4 - "All in the Family" VS "Life Unexpected"

“All in the Family,” was a show very typical of the 70s, just as “Life Unexpected” is in today’s society. The show, “All in the Family” shows a typical family of the time: a husband and wife, and their daughter and her husband. It dealt with issues such as sexual orientation and stereotyping people, which were strong issues in their day and age. “Life Unexpected” shows a ‘typical’ family in today’s society. This family, however, is different from the typical family of the 70s; it consists of a mom and her boyfriend, a single dad, and a daughter (Watch this preview to get caught up). “Life Unexpected” deals with issues such as relationships, family, parenting, and maturing.

Both “All in the Family” and “Life Unexpected” deal with issues relevant of their time; however, it’s these issues that make the two shows so different. In the 70s, sexual orientation was a controversial issue. The older generation was still against homosexuality and was prejudice towards them. In the episode, “Judging Books by Covers,” Archie judges Michael’s friend based off of his appearance and his interests. He also misjudges his own friend just because he appears macho and acts ‘manly.’ “All in the Family” is a perfect example of how people judged others in the 70s. Today, family and relationships are the issues that we tend to emphasize. Nowadays, there is no such thing as a typical family structure. So many people have children out of wedlock or get divorced (etc). Because of this, many television shows, such as “Life Unexpected,” are based off of ‘dysfunctional families’ and their relationships with each other. The whole concept of the show deals with an orphan girl who is put back into the custody of her birth parents who had her in high school and have the maturity level of teenagers (that’s pretty dysfunctional if you ask me). All in all, these two shows are alike in the way that they both deal with issues from their time, yet, at the same time, it’s the issues that set them apart.

3 - Technological Changes and the Radio

New technology has changed the image of the radio since the 1920s till today. The radio started off as a simple “wireless telegraph” that was used to send out Morse code to and from ships. Then, when Lee de Forest invented the vacuum tube, sound, voice, and music entered the world of the radio. The radio began to drift from a military and government use to a public use. Now radio stations played anything from the news to music to shows, such as soap operas. When television was invented, radio stations were hurt greatly because no one listened to the radio anymore; instead, they tuned into their favorite shows on the TV. Finally, when FM radio and DJ’s appeared, the radio became more widely used again, for news, talk, and music.

Satellite radio is affecting the evolution of the radio in the U.S. today. Now, anyone in the county can listen to one source of radio anywhere they. With satellite radio increasing in popularity, soon, local radio stations and DJ’s will become obsolete. Most people prefer their local stations because they follow a local DJ and listen to their set playlist of music; however the downfall of local stations is that their range only extends so far and the quality is not always the best. If satellite radio’s popularity continues to grow, FM radio will become a lot smaller and many people in the radio business will lose their jobs. In conclusion, technological changes have impacted the evolution of the radio more than any other factor because they have changed the radio from military use to a form public entertainment, given people a chance to stay connected with their community, and now, with satellite radio, allows people to listen to their favorite music where ever they are.

2 - The Social Learning Theory

The concept of social learning helps me understand why people decide to see certain movies and not see others. The social learning theory explains the media’s effects on society as a behavioral effect, rather than a gratification of needs. The theory suggests that people see or don’t see movies based on their past experiences or the experiences of others. For example, websites such as rottentomatoes or imdb often influence people’s decisions to see a movie, just like the word of mouth influences them. Take the movie Avatar: The Last Airbender. Many people who watch the TV show were psyched when they heard about this movie; however, after hearing bad reviews about the movie and visiting the above websites, many people’s minds changed and they no longer had interest in seeing it. Because of the experiences of others, the movie did not do as well as was predicted. Whether it is a bad review that makes you not see a movie or good acting that makes you want to see other movies that the actor is in, the social learning theory states that it’s these experiences that shape people’s opinions about what types of movies they see and which they avoid.

1 - Framing

I think that understanding the concept of framing helps me better understand just how much impact the media holds over my freedom of choice. Framing, basically put, tells us, the viewer, how to perceive an idea or topic. By using the technique of framing, the media—whether it be TV, film, newspapers, magazines, etc.—can shape our opinions about an issue, event, or person however they see fit. This helps the media maintain hegemony because most people in today's society will take the media's view on an issue or person as the only possible view. This being because in a nation as large as the United States, there is close to no other way to hear about events, issues, and people other than the media. Therefore, by framing something, the media literally shapes the future of our country.



An example is the 2008 presidential election. The media is the main source where people get information about the candidates. Most people take whatever they see on TV, in the newspaper, and online, and form their opinions on the candidates based solely on that. The only problem with this is that the media is biased and therefore will obviously show the candidate they favor in a positive way, while bashing the other. In the 2008 election, SNL and other media devices bashed McCain by bringing down his VP, Sarah Palin. To make it worse, the media emphasized McCain’s age, saying that McCain could die very soon, leaving Palin in charge. Whereas McCain was bashed, Obama was praised by the media. His idea of change was promoted all over the media, thus influencing the younger generation of voters to vote his way. Below is a clip of Tina Fey impersonating Sara Palin, just one of the ways the media brought down McCain in the 2008 election.

http://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/palin-hillary-open/656281/

0 - Why I took RTF 305 and my expectations for the class

Hey! My name is Jessica Smith and I am from Naperville, Illinois (which is about 45 minutes from Chicago). I am a freshman here at UT and I am an Undergraduate Studies major. I am taking RTF 305 because I want to transfer into the Communications School and become an RTF major. I love movies and TV and hope to one day become an editor or director. I took a TV 1 class in high school, where I learned a bit of history about radio, television, and film; I also had a chance to make different types of media (including a commercial, music video, newscast, radio show, short film, and silent film) which was a blast! I also took a broadcast journalism class, where we put together a weekly news show for our school. Basically, I love to do anything relating to TV or film. I expect that this class will teach me more about RTF than the little bit I already know (and have probably forgotten) and I am looking forward to watching old movies/TV shows that I have never seen before.


I don’t read blogs, but I was looking through the top 20 that were posted and I thought this one was great!
http://www.failblog.org/


This is my very first portfolio. I made it for my broadcast journalism class as our final exam.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwY02wxE_vI