The L-word

In the past few months we have heard and read many articles pertaining to the question if news media is continuing to fail at challenging claims made by politicians or if they are returning to the original purpose of news media, and challenging them. I see some points in which the news media is starting to challenge claims made by President Donald Trump, but it is a little bit too late. I believe that the news media is trying to cover their tracks from when they failed to challenge the claims the President made. In the link below you will find an article about the lies that the president has been caught in already. In this article it states that though the news media knows that the claims stated were lies, they were not inclined to call out the President because it would make them look as if they were no objective. They even go as far as to refer to the word "liar" as the "l-word." I believe this causes big problems in the news media world because if we, as listeners, don't have the resources to tell us what is and what isn't a lie, how can we trust anything? 

http://news.wgbh.org/2017/01/03/news/falsehoods-lies-and-challenge-covering-donald-trump

Just a Game?

I have never been a fan of guns, because of this my knowledge of guns within video games is slightly limited. However, many of my friends play games such as Grand Theft Auto and Call of Duty; both which are highly violent games in which guns are used. Both games, for the most part, have male characters; emphasizing the masculinity that society has put on guns and violence. The use of male characters in these video games emphasizes the masculinity that most people associate with guns. As you can see in the video below the male character has a variety of guns to choose from, showing the militarism part of this game.

Though I do believe people have the right to bare arms, the use of video games to market them is, in my opinion, unwarranted. There are many children (18 and younger) that play these types of games, and though many may say it is up to the parents to shield them from such games, many times they find ways around it. Personally I have been a nanny for a 4 year old boy who was allowed to play these video games, and he was more violent than other children that I was a nanny for. Though I am not saying that video games have a direct correlation with how individuals act I do believe it effects their mind set.

"Happy Violence"

Happy violence sounds like an oxymoron. How can something violent be happy? To me "happy violence" means that the actual act of violence is for a good end result. The violence itself can be gory and vicious, but the end result or outcome is good. For example war movies, they are filled with violent, often bloody, scenes; but as Americans watching the film these scenes are also accompanied by a glorious victory, or heart warming story. We can also see this occurring in my favorite genre, romance. The Lucky One is a movie that begins with a war scene but is followed by a mans dedication to find the woman in a picture he picked up.

To me this is an example of "happy violence" because there is a violent scene, accompanied by a happy ending. The film also shows a lot internal violence within certain characters; however this violence is too ended with a happy ending. There are many types of "happy violence" and today's society is filled with it. The media glamorizes violence by adding a happy ending, or a happy outcome, that way viewers are not fixated on the violent part of the movie. To some this can be a bad thing, but to others it can be refreshing, knowing that something good can come out of something so violent. 

Media Ownership

This assignment has not only taught me that media influence does not stop with the news, but goes on to influence TV shows and movies. I was shocked to find out that only 6 big companies own the hundreds of TV channels we know and watch. One of my all time favorite shows is Grey's Anatomy, which is produced by Lifetime. I was shocked to find out that Lifetime TV is owned by the Walt Disney Company. In doing some research I found out the the Walt Disney Company is known for producing shows or movies in which a female actress is the lead role. This is strongly portrayed in Grey's Anatomy, as the show revolves around the life of Meredith Grey, a female general surgeon.

Walt Disney Company, also known as just Disney, is the worlds second largest media conglomerate in terms of revenue, only behind Comcast. Disney has a $40.1 billion dollar revenue and owns TV channels, radio stations, print media, and other types of entertainment such as Marvel Entertainment and the Disney Store. When I thought of the Walt Disney Company I only thought of Disney World/Disney Land, and TV channels such as Disney Channel. I am shocked to know the the company has ownership of thousands of different sub companies, all of which have the morals and opinions of the Walt Disney Company.