The State of the News Media 2009

If you would like to know the current status of US news media (actually 2009 report), listen to NRP talk.

Also the whole report can be accessed here, conducted by The Pew Project for Excellence in Journalism.

Body Image

This is a prieview from Killing Us Softly, a movie about objectification and body image in advertising. Just something to think about.

Would you pay for online NYT?

Last Wednesday, Jan. 20, The New York Times Company announced that it will charge online readers for access to NYTimes.com.

"Starting in January 2011, a visitor toNYTimes.com will be allowed to view a certain number of articles free each month; to read more, the reader must pay a flat fee for unlimited access. Subscribers to the print newspaper, even those who subscribe only to the Sunday paper, will receive full access to the site without any additional charge."

Many media analysts and scholars agree that it is time to figure our a new economic model of news business in the digital media ecology. It is known that 17 million readers a month in the U.S. visit NYTimes.com, but I am not sure how many of them would pay the online subscription fee.

However, what is clear is that the subscription-based, advertising-driven mode of the traditional media business is no longer effective and efficient.

We still have about one year ahead, but Are you ready to pay online news content?

TV' influence on babies

Researchers at University of Washington found that even educational programs/content of television offers no benefits to babies and toddlers, according to a new report.

One of the researchers, Dr. Christakis said:

"If you are doing it (showing your kids TV programs), however, because you think it's good for your baby, then I tell parents they shouldn't do it"

They are not saying we should remove TV sets from home, but the findings seem most negative.

What are you currently doing for your kids regarding TV wathing?

Do you have any specific sets of policies at home?

Watching TV makes people unhappy?

Here is another research worth discussing the effects of television in our lives.

Professor Robinson in sociology at the University of Maryland found that happy people spend more time reading newspapers but watching television less time.

New York Times reports the research:

"TV was the one activity that showed a negative relationship. Unhappy people did it more, and happy people did it less"

Can you find a clear causal relationship between TV viewing and happiness?

TV watching and life span

A new research conducted in Australia found a strong connection between TV watching hours and death from cardiovascular disease, according to LA time report.

People who watched more than four hours a day showed an 80% greater risk of death from cardiovascular disease and a 46% higher risk of all causes of death compared with those who watched fewer than two hours a day

The lead researcher of the study, Dr. David Dunstan said "What we showed was that irrespective of a person's exercise level, sitting for four or more hours watching television was linked to a significant increase in risk of death compared to watching lower amounts of TV."

Try to find how they found the causal relationship between TV hours and the increase in risk of death.

It is kind of scary to realize that TV would kill us eventually.

What do you think of this result?

Welcome to MC 452 Blog !!

Hello, all students of MC 452 Mass Communication and Society.

First off, thank you all so much for taking this course. I created this course blog with the hope that it will serve as a cyberspace where you guys will be able to talk, discuss each other about a wide range of issues or topics to be covered in this course.

I will post some interesting articles, images, video etc, which I hope intrigue your interest in studying mass media's effects.

You all are very highly encouraged to participate in this course blog through postings, comments on the given topics.

If you participate in this blogs throughout the semester, you will be given some extra credits. If you want to contribute to this blog, please let me know, so I will invite you as a contributor in this blog.

Thanks and hope you all enjoy this course blog.

Danny