Chapter 8 - Journal Entry #2

If you were a movie producer, what would you do to make a box office hit in 2008?

If I was a movie producer, I would create either a Pixar film turning The Office into a feature-length movie, or star David Archuleta in High School Musical 4.

I looked up the greatest American films of all time to see what kind of genres they were, and this is what I found:

Top 100 American Films (Adjusted)

1. Gone with the Wind

2. Star Wars

3. The Sound of Music

4. E.T.

5. The Ten Commandments

I also looked up the Top Box Office Hits for 2007

1. Spider-Man 3

2. Shrek the Third

3. Transformers

4. Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End

5. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

6. The Bourne Ultimatum

7. 300

8. Ratatouille

9. The Simpsons Movie

10. Wild Hogs

I believe that people love two types of movies - 1. the unrealistic ones that take them out of this world, and 2. the movies that touch their hearts and make them leave the movie theater wanting to be better.

Chapter 8 - Journal Entry #1

Why is the amount of sex and violence increasing in motion pictures? Is this a case of Hollywood giving society what they want or is it simply society's acceptance of what we are given?

I think that as the movie industry has moved on through time, they have come to realize that their audience will soak up whatever they are fed. They have found that they can include more sex, more drugs, and more violence, and that the audience members haven't rejected it yet. In fact, more people tend to attend movies with a fair amount of sex, drugs, and violence. I honestly believe that sex and violence are increasing because society isn't doing anything about it. They are sitting passively and watching whatever comes across the screen. They have slowly become desensitized to moderate sex and violence, and think a movie is boring without it. Hollywood wants to promote sex and violence and they know that society isn't going to react negatively if they add a little here and a little there. As people become more familiar with seeing sex and violence, those are the shows they tend to gravitate towards. Thus, the audience is supporting Hollywood's diet of trash and not even realizing the affect it is having on them.

Chapter 7 Journal Entry Part B.

Radio is described as "the most personal of the media," why is that? Why do you think music is an important part in radio programming? Why is talk radio so popular?

This is an interesting topic for me because I never really got into the radio like most kids do during Junior High. Because of that, I really don't know any radio stations, except 1160AM and 1400AM. I think that radio is most personal because when people listen to the radio it is like having a one-on-one appointment with someone, or with a song. A lot of time spent listening to the radio is time spent alone driving in the car or at home or at work. Radio is probably the one mass medium that most people use alone, excepting the internet I guess. A lot of people listen to the radio on the internet now with Pandura.

I think that music is vital in radio programming because that is what a lot of listeners want to hear. Radio is a place where people find new songs they like. Once they hear new songs that they either like, or that are popular, they can go online and buy them. Everybody loves music and radio stations continue because people like differnent genres of music. Teens listen to one thing and adults listen to another. Nobody wants just talk radio - people love music! It's nice to have the radio to play music in the car, at work, at home, etc.

However, sometimes I think there is just too much noise. I love quiet and driving in the car is one of the only times when I can have just quiet. I enjoy a quiet home and a quiet drive. It gives me time to think and to meditate. When I do listen to the radio I listen to NewsRadio or talk radio because most of the songs they play on the radio aren't to my liking. :)

I think people like talk radio because they like to hear someone express their ideas or to stand up for a certain viewpoint. They like to listen to someone else talking and having a conversation. They also like to know what is going on in the world. The interesting thing is that those who listen to the talk radio shows (Hannity or Rush Limbaugh) are usually people who agree 100% with what is being said. It's as though the people listening simply need validation of their viewpoints. Also, my Grandma loves talk radio, and I think it is just because she is so lonely. She never gets out and she never socializes much. I don't think she has had many friends in her life, and so for her, talk radio becomes a social outlet, an imaginary neighborhood in a way. Talk radio also gets people thinking and developing their own opinions. It allows callers to share their thoughts and opinions, and thus, the caller can be involved in the on-going conversation as well.

