WafaAlnaieem

MediaLiteracy
3/3/2016

TheReflectionofChapters9+10
Inthosechapters,theauthorgivesusacleardiscussionaboutnewsand
entertainment.Inchapter9,theauthormentionsthatthemassmediaplays
animportanteconomicroleinoursociety.Consumersspendtheirtimeand
moneyonthemediaforinformationandentertainment.Hesaysthatour
understanding that the media is an economic game, it will increase our
medialiteracy.Also,hetalksaboutthenewsinthemedia,andheconfirms
thatthenewsdoesnotrepresenttherealworld,butisaconstructionby
journalists. Inotherwords,therearesomerestrictionsputonjournalists,
andit governsthemedia.Thenewscompanysgoalistocreatealarge
audiencesothattheycanattractadvertisers.
Then,Heansweredtwoimportantquestions;thefirstoneisisnewsa
reflection or construction? And the second is can the journalist be
objective?Heexplainsthreebasicconstraints,whichareconsideredthelimit
of what is presented in news stories. There are deadlines, resource
limitations,andgeographicalfocusmakingtheboundaryforapresentsome
news.
Moreover,hereferstothenewsfarmingeffectsthathelpajournalistto
dotheirjobsmoreeasilyandreachtheirgoals.Thenewsfarmingeffectsare
commercialism,marketingperspective,organizationalstructures,ownership,
usingofsources,branding,andvalue.
He provides a clear explanation to answer the second question when he
clarifiesthattheobjectivehasmanylayersthatarethefabrication,Bias,
partialstory,context,andbalance.
Finally,hetalksaboutemergingissuesaboutnewslikewhoqualifiestobea
journalist? And how can draw the line between real journalists and
bloggers?Thetoanswerwhatqualifiesasnews?Hementionsthatnews
thatpeoplecareaboutatpreviousdaysisadifferenceonthisgeneration.He
suggests for remaining objective that a journalist must be careful not to
fabricatefactsorsources,andmustbeunbiasedwhenreportingthenews.
Furthermore,thewritermustbesuretouseabroadrangeofsourcestomake

surethepublicisreceivingafullstoryratherthanapartialstorybasedon
onesourceorabadsource.
Inchapter10,theauthorhighlightstheentertainmentcontentofthe
mediaandtherulesandformsthatrighttofollowtoreachtheentertainment.
Firstthereisastoryformulalikecomedy,drama,andromance.Thisstory
facesconstraintseitherbymediumorsocietal.However,whatweseeonTV
isnotanaccuratepictureoftherealworld. Thentheauthortalksabout
character patterns based on the gender, ethnicity, age, marital status,
socioeconomic status, and occupation. Finally, the chapter mentions the
controversial content elements, which are sex, homosexuality, violence,
language,healthandvalue.
Furthermore,hementionsthatsixtyfourpercentoftelevisionshows
feature sexual activity. The overwhelming amount of sex on TV has
influencedourattitudestowardsexespeciallyyoungteenagersbecausemost
showsdon'tinformthevieweraboutsafesexandtheriskofpregnancyand
diseases.

InadditiontosexonTV,thereisalsoanoverwhelmingamountof
violence,andontelevision,ithasbeenthemoststudiedtopicinthemedia.
Intheend,hegiveshistipstobecomemedialiteratebyrealizingthatthe
sex,violence,etc.weseeonTVdoesnotaccuratelyrepresenttherealworld.
Afterreadingthosechapters,Ibecomelesstrustonthenews;Ibenefitan
importantlessonthatIshouldsearchoutmoresourcesbymyselfandignore
thepublicopinion.Andthisdecisionisduetotheamountoffakeofthe
news.So,newsisnotreflection,butitistheconstructionbythemedia
owner.Also,Iunderstandthattheentertainmentisnotunplanned,butit
dependsonmethodandformulathatarepreparedbefore.Thebestwayto
dealwiththisissueistoeducateourself,andbecomemoresensitive,and
awarethelinebetweenreallifeandunrealitylife.