Thursday, February 12, 2009

Sources

We had an alumnus return and talk about his experiences covering the election for Fox news. What I thought was significant was his candidness about the recent trend in media to create conflict, especially on pseudo-news shows such as MSNBC's Countdown with Keith Olberman or Fox's O'Reilly Factor. In both cases, these shows focus on the polar divisions of two sides rather than the middle ground. Both shows focus on the extremes and both taylor their news to cater to a certain demographic (Countdown = liberal, O'Reilly = Conservative). This leads me to sources. As we study sociology we realize the tremendous influence that our environment has on us and that environment includes the media. We have to be aware that corporate media like Fox and NBC is designed to get ratings and increase stock value. This means we (the public, the citizens and the consumers of this media) must be knowledgable about these dynamics. A terrific example of this recently was when SHS was on Fox News the other night.

Why is this on the news and where did they get their information? Being from SHS, this is a valuable opportunity for you to see how the media take information (often from an unreliable source) and create a spectacle or controversy. In this case, Fox is getting its sources from Kevin - one student, who was interviewed in the school paper! All of a sudden, if you are not from SHS it appears that the school has a hooking up problem. The reality (as you know) is far different than how Fox makes it out to be. We are lucky to know the truth in this case, but imagine how many other stories are spun in this way and we are not on the inside to know the difference. Watch your media carefully and critically!

7 comments:

  1. the fact that anyone from a news team would take the time out to come to acknowledge such a dumb article is beyond me. i think its funny how stevenson sensors what our senior shirts can say, or what we can wear to school, even how many "piercings" or "tattoos" we can have showing but let a article that is all about having sex be read to kids who just turned 14-15. I know we have "Freedom of press" but that just is something that i feel shouldnt have been put out there for everyone to read because just cause this "Kevin" guy might be having "random hook ups" doesnt mean the rest of the school is.

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  2. I can't believe that fox would make this their top story of the night. I mean there are way better stories out there to talk about, rather than a ridiculous article that became the joke of stevenson for the week. The fact that Fox news then made a deal about it makes me wonder, What is becoming important in our society?

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  3. I completely agree with Michelle. Isn't there more important issues in the world than Stevenson students hooking up? I also agree that Fox put a negative spin on the story making it seem like all of us are slutty teenagers who hook up on a daily basis which is not true. It is not only Stevenson that has people like "Kevin"

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  4. Well, not only did Fox give a bad impression of our school, but so did our school newspaper. The newspaper failed to aknowledge those that aren't as gross as Kevin, or how Kevin's way of life can have severe consequences. But still, our school was in need of a good scandal, so way to go Statesmen!

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  5. This is nuts! I heard it was on the news but I didn't watch until now...it is crazy that they are making this dumb article that people laughed about into such a spectacle. I really think that there has to be something else going on in the world that needs to be on the news, not some random kid from a huge highschool telling his stories about "hooking up". Not to mention, his stories could be total lies.

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  6. O boy, well lets not just blame Fox for being so biased in their report. The paper, itself, was quite biased. Most of the paper talked about some young boy's male conquest and gave very little light to all other sides of the situation. Didn't talk about the consequences or stories of abstinent couples.

    News sources have become a huge source of problems in recent years. What came first, the recession, or the news of recession? :)

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  7. Dang, this is depressing to watch...I was actually at Noodles & Company when my sister had called me and told me SHS was on fox news for the article. I think this is just a prime example of how the news programs are just in it for what the people watch and whats the not most important news. For example, on a half hour news broadcast, atleast 8 minutes of it is for sports, and don't get me wrong I'm the biggest sports fan that'll come by your way, but its sad to see such little time for news.

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