Chapter 7 Journal Entry Part A.

Come up with a list of five radio stations in the Utah area (choose some FM and some AM stations - music and talk). Write a description of each station including format, advertising, and target audience. What makes each station successful?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KSRR

KSRR-AM 1400 (Popular Favorites) - I looked up information about KSRR-AM 1400 online and looked at their playlist for the day. All the songs were songs that I didn't know, but they were popular songs by artists such as Britney Spears, The Rock Heroes, Coldplay, Jordin Sparks, Saving Abel, Ludacris and more. 

I found a website that talked about their advertising, and found out that their target audience is listeners in Utah County. I couldn't find out a lot about them on the internet, but Wikipedia had some information. The station is licensed in Provo, and originates from Orem. The format is oldies, but has some talk shows as well. They also play a lot of the BYU Baseball games. 

(http://www.kodj.com/main.html)

KODJ-FM 94.1 (Oldies) -This station is called "Utah's Fun Station." They are HD radio and they often go traveling to broadcast all over Salt Lake Valley. FORMAT: Every morning from 6:00am - 10:00am they have Harmon & The Breakfast Club. It looks they are a talk-radio style show, and they talk about all sorts of things from politics to BYU sports, to 94 things to do in Utah. Drew Thomas is on from 10:00-3:00pm, and then Rockin' Rob is on from 3:00-7:00pm. He plays SuperHits from the 60s, 70s, and 80s. Then, from 7:00pm-12:00am Morgan Decker keeps the party going with SuperHits from the 60s, 70s, and 80s. The station holds lots of contests and has a great website. ADVERTISING: The advertisers on the website include, Woodland Park Care Center, Lasik, Toyota, PRCA, Dodge, Little Caesers, and Home Storage Basics. They host a lot of concerts (Neil Diamond) and community events. Their website has a traffic update report and a weather update, they also have news, and even gas prices. There is even a KODJ TV station! I listened at 6:55ish in the evening and heard advertisements for Neil Diamond in concert, Chevy, a traffic update, and some oldies music. TARGET AUDIENCE: I think the target audience is anyone who loves oldies, but these people would probably be our parents and those who were teens during the 60s, 70s, and 80s. However, as we saw in class, a lot of our classmates love oldies, especially Rock n' Roll. The advertisements are targeted towards teens-adults. SUCCESS: I think what makes this station successful is their unity with the community. They are a "fun" station and they hold a lot of events to unite the community and to the community's station. Playing the songs people want to hear - exclusively Oldies - makes this station successful. The specific genre of songs they cover invite a specific audience and brings success and listeners to the station. The website even has podcasts you can download and listen to. I believe that KSL is owned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, but I'm not sure. When I tuned in to the Nightside Project they were discussing the importance of wearing a helmet while riding a motorcycle. 

Some of the advertisers on the radio's website were Circuit City and Quest. I never heard any advertisements, so I'm not sure how KSL works as far as radio advertising. 

http://1019theend.com/default.asp

FM 101.9 The End (Pop/Rock) - This station is based out of Salt Lake City and is a classic pop/rock station. It's target audience is listeners in Utah, especially teens and adults.  It looks like there are three shows played throughout the day with lots of music. The advertisements on this station were geared towards adults, especially those who are perhaps married. The advertisers included Body Worlds 3, Salt Lake Homeowners, Green Tea, Rose Crest Housing Development, Les Schwab, Clinique, Maceys, and University Helicopters. It sounded like there may be a website called 101.9 VN, but I couldn't tell what they were saying. The station definitely was pop/rock and really hip stuff. 

