During class we discussed the uses and gratifications theory. This theory aims to explain why people seek out media. Many people seek seek out media as a way to fulfill their desires. Audiences will watch media to achieve gratification. Media can be used to fulfill many needs, not only entertainment, it can also fulfill affective needs.

Fandoms are a great example supporting the U&G theory. The word fan derives from “fanatic,” because the fans who make up fandoms are typically very passionate. Mary Franklin talks about the power of audience and fandoms in her Ted Talk. She talks about how with the rise of the internet there was a rise with fandoms. She was able to discover hundreds of other female star wars fans she never knew existed. She helped found the online Stars Wars fan club, and was so passionate about it that George Lucas’ company reached out to her asking about what fans thought. She was even offered a job at his company. Other fans have been featured by Star Wars and at conventions. Star Wars celebrations have been hosted with the slogan “for the fans, by the fans.”

It is also emphasized how important it is for fans to meet face to face. Conventions or “cons” have been created where fans can meet and connect with other fans who share the same interests. There are conventions for all sorts of media including video games, comics, as well as TV shows and movies. Some of the biggest conventions include PAX, Comic Con, and Comiket. These conventions have became internal phenomenons and they give the audiences an outlet to express their feelings with the media they are enjoying.

The movie Galaxy Quest shows how obsessed fans can become. A huge convention was thrown to honor the show Galaxy Quest, and the commander from the show believed he was entertaining some fans, but found out he was in deeper than he thought. The plot of the movie revolved around how the characters from a fictional show ended up taking part in a real life mission and ended up succeeding by using the knowledge they learned while producing the show. The fans ended up becoming the heroes of the movie to a degree because of how much time they spent obsessing over the TV series Galaxy Quest. Once again this demonstrates the power that fans can have.

In the movie the fans saved the day. In real life fans can be helpful too. They can provide helpful feedback to producers. Often the fan’s opinions will be taken into consideration, this in return can help the media thrive. When films make their audiences happy they are more likely to get viewers and more loyal fans. It’s a take and give. Although a line needs to be drawn with how much influence a fan can have, it can always be helpful for companies to hear what the audience thinks.

Millions of viewers of all ages turn into the news every night. The news is a form of media, and many people have came up with their own acronyms for news. Many people have came to believe that the word ‘news’ is actually an acronym for Notable Events, Weather and Sport; that is because news is supposed to broadcast this important information.

So… what actually makes news news then?

Well ask the six major companies that control a 90% of the media seen by Americans.

The figure below really visually amplifies the amount of control and power these SIX major companies have on the media we view everyday. Media has turned into a business with monopolies have the power to control what we see.

TV shows such as The News Room which aired on HBO (which BTW is owned by one of the major companies!) showed what news should be. Modern news has shifted from informing people to entertaining people. In the show a character, Will, is the news caster of a news show called “News Night,” and his show is trying to fix news. Instead of entertaining watchers and making profit the company aimed to give the viewers facts.

The show talked about how news should state facts and be straight forward. News currently can be very skewed towards different viewpoints depending on which channel a viewer decides to watch. In the show the news team is working on taking a moral-high road on news, which is something you don’t see very often today. News which omits facts or is purely for entertainment purposes can be described as

“FAKE NEWS.”

So what is news? Is it whatever the six major media companies want to show us? Is it entertainment and celebrities? Is it weather? It it what is going on with politics? How about what is going on with the world?

Is the news your watching even news or is it “fake news?”

I guess that depends on where a person gets their news from? CNN, FOX, ET, Twitter, Facebook?

Each of these stations may broadcast a different perspective on a story. Or maybe they will even broadcast different stories. So it is up to viewers’ discretion to decide where they get their news from and what stories are important to them.

The documentary film “Why Be Good” describes how sex and scandals is portrayed in films, even in the early cinemas. Of course this came with the threat of censorship though. Sexuality in the early 1800’s was almost foreign. With the introduction of nickelodeons was possible to see on screen what a kissed looked like.

With this arose the question of what exactly could be screened. Film gave Americans a whole new view of sex and freedom. Women were given the right to vote and could see films. These films could give them a view on fashion but also freedom. Scandals broke out in the film industry when Fatty Arbuckle, an American film star, was caught in the middle of a murder scandal. This was considered Hollywood’s first major scandal.

Censorship would play its part in deciding what is and isn’t appropriate for viewers. It has been constantly debated what exactly “is okay” and “not okay” to screen on TV. Media exposure was known to impact people. That is why politics, parents, and the film industry have argued for years what is okay to show children, especially when violence is being aired. Many people questioned, does exposing children to violence in film and TV make them more violent? This introduced the idea of the mean world syndrome.

The mean world bias is coined by Dr. George Gerbner. The concept suggests that people exposed to heavy levels of violence media, such as violent movies or TV, would see the world as a more violent, or “mean”, place. Gernber wanted people to realize the impact that media could have.

Social Psychology has been known to show the impact and influence that social factors such as authority can have on a person. The famous Stanford prison experiment showed how influential power can be on a person. Normal people were transformed into brutal prison guards. The experiment is famously known for exposing true human nature and many documentaries have been made about it.

The bystander effect was discovered when Kitty Genovese was murdered as multiple witnesses heard and did nothing. The bystander effect states that people are “less likely to offer help to a victim when other people are present; the greater the number of bystanders, the less likely it is that one of them will help.” Experiments have since shown similar results supporting the idea of the bystander theory. It must be human nature to diffuse responsibility but the question is why??

The influence people can have on each other is astonishing but so is the influence the media can have on people. News stations set agendas to decide what information they think is most important for people to see. By doing so many news stations will broadcast bias reports, influencing the viewers perspectives on things whether the viewers may realize it or not.

