Ignorance, Greed, and the American Media Essay -- essays research pape

Ignorance, Greed, and the American MediaGod damn it, an entire generation pumping gas, waiting tables... slaves with white collars. Advertising has its sense of taste in cars and clothes, working jobs we hate so we can buy shit we dont need. Were the middle children of history, no purpose or place. We throw away no Great War. No great depression. Our Great War is a spiritual war Our great depression is our lives. Weve all been raised on television to believe that one solar day wed be millionaires, movie gods, and rock stars. But we wont. Were slowly learning that fact. And were very, VERY PISSED OFF.This is a iterate from the character of Tyler Durden in the 1999 movie Fight Club. This quote is an intricate summary of the current generation of twenty/thirty-something-year-olds. It highlights the fact that this generation was raised on television and one the films main themes is how the ill-treat of media has corrupted the minds of those it influenced beyond repair. And the worst part? Its all trueThe media world today is a strange one. Why are there so few political or current affairs themed programmes on our television screens? Why are the so many American comedies on our screens? Why is it so hard to find a balanced, unbiased news report on the war in Iraq? When John Reith founded the BBC in 1922, as director general, he unquestionable strong ideas about educational and cultural public service responsibilities of a national radio service. He based his ideas on Platos philosophy that if you permit the human soul to come into contact with the Good, the True and the Beautiful, the soul will respond. His three aims were to inform, to educate and to entertain. What became of his admirable ideology? Why is it that the main use of media at one time is seemingly entertainment?Could it be argued that the current misuse of media power is the result of private media ownership? If a businessperson owned a large media empire, would they fork out any moral concern if their media had a negative effect on society, as long as they were making money? Surely, a government would have a far greater concern for how the generation of tomorrow was affected by the media. If the government were to control the media, couldnt they mould the current youth into beautiful and upstanding citizens of the future? But what if the media businessperson somehow gained more influence than the government? What if ... ...Michael (2003) Dude, Wheres My Country? Britain Penguin BooksGorman, L. & McLean, D. (2003) Media and society in the twentieth century a historical introduction Britain Blackwell PublicationsFilmsDavid Fincher (1999) Fight Club US 20th Century FoxMoore, Michael (2004) Fahrenheit 9/11 US Optimum Releasing Ltd.WebsitesStille, black lovage (1999) Emperor of the Air http//www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml%3Fi=19991129&s=stilleThe Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright 2004, Columbia University Press Ted Turnerhttp//www.infoplease.com/ce6/people /A0849757.htmlShawcross,William (1999) Rupert Murdochhttp//www.time.com/time/magazine/intl/article/0,9171,1107991025-33716,00.htmlPatsuris, genus Penelope (2001) Forbes Face Rupert Murdochhttp//www.forbes.com/2001/01/02/0102faces.htmlGildea, Josh (2004) Media coverage of issues not at all fair or balancedhttp//www.dailycardinal.comSterling, C.H. (1993) REITH, JOHN C.W.http//www.museum.tv/archives/etv/index.htmlBryan, J. & Zillion, D Media Effect The Psychology of videohttp//www.lucidexperience.com/HypnoPapers/529.htmlNOTE All websites were accessed on 2/12/2006