http://www.classical89.org/listings/

KBYU-FM 89.1/89.5 (Public/Classical) - This is BYU's very own radio station! Wahoo! It is listener supported radio and they rely on donations for funding. The listings for today included concerts by famous artists in concert halls all over the world. Then they had a interview program called Thinking Aloud. The show hosts scholars, students and guests. At around 6:00pm there is a section for kids where a woman talks about composers and music through stories. At 7:00pm there is a one-hour program on Exploring Music. Then at 8:00pm they play Thinking Aloud again. The station also plays all the BYU Devotionals. When I listened it should have been during their Exploring Music section. However, it was an odd piece with a man speaking or reciting and then an orchestra playing some music. I think the target audience is BYU students and community listeners who enjoy classical music. There is no advertising and I think the success of this station comes because it is hosted by BYU and supporters from all around the world I suppose. 

http://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=16

KSL-AM 1160 (102.7 FM) (News and Information) - The format for this station is Utah's Morning News with Grant and Amanda, every morning from 5:00-9:00am. They give updates on news, weather and traffic. Then The Doug Wright Show, a local talk show, comes on from 9:00am-noon. Then, they broadcast The Sean Hannity Show from 1:00-4:00pm every day. And from 4:00-7:00pm, (for the commute home) is Utah's Afternoon News with Scott & Maria. They, like Grant and Amanda, cover news, weather and traffic. From 7:00-mid-night is The Nightside Project where they cover all sorts of different talk radios topics. On Friday mornings they have The KSL Movie Show, and on Saturdays they have the KSL Greenhouse Show. There is also The Matt Townsend Show which is a show about conflict resolution in relationships and marriage, The KSL Travel Show and a show about family history. As you can see, the format is basically news radio/talk radio. The target audience is largely adults, specifically those who commute to and from work in the mornings and evenings, and also mothers at home. The Doug Wright Show and the Sean Hannity show are broadcast during workday hours, and their target audience may be mothers at home and also people who listen to the radio at work. 

The Station also features BYU sports, Music and the Spoken Word, Zions Bank, and Intermountain Healthcare. 

I think this station is successful because it covers news in Utah Valley and Salt Lake. It is a popular news, weather, and traffic update for a lot of commuters. It aims to reach adults in the area, and it discusses important news and meets the need of it's listeners.  I'm learning that some news stations are connected to radio stations. KSL, the news station, also owns this radio station. I believe that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has an important position with this station, but I'm not sure if they own it or not. 

I also spent some time on Pandora and was able to create my own radio station which was pretty sweet. :) 

Chapter 6 Journal Entry Part B.

Delve into one of our local papers. What is the balance between hard and soft news? What kind of topics are being covered? Are they still the watchdogs they used to be?

I spent some time in the Deseret News (online) and most of the front page headlines were hard news giving details and facts about what is going on in our community and world. There were a few features, or soft news, stories that were listed under "Top Stories." There were three articles covering the effects of the trouble we are seeing in the economy, from high grocery bill prices to fewer flights over Thanksgiving. The top story that showed up was about the holes in the ground from the former Cottonwood Mall. There were articles about the Utah Jazz, and Utah's football rankings. There was an article about the Church's relief in Lousiana, and about Latinos getting help from a UVU program. Then was an article about picking the right pumpkin and one about the sale of vinyl records coming back. The local newspaper covers a varitey of different topics, but all seem vital to our little Utah Valley community.

I think the newspapers are still the watchdogs they used to be. They are on the lookout for anything that the public would want or need to know about. For example, this article (http://www.deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,705256560,00.html) was about a secret fight of Freddie Mac and gives the public an insider view concerning some vital issues. I found an example on Wikipedia, "In recent history, a notable example of watchdog journalism was the exposure of Dan Rather's investigative segment which cast George W. Bush's military record in an unfavorable light. The segment was based on the Killian documents, which blogger journalists exposed as being insufficiently verifiable as authentic."

http://www.niemanwatchdog.org/ - Questions the press should ask
http://www.ncpa.org/ - National Center for Policy Analysis
http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=100 - National media watch group

Chapter 6 Journal Entry Part. A

Many metropolitan daily newspapers have lost circulation and some have shut down. Why? Any examples? Community newspapers however, especially suburban weeklies are booming. Why? Any examples?