Which news station a person watches may even influence who they decide to vote for in the future. Other stations will broadcast information for the views and what stories they think are the most entertaining whether or not the issues are actually important. So many TV channels focus on celebrity drama and will try to exploit celebrities for the views. People form opinions on celebrities based on the stories they hear online and over and over again on TV. Without even fact checking information viewers minds have been made up. It is important to fact check what you may see or hear on TV because the TV stations agenda may not always be the same as yours….

Motion Picture has changed greatly over time. Thomas Edison shared his short film with the public called “The Kiss”. This was one of the first films ever shown to the public in 1896. It was produced at the first US movie studio called the Edison Studios. It was extremely short and in black and white.

Then there was the “classical era” (1920’s-1940’s) this is when there was an integration between production, distribution, and exhibition of films. During this time there were major film studios referred to as the “Big Five.” MGM, Fox, Paramount, RKO, and Warner Bros Studios were running the game. These studios still produce films and are widely known in Hollywood. Almost all films were being produced through these studios and they brought in the audiences. As time passed these studios flourished during WW2 and The Depression as they held monopolies in the film industry. During the 1960’s and the 1970’s historical films such as “The Graduate,” “The Godfather,” and “Dirty Harry.”

During the 1960’s five of the seven major Hollywood studios changed ownership and there was a merger. They made the studios an offer they couldn’t refuse.

Throughout history many things have changed in the motion picture industry including ratings. Movies now get ratings which are a form of censorship. The people who rate the movies are claimed to be parents but in the movie “This Film Is Not Yet Rated” it shows us that we don’t really know who exactly is rating the films. The rating scale goes as followed ” G: General audiences – All ages admitted. PG: Parental guidance suggested – Some material may not be suitable for children. PG-13: Parents strongly cautioned – Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13. R: Restricted Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian. And worst of all NC-17, where anyone under 17 is not allowed. ”

The movie talked about how gay films depicting sex where much more likely to get an NC-17 rating. NC-17 ratings can crush the producers and directors of a film. They often will have to cut scenes in order to appeal to get a better rating. NC-17 films are not in theaters as long and limit the audience who can watch which can impact the profit made from a film. Not only that, but ratings are a form of censorship telling people what movies are “okay” for parent’s to show their children when in reality the parents should be able to make that choice themselves.

TV in the 70’s was pretty great. TV in the 80’s was not far behind though. The show Dallas became a huge hit and had fans asking “who shot J.R.?” When I googled “who shot” the first result to come up was “who shot JR?” J.R. was described as a delicious villain and a pop phenomenon at the time. You can still buy merchandise now from the iconic show Dallas.

The show Dallas even became a hit with magazines reporting about it!

The iconic show M*A*S*H held it’s season finale in the 80’s. There was a huge response and people said that this was the last call for the pre-cable era. It was quite literally a historical event being the number one most watched finale of all time, still to this day. It is only followed by the finale of Cheers. Cheers was a huge show during the 80’s. The theme song is incredibly catchy and I know some of it despite never even watching the show! The show Cheers gave people universal characters to love. The humor in Cheers worked and it gave people a “community.” Other shows such as the Cosby show and Hill Street Blues were popular at this time. Hill Street Blues was a show talking about the personal lives of cops. It was said to influence other shows such as Saint Elsewhere and also influenced the iconic show E.R.

ER can still be streamed today on Hulu and is still incredibly popular despite the fact that the first season was released over 20 years ago and the show’s finale was over 10 years ago. The show premiered before I was even born! After watching one episode I understood why the show was so great. It was filled with drama and was unpredictable. It showed a glimpse into the fast paced work at the ER. The “star” of the show was the ER and not just one character (even though the characters are important). It seemed like a very “bingable” show. ER easily has a spot as a fan favorite among other iconic shows such as Friends or The Office. Each are very different shows but have proven to grab many peoples attention. It is hard to say what iconic shows are to come in the future, but it will sure be hard to compete with all of the iconic shows of the past.

TV has been used throughout history but many people would debate that TV in the 70’s was an all time high. There was a Saturday night line up so good that it kept people staying inside binging TV instead of going out. Historical shows like All In The Family, Happy Days, M*A*S*H among others brought in watchers.

Archie Bunker was a character that broke stereo types, he used language that wasn’t appropriate and that would never be shown nowadays. Racist remarks were shown in the show. On some stations the show is still being screened which I’m almost surprised considering how sensitive Americans are to what is on TV. I think that is what drew in so many watchers. Mary Tyler Moore Show drew in watchers because it was a show with female writers staring females. It talked about more taboo stuff similar to how All in the family.

Happy Days broke away instead of talking about divorce. There was more happy things and it showed a happy family. Shows that featured families gave watchers something to watch and relate to.

Charlies angels brought in viewers because of the attractive females. There was just enough sexy while not going too overboard for TV. M*A*S*H was a cinematic sitcom about war which was something that had not been shown because it still had heart even though it was about war. It had emotions and comedy and everything needed to make a great TV show.

TV in the 70’s was a glorious time and so many people would agree. Monday Night Football arouse bringing in viewers to watch sports for entertainment. It wasn’t just a sport for dudes, the whole family could watch and enjoy. During this time there was a peak on broadcasting children shows too. PBS had breakthrough shows including Mr. Rogers and Sesame Street. I grew up watching these shows even though they were from the 70’s. I think it is important to point out the impact that TV in the 70’s had because I have heard of many TV shows that aired in the 70’s. My parent’s still watch All In The Family. I have heard many Charlie’s Angels references even though the show was before my time. There is no doubt in my mind that the 70’s were an extremely influential period for TV in history!