was the Minneapolis based Peterson Milla Hooks, who is responsible for the Target Corporation’s slogan, “expect more, pay less.”

3.) “In managing space and time constraints, advertising agencies engage in a variety of persuasive techniques.”

In this chapter the book discusses a number of different ways in which ad agencies attract the attention of consumers. Famous person testimonial is one that I see quite often - whether on television, in print or on the radio. I am an avid reader of fashion magazines, and when I read of the snob-appeal approach, a number of ads popped into my head. I found the idea of irritation advertising to be funny, especially because the book explains that, while certainly obnoxious, this technique remains effective.