In February of this year the New York Times published an article about metropolitan newspapers losing circulation. The article mentioned that "major downsizing...has been imposed at The San Francisco Chronicle, The Seattle Times, The San Jose Mercury News, USA Today and many others." Part of the reason that these papers have lost circulation is because they have lost some of their advertising revenue. It also mentioned that, "Circulation revenue has declined steadily since 2003, and the number of copies sold has been slipping about 2 percent a year. Some of the largest papers - including The San Francisco Chronicle, The Boston Globe and The Los Angeles Times - have lost 20 to 30 percent of their circulation in just a few years."

The reason for the decline has to do with the economy and online advertising. (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/07/business/media/07paper.html?_r=1&fta=y&oref=slogin)

A study of a University of North Carolina professor Philip Meyer, "predicted that if newspapers make no changes, they will lose their last reader in 2044." (http://www.nysun.com/arts/newspaper-industry-alive-and-well/31468/))

It seems that there is always the question whether newspapers will stay around or not. I think they will. I think people like having a newspaper in their hands. However, today with the iphone people can have newspapers in their hands. I think everyone and everything is going online. I think a lot of newspapers are losing advertising and readership to people who are going online.

There is a lot of competition for metro newspapers because of Google News and MSN and such. Also, with programs such as NetVibes, people only need one or two papers (like the Wall Street Journal and New York Times) and they don't care so much for the other metros.

Community newspapers usually only don't have any competition because there is only one newspaper per community, and the readership is high because people want to know what is going on in their community.

http://www.naa.org/

This website has a neat campaign called, "Newspaper's Reach: The Competitive Edge 2008." This campaign covers such topics as Newspaper vs. Cable, Newspaper vs. Direct Mail, Newspaper vs. Radio, Newspaper vs. Television, Newspaper vs. Yellow Pages. This campaign is full of charts that show how newspapers are successful for advertising in many areas. Check it out here: http://www.naa.org/docs/TrendsandNumbers/Newspaper-Reach-new.pdf

I like to read the newspaper and have it in my hands, but I also like to read it online. When I read it, I just glimpse it and I rarely read any articles all the way through. I like to read the metro paper (like the New York Times) because I think it covers important issues in-depth. I like to read the Daily Universe to know what is going on on campus. Because the Daily Universe doesn't have any competition with other campus newspapers, it's circulation will probably remain higher than other metro papers.

Here are some highlights I found on readership:

Highlights

Total Adults: Main news/front page is the most widely read section among adult

daily newspaper readers at 87%.

Gencer: After main news/front page, men and women read the local News

section most (83% & 87% respectively).

Age: Daily newspaper readers 35-44 are more than twice as likely as those

18-24 to read circulars/inserts/fliers (40% vs.15%).

Education: Daily newspaper readers with high school diplomas are more likely

to read the classified section than those with bachelor’s degrees

(45% vs. 28%)

Household Income: Daily newspaper readers with household incomes under $30,000 are

more likely to read sections with any advertising (66%), than daily

readers with household incomes $75,000+ (57%).

Occupation: Daily newspaper readers in professional occupations are more

likely to read the entertainment/lifestyle section (52%) than daily

readers in production occupations (34%). Daily newspaper readers

in production occupations read the sports section more (74%), than

those in professional occupations (51%).

Employment Status: Employed daily newspaper readers are more likely to read the sports

section than unemployed readers (57% vs. 51%). Unemployed

readers are more likely to read the editorial page than employed

readers (50% vs. 37%).

Marital Status: Daily newspaper readers who are married are more likely than those

who are single to read the business section (47% vs. 32%). Single

daily newspaper readers are more likely than married readers to read

classified advertising (42% vs. 36%).

Geography: Daily newspaper readers in the northeast Census region are more

likely to read any advertising than readers in the west Census region.

http://www.naa.org/docs/Research/Daily-Readership-Active.pdf