Paul Schierling

February 6, 2016
Prof. Padgett
ENGL 102: Rhetoric and Composition
How does the information published by various fields of media affect peoples morality?
Today there is a growing attention on violence, corruption, and injustice. With so much media

Comment [AP1]: This strikes me as really compelling

inquiry, but Im not sure exactly what its asking. Seems a
little obtuse for me.

attention on these topics, are people being exposed to proper morals and ethics. From news

Comment [AP2]: This seems like a really broad thing to

say. Could you not say this at pretty much any point in
history?

coverage to blockbuster movies, to the hottest music out; the media has a heavy hand on the

Comment [AP3]: Dangerous to say. What are proper

morals?

public's perception of reality. Are people becoming desensitized by hearing about murder and
scandal on the nightly news and morning post, and is this desensitization create an environment
where crime and immorality prevail? Over the past decade, movies have become darker in tone,

Comment [AP4]: This is an interesting question here.

while presenting less ethical subject matter. Are these commercial films, seen by millions of
Americans, encouraging Americas culture to share a similar ideology? The big record labels
have found a formula that sells music and fills concert halls. Music artist these days rarely leave
the topic of materialism, sodomy, drug abuse, dipsomania, and violence. Does the debauched
lyrics of musicians these days inspire the listener to emulate that lifestyle? The news, film, and
music have the power to not only present information but to enact social change. With this
power, and a continual presentation of villainous content, one could say that the media is
breeding a generation with poor morals and a distorted sense of ethics; that is the position that
this essay will follow. Many acts such robbery, rape, and fighting are becoming a bigger
problem on college campuses. Is this because every new class of students could have a
deteriorated morality; possibly due to increased exposure to the more dismal and sinful matter?
Sources:

Comment [AP5]: While I dont necessarily disagree with

these things, you are making broad generalizations. A lot of
popular music (I would venture to say the vast majority)
would denounce things like violence, right? Also, what do
you mean by sodomy? That too is a general word that can
mean a lot of things, not all of which are considered
universally repugnant.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/2004/05/27/decline-morality-in-america.html
A report of both republicans and democrats says that roughly 80% of both parties
believes that the morality of the American population is only fair to down right poor, where 40
years ago only 33% believed that. With the elimination of religious studies in public school,
students are no longer learning concrete moral values. With more single parents, children are
now left alone to television and the internet to learn moral values through questionable sources.
Porn and violent video games have been built into multi-billion dollar industries that are present
nearly all American lives. This article provides the issue, American immorality, and identifies
five major factors that contribute to it: public schools, parenting, peer pressure, commercial
industries, and religion. The article provides a sense of unity by showing a bipartisan agreement
on the issue, as well as statistics that back up his claim. My research question focused primarily
on the outside influences of media while the Fox News article focuses on that in addition to more
religious and social aspects. But, both of our articles agree in the sense that there is a decline in
American morality through the media. This article can back of the problem in my essay while
using more in-depth article to help define the source of the problem.
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/violence-in-movies-a-concern-whether-its-pg-13-r-film-study/
Violent movie characters who engage in sex and drinking are no longer contained in Rrated movies and are now quite apparent in PG-13 rated movies. This is showing that the
modern film rating system is not longer significant, given that R-rated movies and PG-13 rated
movies are sharing similar messages. Factors in the rating of movies range from violence, sex,
language, and drug use. The purpose to rate films is to guide parents in taking their children to
films. With the rating systems value decreasing, children will be taken to movies that may not
be best for their emotional development, but, more importantly, their moral development. The

Comment [AP6]: Isnt Fox News (any news really) a part

of the media? Does that complicate the issue?

article provides important information on movie rating and how the come up with the ratings.
Addition article will further support the claims made in this article. Film, a major portion of the
media market, provides one of the largest sources of easily accessible violent activity. This
article supports the first part of my thesis that the information present has taken on a more
violent and immoral twist, while the second half of the implications, can be found in a second
article. The issue surrounding this article is that it comes FOX News; an organization that is
historically republican, mat cause most readers to develop a more political connection to it, than
a logical one.
http://www.theguardian.com/media/2015/aug/01/media-coverage-terrorism-further-violence
The time and attention that major media puts on past acts of violence are now showing
that it sparks future acts of violence. Today, when an initial story surfaces about a terrorist
attack or any violent attack, people believe that it will be followed by future related acts. In the
past 15 years, the amount of causalities resulting from violent attacks has increased by 400%.
One attack reported in the New York Times of a foreign country was followed by a week of
increased crime of 11%-15%. The major values of this article are centered around the amount of
media attention that violent acts receive. Also, this article, more importantly, talks about how
these article of acts of terror, almost inspire future terrorist. This article strongly supports my
thesis, it agrees in what the problem is, as well as what the source of the problem is. This
articles author believes that there are many violent acts, acts due to the media's infatuation with
crime related articles.
Additional Source:
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/recent-pg-13-movies-feature-more-gun-violence-than-r-ratedfilms-study/

Comment [AP7]: Lots of proof reading issues here.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5390075
This question allows for me to look a problem that I believe is damaging this countrys
ability to grow. This question is researchable because it has drawn attention from many renown
authors and many incidents relate to it, and by connecting related events, this research question
can be either proven or rejected. All the sources that I read agree that there is either growing
violence or immorality. The articles dont disagree on the source of this turmoil but address it
from different angles. All the article, by suggesting that there is a problem, say that there needs
to be a solution, and by addressing my research question, I hope to find a possible solution. My
research question now is broad and very deep, some part cannot be calculated with a number or
proven with tangible proof so a slimmer question might be beneficial.

Paul,
You have a really interesting and ambitious. Youve done a good job presenting your
preliminary research and discussing the discussions as they exist in those sources, really showing
that a healthy and dynamic conversation is indeed out there. I do think you are shooting a little
broad. Try to narrow your focus and define some terms. It is tricky business talking about
morality and a decline in morality. Arguably, outlawing segregation could be considered a
decline in morality. It depends on your perspective. So think about stasis. Try to have a
discussion on a stage where differing perspectives can simultaneously exist. That might have to
mean, nixing the word morality since it is such a slippery word.